Greg Larson

02.5 – Enrolling Your Students or Employees

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As mentioned in the previous lesson, all students or employees who wish to be assessed for any credential must first join the WCA by purchasing an Individual Membership at a cost of $55.

There are two ways to purchase Individual Memberships in the WCA Marketplace; either by purchasing a single membership or using the bulk membership process. If you are purchasing a membership for yourself or one of your staff, you should use the single membership purchase. However, if you are purchasing for your students or employees, you must use the bulk membership purchase. If for some reason, you can’t use the bulk membership purchase in this situation, please contact us to discuss before using the single membership purchase.

The bulk membership purchase requires you to download an ordering spreadsheet that you will fill out with the names,  emails, and other information for all of your students and employees which is then uploaded to our server to complete the purchase. The required emails are typically the student’s school issued emails, but can be their personal emails. For privacy reasons, we encourage the use of school emails. The instructions for completing the process are outlined on the bulk membership purchase page in the Marketplace. The purchase can be completed using a credit card or check.

The reason for using the bulk membership is to ensure that the data can be checked for accuracy and to make sure that your students or employees get attached to the correct company, organization, or school. In the past, when candidates would order their own Individual Memberships, there would often be typos, incorrect email addresses or other information, and incomplete company or school information. Once this incorrect information is in our system, it’s difficult to change, so it’s easier for the WCA to validate the information in the spreadsheet manually and input the orders in bulk. In the end, an order for each student’s Individual Membership is created in the system and they’ll receive an order acknowledgement at their email address. At the same time, an account will be created for them on our website using their email as the username and a temporary password of “changeme” will be used to access their account. As the temporary password implies, it should be changed as soon as possible to something private to the candidate.

Greg Larson

06.5 – Core Credential

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If your program allows students to accumulate at least 120 experience hours, then you might consider testing them to the Core Credential. In addition to the experience hours, the candidate will need a total of 20 skill points, 10 more than is required for Sawblade, which is an additional five tool operations at level 2. Ten Assessment Credits come with an Individual Membership, so the Core Credential would require 10 more credits for a cost of $50.

Testing to the Core Credential is the same as the process for the Sawblade Credential; the candidate is still required to pass the Layout and Measurement pre-requisites and go through the Sawblade Certificate testing, including the online test, then be tested on 5 additional tool operations, assuming they have also accumulated at least 120 experience hours. Scroll down for a list of the required Sawblade Operations, plus the operations we strongly recommend for the 5 additional operations. Note that, collectively, these 10 operations also encompass all of the Milling 4 Square operations which is an important skill to learn.

All Sawblade Operations:

Tablesaw – Ripping
Jointer – Edge Jointing
Tablesaw – Rabbet
Sanding – Random Orbit Sander
Drill Press – Drill Holes Partial or Thru

Additional Operations:
If you do not have one of the tools on this list, or have another reason to substitute a different operation, please submit your alternative operation(s) to us for approval before proceeding.

Planer – Planing to Thickness
Jointer – Face Jointing
Portable Power Miter Saw – Square Crosscut (90º Miter)
Router Table – Edge Shaping
Band Saw – Rough Saw Parts From a Pattern

Special Note for Wisconsin Schools: Please note that the rules have changed for Wisconsin schools. In the past, schools could receive compensation for each student that earned the Sawblade Certificate; the new rules require a Core Credential to qualify for compensation.

Greg Larson

02 – WCA Memberships

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There are four types of memberships in the WCA; below are short descriptions of each.  Please review each membership type, but pay close attention to the type(s) of memberships that apply to you…

Individual Membership

For Students, Teachers, and Employees…

The Individual Membership is for teachers, students, or company employees who want to participate in the WCA certification process as either a candidate or as an evaluator. Students typically join through a WCA EDUcation member school and employees through a WCA MANufacturing member company, although either may also join as an individual not affiliated with a member school or company. As an evaluator, you may not perform assessments on anyone who doesn’t yet have an Individual Membership. In the next lesson, we’ll discuss how to obtain Individual Memberships for your students or employees.

