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Posts Tagged ‘skills gap’

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Advance CTE 2024 Spring Meeting Sponsor Blog – Diamond Sponsor Certiport | Promoting the Value of CTE

Friday, April 26th, 2024

Career technical education (CTE) has the power to transform the workforce landscape. By teaching workforce-specific skills, learners can find a career-specific pathway that leverages their passion and talents. Unfortunately, in the United States, CTE is often undervalued and underutilized. 

Matt Fritzius, CTE Curriculum Supervisor at Broward County Public Schools, said, “I think a lot of the CTE stigma in the United States comes from the vocational education of the past, classifying students as less academically inclined and ineligible for college. Instead, these students were put on specific vocational paths where they could get a job, but there wasn’t really much advancement. But the CTE of today is not the vocational education of the past.”

We were able to sit down with Matt to talk about people’s incorrect assumptions about CTE. Matt shared some ways to help change the CTE narrative, and really promote the value of today’s CTE classroom. 

Do Your Research

Understanding the current workforce landscape is crucial to maximizing the value and impact of CTE, and employers are moving away from degree requirements for job postings. A Harvard Business Review article said that “between 2017 and 2019, employers reduced degree requirements for 46% of middle-skill positions and 31% of high-skill positions.” Companies are doing away with degree requirements and instead focusing on finding employees that have the skills for the job. 

“If every student pursues the bachelor’s degree track, the workforce will be full of people with credentials they don’t need for the jobs they land,” said Matt. “Furthermore, we’ll see a huge skills gap for jobs that require a significant amount of technical training and knowledge that can’t be filled by someone with a traditional liberal arts degree or a business degree. Today’s workforce is looking for employees with a very specific set of skills for specific job roles. CTE provides students with an opportunity to learn those skills, often while still in high school.” 

Share the CTE Vision

Once you’ve done your research and understand the job landscape in your area, it’s time to share that information and vision with your fellow educators, administrators, and Departments of Education. Gather testimonials from your past learners. Talk to employers in your community about learners they’ve worked with. Find ways to get others on board and see the impact of CTE in your school, district, and state. 

Matt’s had years of experience with these types of informative conversations. “Many administrators might not even realize what CTE encompasses. I’ve had conversations with school leaders before where they say, ‘I don’t know that we have many CTE classes at my school.’ They start talking about the programs they’re offering, and they mention robotics, entrepreneurship, and hospitality and tourism, for example. Those are all CTE programs! As professionals in the CTE sphere, it’s so important that we make sure everybody understands the breadth and depth of CTE; it’s all these different avenues that CTE offers to today’s students.”

With the large breadth of programs that CTE offers, there’s a place for everyone. Learners can discover their passions, and that’s something we can all get behind. 

Help Students Find Their Passions

When students find their passion, they’re more engaged. We know well that student engagement is the gateway to true learning. Gallup has conducted millions of surveys of K12 students and has revealed some key characteristics of engaged students. Learners who strongly agreed that their school supported the strengths of each student and had at least one teacher who helped them feel excited for the future were 30 times as likely to be engaged in class than those who strongly disagreed. Learners need caring adults who recognize their strengths, potential, and goals. 

Today’s CTE programs help learners find topics that are connected to their strengths and interests. Whether they want to be an entrepreneur or an IT professional, there are CTE pathways that help learners stay engaged in the classroom and learn the skills they need to get there. 

“By leveraging CTE programs, students see a clear pathway to their goals. Students need to know that the path they take to their career, whether through a four-year university, a technical college, and/or apprenticeship program, is celebrated and supported by the adults in their lives.” 

Establish Business Partnerships

The pathway to the workforce is only complete when employers are ready to hire these skilled learners. By engaging with businesses in the community, educators understand what career opportunities are available in their areas. Employers benefit as well. By sharing the skills they need in future employees, they influence curriculum and graduation requirements. Advisory boards allow schools and districts to incorporate feedback from employers across industries. And that doesn’t even cover the impact of potential internship or apprenticeship opportunities these employers have for learners. 

