Education, and more specifically the topic of workforce development, was key committee discussion this weekend at the Annual Meeting of National Governors Association in Biloxi, MS. Chaired by Governor Heineman (NE), the education committee discussed the critical need in our country to retrain workers for 21st century jobs as well as a need for our K12 schools to produce graduates who are college ready and work force ready.

Governor Hieneman spoke of the need for our country to “embrace a new way to prepare students” in these areas and shared his thoughts on how our processes and environment for educating students today has changed very little since he was a school in the 1950s.

Two experts were invited to share their viewpoints on the topic of workforce development. Jane Oates of the U.S. Dept. of Labor spoke of the need to have educational options available across all sectors of education (K12, higher ed., workforce ed.) that are directly aligned to the needs of businesses in America. She provided examples of how too many students are woefully lacking in the technical and learning skills that today’s work force requires. Adding to this challenge is the fact that training programs often require students to take courseware that is not specific to the skill that the student seeks to learn and our not provided in a flexible environment that would allow for acceleration for students who are capable.

Dr. Nan Poppe, President of Portland Community College (OR), provided an overview of some unique programs that her school has created that are now being replicated by other schools around the country. For example, The Oregon 40-40-20 program seeks to create a population of Oregonians in which 40 percent would have a Bachelors degree or higher; 40 percent would have an Associates degree; and 20 percent would have a high school diploma with the knowledge and skills that they need for specific technical and competitive jobs. Their Gateway to College program also provide an opportunity for high school students to earn an associates degree by extending their high school education by one year.

Governor Barbour (MS) spoke of the need for school systems to provide career tech options that all too often have been stigmatized. He shared an example of how schools across MS have de-emphasized career technical education at the same time when his state and others have an unmet need for thousands of welders, electricians, etc.

As I listened to the Governors’ share their views and needs in their states, and pondered the opinions shared by the invited experts, I was reminded of the work that SAS is doing to address the challenges that this committee brought forth. While our efforts to assist schools, both in higher education and K12, is not a panacea to cure all of our country’s educational ailments, the work that we are doing does have directly align to the goals that this panel identified. Examples of this include:

• SAS Curriculum Pathways, provided at no cost to educators and students throughout the U.S., delivers a curriculum that is engaging, interactive, and standards based. SAS Curriculum Pathways has received national recognition for excellence in the areas of STEM, reading, and writing instruction. When educational resources and instruction are engaging and relevant, students will become excited about learning and less likely to exit our system before acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in the work force.
• SAS Programming Institute for High School Educators provides teachers with the training that they need to teach SAS programming at their local high school. SAS programmers are in high demand all across the world. This program reflects the need to align educational opportunity with the needs of the business community that the panel experts spoke about.
• As the committee wrapped up its session for the day, another important “need” was briefly mentioned - that being the need for better access and use of student data across the K-20 system, as well as better consistency in data collection and reporting across all states. This too is a sweet spot for SAS. SAS On Demand for K12 can help school leaders make more informed and data-driven decisions. EVAAS and our work in the field of longitudinal data systems can assist schools with better decision making around student performance and placement.

At the winter meeting of this committee in March 2009, Governor Heineman spoke of the need for private business to “step up to the plate” to help reform our educational system.

Prior to yesterday’s committee meeting, I was able to spend a few minutes with the Governor to explain how SAS is doing just that.