Melinda Isaacs, AdvancED Tom Richardson, Melior, Inc.

1. Collaborative Efforts between Accreditation Expectations and Industry StandardsNASASPS Annual ConferenceMinneapolis, MNApril 27, 2010 Melinda Isaacs, AdvancED Tom Richardson, Melior, Inc.

2. Objectives for the Session • Provide a general understanding of AdvancED (parent organization of NCA CASI and SACS CASI) • Discuss the benefits to schools and students of greater collaboration among educational partners • Review crosswalk activities of partnerships

3. A Picture of AdvancED World’s Largest Educational Community • 27,000 public and private schools • 30 states and Navajo Nation • Department of Defense Education Activity • 65 countries • 15 million students • 18,000 volunteers • 3 million plus teachers

4. A Picture of AdvancED Dedicated to Advancing Excellence in Education through: Accreditation • Standards, continuous improvement, quality assurance • NCA CASI and SACS CASI are the accreditation divisions of AdvancED Professional Services • Professional development, technical assistance, conferences, consulting Research and Innovation • Publications, resources, tools, evaluation

5. Why Are We Concerned About Collaboration?

6. Challenges Disconnect between students, teachers, and the system Digital Natives are being taught by Digital Immigrants Students do not see relevance Society has not valued technical skills Severe skill shortage 7000 students drop out everyday

7. “Wired” Students • Today’s students are considered “digital natives” meaning they have only known a digital world. • Characteristics of digital natives: • Are capable of parallel processing and multi-tasking • Prefer graphics over text • Prefer random access • Function best when networked • Thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards Source: The Future of Education in America: A Structured Response to Uncertainty, McREL, November 2005

8. Our Future Workforce

9. Paradigm Shift in Perspective

10. Deeper understanding • Student controlled pace • Creative by creating • Work in groups • Synthesize and analyze • Try, fail and try again • Facts & skills based • Teacher controlled • Work alone • Avoid failure • Discipline based New Economy Requires Old + New Basics

11. Revealing Statistics • Fewer than 40 percent of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing job classifications require four-year college degrees. • Fewer than 30 percent of all jobs demand college degrees — a figure that has barely budged in the last two decades. www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/feb/06/; Paul Barton article

12. More than 80 percent of respondents in the 2005 National Association of Manufacturer’s Skills Gap Report indicated that they are experiencing a shortage of qualified workers overall – with 13 percent reporting severe shortages and 68 percent indicating moderate shortages. Career and technical education plays a vital role in helping American business close this gap by building a competitive workforce for the 21st Century. The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) ; www.acteonline.org

13. More trend data… • Nearly 40% of today's postsecondary students are self supporting adults age 24 and up, almost half attend part-time, more than 1/3 work full-time, 27% have children • 44% of Americans don’t believe they have the education they need for the jobs they want • 32 states do not have enough young adults in the pipeline to replace college-educated, retiring Baby Boomers • There are 32 million adults who started, but did not complete, a college education • Every 23 seconds a student drops out of school in the US.

14. From Education Week, 2007, Diploma Counts

15. Job Sectors 2006-2016 Growth and Replacement • Some of the areas where the greatest job opportunities will be available include: • Career and Technical Fields (skilled labor) such as: • Home health care • Medical Assistants • Network Systems • Data Communication Analysts • Education • Veterinary Sciences • Computer Software Engineers and Applications

16. Finding Common Ground • Preparation for post-secondary readiness regardless of what pathway is chosen • What skills are needed in the workplace AND college: • basic knowledge and skills in written and spoken English, mathematics, science, humanities, history, economics and foreign languages • development of applied skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, oral and written communications, leadership, personal responsibility and work ethic, innovation, and the ability to use technology

17. Collaboration Between. . . Schools and business/industry Schools and credentialing bodies Accrediting agencies and business/industry Accrediting agencies and credentialing bodies

18. “If we are truly committed to student success and institutional quality we need to create a results oriented culture that reflects the complexity and depth of preparing students for THEIR future.”

19. Implications Leadership Teaching and Learning Assessment (Student and School) Culture of Improvement

20. Implication for Leadership • Resilient School Communities • Distributed innovation…extends beyond traditional boundaries • Collective intelligence • Transparency KnowledgeWorks Foundation, 2009

21. Implication for Teaching and Learning • A Global Learning Economy • Learning Ecosystem • Families have personal learning ecologies that span national boundaries • Schools no longer exclusive agent of coordination • Personalized, learner-centered experiences and environments KnowledgeWorks Foundation, 2009

22. Implication for Improvement • Creating and sustaining a culture of improvement • Diversifying learning geographies for institutions that create boundless learning exchanges • Understanding the complexity of improvement • Data diversity such as school and student performance statistics, poverty rates, degree of access to fresh food, and employment outlook KnowledgeWorks Foundation, 2009

23. “If we are truly committed to student success and institutional quality we need to create a results oriented culture that reflects the complexity and depth of preparing students for THEIR future.”