Cost: $55

Everyone who wants to participate in the WCA in any way needs to first obtain an Individual Membership.

EDUcation Membership

For Schools – The first step to credentialing students…

Designed for secondary and post‐secondary woodworking training programs. The EDUcation membership allows a school to begin certifying students using the WCA’s tool skill standards. In addition to student certification, benefits include the Essentials Benefits Package, which are free tools, material, software, and classes donated by industry vendors on a yearly basis and access to free training resources that can help augment a school curriculum.

Two important things to note: Instructors must be Individual Members and affiliated with an EDUcation member school before applying to become an Accredited Skill Evaluator and students must be affiliated with an EDU Member school in order to pursue a certification or credential.

The membership runs from July 1st through June 30th of each year. (Schools subscribing between March 1 and July 1 get up to FOUR months free membership, ending June 30 the following year). Please review the important dates on the EDU Calendar if you are working to become an EDU Evaluator.

Cost: $250/yr.

MANufacturing Membership

The WCA MANufacturing™ membership is designed for forward-thinking wood manufacturing firms to evaluate, recognize, and reward employees. The MANufacturing membership allows employers to have one or more of their employees trained as in-house evaluators. Benefits include customization of the program to fit a company’s needs including development of new skill standards to match their equipment as well as access to free training resources that can help augment in house training programs.

Important Note: In-house Evaluators may evaluate any of the member company’s employees who have an Individual Membership, but the results are not officially entered in the registry until an on-site audit of the results is performed by the WCA. However, if the same Evaluator assesses candidates who are employees of another company or students at an EDUcation member school, the results are immediately active.

The membership runs for one year from the date of purchase.

Cost: $250/yr.

INDustry Sponsor

The INDustry Sponsor program allows manufacturers and distributors of woodworking machinery and supplies and other industry stakeholders to support the WCA and woodworking education. There are many schools and students who want to participate in the WCA credentialing program but are unable to do so because of financial limitations.

The annual Silver Sponsorship of $250 will help defray the program cost for the school of the sponsor’s choice that they would like to support. If they don’t have a particular school in mind, the sponsorship will help schools and/or students that have expressed a need.

Gold Sponsorship packages are available for $1,000 to companies who would like to contribute more to support WCA workforce development initiatives. Company logos of Gold sponsors are included on the WCA’s website and featured in the WCA’s Pathways e-newsletter for one year.

Click here if you’re interested in learning more about the WCA INDustry™ Sponsor program and benefits of each package.

Greg Larson

06 – Sawblade Certificate

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This lesson is important for all educators, but particularly for those at secondary or post-secondary programs where the students are not able to accumulate 12 or 480 hours of classroom and/or work experience during the program. It may also be of interest to some employers as a “starter” credential for newer employees.

When the WCA first started offering credentials, the Green Level credential was the first one that a candidate could earn. However, at 480 experience hours, that put it out of reach for many students, particularly at the high school level. While students at some schools were able to accumulate 480 hours over their academic career, many were not. In addition, the added cost of Assessment Credits to reach 30 Skill Points can also be a barrier for many high school students. Many of these same schools, however, wanted to participate in the WCA. Although, the Core Credential is now available requiring 120 experience hours and 20 Skill Points, even those requirements can be difficult to meet for some high school programs.

To facilitate this, the WCA created the Sawblade Certificate which allows students to participate in the skills testing, and along with a written quiz, provides a path to a certificate recognizing their achievement.  If, in the future, a student who has earned a Sawblade Certificate moves on to work for a WCA member company or attends a member post-secondary school, they can build on what they’ve already accomplished to earn a full Green level credential.

Requirements

To participate, a student’s school must become an EDUcation™ member and have at least one instructor trained as an Accredited Skill Evaluator (ASE).

To earn the Sawblade Certificate, a candidate must pass the Prerequisite Layout and Measurement operations detailed in the previous lesson, earn 10 skill points (consuming 10 assessment credits), and pass an online 40 question quiz.

