Individuals who choose to enter the workforce immediately after high school or postsecondary education need to have core academic and workplace competencies for employment. To provide students with a credential that validates their mastery of these competencies, and to help meet standard government education requirements, the Graphic Arts Education and Research Foundation (GAERF®) and SkillsUSA have established a partnership to offer online PrintED/SkillsUSA Skill Connect Assessments. These examinations will test technical skills and knowledge with interactive questions enriched by animations, videos, drawings and photographs. Assessments in Advertising and Design, Graphic Communications, and Screen Printing Technology are available now. The Digital File Preparation/Digital File Output and Offset Press Operations/Binding & Finishing assessments are expected to be available for spring 2011 testing. Students who receive passing scores on the assessments will receive co-branded GAERF/SkillsUSA certificates that display GAERF, PrintED, and SkillsUSA logos. Pricing for SkillsUSA members and PrintEd schools is $10 per assessment. The nonmember price is $20.
About PrintED: PrintED, administered by GAERF, is a national accreditation program based on industry standards for secondary and post-secondary graphic communications courses.
