Labor and Job Training
WorkNotes
WorkNotes provides state legislators and legislative staff with information about
employment, training and human resource development.
November 1997
STW in Rural Communities:
NE States Exchange Best Practices
Recently, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) cosponsored the Connecting Learning and Work: The Rural Experience conference Nov. 17-18 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The conference provided 225 school-to-work partners from nine northeastern states an opportunity to share strategies for helping rural youth acquire the knowledge and skills needed for employment and effective citizenship. Other conference cosponsors included: the New York state Legislative Commission on Rural Resources, and the Rural Education Advisory Committee, the New York Education Department, the Academy for Educational Development, and the Education Commission of the States. Sullivan Educational Associates of Delmar, N.Y. coordinated the conference with NCSL. The nine Northeast school-to-work implementation states (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont) presented 10 "how-to" workshops as outlined below in this excerpt from the New York Senate Education Committee Report, Vol. V, No. 6.
Making Entrepreneurship Education Work: REAL Enterprises (Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning) has been equipping schools since the early 1980's to contribute to local economic and community development by encouraging the creation of sustainable businesses. REAL Entrepreneurship is an experiential course of study taught through school and community-based organizations. It operates in over 200 elementary, middle, secondary and post-secondary institutions in 30 states, including Maine, Pennsylvania and Vermont. For more information, contact Rick Larson, national director, REAL Enterprises, (919) 688-7325.
Small College + Small Communities + Industry- Sharing Our Strategies for Success: Maine introduced technical preparation (tech prep) programming in 1991. Since then, Maine has developed a new course of study that combines two years of high school with two years at a technical college and sometimes an additional two years at a university. The tech prep program improves the academic and technical skills of secondary students and increases the number of skilled technicians entering the work force in Maine. For more information, contact Timothy Crowley, vice president, Northern Maine Technical College, (207) 768-2811.
Vermont Employer/Teacher Internship Program: This program gives educators and employers a field experience that strengthens business/school partnerships and increases school-to-work learning opportunities for K-14 students. Qualified educators, whose professional development interests match projects in the workplace, are hired for summer employment. Educators and business professionals then work together to help students make connections between learning in the classroom and the application of skills to careers. For more information contact Robin Morton, Vermont Chamber of Commerce, (802) 223-0603.
Innovation and Imagination - Advancing the Virtual Classroom in Rural New England: Maine schools are a gateway for an emerging technology called Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), a system that transports video, data and voice to enhance course delivery and staff development. The system utilizes an interactive fiber-based technology that allows ample room for system growth and flexibility to adapt to standards and technologies not yet developed. ATM can overcome geographic, economic and social barriers; connect rural and urban communities; and promote collaboration between the public and private sectors. For more information, contact Linda Lord, distance learning education coordinator, Maine Department of Education, (207) 287-5620.
New York Wired: This project is an umbrella of programs dedicated to wiring the state’s schools and libraries with Internet access to prepare school children with the technological tools and skills they need to compete in the 21st century. These programs bring the diverse assets and attractions of NYS into classrooms via television, form partnerships between state and private institutions to fund Internet installation in over 3,000 schools and libraries, and give lottery agents a chance to win computer prizes for local schools. For more information, contact Jeffrey Perlee, director, NYS Division of the Lottery, (518) 388-3300.
School-to-Work (STW) Risk Management: Risk management issues impact all STW participants, and all stakeholders need to understand potential financial and legal exposures when placing students off campus as part of an academic program. The major goals of risk management are to: protect the health and welfare of a student who is participating in STW; provide equal access to STW activities for students in both rural and urban areas by encouraging all employers to participate in work-based learning opportunities; preserve the learning opportunities for students in off-site educational environments; and help districts manage their exposure to risks. For more information, contact Greg P. Voorheis, Vermont Department of Employment and Training, (802) 828-4343.
Building Business Awareness in Rural New York: New York State's School-to-Work (STW) system, a culmination of legislative initiatives begun in 1991, provides the structure enabling students to achieve higher academic and work force preparation standards. Four STW partnerships were highlighted: the GLOW STW partnership, the Southern Chautauqua County- STW partnership, the Chemung-Steuben-Schuyler STW partnership and the Capital Region STW partnership. For more information, contact Betty Powers, GLOW, (716) 344-5721; Candace Huber, Southern Chautauqua, (716) 763-1801; Kris Reuland, Chemung-Steuben, (607) 735-3177; Robert Drake, Berne-Knox-Westerlo in Capital Region, (518) 872-1293.
School-To-Work Transition -- Developing Collaborative Partnerships for the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities: Both the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the School-to-Work Opportunity Act stress the need to enable students to increase their skills and reach higher standards. This workshop highlighted how New York and New Jersey addressed these mandates by developing collaborative partnerships for the inclusion of students with disabilities. For more information, contact Nancy Lauria, NYSED, (518) 474-7566, or John Grover, NJ Office of School-to-Career and College Initiatives, (609) 633-9822.