However, unlike the other WCA Credentials, the Sawblade Certificate prescribes a specific set of Tool Operations (shown below) that the student must be assessed on. These tools were selected because they represent a range of skills and are tools commonly found in most high school wood shops. In the event you do not have one of these tools, you may propose a substitute Tool Operation to your Chief Evaluator for their approval in your school only.

Sawblade Required Tool Operations

  • Jointer – Edge jointing 1st Edge
  • Table Saw – Ripping
  • Table Saw – Edge rabbet/single blade or dado set
  • Portable Hand Sander – Sand solid lumber
  • Drill Press – Drill holes to specified location and depth

Note that each Individual Membership comes with 10 free assessment credits, which means there is no additional cost for the candidate to pursue a Sawblade Certificate.

Assessing the Sawblade Certificate

Assessing the Tool Operations for the Sawblade Certificate is no different from performing assessments for any other credential. The big difference is that there is an online quiz required to qualify for the certificate. The quiz consists of 40 random questions and the candidate must achieve a score of 80% or better to pass. The test questions and answer key can be found in the Evaluator Documents and Forms under the Evaluator menu on this website in a folder called Sawblade Quickstart. You should review the questions to make sure the appropriate material to pass the test is being covered in your curriculum.

The candidate must log into the website before being given access to access the quiz; they should have received a temporary password via email after purchasing the Individual Membership. However, if they have misplaced their password, they can use the “Forgot Password” function on the login page to reset their password.

Results of the assessments for the Tool Operations are entered in the Registry as normal.  For your convenience, there is an assessment group already setup in the Registry with the required Tool Operations for you to use. This process is covered in the Registry videos that you will watch later in your training. However, the online quiz results will not show up in the Registry; the results will be emailed to the WCA and we will verify that the candidate passed before issuing the certificate. The candidate will also have the opportunity to print a certificate with their results when the pass the quiz, which they should submit to you so that you are aware of their score. If they fail the quiz, they will be allowed to take it again until they pass.

Very Important Note:

Do not enter the candidate’s assessment results into the Registry until they have passed the online test.  Also, students can access their testing history and reprint their certificate by going to My Account in the upper right of the WCA website and clicking on “My Training and Quizzes”.

 

Greg Larson

05 – Prerequisite Assessments

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Before a candidate is eligible to be assessed on any machinery, they must pass a specific set of Prerequisite assessments from the Layout and Measurement category. The list of required assessments is:

No other assessments should be performed until the candidate has passed all of the above up to level 2, where applicable. In fact, the Registry will not allow any other assessment results to be entered until the Prerequisites are marked as passed. These assessments do not consume any Assessment Credits and they don’t result in earning Skill Points. The prerequisite assessments come with the purchase of an Individual Membership, and the Registry is aware of the list of prerequisites. This makes it easy to pass a candidate by simply looking them up in the Registry and marking them as having passed all prerequisites. You’ll learn how to do this later in the Registry module.

You can review the full list of Layout and Measurement operations here…

Assessing the Prerequisite Operations

Figure 1 – Measurement Widget

As the Evaluator, you are free to assess the prerequisite operations any way that works well for you as long as you cover all of the requirements. However, the WCA has created some widgets that make it easier to administer these assessments. The vast majority of Evaluators are using these widgets, and a growing number of companies use them during their interview process to assess the baseline knowledge of applicants. The advantages of using these exercises are that they encourage a more standardized way of performing the assessment across the country and it relieves you from having to develop a process of your own. We highly recommend taking advantage of these standard assessment widgets. Both use worksheets which can be obtained from the Evaluator Documents and Forms page on the website under the Evaluators Menu. You’ll find them in a folder called “Widgets”

Measurement Widget

The Measurement Widget is shown in Figure 1 and can either be purchased on the WCA Marketplace or made yourself by requesting the CAD files from the WCA and milling them on a CNC. Figure 2 below shows the accompanying worksheet that the candidate uses to mark their answers on. It is typically made from MDF or a phenolic material so that it remains as dimensionally stable as possible. Note that the prerequisites require the tape measure to be assessed with both Imperial and Metric measurements, so you should have the candidate write all measurements in both formats. Make sure the candidate understands that they are to measure using both an Imperial and Metric tape and not do a mathematical conversion of their measurements.

