Another study found that 80 percent of U.S. executives agree that their businesses would increase if staff had international experience.
An international study conducted in more than 100 countries found that employers increasingly need employees who “are not only technically proficient but also culturally astute and able to thrive in a global work environment.” The study also identified the ability to understand different cultural contexts and viewpoints, respect for others, and knowledge of a foreign language as key skills that employers are using and will continue to use to evaluate and retain employees.
At a fundamental level, the goal of Career Technical Education (CTE) is to prepare students for successful careers, and CTE programs should provide opportunities for students to learn and apply global competencies in order for students to successfully participate in the American economy and beyond.
While this may feel like a natural fit, too few educators have the training or resources they need to teach the global aspects of their career pathways. To address this challenge and support the field, Asia Society, together with the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) and Advance CTE, developed a free professional development course and set of tools: Global Competence Through Career and Technical Education.
This web-based, interactive course and related tools are designed to help CTE educators integrate global content and skills into what they are already teaching in their classrooms to prepare students for the global world of work. The tools – which can be used within the context of the course but are also available on their own – including career-planning lesson plans and worksheets, videos providing global competencies in a range of career clusters, sample global CTE classroom projects, project management resources, and more. One of the main features of the online module is that educators not only get to test out these tools, they also have the opportunity to share their experiences with other participants across the country.
As a partner in this work, Advance CTE sees a great opportunity for states to embed this resources in their own professional development offerings. So how can you learn more?
Check out the tools yourself and see what they’re all about!
Share the website and resources with administrators and educators in your state.
Consider your own statewide vision for CTE and where global competency does and should support that vision.
Contact Heather Singmaster (HSingmaster@asiasociety.org) or Kate Kreamer (kkreamer@careertech.org) for more information on how to promote and implement the resources.
As states increasingly prioritize career readiness and CTE – including the 35 states that included career readiness indicators in their Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plans, the 10 states participating in New Skills for Youth, and 49 states and DC that passed policies related to career readiness in 2017 alone – this is a critical moment in time to ensure that CTE and related experiences and pathways prepare students for success not only in their own communities but in the entire global community.
Today, the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium (NASDCTEc), Asia Society, Longview Foundation and Association for Career and Technical Educators (ACTE) jointly released a new white paper: Preparing a Globally Competent Workforce Through High-Quality Career Technical Education.Â This paper explores why it is so critical that global competencies are embedded throughout CTE programs of study toÂ ensure students are fully prepared for the competitive economy, and offers examples of local CTE programs successfully integrating global concepts through partnerships, projects and other student experiences.
LearnÂ more about the paper and this key issue in a blog co-authored by NASDCTEc, Asia Society, Longview Foundation and ACTE at Education Week.
This paper is intended to sparkÂ Â conversations at the national, state and local levels about ways in which CTE and global competencies can be integrated. To be part of these conversations, please joinÂ usÂ for a specialÂ #GlobalEdChatÂ on Twitter on Thursday,Â January 7 at 8 pmÂ ETÂ as well as anÂ interactive webinarÂ onÂ January 13, 2016 at 3:00 pm ET.
Yesterday, results from the 2012 Program of International Student Assessment (PISA) were released. PISA assesses literacy in mathematics, science and reading for over 500,000 15-year olds from across over 60 countries. The major takeaway is that U.S. studentsâ€™ scores have remained flat from the last assessment, released in 2009, although scores are largely remained unchanged since 2000. However, as the U.S. stood still, other countries demonstrated progress, surpassing the U.S.
On the math portion, 28 countries tested better than the United States, including Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taipei, Korea, Japan, Latvia, the United Kingdom, Poland, France, Germany, Slovenia and others. In reading, 19 countries had higher scores than U.S. students, while 22 countries posted better results than the United States in science.
For the first time, three states â€” Massachusetts, Connecticut and Florida â€” participated in the test and were ranked as if they were individual countries to see how their students compared internationally. Students in Massachusetts and Connecticut scored above the U.S. and PISA average in all three content areas, while students in Florida lagged in math and science and was on par with the U.S. and PISA average in reading.
Education Week created an interactive tool for comparing PISA results, found here.
