Scaling STEM | Emily DeRocco on Education and Workforce Development
Channel: NC New Schools/ Breakthrough Learning
Date: 2013-03-14

http://scalingstem.org

Emily Stover DeRocco, Immediate Past President, The Manufacturing Institute, and former Assistant Secretary of Labor U.S. Department of Labor

DeRocco's keynote address focused on the connections between education and economic/workforce development. 

Her talk included five priorities for transformation:
1. National and state leadership is imperative for leading education reform.
2. Top down solutions don't work. Aligning education and workforce development will only happen in states/regional economies.
3. The current culture of pushing kids ONLY to 4-year college degrees creates unfortunate consequences.
4. Everyone needs better information on what jobs are in demand and for reading labor market signals.
5. The private sector must take greater responsibility for identifying skill needs and driving changes in policy.

Her five recommendations for NC:
1. Restructure state organizations to align policies across education, workforce development and economic development. 
2. Recognize the rise of regions and structure education innovations to leverage those regions.
3.Translate the lessons learned from NC New Schools partner schools and apply them to systemic reform. Initiatives such as Pathways to Prosperity and NCiRIS are headed in the right direction.
4. Demand real business engagement and leadership. Business executives need to see the direct link between schools and industry. 
5. Be sure everyone -- from policymakers to parents -- understands that STEM skills are basic skills across all areas.

Read an excerpt from her address on our blog, FutureReady, at http://ncnewschools.org/blog/matching-education-with-workforce-development-775 
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