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Session 1547

EIA Skill Standards – to EET or not to EET? That is the Question

Stephen R. Fleeman Rock Valley College

With the publication of the Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) initial report [Ref. 1] in 1991, the need for a set of national skill standards materialized. As part of the nation’s response to establish the skill standards, the United States Departments of Education and Labor initiated 22 public-private partnerships to develop sets of voluntary skill standards for various industries. In the electronics technology area, two major efforts were completed. One set of standards has been developed by the American Electronics Association (AEA), which was underwritten by the United States Department of Labor. A second set of standards has been created by the Electronics Industries Foundation (EIF), which is the philanthropic arm of the Electronics Industries Association (EIA). The EIA standards have been underwritten by the United States Department of Education.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of national skill standards to promote the assessment of the effectiveness of an Electronics Engineering Technology (EET) program. To this end, the paper addresses five separate areas. First, the significance of skill standards is reviewed. Second, the rationale for the selection of the EIA skill standards over the AEA skill standards is developed. Third, an overview of the selected standard is provided. Fourth, suggestions for the application of the standard to a two-year electronics program that leads to an Associate in Applied Science degree are presented. The fifth area of discussion presents a possible approach to student skills assessment. In its totality, a complete model is presented which features an approach to the external outcomes assessment of an electronics program.

What is the SCANS Report?

In July 1992 the SCANS final report Learning a Living: A Blueprint for High Performance [Ref. 2] was issued. The Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) included distinguished representatives from education, business, labor, and government. The goal of the report was “to encourage a high performance economy characterized by high skills, high wage employment.” The requirements identified by SCANS consist of 23 workplace competencies and 14 foundation skills competencies along with the personal qualities needed for solid job performance.

A student who possesses necessary technical knowledge and skills will certainly be hired. However, if the student lacks many of the attributes described in the SCANS report, the student is just as likely to be fired. Regardless of the immediate goals of one’s educational niche, we all need to be aware of what business requires of its workers.

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Fleeman, S. R. (1998, June), Eia Skill Standards.. To Eet Or Not To Eet? That Is The Question Paper presented at 1998 Annual Conference, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/1-2--7071