School-to-Career Project-Based Learning -- A Teacher Friendly Workshop: Project-Based Learning is a Rhode Island program designed around the concept that students learn more easily, understand more thoroughly and retain knowledge longer when they are involved in hands-on curriculum-related projects. The program is for K-12 teachers and structured to assist them in taking existing curriculum and designing a project, using volunteer classroom facilitators who work in project-related professions. For more information, contact Ronald Millican, RI School To Career coordinator, West Bay Educational Collaborative, (401) 822-0560.
Connecting Learning and Work -- Roles and Leadership for Higher Education: This workshop described six state strategies for connecting learning and work on postsecondary campuses. Colorado is using the writing curriculum to integrate K-16 academic standards and workplace competencies. Minnesota is creating career awareness and applied learning opportunities across a rural K-12 system, a community college and a regional state university. New Jersey's state postsecondary institutions are building K-16 career pathways to prepare students for high technology and research and development careers. New York's project is a collaborative effort across public and private institutions to identify and report student academic and applied competencies. Among other things, the history and geography departments in Oklahoma plan faculty externships to provide graduates with employability skills, and teachers in Wisconsin will benefit from a new education program designed to model how to combine work force and academic competencies. Each initiative calls for change in existing faculty roles and rewards as well as teaching on campus. The ultimate goal is better state policy for higher education through stronger collaboration between policy and practice. For more information, contact Diana Deluca, Education Commission of the States, (303) 299-3643.
PEPNet: 14 Programs Receive National Recognition
Students from across the country gathered in Washington recently to recount their stories of despair turned to hope. Each student's life changed because of his or her involvement in an outstanding youth program. The Promising and Effective Practices Network (PEPNet) honored these programs as their 1997 network inductees. The goal of PEPNet is to encourage real change in youth employment and development through the use of self-assessment, share information and techniques among practitioners, and inform policymakers about programs that work.
Now in its second year, PEPNet selected programs that met rigorous criteria such as strong, stable and effective management; a well-conceived and implemented approach to youth development; an emphasis on the development of skills, knowledge and competencies that lead to jobs and careers; and documented success. These selection criteria were developed by a national working group of youth employment and development practitioners, researchers (including Karen Johnson from NCSL), employers and policymakers. A similar peer review board analyzed all self-appraised applications from across the nation to recommend initiatives for PEPNet.
Programs from New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, California, Texas, Minnesota, Illinois and Pennsylvania joined last year’s 18 programs in this highly respected, national network. Three of the 14 selected were YouthBuild sites, including one in Philadelphia that an NCSL group visited during the Annual Meeting. The 14 programs serve youth ages 13 through 24, with most of the youth over age 16 and from disadvantaged backgrounds. Aside from exceeding the above criteria for selection, the 1997 PEPNet awardees excelled in creative use of work, emphasis on families, ability to leverage and collaborate with other organizations and dedication to hiring and training skilled staff.
PEPNet is coordinated by the National Youth Employment Coalition and funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Charles Stuart Mott Foundation, the AT&T Foundation, the Clark Foundation and the Prudential Foundation. To receive a booklet describing the 1997 PEPNet initiatives, please contact NYEC at (202) 659-1064.
1997 PEPNet Initiatives
Academy for Career Excellence (ACE), New York, N.Y.
Baltimore City Fire Cadet Program, Baltimore, Md.
CITE of Rochester/Monroe County, Rochester, N.Y.
Communities and Schools for Career Success, Boston, Mass.
Community Youth Corps, Norwalk, Cal.
David L. Carrasco Job Corps Center, El Paso, Texas
Effective Educational Methodologies for Youth Employment, San Jose, Cal.
F.E.G.S. Education & Career Services, Bronx, N.Y.
Summer Works! School-Based, Work-Based & Services Learning, Bakersfield, Cal.
Work Appreciation for Youth (WAY), Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Youth Connections of Southeast Minnesota, Rochester, Minn.
YouthBuild McLean County, Bloomington, Ill.
YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School (Philadelphia Youth for Change Charter School), Philadelphia, Pa.
YouthBuild Rockford, Rockford, Ill.
DOL Releases One-Stop Career Center Video
As more and more states consider consolidation of work force programs and services, the role of one-stop career centers will become increasingly important. In order to educate job seekers, employers and policymakers, the U.S. Department of Labor released a video highlighting the four basic principles of one-stop: universality; customer choice; integration; and performance driven/accountability. For more information about the video, please contact Elaine Kolodny, National Office One-Stop Team, 202-219-8395 or by email at kolodny@doleta.gov.
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NCSL WorkNotes is published by the Employment and Training Project of the National Conference of State Legislatures, 444 N. Capitol St., NW, Suite 515, Washington, DC 20001; (202) 624-5400, (202) 737-1069 (fax). |
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This newsletter is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor. Opinions or conclusions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the U.S. Department of Labor. |
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If you have news you would like to share with WorkNotes readers or comments on this issue, please contact Tracy Schmidt at the above address or by e-mail at tracy.schmidt@ncsl.org. |
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