ACT has released four new policy platforms geared to promote education and workplace access for students and to align the nation’s education and workforce systems to meet their needs.
At a Tuesday morning “Aligning Our Education and Workforce Systems: A Look Ahead” panel session in Washington, D.C., ACT officials and education and workforce leaders discussed the new platforms and the changing demands of the education and job spheres, including the notion that there are now many other pathways to college and a career.
Among the biggest changes in education is a newfound sense of urgency and communication across colleges, and the realization that “high school is not enough,” said panelist Dr. Martha Kanter, executive director of the College Promise Campaign and New York University Senior Fellow. “The equity and learning efforts of ACT are critically important” to reduce the widening equity gap, she said.
ACT’s policy Platforms will provide recommendations to local, state and federal policymakers with a focus on four areas: K-12 education, higher education, career and technical education (CTE) and workforce development.
At the K-12 level, panelists agreed, more work is needed to prepare students for success beyond high school. Deborah Delisle, executive director and CEO of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), added that educators need to think about student success as a “revolving holistic measure.”
Recommendations for accomplishing this task included providing a holistic education that involves problem-solving curriculum and addressing the needs of the “whole learner” by allowing students to find their passion and pursue it through personalized learning, Delisle said.
Kanter suggested that integrating schooling into career opportunities like internships and apprenticeships should be considered as more high school and college students work while completing coursework.
