With the national community college graduation rate dropping by 25 percent, businesses, government and schools are teaming up to form new education models to get students ready for a career. Primary is a focus on "STEM" (science, technology, engineering and math) education and preparing students for jobs in these fields.
Experts have determined that they can't tackle the problem at solely the community college level, but all along the schooling pathway, from preschool to age 20.
Making Jobs a Curriculum Focus
During the CompTIA Colloquium conference this week in Chicago, Charlotte Johnson, program manager, corporate citizenship and corporate affairs, IBM, discussed a unique education model being developed in Brooklyn and Chicago.
Two years ago, the Pathways in Technology Early College High School (PTECH) in Brooklyn became the first of its kind STEM school. Serving students in grade 9-14, the STEM-focused school links high school, college and career for a seamless pipeline. When the students graduate, IBM guarantees that those graduates will be the first line for an interview for a job with the company. When they graduate high school, they also graduate with an associate degree.
IBM created a similar school in Chicago last year as well. The Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy currently has 250 students, which receive one-on-one mentoring with an IBM employee, workplace learning courses, site visits and internships.
The program is going so well that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the state plans to create 10 more schools on the PTECH model across various key subject areas.
Johnson said that IBM deems its metric for success as getting every student to graduate with a dual diploma.
Encouraging STEM Education
In Illinois, the state's Pathways program extends all the way from preschool to continuing adult education. As related by Jason Tyszko, deputy chief of staff, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the program:
- Improves P-20 education, workforce and economic development to build more effective STEM talent pipelines
- Supports implementation of college and career readiness standards and assessments
- Provides a strategy to meet the state's goal of 60 percent of adults attaining a high-quality academic degree or industry credential by 2025
Tyszko said that the Illinois STEM programs must have an authentic learning experience and support personalization for career plan development. So that students are exposed to a variety of career choices, the school must provide orientation-level courses that cut across career clusters and integrate with work-based learning experiences. Schools are to develop a portfolio of academic and employable skills and credentials, and help students manage an effective transition to college and/or employment.
Tyszko said the average age of a college student in Illinois is 27, so the Pathways program is not linear but meets student needs as they progress in their career.
