ATLANTA - More than 170 high schools - including eleven in the Gainesville area - have made the Georgia Work Ready assessment available to their senior classes. The assessment allows high school seniors, those planning to enter the workforce and those on a path to post-secondary education to showcase their skills, and position Georgia as a state with the skilled workforce businesses demand.
Students entering the job market for the first time can gain a competitive advantage by demonstrating mastery of foundational job skills businesses need, said Governor Perdue. Because the job market today is so competitive, even those going on to college can benefit because we are providing a way for them to match their skills with the career they want to pursue.
In addition, ten high schools recently took part in the pilot of Get Work Ready Week, an effort to ensure all seniors graduate with a Work Ready Certificate. The schools worked with their local technical college - including Lanier Tech - to complete the assessments and communicate with their students the importance of showcasing their skills to employers. Participating schools and technical colleges include:
*Lanier Technical College serving Apalachee High School (Barrow County)
*Cedar Shoals High School (Athens-Clarke County) working with Athens Technical College
*Clarke Central High School (Athens-Clarke County) working with Athens Technical College
*Central Education Center (Coweta County) working with West Central Technical College
*Columbus Technical College serving Marion County High School
*Chattahoochee and North Metro Technical Colleges partnering to serve North Cobb High School (Cobb County)
*Performance Learning Center/Classic City High School (Clarke County) working with Athens Technical College
*South Effingham County High School working with Savannah Technical College
*William S. Hutchings Career Center (Bibb County) working with Central Georgia Technical College
*Lanier Technical College serving Winder-Barrow High School (Barrow County)
The Work Ready assessment measures both core skills and work habits. Core skills assessments measure skills in applied mathematics, reading for information and locating information, three skills that are highly important to the majority of jobs in the workplace. The work habits assessment measures work-related attitudes and behaviors in areas such as carefulness, cooperation, discipline and drive.
Work Ready Certificates are awarded based on the lowest level earned in any of the three core assessment areas, though individual scores in one or more sections may be higher.
*Bronze indicates a minimum score of three in all three core areas
*Silver indicates a minimum score of four in all three areas
*Gold indicates a minimum score of five in all three areas
*Platinum, offered only in the state of Georgia, indicates a minimum score of six in all three core areas and signals to employers that you are ready for 90 percent of jobs in the state
The state's network of technical colleges offer free, online skills gap training to improve Work Ready skill levels and develop a self-improvement plans to boost work habits scores.
Georgia s students are the future of our state and it is important that they have the skills necessary to land the best jobs, said Debra Lyons, director of the Governor s Office of Workforce Development. By introducing them to the Work Ready Certificate early, we can ensure our future generation land great jobs and help our economy grow.
Georgia s Work Ready initiative is based on a skills assessment and certification for job seekers and a job profiling system for businesses. By identifying both the needs of business and the available skills of Georgia s workforce, the state can more effectively generate the right talent for the right jobs. The Certified Work Ready Community initiative builds on the assessments and job profiling system to create opportunities for greater economic development.
A complete list of Georgia High Schools offering Work Ready Assessments is below. Shown are the name of the school and the county in which it is located:
Academy of Richmond County
Richmond
Adairsville High School
Bartow
Albany High School
Dougherty
Apalachee High School
Barrow
Armuchee High School
Floyd
Avondale High School
DeKalb
Bainbridge High School
Decatur
Baldwin County High School
Baldwin
Banneker High School
Fulton
Bartow Academy
Bartow
Berrien High School
Berrien
Bleckley County High School
Bleckley
Bradwell Institute
Liberty
Brooks County High School
Brooks
Butler High School
Richmond
Cairo High School
Grady
Callaway High School
Troup
Cass High School
Bartow
Cedar Shoals High School
Clarke
Cedartown High School
Polk
Central High School
Talbot
Chattahoochee High School
Chattahoochee
Chattooga County High School
Chattooga
Clarke County High School
Clarke
Classic City High School/Performance Learning Center
Clarke
Colquitt County High School