Florida’s already seeing the cyclical benefit of business partnerships. Matt recently took a trip down to Miami to see the benefits firsthand. “Miami-Dade College has partnered with Tesla. There’s a Tesla training center right on the Miami-Dade campus,” Matt said. “Students enroll in the Tesla Academy program and get work experience at either a Tesla dealership or service center here in South Florida. After completing the program, they get hired as a full-time technician.” By connecting with learners before they graduate, companies like Tesla can bridge the skills gap and find the talent they need to fill crucial job roles.

Matt continued, “To me, this really speaks to the power of CTE. There are dual benefits to investing in this type of education. It benefits the learner, and it benefits the community. When you upskill people in your community, they can make more money, and that money ends up staying in the community. It only makes sense to expand programs like Tesla’s moving forward.” 

Prepare your learners to hit the ground running after graduation. Give them the skills they need to establish a successful and engaging career. Learn more from Matt on the CERTIFIED Educator Podcast here.

By Layla Alagic in Advance CTE Spring Meeting
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Advance CTE 2024 Spring Meeting Sponsor Blog – Gold Sponsor SkillsUSA | The Skills Gap May be Wider Than You Think… But We’ll Close It Together

Wednesday, April 17th, 2024

The views, opinions, services and products shared in this post are solely for educational purposes and do not imply agreement or endorsement by Advance CTE, nor discrimination against similar brands, products or services not mentioned.

As a state Career Technical Education (CTE) leader, you’ve likely heard the phrase “skills gap” many times. We hear it often at SkillsUSA, too, especially from our current and prospective industry partners looking to secure their future workforce. At more than 400,000 student and teacher members, SkillsUSA is the largest Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) in the U.S. devoted to the skilled trades, and that’s one of the reasons we describe ourselves as “the #1 workforce development organization for students.” Another reason is our approach to closing the skills gap, one that focuses on the development of more than technical skills alone.

Yes, most discussions around the skills gap center around the need for hands-on technical skills, and understandably so. After all, the manufacturing industry alone forecasts more than 2.1 million unfilled jobs by 2030, and other industries offer their own daunting predictions. In fact, according to a recent report from McKinsey and Company, 87% of companies worldwide claim to either be experiencing a skills gap now or expecting to experience one in the next few years. Viewing the skills gap as mainly a shortage of technical skills is so pervasive because that shortage is such a clear and present threat to our global economy.

But there’s another aspect of the skills gap that’s just as big a threat. When we speak with industry, we hear repeatedly that entry-level employees also lack what are often called “employability” or “soft” skills. These are skills such as communication, teamwork, integrity, professionalism, and more that set employees apart as leaders, achievers, and difference-makers, which can foster success in any career… and in life itself.

Those are exactly the types of skills we work to develop in our SkillsUSA students as we accomplish our mission: to empower students to become skilled professionals, career-ready leaders, and responsible community members. When students combine those life skills with their hands-on skills, their potential is truly limitless.  

One of our teachers, Amanda McClure of Union Grove High School in McDonough, Georgia, says it best: “SkillsUSA transforms timid students into leaders, disinterested students into competitors and self-centered students into team players. I have seen the positive changes SkillsUSA makes in my students’ lives and witnessed their success in college and careers as a result of involvement.”

According to the recent “SkillsUSA Advantage Report,” released by the Student Research Foundation in 2022, SkillsUSA members consistently outperform their peers not enrolled in a CTSO in seven essential areas: earning a license or certification, meeting potential employers, being excited about their chosen career, gaining work experience, understanding the work environment, being excited about school, and connecting school to the real word. 

Those results are further proof that CTE is at its strongest and most impactful when it’s shaping the whole student into a confident, focused leader and contributor, one who’s uniquely skilled to succeed both personally and professionally. Showing the nation that CTE is unrivaled when it comes to setting students up for fulfilling, successful futures is how we put—and keep—“CTE at the Forefront” of workforce development discourse. In fact, many are already catching on about the amazing opportunities CTE programs provide. SkillsUSA’s membership numbers—the highest in our nearly 60-year history—are a testimony to that fact, and that’s thanks in large part to the life-changing work our state SkillsUSA directors perform each and every day on behalf of their student members. I know that same dedication is shared by all state CTE leaders, and as we commit ourselves to developing the whole student in all our programs, we make it clear—through the inspiring success of our students—what “CTE Without Limits” truly means.

