Press Releases

In response to the needs of the ATB and Career Pathways community for greater support when seeking Title IV eligibility, Wonderlic and The Divergent Group have joined forces to facilitate the compliance process.

Education’s (ED) only approved ATB test providers and with staff who were members of the 2009-2010 Negotiated Rulemaking Committee that updated the current ATB Guidelines, Wonderlic is excellently positioned to provide assessment resources that demonstrate a student’s ability to benefit from postsecondary education regardless of their educational background. As thought leaders in the Career Pathways community and with employees who have worked for the Department of Labor, Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education (OCTAE), and helped write the language for Career Pathways, The Divergent Group is a trusted resource for schools that need to provide documentation of their compliance.The support that The Divergent Group-Wonderlic affiliation provides is a two-step review and reporting service to aid schools in determining whether their Career Pathways Programs are sufficient to earn Title IV funding.

Step One consists of a preliminary review of the institution’s documentation to determine if it is ready for a formal program review. Step Two consists of a thorough program review to determine Title IV aid eligibility.

After completing these steps, the institution will receive a program review report for each program that can be shared with ED and other entities to help validate which programs meet ED’s requirements of an “eligible career pathway program.” Once this process has been completed, Wonderlic provides eligible institutions with the most robust and comprehensive ATB program available.

Schools that would like to learn more about how they can benefit from this two-step review and reporting service may register for the upcoming Webinar, “Take the Guesswork out of the Ability to Benefit (ATB) Title IV Eligibility Equation,” on Tuesday, November 15th at 12:00 p.m. ET. Click here to register for the webinar.

Key staff members who will be participating in this Webinar are Libby Livings-Eassa, Deb Mills, and Chris Young:

Libby Livings-Eassa and Deb Mills are co-founders of The Divergent Group. With more than 60 years of combined education and workforce development experience, they have provided leadership in instructional design for Adult Career Pathways and ED, and subject matter expertise for the U.S. Department of Labor and DOLETA/OCTAE. In 2011, Ms. Livings-Essa received an appointment to ED to work with OCTAE. Her responsibilities included serving as a subject matter expert for the U.S. Department of Labor's Career Pathways Institute Initiative. Ms. Mills is the Director for the National Career Pathways Network and recently served as a lead subject matter expert for "The Career Pathways Toolkit: Six Key Element for Success."

Chris Young is the Director of Research and Development Operations at Wonderlic where he supports Wonderlic’s legal counsel on education compliance and regulatory affairs. He previously served on the 2009-2010 Negotiated Rulemaking Committee for Program Integrity due to the strong relationship he developed with ED while improving and standardizing Wonderlic’s ATB testing program. Representing test publishers, Mr. Young worked with the Committee to clarify, update, and improve the existing ATB regulations.

Interested parties may also contact Wonderlic Education Solutions at wes(at)wonderlic(dot)com.

About The Divergent Group:
The Divergent Group is an educational services company, with core competencies in educational and workforce development systems and program assessment, strategic planning, professional development, and capacity building. Committed to enhancing educational and workforce policies, advancing innovative practice, and expanding access for youth and adults, The Divergent Group has supported the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S.

Department of Labor, urban districts such as Chicago City Schools, global corporations, state secondary and postsecondary systems, and the private sector.

About Wonderlic:
Wonderlic, Inc. is a privately held company headquartered in Vernon Hills, IL and a founding member of the Association of Test Publishers. The company provides businesses and schools with a comprehensive library of highly regarded assessments and surveys for each phase of the hiring and student selection process. In its 75+ year history, Wonderlic has delivered over 300 million assessments and surveys for more than 60,000 organizations, government agencies, and accrediting bodies.