A new report out of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research by Tamar Jacoby, President and CEO of ImmigrationWorks USA calls on the private sector to engage in Career Technical Education (CTE). Vocational Education 2.0: Employers Hold the Key to Better Career Training makes the case that CTE can provide reliably effective pathways to skilled and well-paying careers, but only with strong engagement and support from the business community. The policy paper tracks the evolution of CTE from old-school vocational education to a more rigorous career-focused set of programs and explores the role CTE is playing as more attention is put on middle-skill jobs, or those that require some education and training beyond high school, but less than a four-year degree.The paper lays out a few models for business engagement in CTE; from Germanyâ€™s apprenticeship model and ProStart, which is supported by the National Restaurant Association among other companies, to the National Center for Construction Education and Research, which provides standardized assessments and credentials in the construction trades.
The Data Quality Campaign (DQC), of which NASDCTEc is a partner organization, released its annual state progress report: Data for Action 2013. Data for Action tracks statesâ€™ progress on the adoption and implementation of its 10 State Actions to Ensure Effective Data Use, which include linking data systems across the K-12, postsecondary and workforce systems; developing funding and governance structures; implementing systems to provide timely access to information for stakeholders; creating progress reports using individual student data to improve student performance; among others. For the first time, two states (Arkansas and Delaware) have met all 10 Actions, while most other states continue to make progress, including 15 states that have met eight or nine Actions.
However, only 19 states have linked their K-12 and workforce data, leaving the majority of states limited in their ability to measure districtsâ€™ and schoolsâ€™ success at supporting studentsâ€™ career readiness.
The College & Career Readiness & Success Center at the American Institutes for Research has developed the CCRS Interactive State Map, which provides snapshots of each stateâ€™s key college and career readiness initiatives, including CTE programs of study, dual enrollment and early college high schools, progress on state longitudinal data system and many others.
Adults in the U.S. are lagging behind in literacy and math skills compared to their international counterparts, according to a new study from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The OECD released findings from its Survey of Adults Skills, which measured the literacy, basic math, and technology skills of 16- to 65-year olds in 24 OECD countries, and found that American adults performed worse in these areas than almost every other country surveyed.
Fewer than 8 out of 10 American adults performed at a level 2 out of 5 in literacy, ranking the U.S. 16th out of 24 countries in this area.
Fewer than 4 in 10 American adults scored at a level 3 out of 5 or higher, ranking the U.S. 21st out of 24 countries in this area.
Technology: The report assessed adultsâ€™ abilities to problem solve in technology-rich environments.
In the U.S., nearly 16% of adults had proficiencies below level 1. The ranking in this area for the U.S. was 14th out of 24 countries.
In order to increase global competitiveness and catch up with the countries that are outpacing the U.S., more opportunities to develop and use in-demand skills are a must. High-quality Career Technical Education (CTE) programs â€“ which blend academic and technical learning and results in an industry-recognized credential or degree â€“ provide one potential solution for improving adult learner skill acquisition in the U.S.
The U.S. Department of Education planned to release a report on the policy implications of the study; however, the federal government shutdown has delayed that release.
Georgetown Universityâ€™s Center on Education and the Workforce just released an update of its widely-cited 2010 report, Help Wanted. The updated report, Recovery: Job Growth and Education Requirements through 2020, includes projections for two additional years â€“ 2019 and 2020 â€“ and provides pertinent labor market information such as which fields are expected to create the most jobs, the education requirements required to gain employment in the United States, and the skills demanded most by employers. A state report was also released.
There will be 55 million job openings in the economy through 2020: 24 million openings from newly created jobs and 31 million openings due to baby boom retirements.
35 percent of the job openings will require at least a bachelorâ€™s degree, 30 percent of the job openings will require some college or an associateâ€™s degree, and 36 percent of the job openings will require a high school diploma or less.
STEM, Healthcare, and Community Services will be areas of fastest growth but also will require higher levels of postsecondary education.
The United States will fall short by 5 million workers with postsecondary education â€“ at the current production rate â€“ by 2020.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released its annual analysis containing data on the structure, finances, and performance of education systems in more than 40 countries. This yearâ€™s study finds that the gap between those with some postsecondary education and those without is widening, with unemployment rates three times higher for those who havenâ€™t graduated high school.
The report found that countries with high percentages of â€œvocational graduates,â€ such as Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, experienced lower unemployment rates for 25-34 year olds in this category than high school graduates. Unfortunately, data for the United States were not included in this portion of the report. The report also found that more young women than ever, 45 percent, are graduating from secondary vocational programs. In many countries â€“ such as Australia, China, Finland, and Belgium, vocational graduation rates are higher for women than for men.
