Leadership forum focuses on closing skill gap.

Wilson, Andrea

THE CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION (CTE) FOUNDATION hosted its annual National Leadership Forum in Washington, D.C., on June 16. The event focused on the best practices and policy changes needed to support closing the skill gap in today's new economy. It was attended by industry leaders, educators and legislators to discuss the central role that CTE plays in helping reduce unemployment by closing that gap, and how to best prepare a highly skilled workforce.

Oates Focused on Educating Youth Beyond the Recession

Leading off the forum, the U.S. Department of Labor's Assistant Secretary Jane Oates addressed the "dire situation" the recession and recovery created for young people, specifically those ages 16-24; she noted that youths in that age group have the lowest participation in the workforce since 1948.

"If we don't stop and focus on our young people,"' she said, "and make sure that they get the foundation that they're going to need to continue in the workforce through their working" lives, we're going to have a problem that persists long after we call this recession and recovery to a close."

She called on business and industry to "think out loud with the Association for Career and Technical Education" to get America's youth the relevant work experience and soft skills that will make them employable.

She urged career and technical educators to make sure that the rigor is in their programs as they work to align CTE with academics. Oates also discussed the detrimental effect of the recent federal budget cuts on CTE programs across the county. "We are going to have to fight harder than ever to keep real and relevant CTE classes vibrant in rural, suburban and urban areas, because jobs are coming back."

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Training and Credentialing Key in New Workplace

Panelist Andy Ginger of Snap-on discussed the need for a new training and apprenticeship model in order to send students into the workforce prepared. He noted that there are much different expectations of young people in the workplace today than generations ago, but education and training requirements haven't been adjusted to address them. Across the board the panelists agreed that every industry needs to refine its skill certifications, reassess the value they add to the workplace, and find ways to clarify the certification system at a policy level. Tom Friedemann of Francis Tuttle Technology Center went on to emphasize that "credentialing is the pathway to prosperity."

State Can Aid Skill Gap by Connecting Educators and Businesses

The role of governors, states, employers and CTE leaders in closing the skill gap can't be understated, panelists noted. Dominic Giandomenico of the Institute for a Competitive Workforce spoke about bridging the gap between businesses and education through programs like teacher externships. Giandomenico noted that these programs help educators "get out in the work field" and come back with a greater understanding of the skills they're teaching the students.

"The biggest thing that we, as a business community, can do is to help the public understand exactly where the skill gaps are, and which careers will need people."

On a state level, the Manufacturing Institute's Emily DeRocco said governors can and are making efforts to develop a credentialed talent pool by convening strategic partners in their state. Governors play a critical role in aligning CTE educators with businesses and the departments of labor and education, further facilitating the attempt to fill the skill gap. "It is important," she added, ''that this is not an answer deployed from Washington, but a state-by-state deployment that meets a plant or facility manager's hiring needs, community by community."

Reauthorization of WIA Essential to Recovery

Terri Bergman of the National Association of Workforce Boards spoke of the importance of the Workforce Investment Act in today's new economy, highlighting President Obama's recent call to action for Congress to reauthorize the Act, and the education system's responsibility in closing the skill gap.

"Now more than ever, in this political climate, in this economic climate, we have to ensure that individuals have the skills needed to fill today's and tomorrow's jobs." She continued: "We have to do something to improve our educational system to ensure that every student graduates from high school with the skills they need for a job, but also the skills they need to succeed in further educational programs."

Ace Parsi of the Alliance for Excellent Education added that we are at a point in our economy where we need to do more than just focus on graduating students.

"The question is, how do we think beyond the silos that we previously had. We need to create transferable skills that can be taken from industry to industry."

Roundtable Discussions Produce Recommendations

In addition to the panelists at the forum, small groups held roundtable discussions to address specific best practices, and made some recommendations for engaging business and industry in workforce development. Below are some of the responses from the questions discussed:

1. What specific models of best practices should be shared with state and local policymakers in the area of engaging business and CTE?

The key is engaging employers and businesses at the beginning of the process. The U.S. Department of Labor's Web site is a great resource for information on industry-specific models. The energy and construction fields have a competency model to determine the needs of the workforce; there is a strong focus on soil skills, as well as math, reading and other academics--with credentials tied to all levels of the competency models.

2. What specific recommendations do you have for how state-level policymakers might take action on what states can do to build business-education partnerships that will close the skill gap?

There should be direct links between the business and education partners to showcase each other's work throughout the community. Through the use of partnerships, job-shadowing experiences, job site visits, CTE center tours and other engagements, a strong link can be formed between the two arenas. There should be a strong emphasis on coalition efforts with organizations such as Skills for America--NOW!, and parties on both sides of the partnership should continue to forge strong individual relationships with community members.

3. Any other specific comments on how best to engage state policy leaders to help them place priority on education and training to help close the gap?

Work with your GTE business partners to be advocates and spokespeople for an increase in focus on these issues. Both business leaders and educators need to work together to gain the attention of state policy leaders, and to increase awareness on the importance of maintaining a strong workforce and closing the skill gap.

For more information about the National Leadership Forum, including video highlights of the panelists and guest speakers, visit ACTE online at www. acteonline.org/forum.aspx.

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Andrea Wilson

is ACTE's project coordinator. She can be contacted at Owilson@acteonline.org.