The Caliper measurements should be done using a digital caliper and the angles should be measured using a protractor. Additionally, one of the required assessments is to verify material squareness. The typical way to do this is to cut a piece of wood or MDF with one end square and the other end slightly out of square. The candidate checks the piece and identifies which end was out of square.

One of our Chief Evaluators, Patrick Molzahn, has created a series of videos on the various measurement and layout tools and techniques that you can view here. These videos can be used with your students or employees to help them brush up on proper usage and techniques, especially in relation to the calipers which many people are unfamiliar with. It may be that you yourself are not as familiar with the calipers and some of the other techniques as you’d like to be, in which case you may want to review the videos yourself.

Important Caliper Note: Given the fact that we’re measuring materials that can expand or shrink seasonally or with temperature, and that calipers are sensitive to the amount of pressure used when doing the measurement, no two people will get the exact same measurement down to .001″, or even the same person doing it twice. So, what you’re looking for in this exercise is that they are close to the target measurement. We hesitate to give a tolerance, but it should be obvious to you that the candidate is measuring the correct thing and that they are consistently close to the correct measurements.

Layout Widget

The Layout Widget Worksheet is shown in Figure 3 below. You will prepare a 4″ x 11-1/2″ blank (typically MDF for easy marking) that the candidate will use during the exercise. They must mark out what is shown on the worksheet on to the blank you give them. Neatness counts, as does accuracy.

The most common difficulty that candidates have is making the distances equal between the 3/4″ spaces on the front side, so check that carefully. There are many ways to do this layout as long as it comes out within tolerance. Patrick Molzahn has created a video showing how to do this using dividers and no math; you can view it here and use it as an educational tool for yourself or others. Note that the line 2″ in from the end wraps all the way around the piece. The idea is to use a square to layout each line, using the end of each previous line as a starting point for the line on the adjacent face. The main assessment criteria is that the line is exactly 2″ from the end and all of the lines connect to each other exactly. To complete the exercise, the candidate will lay out the angled lines on the back using a protractor and draw the mortise on the edge of the piece using the given dimensions.

Figure 2 – Measurement Widget Worksheet

Figure 3 – Layout Widget Worksheet

Greg Larson

04 – The Skill Standards

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The Skill Standards are the heart of the WCA Credentialing program. It is important that all Skill Evaluators have a thorough understanding of the standards that they will be assessing candidates on. Not only is it important to understand the content of the standards, but also the philosophy behind them…

A key difference between the WCA Credentialing program and other professional credentials is that the WCA Credentials are is observation based. Evaluators watch candidates perform an operation on a tool and assess them against the written standards. This presented a special challenge in terms of creating a set of standards that allowed an evaluator to objectively measure a candidate’s ability on the tool; they were required to be observable and measurable. This means the Skill Evaluator must have a deep knowledge of the Tool Operations that they will be evaluating. Most operations are performed very quickly, with no time to read through the standard while watching an operation being performed, which means the Skill Evaluator must have a deep enough knowledge of the operation that they instantly know whether the standard has been violated. In order to maintain the integrity of the entire credentialing process, it is incumbent on each Skill Evaluator to only assess operations in which s/he has the experience to do so.

Skill Standards Overview

The standards are tool oriented, but given the large number of tools, they are categorized by the type of tool (i.e. Layout, Milling, Sawing, Boring, Finishing, etc.), as shown in the graphic on the right (click to enlarge). Each tool is broken down into a number of discrete operations. For example, the Tablesaw has quite a few Operations, such as Ripping, Narrow Rip, Mitering, Beveling, Cross Cutting, etc. Each operation can have two possible levels:

Level 1 is Output oriented.

