Closing the Skills Gap through Technical Excellence - Digital Technical Badge of Excellence (TBOE) Research

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mimi

Closing the skills gap through technical excellence by using a Digital Technical Badge of Excellence (TBOE) for career technical education (CTE) students. The study analyzes standards-setting methods and NOCTI student test data from U.S. high schools to derive excellence criteria across more than 100 technical areas, applying normative standard-setting to account for test difficulty and relative student standing. Additional validity criteria support selection and badge awarding, aiming to supply skilled workers for global employers while motivating students through a transparent, accessible digital credential.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction and Conceptual Framework

Skills gap and workforce mismatch

Purpose and two-pronged analysis

Literature Review

CTE competitiveness and quality assurance

Credential organization and standards consistency

Closing the Skills Gap through Technical Excellence By Carol L. Hodes 􀀍 Patricia L. Kelley† To address the skills gap and reward achievement, technical assessment publisher, NOCTI, began an initiative to define technical excellence in career technical education (CTE) programs and to recognize the nation’s top CTE students through a digital Technical Badge of Excellence (TBOE). Analysis of standard setting methods and NOCTI student test data from U.S. high schools determined the excellence criteria. NOCTI has assessments in over 100 different technical areas and, because difficulty varies, normative standard-setting methods were most appropriate, as they account for test difficulty and locate students at a high position relative to the tested group. Additional criteria were implemented to assure the validity of the selection and subsequent awarding of the digital badge. Thus, top CTE students nationally can be located using normative standard setting methods, which will provide a source of skilled workers for global employers and help to close the skills gap. Keywords: career technical, digital badge, skills gap, standards, workforce. Introduction and Conceptual Framework Developed countries face an imbalance between the supply of and demand for skilled workers, which is often termed the skills gap. During a fall 2014 visit by one of the authors to the French Ministry of Education, there was discussion of the nature of the skills gap within the European Union (personal communication October 13, 20141). For example, France has had unemployment at or above ten percent for the past five years even though many jobs remain unfilled, especially jobs for technical workers and engineers. The situation is similar in the U. S. ; American businesses face a growing skills gap whereby companies frequently cannot find workers with the needed skills to fill available jobs. One source of skilled workers in [the U.S. is](the U.S. is) career technical education (CTE) . Traditional CTE prepares high school students for positions in the trades, business and technical areas. However, employers cannot always locate those individuals qualified to fill positions vacated by retirement of their skilled workers. The goal of this research is to develop such a technique to assist employers in all corners ofthe globe. According to the National Skills Coalition (2016), up to fifty-four percent 􀀍 Senior Consultant, NOCTI, USA. † Senior Psychometrician, NOCTI, USA. 1 Personal communication with Guy Waiss, Head of the service of the budget, conversation with author Hodes, October 13, 2014, at the French Ministry of Education, Paris, France. [https://doi.org/10.30958/aje.4-3-4](https://doi.org/10.30958/aje.4-3-4) doi=10.30958/aje.4-3-4 of the jobs in the U.S. are classified as requiring "middle" skills; however, only forty-four percent of the workers have adequate training or education in those skills. This is the basis for the skills gap that many perceive to be widening (Yang, 2016) . Unlike its many neighbors in industrialized nations around the world, the U.S. lacks a central organization and a consistent preparation system for technical workers and, by the metrics ofthe Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (2013), is seen as having a system that results in underachievement of many. This paper is the result of a two-pronged analysis. First, there was an analysis of the methodology by which standards are developed; second, longitudinal data from a sample of recent technical test data were analyzed. The result is recognition of a standard of technical excellence, in the form of a digital badge, that when earned by the nation’s CTE students will locate a pool of those best prepared to fill critical needs of business and industry affected by the skills gap. The main purpose of this research was to develop theoretical and statistical methodology to locate the top CTE students based on current standard setting meth

FAQs

How does the TBOE initiative define technical excellence for CTE students?

It uses analysis of standards-setting methods and NOCTI student test data to determine excellence criteria, then applies additional validity criteria to support selection and awarding of the digital badge.

Why are normative standard-setting methods used in this research?

Because difficulty varies across assessments, normative methods account for test difficulty and identify students who rank highly relative to the tested group.

How is the digital badge expected to help address the skills gap?

By identifying top CTE students nationally, the approach aims to create a pool of best-prepared skilled workers for business and industry needs affected by the skills gap, while also motivating students and providing a transparent credential for employers.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Mimi