Communities
United for change
The low skills of the adult population are a major impediment to individual, economic, and social progress in the United States and around the world, and improvements are slow. This affects the young and the old, those with little formal education and a surprising number of those with college degrees, the unemployed and the employed.
It is a community-wide problem, and it needs a community-wide, community-driven solution.
The High Performance Community model introduces a fresh form of workforce transformation that marshals next-generation technology to unite the community in common goals and accomplishment.
high Performance communities
build what matters
While many workforce initiatives are assessment focused, High Performance Communities are learning focused. The goal isn't to help differentiate winners and losers – it's to raise the skills of everyone in the community to a high level.
High Performance Communities focus on high performance rather than just academic skills because a person’s success isn’t determined only by what they know – they also need to use that knowledge to solve problems, be able to learn new skills on their own, pay attention to detail, persist when things are hard, and have self-efficacy – an “I can” attitude.
These skills are critical to thrive in school and college, and are what employers value in all employees, from frontline to manager, across all sectors, business functions, and positions.
A High Performance Community leverages the CSM Course, a next-generation adaptive online course, to build High Performance.
High
PerformancE
Math and Literacy
Problem-solving strategies
Independent learning
Persistence
Attention to detail
High personal expectations
self-efficacy
high Performance communities
Certify what matters
Most certificates simply certify specific skills, and only at a low level of competency (often passing courses with at least a C grade). High Performance Communities are built on the CSM Certificate, which is the first certificate of High Performance.
The CSM Certificate fills a key labor market information gap -- it tells employers that people have the key attitudes and skills necessary to apply themselves and do their job to the best of their ability.
Combined with other credentials, the CSM Certificate tells employers that students have both job-specific skills, and the ability to execute them with High Performance.
high Performance communities are
Universal
High Performance is universally useful in school, college, work, and life.
And with the CSM Course, High Performance is universally attainable.
The focus on High Performance provides a unique opportunity to engage an entire community in a skills uplift effort – education and workforce; public and private; profit and non-profit; friends and family; neighbors and co-workers. Everyone can benefit from High Performance; everyone can encourage and help someone else. Everyone can share the purpose, effort, and accomplishment.
high Performance communities are
Sustainable
The High Performance Communities model is innovatively structured to ensure natural growth and sustainability. Incentives put in place by employers (preferential hiring) and colleges (placement and admissions) create demand for people who are CSM Certified. When they see this demand, educational institutions and individuals will want to be CSM Certified, creating a supply.
The CSM Course and CSM Certificate are inexpensive and can easily fit in the budgets of educational organizations and employers. The main resources required for a High Performance Community are social capital and social networks to spread the word and get the community working together.
Who is "everyone"?
The Mayor
CEOs
front-line workers
high school students
Superintendents
faith leaders
Congregants
nurses
waiters
... everyone!
high Performance communities are
Equitable
The CSM Course is challenging for everyone, even people with college degrees. Yet it is attainable by everyone, even adults with 4th grade literacy.
Frontline workers' CSM Certificates can be placed on the wall next to the CEO's, and the students' certificates next to the principal's or the dean's – all having taken the same course.
By sharing an experience of mutual accomplishment, High Performance Communities build dignity and mutual respect across the community, universally accessible and inclusive of everyone.