Chelle Travis

Executive Director, SkillsUSA

By Layla Alagic in Advance CTE Spring Meeting
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CTE Without Limits Summer Lunch and Learn #4 Recap: Knowledge Building and Transparency Key Themes for Implementing Fourth Vision Principle

Thursday, September 2nd, 2021

Advance CTE continued its five-part summer lunch and learn series delving into each of the five principles of Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits). Each session features a panel of leading voices from organizations across learning and work followed by interactive group discussions on the information shared and next steps. 

The fourth principle of CTE Without Limits aims to fully count, value and transport each learner’s skills through systematic transformations that capture learning at stages and settings, build systems that translate competencies into portable credit, and advance a culture of hiring that values skills over degrees. The August 17 panel featured Jonathan Alfuth, State Policy Director, KnowledgeWorks; Molly Bashay, Senior Policy Analyst for Education, Labor & Worker Justice, The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP); and Niki DaSilva, Manager of Programs and Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Center for Education and Workforce. 

Throughout the session, it was clear that equity must be a key driver for this principle to be fully realized. When each learner’s skills are fully counted, valued and portable, systems will be able to respect and validate all skillbuilding experiences and remove historic barriers to paths to career success with family-sustaining wages. 

Key Themes 

Recommendations for Implementation

The fifth and final lunch and learn held August 31 featured Stephen Pruitt, President of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB); Dale Winkler, Vice President of School Improvement for SREB; and Christina Sedney, Director of Policy Initiatives and State Authorization, Policy Analysis and Research for the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). 

Recordings of previous Lunch and Learn sessions and additional vision implementation resources can be found on Advance CTE’s vision page.

Stacy Whitehouse, Senior Associate Communications and State Engagement 

By Stacy Whitehouse in CTE Without Limits
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New Survey Highlights a Persistent Skills Gap; What Can States Do to Strengthen the Talent Pool?

Tuesday, February 18th, 2020

As the economy continues to change with digitalization and automation, the needs of the labor market will continue to change too. In 2019 the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation commissioned a study surveying 500 human resource (HR) professionals with hiring decision authority in their organizations. An overwhelming 74 percent of respondents said that a “skills gap” persists in the current U.S. labor and hiring economy. 

These employers cite three major challenges they face when hiring: candidates lacking the appropriate or necessary skills, candidates lacking previous relevant work experience and not having enough applicants. According to these HR professionals, addressing the skills gap and truly transforming the talent marketplace would require:

1)      Greater upskilling initiatives within companies for existing employees.

2)      More educational/Career Technical Education (CTE) programs to build talent pipelines.

3)      Improving alignment between skills and competencies taught in educational/CTE programs and in-demand skills and competencies needed in the workforce.

A study by JFF further highlights the skills gap and the challenges to solving the problem. The report, Making College Work for Students and the Economy, follows JFF’s comprehensive policy agenda for addressing states’ skilled workforce and talent development needs.  The report examines a representative sample of 15 states to determine their progress toward adopting 15 policy recommendations. Of the recommendations made in their initial report, states have made the most progress on the following:

1)      Establishing expectations that community college programs align to labor market demand.

2)      Developing longitudinal data systems that provide the ability to track over time the educational and employment outcomes of students.

3)      Addressing barriers to college readiness.

Conversely, JFF finds that states have the most work to do in the following areas:

1)      Providing community colleges with sufficient resources and appropriate incentives.

2)      Addressing the holistic needs of students to strengthen their financial stability.

3)      Digging into labor market outcomes of students and postsecondary programs.

Both the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and the JFF studies highlight a need for state governments, the education sector and the labor sector to work collaboratively and do more to prepare the 21st century workforce to meet the needs of an ever-changing labor market. 

With implementation of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) underway, states are poised to make transformational changes to improve the quality of CTE programs and ensure equitable access and success. Opportunities like the comprehensive local needs assessment and the Perkins V reserve fund give state leaders leverage to ensure programs are meeting the needs of learners and employers.

Research Roundup

Brian Robinson, Policy Associate

By admin in Research
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Playbook Offers Upskilling Models to Help Companies, Employees and Communities

Tuesday, July 11th, 2017

UpSkill America, part of the Aspen Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program, recently released its Upskilling Playbook. This document highlights promising practices and examples of employer upskilling strategies, and offers guidance on how other employers can implement these practices. Through upskilling, an employer can invest in the long-term competitiveness and success by encouraging existing employees to gain new skills and advance through a company. Research shows that upskilling can help company bottom lines, and increase employee retention, as most employees expect some version of upskilling as a benefit of employment.