Colquitt
Commerce City High School
Jackson
Cook County High School
Cook
Coosa High School
Floyd
Crawford County High School
Crawford
Creekside High School
Fulton
Cross Creek High School
Richmond
Cross Keys High School
DeKalb
Dade County High School
Dade
David Emanuel Academy
Emanuel
Dawson County High School
Dawson
DeKalb High School of Technology - North Campus
DeKalb
Dodge County High School
Dodge
Dougherty Comprehensive High School
Dougherty
Dublin High School
Laurens
Early County High School
Early
East Jackson Comprehensive High School
Jackson
East Laurens High School
Laurens
East Paulding High School
Paulding
Echols County High School
Echols
Elbert County Comprehensive High School
Elbert
Elbert County High School
Elbert
Emanuel County Institute
Emanuel
Franklin County High School
Franklin
Glenn Hills High School
Richmond
Gordon Central High School
Gordon
Gordon Lee High School
Walker
Greene County High School
Greene
Greenville High School
Meriwether
Habersham Central High School
Habersham
Harris County High School
Harris
Hart County Comprehensive High School
Hart
Heard County High School
Heard
Hepzibah High School
Richmond
Heritage High School
Catoosa
Heritage High School
Rockdale
Heritage High School Open Campus
Rockdale
Hiram High School
Paulding
Houston County Career & Technology Center
Houston
Houston County High School
Houston
Jackson County High School
Jackson
Jeff Davis High School
Jeff Davis
Jefferson City High School
Jackson
Jefferson County High School
Jefferson
Jenkins County High School
Jenkins
Johnson County High School
Johnson
Jones County High School
Jones
Jones County High School
Jones
LaFayette High School
Walker
LaGrange High School
Troup
Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School
Catoosa
Lamar County High School
Lamar
Lee County High School
Lee
Liberty County High School
Liberty
Lincoln County High School
Lincoln
Lithonia High School
DeKalb
Loganville High School
Walton
Lowndes High School
Lowndes
Lucy C. Laney High School
Richmond
Manchester High School
Meriwether
Martin Luther King, Jr. High School
DeKalb
Maxwell High School of Technology
Gwinnett
McDuffie County High School
McDuffie
McNair High School
DeKalb
Metter High School
Candler
Miller County High School
Miller
Miller Grove High School
DeKalb
Mitchell County High School
Mitchell
Model High School
Floyd
Monroe Comprehensive High School
Dougherty
Muscogee County High School
Muscogee
North Cobb High School
Cobb
North Oconee High School
Oconee
Northside High School
Houston
Oconee County High School
Oconee
Oglethorpe County High School
Oglethorpe
Open Campus High School
DeKalb
Paulding High School
Paulding
Pepperell High School
Floyd
Performance Learning Center
Barrow
Perry High School
Houston
Pickens County High School
Pickens
Pierce County High School
Pierce
Pike County High School
Pike
Putnam County High School
Putnam
Rabun County High School
Rabun
Randolph Southern
Randolph
Randolph-Clay High School
Randolph
Redan High School
DeKalb
Ridgeland High School
Walker
Ringgold High School
Catoosa
Rockdale Career Academy
Rockdale
Rockdale County High School
Rockdale
Rockdale High School
Rockdale
Rockdale High School Open Campus
Rockdale
Rockmart High School
Polk
Salem High School
Rockdale
Salem High School Open Campus
Rockdale
Screven County High School
Screven
Screven County High School
Screven
Seminole County High School
Seminole
Social Circle High School
Walton
Sonoroville High School
Gordon
South Paulding High School
Paulding
Southeast Bulloch High School
Bulloch
Southwest DeKalb High School
DeKalb
Statesboro High School
Bulloch
Stephens County High School
Stephens
Stephenson High School
DeKalb
Stewart-Quitman High School
Stewart
Stone Mountain High School
DeKalb
Swainsboro High School
Emanuel
T. W. Josey High School
Richmond
Taylor County High School
Taylor
Telfair County High School
Telfair
Thomas County Central High School
Thomas
Thomasville High School
Thomas
Thomson High School
McDuffie
Tift County High School
Tift
Towns County High School
Towns
Treutlen High School
Treutlen
Tri-Cities High School
Fulton
Trinity Christian School
Laurens
Trinity County High School
Laurens
Trion High School
Chattooga
Troup High School
Troup
Turner County High School
Turner
Upson Lee High School
Upson
Valdosta High School
Lowndes
Walton Career Academy
Walton
Ware County High School
Ware
Ware County School of Agricultural, Forestry and Environmental Sciences
Ware
Warner Robins High School
Houston
Washington-Wilkes Comprehensive High School
Wilkes
Wayne County High School
Wayne
West Laurens High School
Laurens
Westlake High School
Fulton
Westover Comprehensive High School
Dougherty
Westside High School
Richmond
Wheeler County High School
Wheeler
White County High School
White
Wilkes County High School
Wilkes
Wilkinson County High School
Wilkinson
Winder-Barrow High School
Barrow
Woodland High School
Bartow
Worth County High School
Worth
Saturday
August 9th, 2025
2:56AM
