Spring 2007

the workforce

pipeline

A quarterly electronic newsletter for educators on issues common to business and education.

The newly-developed Leading for Accountability opportunity was developed by the Academy for Education CEOs, an organization of CEOs dedicated to excellence among education executives. This professional development opportunity differs from the usual training for educational executives. For a complete course description and schedule, click here.

Enroll now by contacting Joe Tomaselli at jtomaselli355@comcast.net or 732-477-0232. Space is limited. The program starts in the summer months of 2007 and tuition costs have been greatly reduced due to offsetting services provided by the business members of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce.

Let the Technology Challenge Help You Meet NCLB Mandates

By spring of 2007, schools must begin assessing 8th grade student competencies in computer technology with tools that provide objective evidence of performance.

A great new program, which is part of the Learn More Now, Do More Now, Earn More Later Student Credentialing System, can help you meet that mandate.

The Technology Challenge offers students hundreds of questions in dozens of formative online exercises that will hone their word processing, spreadsheet, presentation and Internet skills. Teachers can watch students’ work online, real time. At the end of every exercise, the Challenge generates a diagnostic credential that details strengths and weaknesses that can be remediated. Challenge exercises are appropriate for students as young as seventh grade, and gradually become more difficult through high school and into adulthood. The Challenge provides students with the opportunity to solve problems and find answers using the same computer skills they will need in college and work.

In addition to formative exercises, the Technology Challenge also offers cumulative assessments for eighth grade students (and high school, too) that provide objective evidence of proficiency.

With the skills students learn and demonstrate in the Technology Challenge, they will be better able to successfully and accurately complete technology-based projects in their academic classes.

The combination of skills-based Challenge exercises and assessments, and the use of those skills in authentic learning situations, provides the perfect combination for schools that aspire to equip their students with knowledge and skills that go beyond mere compliance with federal or state mandates and ensure students have deep cognitive understanding of technology and its use.

Students like taking the Challenge. It’s fun. It’s motivating. And it’s very inexpensive. A full year district license for all available Challenges is only 50 cents per student.

The Technology Challenge questions are unique, and ask students to demonstrate what they know how to do, not just what they know. Performance-based questions use carefully designed attachments that require students to implement some action. After students implement the action, the reaction, or the way the document responds, provides the proof of user skills.

The Technology Challenge is a great teacher training tool, too. Districts are also using it to make hiring decisions for office personnel who need computer skills.

For a limited time only, get a FREE month of access to the Technology Challenge. Visit www.technologychallenge.org or www.LearnDoEarn.org to find out more.

Get In On Virtual Job Shadowing This Fall

Keep your eyes out for the BCEE’s Virtual Job Shadowing series this Fall. The Virtual Job Shadowing series is delivered right to your computer via webinars (Internet-assisted teleconferences) and provide an opportunity for your students to learn about various careers from professionals in the workforce. They will learn about salary ranges, job requirements, opportunities for growth and promotions, benefits, and specifics about jobs that can help students make important decisions about their future.

Webinars are FREE to schools. February’s webinars celebrated Entrepreneur Week. Each day of that week, a different entrepreneur shared their stories about starting and succeeding in business. You can view the archived presentations at: http://www.learndoearn.org/SchoolCounts/archived-webinars.asp. Stay tuned to future newsletters and advisories from the BCEE for the schedule of Fall webinars.

May 22 Conference Addressed Student Achievement-Featured Scientist of Year Dr. Uri Treisman

The demand to prepare students for a world characterized by unprecedented global competition is an extraordinary challenge for the nation’s public schools. Recognizing those challenges, New Jersey City University, area community colleges, and New Jersey’s business community are responding with a new partnership geared toward enabling your students to build the academic momentum that will take them into college and through those years successfully.

The partnership is a long-term effort to improve the achievement of all students in the region by offering a number of opportunities over the course of several years that will involve outreach to, and incentives for students, professional development for teachers and school administrators, and community involvement. The effort was launched with an exciting event featuring noted speaker, Dr. Uri Treisman, Harvard’s Scientist of the Year for 2006.

Dr. Treisman is the Executive Director of the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin. He is also a Professor of Mathematics at University of Texas and has received numerous awards and honors for his efforts to improve American education. He is actively engaged in designing programs that strengthen the teaching and learning of mathematics and science from kindergarten to college. For educators who were not able to attend the event, Dr. Treisman’s presentation is available on the BCEE website: ‘Nurturing High Achievement: Practices Worthy of Attention in Urban Education.’

The event also featured a closer look at the LearnDoEarn (please see description of www.LearnDoEarn.org in the World Class Students story below) Student Credentialing System, a national program developed by the business community that has a proven track record in improving student motivation and achievement.

The event, called Your Students: Ready for College, Ready for Work, Ready for Life, was co-hosted by the Business Coalition for Educational Excellence (BCEE) at the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and took place at New Jersey City University.

