Column: Students Need ‘Education for Work’

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Before our area students return to school, the Labor Day holiday offers an opportunity to reflect on some important questions about our own potential and future workforce: Are we preparing our students for the world they will face when they graduate — at whatever level — and enter the workforce? Are we organized to provide the training they will need regardless of the profession they choose? What are the talents, beyond academic achievements, that they will need to compete in a global economy?

Here in the 34th District, we share a broad consensus that we must raise our students to be first class critical thinkers, not just test takers. Living close to Washington, D.C. and the Tysons Corner business center, we know that demands for innovation and entrepreneurship are driving business decisions every day, and we want to make sure our students have the necessary skills to compete. Yet here and nationwide, we are facing a shortage of highly skilled workers, especially writers, engineers, technology and math experts, nurses and technical support staff. We have some great business partnerships and apprentice programs in place, particularly at the community college level, but we need more of them.

A 2008 national study spearheaded by The Conference Board identified several areas of "high need" for workforce readiness — areas where potential workers most often require remedial training — among them creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving. Regardless of academic achievement, workers were most often lacking in these skills as they prepared for their respective jobs.

In Virginia, we compound the problem by not being sufficiently well organized to prepare our workforce, especially at the high school and community college levels. A state level review is currently underway, because we currently have 23 different workforce training programs in nine different state agencies. Virginia’s Workforce Investment Boards and One Stop Career Centers deal with too many redundant and duplicative programs that waste time, money, and precious human talent. We can and must streamline these programs through legislation and, where possible, administrative remedies. We will have a better prepared workforce if we do.

Most fundamentally, The Conference Board identifies workforce readiness skills that are hard to acquire from a text book, but are nevertheless critical to success in the global economy: a grounding in ethics and social responsibility, a "work ethic" and sense of professionalism, and the discipline necessary for self-directed lifelong learning. These skills cannot be measured by Standards of Learning exams or achievement tests, but they are essential at every educational level if we want a workforce that can compete globally. Targeted academic concentrations are only part of the solution.

The 2010 Virginia General Assembly session offers the chance to direct and improve state programs to prepare our students in critical disciplines like technology and writing, while encouraging critical thinking and creativity. We must organize training programs that will both educate students and help them find employment in Virginia as well. We must instill a commitment to lifelong learning and a work ethic that begins in the classroom. Next week, thousands of our students will head back to classes in pre-K through college. One day they will be heading off to jobs here in northern Virginia and beyond. Our job is to make sure we prepare them well. And for all of us together, that is going to take a lot of work.

By Margi Vanderhye

State Delegate (D-34)