Career Technical Education (CTE) is a major vehicle for educational attainment internationally, and countries continue to embrace CTE in an effort to increase their skilled workforce.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released yesterday its annual Education at a Glance report to broadly examine the state of education across the globe. The report reaffirms that the U.S. is falling behind in education compared to other countries; for example, the average high school graduation rate for OECD countries is 84 percent, while the 2010 U.S. rate is 77 percent. This ranks the U.S. 22nd out of 27 countries for 2010 high school graduation rates.
However, the report shows that education in the U.S. has a larger payoff than any other country. The average U.S. college graduate earns $19,000 more than a high school graduate, while the average advantage for college graduates across OECD countries is $8,900.
Internationally, CTE is widely embraced as a method of preparing highly-skilled workers. Countries such as Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Denmark have historically embraced CTE approaches and continue to rely on CTE. Others, such as the United Kingdom, have introduced policy initiatives to strengthen their CTE systems.
The study also notes that, in many countries, women represent a substantial portion of individuals with secondary and postsecondary CTE degrees or certificates. In Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland, the proportion of 25-64 women with CTE degrees or certificates is slightly greater than the number of men with CTE degrees or certificates.
CTE has been embraced in many OECD countries as a means of preparing knowledgeable, highly-skilled workers. As the U.S. continues to reform its education system, CTE strategies should be considered and more widely valued to increase secondary and postsecondary attainment and provide better opportunities for individuals.
Employment rates in the United States have been on an upturn yet half of U.S. employers in a recent survey still report having difficulty filling job vacancies. Manpower, an employment agency, released today its annual Talent Shortage Survey, the result of nearly 40,000 interviews with employers across the globe, to provide a comprehensive picture of how the skills gap is affecting business and industry.
The top positions that employers struggle to fill include engineers, technicians, production operators, finance staff, Information Technology staff, and laborers â€“ areas in which Career Technical Education (CTE) provides students with skills and training that align with the needs of business and industry.
Four in 10 employers report that the shortage of qualified job applicants has had a high or medium impact on its stakeholders. Many reported that applicants lack technical skills and would be more qualified if they had industry-specific certifications and qualifications, experience operating mechanical and industrial equipment, and computer and information technology skills.
The most common strategy used by employers to address the shortage is to provide additional training and development for existing staff. Only 10 percent of those surveyed reported partnering with educational institutions to create aligned curriculum.
CTE leaders are working to strengthen alignment and partnerships among secondary, postsecondary, and workforce entities to help students successfully land jobs and meet employersâ€™ expectations. Through rigorous academic and technical coursework and hands-on learning experiences, CTE programs are preparing students to meet critical labor market demands.
The House Appropriations committee this week released their FY13 302(b) allocations. Their allocation for the Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee is $150.002 billion. This is more than $6 billion below FY12 levels, and approximately $7.8 billion below the Senateâ€™s allocation. Such a large divide between the House and the Senate likely means that we will see another series of continuing resolutions this fall.
If allowed to occur, the sequester would be highly destructive to national security and domestic priorities, and core government functions. The Administration believes that taking action to avoid the sequester in full in a balanced and fiscally responsible manner must be the primary focus of Congressâ€™s deliberations in the coming monthsâ€¦ For non-defense, the cuts would be equally harmful and wide-ranging, for example, cutting funding for education, law enforcement, infrastructure, and research and development.
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (OR) also raised the point of how harmful the cuts would be to education.Â Her question to the witnesses was an especially important one for CTE: â€œWhat is going happen to our efforts to rebuild the economy and our long term competiveness in a global market when we are doing this to our future leaders?â€ Mr. Werfel responded that the approximate 8% cut to non-defense discretionary programs would result in a loss of educational services for students, as well as a loss of educator jobs, for districts that are already struggling.
Unless Congress acts to stop it, sequestration will take effect on January 2, 2013.
A nationwide emphasis on college and career readiness has brought more light to preparing high school students beyond academics. A recent report from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation implores education decision makers to support the integration of academic and technical curriculum that provides students with a full range of skills to succeed in postsecondary education and beyond.
The report, It Takes a Whole Society: Opening Up the Learning Landscape in the High School Years, indicates that more stakeholders â€“ beyond the education community â€“ should be involved to provide students with relevant education and skills. Education today should be delivered through hands-on learning and engagement of outside stakeholders to provide authentic student experiences.
The report lays out current issues in education such as a narrow focus on college preparation and instruction that does not expose students to real-world experiences. The author suggests ways to create a richer secondary education experience for students including the use of Career Technical Education (CTE) for delivering integrated learning. Further, the use of apprenticeships is advised to create an optimal, applied learning environment for secondary students.