This is the second of a two part series about the Feb. 25, 2012, joint retreat of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and the Fairfax County School Board.
Part I, , was published Monday.
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Providing a skilled work force for the next decade is going to require collaboration between public school systems, community colleges and four-year universities, according to local educators.
Dana Kauffman, director of College Government Affairs at (NOVA), said local communities need to grow their own front-line work force. He addressed the .
A 2011 study conducted by Dr. Stephen Fuller of found there will be more than 300,000 new jobs coming to Fairfax County in the next 10 years, said Kauffman.
Forty percent of those are predicted to be in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, referred to in educational circles as “STEM.” “That’s larger than the next four fields combined,” said Kauffman.
Kauffman said a study by a leading labor economist from Georgetown University estimated two-thirds of the new jobs will require post-secondary education.
“As the baby boomers retire, we will lose one of the best educated work forces the county has ever seen, replaced with one that is less educated and doesn’t have the skill sets to fill the new jobs,” said Kauffman. That’s because many people in the upcoming work force are from families in which no one has gone to college.
“We need your cooperation and partnership to work with business to provide better college access for first-generation college goers,” Kauffman told the supervisors and school board members.
More Access and 'SySTEMic Solutions'
Kauffman said Virginia HB 1184, which passed the Virginia House on Feb. 6, and the Virginia Senate on Feb. 20, would stretch enrollment at NOVA, and contribute to the needed work force. HB 1184 provides dual enrollment for high school students, giving them college credit for work in high school.
In addition, NOVA is working with Delegate Jim Scott (D-Fairfax) and Delegate Tag Greason (R-Loudoun), supporting Budget Amendment #212H, which would provide $1 million for NOVA’s STEM initiative called SySTEMic Solutions.
“A $1 million commitment ($500,000 each year of the biennium) would bolster and expand SySTEMic Solutions beyond the current service area of Prince William to include Fairfax, Loudoun, Arlington, and Alexandria. The $1M from the General Assembly will be matched by corporations to be able to sustain and continue to expand these programs,” says a NOVA SySTEMic Solutions document.
NOVA projects the investmet will place more than 16,000 students in the technology worker pipeline by 2015 - 2016.
“SySTEMic Solutions provides a replicable model to supply skilled workers through bringing a comprehensive STEM curriculum, intensive teacher training process and numerous dual enrollment student enrichment opportunities together in one research-based approach,” says the document.
“In the last 10 years, 30,000 students who started at NOVA have gone on to Mason,” said Kauffman.
Kauffman said a cooperative relationships between teachers and employers provides better understanding of what kids need to know to get into and hold a job.
NOVA is already working with Arlington High Schools on a class system, which would provide high school graduates with both a high school diploma and a two- year degree.
Remedial Education Needed
Superintendent Jack Dale reported about 20 percent of FCPS graduates go into NOVA, and 50 percent of those require some remedial work before beginning their core courses.
“Those FCPS graduates coming into NOVA are not ready to handle college level English and math," Dale said. “That means about 10 percent of our total graduates are showing need for some kind of remediation,” said Dale.
Dale believes the state’s Standards of Learning (SOLs) are creating a hurdle for college readiness. “The misalignment comes because we teach to the what the SOLs want, not what colleges expect."
Dale said this kind of disconnect is not common in all states. “Virginia is probably one of the least aligned education systems at the state level,” said Dale. “There is no compelling reason at the state level for school systems, community colleges and four-year university’s to work together.”
“It’s stunning to me that you can get through our system without knowing the basics,” said Jeff McKay, Lee District Supervisor.
Dale said many FCPS students come late into the system. “Our drop-out rate has been less than 10 percent over the last four years,’ said Dale. “The majority of those entered FCPS in the late elementary or middle school grades, and had not mastered reading by graduation,” he said.
Students also move from one school in the county to another, and their identified needs fall through the cracks, said Dale.
Deputy County Executive Pat Harrison said the county is also looking at a county funded adult education partnership with NOVA. Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross wanted to know where the school system's Adult and Community Education fit into that. “I’m getting a lot of emails ,” Gross said.
Kauffman said a forum on preparing the new workforce will be scheduled this fall for all stakeholders.
As far as "social promotion" of underachieving kids, I don't have an answer. However, I do know that you should not have ten year olds in a class with six year olds. Sadly, this is what would occur in some cases if we keep holding them back. I taught years ago where there was wholesale retention of kids. This was in a neighborhood of poverty. Usually, the second year was no better than the first because the kids just did not have the tools and were so far behind the curve when they started school. Most of these children would have qualified for special services today--this was before we had so many special ed and LD teachers. I do believe that every child can learn--but we need to be realistic and figure out options for the kids that are really going to struggle with algebra and abstract thinking. However, no child should be "pigeonholed" too early. I do know this: the answer is not pouring more money into programs that support bureaucrats. Personally, I think we need to put money into the early grades--but not in "programs" that support bureaucrats or fancy equipment. It needs to go in classrooms.
1. 75% of all FCPS students pursue higher ed. within 16 months of graduation (as reported by the Fairfax Times). 2. Approx. 66% of all new jobs in Fairfax Co. will require some higher ed. I'm not saying there isn't room for improvement. I've seen first-hand that what VDOE requires of high-schoolers bears little resemblance to the needs of higher ed. or of the workplace, and there is much scope for what we call "vertical articulation." I AM saying that the percentage of students who at least pursue higher ed. is well in line with the need - so it's not a matter of pushing more kids into college, it's a matter of helping the ones who choose that path be better prepared.
You seem to have a lot of misconceptions about home schooling. You might want to check out some reality.
1. The playing field is not even. Are you going to compare a basketball coach with kids that are five foot six against a coach whose kids are six foot five? Generally, the lower the IQ, the slower the progress--so you can't just measure progress. 2. How are classes assigned? Is the principal assigning kids fairly to teachers? It would be easy to set up a teacher the principal does not like. 3. Fraud would be rampant. Even before SOL's and NCLB I knew a teacher who gave extra help to kids so hers would do better. She bragged to the principal about her test scores on reading--all her kids, she said, were "above grade level". The teachers who had her kids the following year disagreed. In fact, her kids were not doing as well as many of the others. We've been seeing fraud and cheating on SAT tests lately. I can only imagine what would happen if we based teachers' pay -or their jobs-on testing alone. 4.Testing is not always as "standard" as you think it is. Some teachers follow the directions to the "T" while others give extra time, etc. 5. What about a teacher with a transient class? He/she may end up with only half of the kids he/she started with. 6. Is the test actually testing what it is supposed to? Who is designing the test? 7. What about the teacher who has kids who don't get to school every day?
Mike, you have no "main point". Your comments speak for themselves, once one wades through the incorrect grammar and punctuation. Your objectives are to jump to conclusions, stereotype home schooling, malign your political opponents, and pontificate your politics. Not much of an agenda for public commentary. Boring actually, and not worthy of any further exchange. Have a good day.