Pondering the Pathways

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Raymond Simon today delivered the keynote address at the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce (RSA) Edge Lecture: No Child Left Behind—Partnership for Learning in the United States. Secretary Simon made interesting remarks about the slide rule, its history, contributions, and status in our society and education, and also its demise due to the microprocessor. His observation about the slide rule and education, a system which hasn’t changed much over the past 100 years, alluded to the problem of schools not preparing students with the skills they need to be successful in today’s competitive marketplace:

…a large number of our students lack the skills to succeed in the global knowledge economy. If we choose to ignore this reality, too many of our citizens run the risk, as history has documented for the slide rule, of being rendered obsolete overnight.

These young people are being released with slide rule skills to compete in job markets that demand the ability to work not only with multi-functional calculators, but also with advanced computer systems.

Of particular interest were some of his remarks specific to CTE:

I mentioned earlier that CTE students have traditionally been one of the groups for whom too many of our high schools have had low expectations. NCLB is helping change that mindset as well. Our philosophy on CTE is that the best preparation we can give these students is to equip them with a solid academic foundation, especially in math, science and technology that will give them a clear path to postsecondary education.

Under recently passed federal legislation, states and local school districts must develop and implement CTE programs that incorporate rigorous state academic standards, link secondary and postsecondary education in a coordinated, non duplicative progression of courses and lead to an industry-recognized credential or certificate, or an associate or baccalaureate degree.

A number of states have collaborated on, and are implementing, a common set of standards for programs in sixteen broad career areas, from general workplace knowledge and skills to specific technical skills needed for a particular occupation. These efforts will help ensure that students have flexibility, choice, and the ability to change their educational and career choices and still be successful.

The advisory committees for these collaborations have also developed sample plans of study, which include recommended courses at the secondary and postsecondary levels to prepare students for new and emerging occupations such as biomedical engineer, nanobiologist, and streaming media specialist—none of which require proficiency with the slide rule.

These actions confirm our continuing need to address the reality of our shifting demographics and rising workforce demands that require us to educate more students to much higher levels than we have ever done before.

NCLB has definitely placed attention on subgroups through testing. For all NCLB’s negatives, the idea of helping all students achieve is one of its positive points. Now it is time for CTE to step up to the plate. There are some awesome CTE programs out there, but there is also the public perception of what CTE is - and today’s CTE is not your father’s shop class, contrary to what many adults believe about today’s career and technical education.

I encourage you to read the entire transcript of his remarks - there are interesting tidbits to ponder!

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