The 4.0 Industrial and Digital revolution will require new business models, new jobs and entirely new skills to lead an education and manufacturing renaissance in a post-pandemic economy. The 4.0 revolution requires graduates who have the basic foundational work ethics and skills in math, reading and science; along with an expanded understanding on artificial intelligence, cognitive technologies and robotics with hands on experience on how work gets done in the real world.
So how are our schools doing in preparing our students to graduate with the needed basic skills? The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) also referred to as the Nation’s Report Card measures what U.S. students know and can do in various subjects across Virginia and the nation.
The latest report card for 2019 shows that only about 37% of students tested in Virginia are proficient in math, reading, and science in the eighth grade. Nationally, 12th graders’ scores reflected only about 28% of high school students are prepared to graduate career-ready with these same basic skills. The new manufacturing environment is not the world where muscle strength is the criteria for success, now we need people who can interpret information and apply it to complex situations.
For some this means being able to read a blueprint from a handheld pad and apply that information while welding parts of a ship together. For others it is working in the rapidly changing world of medical technology and advanced digital applications. To accomplish these goals, students need to be able to learn from text, apply mathematical principles and generally problem-solve in a team environment.
There are three initiatives that can be part of a public-private partnership to graduate career-ready citizens:
1. Enhance the connections between high schools and manufacturing.
2. Establish apprenticeship programs and credentialing programs.
3. Graduate career-ready citizens with employable skills for success in life.
Employers and educational leaders need to reevaluating the need for Career Technical Education as an educational strategy that equips learners with the academic and technical skills to be prepared for future careers by building real-world skills to enhance the high school and college experience. CTE is having a positive effect on career-ready graduation rates, where 95% of CTE students graduate high school, 10% higher than the national average.
In Virginia, a public private partnership led by business is collaborating with New Horizons Regional Education Centers, the largest of the nine regional centers in the state, and serves 1,500 public school students and 1,200 adult learners annually. NHREC in partnership with Newport News Shipbuilding Apprentice School has launched Youth Builders, a pre-apprenticeship program designed to improve the job readiness of high school students to enter and succeed in NNS registered apprenticeship program.
Youth Builders courses are “high-tech” hybrid courses that strengthen students’ readiness for the apprentice program. Additionally, they provide face-to-face mentoring and coaching. YBs are exposed to a variety of enriching workplace learning activities. Courses are coordinated within the students’ block scheduling at New Horizons. Upon completion of the pre-apprenticeship, students apply for the paid apprenticeship and are qualified for other careers in the community.
We believe that many of the students who are leaving school before they graduate or graduating with relatively low skills can be motivated to stay in school, and to do better in school, if they have the experiences that demonstrate the difference formal learning can make in the employment arena. Thus, making “Made in America” and the “American Dream” a reality for all our students in Virginia and across the nation.
Glenn Marshall is a member of the the Association for Manufacturing Excellence and lives in Williamsburg.
