Magic Wand list for changing Education in California
Way back in 2008, I spent several months working with other stakeholders (teacher, community college, business people, administrator) interested in improving and changing the Education system in California to support the upcoming needs of business, industry, students, teachers and citizens of our state. Below you’ll find a list of BHAGs, then the raw “If I had a magic Wand” list, then the challenges and opportunities we see.
As you read below, and you see something and you think “surely this doesn’t happen?”, think again. If there is a challenge or suggestion on the list, it’s because something is broken there. It’s either a barrier because of the legal education code (written a long time ago) or because of bureaucracy, or because of our own unwillingness to push the issue.
The Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs) from the list of ideas we brought to the Governor’s Conference were:
BHAG 1) Evaluate and change curriculum, content standards, and requirements
- Idea: Change state regulations on when NCLB requirements are tested to help kids & teachers succeed!
- Idea: Fairly evaluate the statewide curriculum of the 5th grade-12th grade to meet the skills needed for the workforce and change the curriculum to meet the soft skills needs required.
- Idea: Remove testing boundaries and restrictions on teachers so they can be more creative and bring more value to the youth.
- Idea: Evaluate and Change curriculum and content standards for 7th grade-12th grade.
BHAG 2) Create or improve true career and path counseling that incorporates ALL options
- Idea: Train the career counselors to talk about community college in positive way using the already existing policies (SB70).
- Idea: Clearly identify and have an effective marketing plan for a career path from high school to and through community college.
- Idea: Ensure comprehensive career counseling at the middle school and high school level.
- Idea: Bring Junior Achievement (or other) pre existing programs with business owner volunteers into all 5th to 12th grade classes statewide.
- Idea: Have a business liaison as an individual permanent position at every middle and high school to coordinate business volunteers and programs.
BHAG 4) Add and Improve Career/Technical Education across the state
- Idea: Bring relevant technical education/alternative education into all schools at all levels K-12 and up.)
- Idea: Copy this idea all throughout California: Chancellors office funded 52 regional grants throughout the State – Community Collaboratives formed between employers for career pathways
- Idea: Rebuild CTE across the state.
- Idea: Make sure that every single student knows the options available and has access to Regional Occupational Programs
BHAG 5) Standardize Implementation of Community College teacher qualifications statewide
- Idea: Community college teachers don’t need a master’s degree to teach.
- Idea: Standardize the interpretations of the requirements/minimum qualifications for each community college.
- Idea: Become flexible and responsive – Governed by statute
BHAG 6) Implement and effectively market a small business recognized certificate for a true evaluation of skills for work readiness
- Idea: Work Ready Certificate based on the ACT Work Key system signed by the governor.
This is the list of answers we had to the magic wand question (which went into the above BHAGs).
Answer this question: If I had a magic wand, what would I change?
- Idea: Community college teachers don’t need a master’s degree to teach.
- Idea: Change state regulations on when NCLB requirements are tested to help kids & teachers succeed!
- Idea: Bring technical education/alternative education into all schools at all levels.
- Idea: Clearly identify and have an effective marketing plan for a career path from high school to and through community college.
- Idea: Train the career counselors to talk about community college in positive way using the already existing policies (SB70).
- Idea: Bring Junior Achievement (or other) pre existing programs with business owner volunteers into all 5th to 12th grade classes statewide.
- Idea: Fairly evaluate the value of full time faculty and tenure versus part time and the flexibility of just in time education that part time faculty can provide.
- Idea: Fairly evaluate the statewide curriculum of the 5th grade-12th grade to meet the skills needed for the workforce and change the curriculum to meet the soft skills needs required.
- Idea: Remove testing boundaries and restrictions on teachers so they can be more creative and bring more value to the youth.
- Idea: Evaluate the rationale for the ROP program – its efficacy, programs, and placement.
- Idea: Have a business liaison as an individual permanent position at every middle and high school to coordinate business volunteers and programs.
- Idea: Spend education money on entrepreneurship and micro enterprise training.
- Idea: Appropriately train the administrators of schools in people management instead of dumping teachers into a role they have no training for.
- Idea: Consolidate multitudes of state programs across all of the agencies.
- Idea: Work Ready Certificate based on the ACT Work Key system signed by the governor.
- Idea: Copy this idea all throughout California: Chancellors office funded 52 regional grants throughout the State – Community Collaboratives formed between employers for career pathways.
- Idea: Adopt statewide best practices for career pathways so kids that are in high school begin taking classes in community college in high school to keep them engaged!
- Idea: Standardize the interpretations of the requirements/minimum qualifications for each community college.
- Idea: Teach entrepreneurship in high schools along with CTE (Career Technical Education).
- Idea: Create and implement training for school boards and boards of trustees at community college level.
We also came up with a list of challenges, or rather, opportunities for change:
- There is disconnect between business community and education community – need to bridge the gap.
- Small biz has got to get involved to revive technical/vocational education.
- Need career/tech education in all schools from grade 7 up to 12.
- 4 generations in the workplace – look at work differently, value work differently.
- Duplication of workforce training through different agencies.
- Parents pressure kids to go to university and nothing else.
- Government regulations are outdated for our current & future society
- Business is challenged to EASILY find the gov’t programs to serve them.
- Scarcity of workforce is a CRISIS!
- 40% of educators are going to retire – what will happen?
- Business needs to understand the limitations put on educators by state standards.
- Getting Business involved at schools has challenges.
- Fundamental shift of the topics we teach in school and how we teach them
- Evaluate the way subjects are taught and value to workforce and human development
- Make education relevant to the kids.
- Unions and Administration: Need to talk to front line educators and business people to understand the value that unions and administration brings to each
- Running schools like a business: human capital is NOT like creating/manufacturing other widgets. We must understand that and find the best of both worlds.
- Self-employment is the labor market trend of the future.
- In micro businesses (5 employees and under) employment is fluid.
- Statistic in new businesses – 80% of new jobs come from businesses with less than 50 employees.
- How many employees really need a university degree for working in the current and future economy with small business?
- We need to build value in what are teaching and how it applies to keep ALL youth engaged.
So as a citizen, what are you willing to advocate for to make ANY change happen? Instead of talking about it, what actions are you willing to take?
Here’s the list in pdf form (much more elegant!) OSBA Conf WFED pod 2008 overview
Jessica
