Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS)

Goal SCANS is a program dedicated to helping young students acquire the abilities and skills necessary to survive the outside world. They also seek to show teachers how they should change their ways of teaching in order to help the students obtain said skills.

SCANS 5 Competencies Resources Interpersonal Information Systems Technology

Resources Identifies, Organizes, Plans, and Allocates Resources Time - selects goal-relevant activities, ranks them, allocates time, and prepares and follows schedules Money - uses and/or prepares budgets, makes forecasts, keeps records, and makes adjustments to meet objectives Material and facilities - acquires, stores, allocates, and uses materials or space efficiently Human resources - assesses skills and distributes work accordingly, evaluates performance and provides feedback

Interpersonal Interpersonal: Works With Others Participates as member of a team - contributes to group effort Services clients/customers - works to satisfy customers expectations Exercises leadership - communicates ideas to justify position, persuades and convinces others, responsibly challenges existing procedures and policies Negotiates - works toward agreements involving exchange of resources, resolves divergent interests Works with diversity - works well with men and women from diverse backgrounds

Information Acquires and evaluates information Organizes and maintains information Interprets and communicates information Uses computers to process information

Systems Systems: Understands Complex Interrelationships Understands systems - knows how social, organizational, and technological systems work and operates effectively with them Monitors and corrects performance - distinguishes trends, predicts impacts on system operations, diagnoses deviations in systems performance and corrects malfunctions Improves or designs systems - suggests modifications to existing systems and develops new or alternative systems to improve performance

Technology Technology: Works With a Variety of Technologies Selects technology - chooses procedures, tools, or equipment including computers and related technologies Applies technology to task - understands intent and proper procedures for setup and operation of equipment Maintains and troubleshoots equipment - prevents, identifies, or solves problems with equipment, including computers and other technologies

SCANS Skills & Personal Qualities SCANS Personal Qualities include: Basic Skills Thinking Skills Personal Qualities

Basic Skills Basic Skills: Reads, writes, performs arithmetic and mathematical operations, listens, and speaks Reading: locates, understands, and interprets written information in documents such as manuals, graphs, and schedules; understand the meanings of uncommon words or phrases, and determine whether the item is accurate and/or appropriate. Writing: able to express thoughts and ideas in written form, thoroughly record any and all information, create documents such as letters, directions, manuals, reports, graphs, and flow charts and perfectly revise any document that is not appropriate or entered correctly.

Basic Skills continued Arithmetic/mathematics: performs basic computations and uses numbers and ratios in any given situation, with or without the use of a calculator. Listening: receives, interprets and comprehends everything the speaker is saying (along with the other person’s body language), responds to verbal messages and other cues. Speaking: organizes thoughts and ideas, use appropriate language for the occasion-both verbally and physically, speak to the audience in a clear voice they can understand, hear and comprehend what the other person is saying, and ask questions at the appropriate time.

Thinking Skills Thinking Skills: Thinks creatively, makes decisions, solves problems, visualizes, knows how to learn, and reasons Creative Thinking - has a free flowing imagination, can generate new ideas and interesting ways to merge ideas and create new opportunities Decision Making - know what goals they want to achieve, make backup plans, considers risks and thinks things through before acting, and able to determine the best from the worst. Problem Solving - able to recognize a problem, find the cause, and can devise a plan to solve it.

Thinking Skills continued Visualizing (seeing things in the mind’s eye) - can organize and comprehend different forms of information, such as pictures and/or graphs. Knowing How to Learn - uses efficient learning techniques to acquire and apply new knowledge and skills in any circumstances. Reasoning - person can use rules or guidelines to determine the connection between at least two items and find a solution.

Personal Qualities Responsibility - thrives to do well in any task by establishing high standards, noticing certain aspects, work well with other people, and stay on task no matter how unlikeable it is; exerts a high level of effort and perseveres towards goal attainment Self-esteem - confident in oneself, believes in own self-worth and maintains a positive view of self, displays knowledge of one’s own skills, and shows empathy towards those around them. Sociability - able to handle any social situation, whether it’s with friends or people you haven’t met before, demonstrates understanding, friendliness, adaptability, empathy, and politeness in group settings

Personal Qualities continued Self-Management - capable of using one’s skills when needed or required, sets rational goals for one’s life, and does their best to achieve those goals. Integrity - can determine if a situation can negatively affect one’s morals and standards, knows what consequences could occur if they defy these standards or those of their job, and can find an appropriate solution to the problem; assesses self accurately, sets personal goals, monitors progress, and exhibits self-control Honesty - tells the truth and can be trusted with certain tasks; chooses ethical courses of action