School-to-Career Blog 121807

The views expressed here are Chris' and are not necessarily the same as the Wake County Public School System.

School district, local industry leaders team up for education

link to the news article: The Daily Times: Farmington, New Mexico, December 18, 2007.

Article Highlights

By forming partnerships with local industry leaders, CCSD hopes to craft courses that would put students on the path to careers in several industries.

"Every single one of these programs is developed around industry standards and certification and industry has a significant amount of input about what those classes look like," Hayes said.

Because industry representatives help design the curriculum, the courses provide students with the training they need to get hired at the companies that provide the input.

What differentiates the proposed dual-credit program from similar ones operating at high schools throughout the county is that actual industry personnel would teach the courses.

Chris' thoughts -

Structuring the high school curriculum so it actually prepares kids for real jobs? What a novel idea! This is exactly what I've been saying for years. If the purpose for education is to prepare kids for careers, then why isn't this the norm?

Unfortunately the mission of most schools is to get enough curriculum in the kids to get them to the next level of education. Have we all forgotten that these kids will need jobs one day?

K-12 educators are in a perfect position to help the next generation of leaders explore careers and get them on a pathway to a successful life. Yet we tend to focus on end-of-course scores rather then on preparing students for successful entry into the workforce.

Well, at least that's what I'm thinking!

Chris Droessler

Chris writes for the following Blogs:

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