The playbook offers several models for companies to adopt, including apprenticeship, pre-employment training, as well as providing support and incentives for completion of certifications and postsecondary degrees. One example cited is Amazon’s Career Choice Program, which will pre-pay 95% of tuition and fees for an employee to earn a certificate or associate degree in a high-demand occupation.

Even companies who already provide tuition assistance may not be fully realizing the potential of upskilling, according to recent research carried about by UpSkill America. Many companies see these benefits merely as recruitment tools when looking for new hires. The playbook argues that companies should imbed upskilling as a cornerstone of company culture.

Report Explores Effective Teacher Professional Development Models

A new report from the Learning Policy Institute (LPI) explores the question of effective professional development for teachers through a review of 35 methodologically rigorous studies that have demonstrated a positive link between teacher professional development, teaching practices, and student outcomes. Their research found that effective professional development, including professional learning communities, incorporates the following elements:

Unfortunately, realities within institutions can hinder effective professional development, including insufficient resources (in both time and funding), as well as a poor school climate. LPI recommends evaluating the use and time of school schedules to create more opportunities for professional learning, as well as regularly conducting needs assessments and gathering feedback from educators to determine the areas of highest need for professional learning.

Odds and Ends

The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) has been creating and compiling resources related to foster, juvenile justice and crossover youth. Included in those resources are several recorded webinars detailing promising practices in providing career pathways for systems-involved youth. While there are many challenges and barriers to success for these youth and the organizations devoted to helping them, several institutions have uncovered some promising strategies worth exploring further.

The National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education (NCWGE) recently released a report about the history and progress of Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs. While the report covers many topics, there is an entire section devoted to gender disparities Career Technical Education (CTE). The report finds that though progress has been made in CTE, large gaps remain, and there is certainly more work to be done.

Two publications have recently ranked institutions that effectively fight the nation’s skills gap. The first, from The New York Times, describes seven postsecondary institutions that take innovative approaches to supporting students through completion. The second, from Forbes, ranks two-year institutions based on the same “return on investment” focus of their rankings of four-year institutions.

Ashleigh McFadden, State Policy Manager

By admin in Uncategorized
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Spring Meeting Recap: Advancing Employer Engagement in Education

Thursday, April 16th, 2015

Business-education collaboration is a “classic win-win,” says John Colborn, director of the Aspen Institute’s Skills for America’s Future initiative. Employer engagement was one of many critical issues featured during last week’s NASDCTEc Spring Meeting.

“It’s seems so obvious,” Colborn said. “So what is it so hard?”

Yet, there are ongoing challenges to breaking down decades-old silos, and there are no quick solutions. Challenges include the differences between national and local interests as well as views between the long-term perspectives of educators and the often short-term views of employers; finding the time necessary to nurture strong relationships; and developing a common language to create common understanding among all partners.

At Skills for America’s Future, Colborn said they are trying to operationalize the idea of effective employer-led partnerships. To do this, the initiative has been evaluating the grantees of the U.S. Department of Labor’s TAACCCT program, which provides community colleges with funds to expand and improve their ability to deliver education and career training programs that prepare workers for high-wage, high-skill occupations.

The evaluators have found that grantees did a number of things to build and develop employer partnerships, a key feature of the grant. Activities included curriculum alignment to the needs of employers as well as experiential learning, which Colborn said was critical to ensuring students graduated with the skills necessary to perform at full capacity from their first day on the job.

Another collaborative effort highlighted came from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

“(The skills gap is) no longer a gathering storm on the horizon,” said Jason Tyszko, senior director of policy and programs at the Foundation.

With mounting evidence such as the recent Lumina/Gallup poll that showed dramatic differences between the views of chief academic officers and employers about college graduates’ career readiness, Tyszko said the recent work at the U.S. Chamber Foundation is seeking to close that gap by applying supply chain management strategies to the pipeline of skilled workers. Read more coverage about the Chamber’s “Managing the Talent Pipeline” initiative on our Research Review blog series.

Since the 2014 release of the Talent Pipeline research, the Chamber has been working to implement some of its recommendations including toolkits about how to better build employer capacity as the end consumer of education.