Entry level skills. This person would be able to safely produce wood parts using machines and tools that are set-up and ready for them.  They can produce parts to specification, but are not expected to have in-depth knowledge of the tools or machines they are using. Safe working procedures are stressed here.

Level 2 is Setup oriented.

Intermediate skill level. A woodworker at this level will have greater knowledge of the machines and tools they are using and are expected to complete their own setups and tool preparation. Given plans and specs, they will be able to select and use jigs and fixtures and use appropriate materials to complete the task.

Note: More complex operations may not have a Level 1 because an entry level person would not be expected to be able to perform the operation. An example of this is a narrow rip on the tablesaw.

(beyond Level 2) Machine Specialist and Area Specialist.

This person has advanced skills on a specific category of machinery. The final criteria for this Certificate are currently being developed. The objective is to reward a person with in-depth knowledge about a specific machine or set of machines.

Relation of Skill Points to Levels

Each level of every Tool Operation qualifies for a Skill Point. A candidate assessed only on the Level 1 criteria will spend one Assessment Credit and earn one Skill Point. However, a candidate who is assessed at Level 2 on an operation will have to pass both the level 1 and level 2 criteria and will spend two Assessment Credits and earn two Skill Points.

Where are the Standards?

A bound copy of the full set of Skill Standards is available for purchase at the WCA online Marketplace. However, when evaluating candidates, it’s more convenient to use the relevant Assessment Forms which we will explore in the topics below. When your organization joins the WCA as an EDU or MANufacturing member, the person purchasing the membership will be able to log into the WCA website and access the Evaluator Documents and Forms where you can download all of the assessment forms for all tool operations in PDF format. This is why it is important that the person who is going to be the in house Skill Evaluator purchase the EDU or MANufacturing membership each year under their own account so that they have access to all documents and training materials.

A Living Document

It’s very important to note that the Skill Standards are intended to be a living document, in other words, they are always evolving as new tools/operations are added, but also if new or better approaches are developed for existing standards. We encourage you, as a Skill Evaluator, to volunteer to help write new standards if you have specific expertise on a new tool, or if you have suggested changes to an existing standard. The WCA is always on the lookout for individuals to help shape the standards as we move forward.

 

Greg Larson

ASE Part 1 Online Training Quiz

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Greg Larson

11 – The Next Steps

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Maintaining Status

Activity reports are reviewed by the Evaluations Committee annually. Skill Evaluators who have not performed at least one operational evaluation on a minimum of four different candidates over the course of one calendar year may be placed on conditional leave. They are contacted by their Chief Evaluator via phone or in person to determine if there are extenuating circumstances that prevented or hampered evaluations during that year.

After the personal conversation, the Chief Evaluator makes a determination on the Evaluator’s status or seeks the advice the Evaluation Committee. The Skill Evaluator is either returned to active status or placed on inactive status. An inactive evaluator may return to active status by completing an online qualification exam or attending an F2F training day and successfully completing either with a score of 80% or better.

Becoming a Chief Evaluator

Skill Evaluators desiring to become a Chief Evaluator may petition the Board of Chiefs (Evaluations Committee). From time to time that group may reach out to established Skill Evaluators asking them to consider the role of Chief.

Criteria for elevation to Chief Evaluator shall be established by the Evaluation Committee.

The Board of Chief Evaluators (Evaluations Committee) considers petitions annually and appoints those deemed worthy.

Curriculum Resources

In addition to the WCA Training Resources, we highly recommend the following textbook for integration into your curriculum or training program.

Modern Cabinetmaking, 5th ed. – Text, Lab Workbook, Instructor’s Resource CD, Instructor’s Presentations CD

Modern Cabinetmaking is a comprehensive text that focuses on the techniques used by custom cabinetmakers and advanced wood manufacturers. Goodheart-Willcox publishes these materials and keeps them current. This edition has been updated and edited by WCA Board Member Patrick Molzahn, Cabinetmaking & Millwork Program Director, Madison Area Technical College, 1701 Wright St., Madison, WI 53704

  • The text and workbook correlate to Woodwork Career Alliance standards, ensuring that students gain the skills they need to be successful in industry.
  • Content is organized in a logical sequence, teaching students the design and construction process in a step-by-step manner.
  • Three new chapters have been added for this edition—Cabinetmaking Industry Overview, CNC Machinery, and Sharpening—to support student learning of the latest standards, technology, and techniques.

