ESC has a number of resources to help you consider, identify, and evaluate knowledge you’ve gained on your own, outside of traditional academic settings. Some of the resources are competency-based, which means that they help you consider and articulate your knowledge in terms of the skills you’ve learned.  Others take different approaches. Note that some of the same, often-requested PLA areas occur multiple times in different lists.  Choose to use a guide whose approach resonates with you.

Competency-Based Worksheet and Guides (newest)

Worksheet/General Guide

You may want to download and use the following worksheet, which is based on the areas in the Global Learning Qualifications Framework, to further refine your thinking and develop the raw material needed to eventually draft an iPLA request.  The worksheet acts as a general guide to writing an iPLA request.

• Worksheet to Develop a PLA Request (file 17kB)
• iPLA General Guide –  Competency Based (file 28kB)

Subject-Specific Guides: Competency Based

• Business Communication (file 396kB)
• College Writing (file 47kB)
• Computer Science (file 59kB)
• Conflict Resolution (file 51kB)
• Customer Service
• Diversity in the Workplace (file 145kB)
• Juvenile Justice (file 255kB)
• Leadership (file 124kB)
• Management (file 96kB)
• Public Speaking (file 40kB)
• Supervision in Human Services (file 46kB)

iPLA Guides (slightly older)

General Guide

• iPLA General Guide (file 26kB)

Subject-Specific Guides

PLA Guides for Frequently Requested Subjects. This page includes guides for the following areas:

• Administrative Services (file 37kB)
• Business Communications (file 40kB)
• Data Management Tools (file 42kB)
• Diversity in the Workplace (file 47kB)
• Leadership (file 66kB)
• Management (file 67kB)
• Public Speaking (file 32kB)

iPLA Guides in Human Services

There are multiple guides for human services that you can access through either a page on Child and Family Services OR a page on Health and Human Services – either page opens the same list. These guides are in the form of structured questions to help develop your iPLA requests; many of these guides take an applied case study approach. 

• Adolescents and Addictions
• Advocacy, Case Management
• Child Abuse and Neglect
• Child Welfare, Community Service
• Crisis Intervention, Delivering Human Services
• Diversity in Human Services
• Documentation in Human Services
• Ethics
• Foster Parenting
• Group Work
• Health Care Management
• Health Care Policy
• Helping and Counseling Skills
• HS Practice with Older Adults
• HS Practice with Veterans
• Human Service Management
• Human Service Practice with Disability
• Interpersonal Violence
• Interventions with At-Risk Youth
• Motivational Interviewing
• Residential Care – Child Welfare
• Residential Care Management – Child Welfare
• Social Welfare Policy
• Supervision in Human Services
• Training and Development in Human Services

Older iPLA Guides

You may find some older guides that are still useful:

• Case Management
• Community Participation
• Conference Management
• Data Communication
• Human Resource Management
• Human Services
• Interpersonal and Small Group Communication
• Labor Management Relations
• Marketing
• Not-for-Profit Management
• Project Management
• Safety Awareness
• Safety Management
• Sales
• Small Business Management
• Social Gerontology
• Supervision
• Switching Systems
• Training and Development