Tyszko said he often gets asked about how education can engage employers better, but he offered that the entire question needed to be turned around to put the employer in the driver’s seat. Among the many ways to do this, Tyszko said this might mean moving away from traditional CTE local advisory boards to working with an intermediary to connect all of the right partners in the conversation.

To make employer engagement meaningful, Colborn encouraged institutions to dedicate someone whose entire job is engage employers and to devise strategies to grow this work and further, how to measure it over time.

Andrea Zimmermann, State Policy Associate

By admin in Advance CTE Spring Meeting
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McKinsey Report Outlines Common Elements of Innovative Programs to Close the Skills Gap

Friday, May 24th, 2013

The McKinsey Center for Government surveyed 8,000 individuals – from employers to educational institutions to students – to answer one question: how can we close the skills gap? Their results include an examination of more than 100 innovative programs and suggest many strategies already implemented through Career Technical Education (CTE).

The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that by 2020 there will be a global shortfall of 85 million high- and middle-skilled workers. Nearly 40 percent of employers find that applicants lack the skills needed for entry-level jobs. And while 72 percent of education providers reported that graduates are ready to enter the job market, only 42 percent of employers and 45 percent of youth agreed. On top of this disconnect, the authors indicate that there is no comprehensive data on skills required for employment or on the performance of specific education providers in building those skills.

The report identifies common elements of innovative and effective programs, many of which reflect aspects of CTE as laid out in Reflect, Transform, Lead: A New Vision for Career Technical Education, including:

What is needed to close this knowledge and skills gap? Again, the authors suggest improvements that align with the work that many state and local CTE stakeholders are already putting into action:

Access the full report here.

Kara Herbertson, Research and Policy Manager

By admin in Research, Resources
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May CTE Monthly Newsletter: Analysis Supports CTE As Key to Dropout Reduction, Research Shows Employees Need More Applied Skills

Tuesday, May 21st, 2013

CTE Monthly, a collaborative publication from the Association for Career and Technical Education and the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium, features the latest news on Career Technical Education (CTE) from across the nation for CTE stakeholders and Members of Congress.

In the May edition, read more about:

View archived CTE Monthly newsletters and other advocacy resources on our Advocacy Tools Web page.

Kara Herbertson, Research and Policy Manager

By admin in Advance CTE Resources, News
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NASDCTEc Releases Publication on Area CTE Centers

Monday, April 29th, 2013

Career Technical Education (CTE) inherently emphasizes partnerships with employers and encourages input from business and industry on CTE curriculum and other collaborative opportunities so that students graduate with the knowledge and skills that employers demand. But despite increased interest in CTE by students and businesses, states and school districts are struggling to maintain or expand CTE programs due to limited federal, state and local funding. Given the current fiscal situation, area CTE centers area an especially viable option for districts wanting to provide students with high-quality CTE in a cost-effective way.

Last week, the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc) released a new publication on this topic – Area CTE Centers: Conquering the Skills Gap through Business and Industry Collaboration. The paper provides information on the history, benefits, and cost effectiveness of area CTE centers. Several examples of best practices are highlighted including Miami Valley Career Technology Center in Ohio and Canadian Valley Technology Center in Oklahoma. Read more

A webinar recording on area CTE centers, featuring leaders from the schools mentioned above, is now available here.

Kara Herbertson, Research and Policy Manager

By admin in Advance CTE Resources, Publications, Resources
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NASDCTEc Webinar on Area CTE Centers – Today at 3:00 pm ET

Thursday, April 25th, 2013

Area CTE Centers operate in a variety of ways – from shared-time centers offering primarily technical training to full-time centers that provide students with both academic instruction and technical training – but all provide opportunities for students to receive relevant, rigorous CTE. And at a time when employers say that they are unable to find workers who have the right skills to fill job vacancies, area CTE centers provide a crucial link between the knowledge and skills that students learn and those demanded by local businesses.

Join us for a webinar that features state and local leaders who will discuss area CTE centers in their states and how they are making connections to the needs of business and industry and their communities.

The webinar will be held TODAY, Thursday, April 25th at 3:00 pm ET. Register here

Speakers include:

Kara Herbertson, Research and Policy Manager

By admin in Advance CTE Announcements, Webinars
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