It can be purchased directly from the publisher, Goodheart-Wilcox, which gives a discount for educational institutions, on the WCA marketplace, or on Amazon.

Process Review

We realize this is a lot of information to absorb and remember each year. To help you re-familiarize yourself with the process at any time, please refer to the WCA EDU Membership – Everything You Need to Know page. This can also be accessed under the Member Resources menu.

Next Steps

To complete Part 1 of your training, take the Quiz by clicking on the ASE Online Quiz button below. Once you have passed the quiz, your next step is to create your self evaluation videos.  You can find detailed instructions on how to do so here.  Please read the instructions carefully to make sure you create your videos properly.

Take the ASE Online Training Quiz

 

Greg Heuer

13 – Marketing Copy

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Evaluators are not assigned to a specific market area/region. Candidates requesting evaluation via the WCA web site using ZIP code search will be directed to Evaluators in their area, but may choose to work with any Accredited Skill Evaluator in the WCA family.

Evaluators may, on their own, canvass their market area for opportunities and may encourage candidates to apply for a Passport and request evaluations from the WCA by enrolling at the WCA website.

When the need for evaluations outstrips or overwhelms an existing Evaluator, s/he may be assigned a smaller market area and/or additional Evaluator(s) may be added to meet the demand.

Evaluators are independent contractors and, as such, set their own fees, reimbursement, hours, and availability. The preparation for and execution of Skill evaluations will vary from place to place. Such time as is necessary to carry out the prescribed steps set forth in the training will be required. Typical operation evaluations take between 10-30 minutes, assuming that the site and the tool/machine is ready.

Greg Larson

10 – Evaluator Compensation/Marketing

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The majority of WCA Skill Evaluators will be evaluating either their own students or employees within company, in which case, there may be no additional pay or fee for performing the evaluation. However, there may be times when evaluators will need to spend time outside of class or normal work hours to perform a large number of assessments, in which case they may feel the need to charge an additional fee. WCA Evaluators are free to seek out opportunities to perform evaluations for other companies or schools where they may charge for their time. None of these additional fees are paid to the WCA, nor does the WCA receive any percentage of the fees charged; they go entirely to the Evaluator.

Below are some guidelines to keep in mind when dealing with compensation and outside marketing:

  • Evaluators may set any fee structure they feel is market-worthy and equitable, using guidelines from the Handbook and their training. Large, dense metropolitan areas may, for instance, have lower travel costs but higher evaluation rates, whereas larger geographic regions with lower density may experience high travel costs and lower evaluation rates due to standard of living adjustments.
  • Evaluators make their own business agreements with the candidates or companies. They are responsible for invoicing for their services, which may include pre-payment of some portion to assure compliance, and collecting fees from the candidates or the companies.
  • Evaluators do not collect any fees due to the WCA, i.e., Passport and enrollment fees, Skill Standard purchases, tool point assessment credit package purchases, Skill Certificate purchases, or any other items sold by the Program.
  • Evaluators are not assigned to a specific market area/region. Candidates requesting evaluation via the WCA web site using ZIP code search will be directed to Evaluators in their area, but may choose to work with any Accredited Skill Evaluator in the WCA family.
  • When the need for evaluations outstrips or overwhelms an existing Evaluator, s/he may be assigned a smaller market area and/or additional Evaluator(s) may be added to meet the demand.
  • Evaluators are independent contractors and, as such, set their own fees, reimbursement, hours, and availability. The preparation for and execution of Skill evaluations will vary from place to place. Such time as is necessary to carry out the prescribed steps set forth in the training will be required. Evaluations typically take between 10-30 minutes, assuming that the site and the tool/machine is ready.