Radisson Hotel, Longmont

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In SyncMaking Industry School Links

• Radisson Hotel, Longmont
• November 3, 2009

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COLORADO SUCCEEDSgreat schools are good business

• The business community has the obligation,
  opportunity and capacity to improve the states
  education system.

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COLORADO SUCCEEDSgreat schools are good business
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Colorados Education Crisis

• For the first time in history, kids in America
  are less likely to graduate from high school than
  their parents the United States is the only
  industrialized country in the world in which this
  is true.
• Colorado ranks 46th in high school completion.
• Over 16,600 students did not graduate from
  Colorados high schools in 2008 the lost
  lifetime earnings in Colorado for that class of
  dropouts alone total over 4.3 billion.
• We have the largest achievement gap in the
  country for postsecondary attainment between
  white and Hispanic students.

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Business / Education Initiatives

• Post-secondary Workforce Readiness
• knowledge, skills and behaviors
• 21st Century Skills
• The Seven Survival Skills for Career, College
  Citizenship by Tony Wagner
• ICAPs
• Relevance
• High standards
• Multiple pathways

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Career Academies

• Site visits and case-studies
• High Tech High - San Diego, CA
• Sacramento City Unified School District CA
• Blackstone Valley Tech Upton, MA
• SWCTA Las Vegas, NV
• NWCTA Las Vegas, NV
• Lake Travis High School Austin, TX

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BizCARES

• Biz
• Coalition to
• Advance
• Reform of the
• Education
• System

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1. Student-Centered Focus

• Keeping the student in mind first and foremost,
  design the entire school experience (curricular,
  extra-curricular and co-curricular) to ensure
  that every student completes school with a strong
  set of core academic skills, core knowledge and
  the success attributes. Every activity in the
  school should contribute in some way to building
  the Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness of our
  students.
• Clear Description of Postsecondary and Workforce
  Readiness
• Personalization Strategies

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2. Relevant and Rigorous Real-World Connections

• Education must be rigorous and relevant. Rigor
  means that what is taught and experienced
  reflects the highest expression of that knowledge
  that is found in the real-world. Relevance means
  that what is taught and experienced demonstrates
  a clear connection to the context in which that
  knowledge is derived and applied. To support
  rigorous and relevant experiences, the school
  must also offer meaningful opportunities for
  struggling students to strengthen their basic
  learning skills.
• Strategic Alignment to Economic Sectors
• Educators Understanding of World of Work
• All Content knowledge is delivered with relevance
  and context
• Teacher Collaboration on Curriculum
• Providing Students with a Range of Work-based
  Learning Opportunities

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3. A Portfolio of Interest-based and
Career-themed Pathways

• Allow every student the opportunity to engage in
  a program of study, drawing from a variety of
  interest-based and career-themed pathways of
  study (such as a career academy, IB Program of
  Study, early college high school, etc) available
  to develop their academic skills, core knowledge
  and success attributes. The program of study
  selected by the student will leverage an area of
  personal interest while integrating that area of
  interest (career and technical education, the
  arts, literature, science and mathematics) with
  other core academic knowledge.
• District Approach to Themed-Options
• Rigorous Academic Preparation
• Early Opportunity for Postsecondary Study
• Structural Connections Among Education Systems

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4. Personalized Planning for Postsecondary and
Careers

• Give all students the tools and support to
  develop the skills for personalized planning for
  postsecondary learning and career. Also, allow
  every student to develop and annually update a
  Personalized Success Plan.
• Comprehensive Postsecondary and Career Counseling
• Career Awareness and Exploration Activities

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5. Accountability for Continuous Improvement

• Hold schools accountable for helping all
  students to complete school with the core
  academic skills and success attributes with a
  focus on continually improving the capacity of
  the teachers, faculty and other school leaders to
  provide a high-impact education to the students.
• Robust Accountability Measures
• Collaborative, Mission-Focused Leadership
• Supports for Teaching Excellence
• Focus on the Knowledge and Skills Needed for
  Teaching

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Action

• There is broad consensus on the essential skills
  of the 21st century, yet little of what we
  formally teach or measure relates to these
  essentials
• Get involved
• Business advisory committee
• Chamber of Commerce
• Colorado Succeeds

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