Business Coalition Recognizes Schools, Teachers and Students

The BCEE supports the entire education spectrum from schools to teachers to students. Over the last four years, the Business Coalition has recognized schools and teachers for significant achievements among their groups. This year, the BCEE was happy to add a recognition ceremony for the third critical piece of the educational process: students. Congratulations to all of this year’s honorees.

Recognizing Schools: 69 Schools Make BCEE 2006 “Benchmark” List

The BCEE recently recognized 69 schools from 53 different districts as the 2006 Just for the Kids - New Jersey Benchmark Schools (please click here to see full news release and list of recognized schools). Just for the Kids - New Jersey Benchmark Schools are schools that have been identified through data posted on the Just for the Kids-New Jersey website (www.just4kids.org) for attaining high rates of student achievement on the state's assessment tests.

"We are so proud of the achievements of the Just for the Kids – New Jersey Benchmark Schools," said Dana Egreczky, president, Business Coalition for Educational Excellence. "These schools represent a level of excellence that we would like all New Jersey schools to achieve. Any day that we can honor schools from West Windsor and Summit as well as Trenton and Camden is a good day."

For the second consecutive year, Washington Mutual sponsored the event, which included the New Jersey Department of Education and ETS. The schools were recognized for their performance on the state’s fourth grade New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJASK), Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment (GEPA), and High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA), and received banners for their achievement.

For the fourth year, News 12 New Jersey also presented its "News 12 New Jersey School Bell Awards" to three 2006 New Jersey Just for the Kids Benchmark Schools. This year, Red Bank Charter School of Red Bank, Horace Mann Number 6 School of Bayonne, and North Bergen High School of North Bergen were recognized.

Recognizing Teachers: BCEE Congratulates 2006 NBCTs

Twenty of New Jersey’s newest National Board Certified Teachers (NBCT) were recognized by The Business Coalition for Education Excellence at the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce (BCEE) with its “Crystal Apple” award for earning Certification to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (please click here to see full news release on this year’s NBCTs). In addition to the NBCT honorees, another educator earned the esteemed Administrator of the Year award.

If you’ve thought about pursuing National Board Certification, summer is a great time to start. National Board Certification is the hallmark of excellence in the teaching profession. Research is consistently positive about the impact of National Board Certification on improvements to teacher practice, professional developments and areas of school improvement that are critical to raising student achievement.

Summer offers an opportunity for teachers to become familiar with the requirements of the portfolio and begin work on some of the aspects of accomplished teaching. Getting started in the summer will help to get you organized and prepared to teach and execute your portfolio entries at the start of the school year.

There is still funding available through the NJ Department of Education so that you can have 100% of the $2,500 application paid.

Still not sure? Get more information and a clearer picture of what’s involved in the process of National Board Certification by contacting Donna Custard at the Business Coalition at Donna@njchamber.com or calling 609-989-7888.

Recognizing Students: Event Honors World Class Students

Students from around the state who were designated “World Class Students” by the Business Coalition for Educational Excellence (BCEE), at the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce were part of a first-ever celebration to honor their achievements. The event was hosted at the Union, NJ (Union County) headquarters of AGL Resources/Elizabethtown Gas Company. In addition to recognizing their achievements, the gathering was designed to provide students with the opportunity to interact with their peers and some of New Jersey’s business leaders to celebrate a job well done.

World Class Students are high school juniors and seniors who have completed, or are on their way to completing, a rigorous set of coursework to prepare them for success in college and life. Numerous studies have found that students who challenge themselves by taking a sequence of more demanding courses in high school are more likely to enjoy greater success and earn more, whether they continue their education or work upon graduating.

“World Class Students understand the connection between working hard in high school and future success in college or the workplace,” said Dana Egreczky, president, BCEE. “New Jersey’s longstanding history of economic success is due in large part to a well-educated workforce. Today we applaud these students for their ongoing accomplishments.”

Throughout the year, educators submitted names of students in their schools for consideration as a “World Class Student of the Week.” The 52 New Jersey students who were selected are being featured on the New Jersey Learn Do Earn Web site (www.LearnDoEarn.org) and on News 12 New Jersey’s “12 In Our Schools” program. Sponsorship of the News 12 program for 2007 was made possible by the Do-It-Yourself retailer Lowe’s.

The World Class Students program is part of the Learn More, Do More, Earn More Student Credentialing System, which is located at the website www.LearnDoEarn.org. The system features five initiatives, including World Class Students. All of the programs target deficiencies which employers have identified in new hires and are geared to better preparing students for college, work, and life. The urgency for that readiness is supported by predictions on what will be required of the workforce of the future. For example, by the year 2020, 84% of jobs are expected to require some level of college education and students will need the same set of skills whether they enter college or go to work immediately after high school.

The criteria a World Class Student must achieve in order to successfully finish the program includes completing – or almost completing with a high probability of a passing grade – the following sequence of courses: Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry; Biology, Chemistry, and Physics; four years of college-prep English; two years of the same world language; and three years of Social Studies, which includes one semester of economics.