Date & Time: Tuesday, August 20th at 2 pm ET

Schools and districts are under increasing pressure to align education with practical skill development, ensuring students are equipped for the workforce. This webinar will delve into innovative strategies for integrating STEM and Career Technical Education (CTE), arming students with foundational skills for a variety of careers—from technical roles to engineering positions.

A panel of experts will explore how to leverage school facilities and data as educational tools, and share insights from Hardin County Schools, where district leaders have implemented experiential learning opportunities and certification programs in their schools.

Topics will include:

• New approaches to integrate STEM and CTE learning through certifications
• How to implement experiential learning opportunities and certification programs in schools for little or no cost
• How to build a career readiness program that equips students for high-demand fields

Presenters

Roger Tadajewski, Executive Director, National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3)

Ben Sego, Board Member, Hardin County Schools (Ky.), Former NASA contractor

Michael Hines, Education Leader, Trane by Trane Technologies

Register Now

Sponsored by

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Orchard View Middle School students start their journey “career cruising” on the Xello platform, where they can connect their personal and academic interests to job fields such as computer science, welding, automotive repair and cosmetology. They are then introduced to those trades at after-school sessions at the career center.

The “Middle Vision” program, which now includes two other districts, puts students on a path to deeper career exploration in high school and also engages them more deeply in what they are learning in middle school. It also encourages students to stay on track with their grades so the are eligible to attend the career center in 11th and 12th grade, Principal Joshua Smith says.

“We’re helping these kids figure out their passions … and school make much more sense when they can say, ‘Oh, now I know I want to be in food service,'” Smith explains. “They’re more invested and more excited about school.”

About 60 students now attend two-week CTE sessions in writing and illustration, culinary arts, environmental and veterinary medicine, auto collision, medical and health sciences and cosmetology. For example, sixth-graders in the writing and illustration pathway created their own books and showed them off in a presentation to parents, Smith notes.

CTE and design thinking

The exploration continues in seventh- and eighth-grade electives where teachers have been trained in design thinking to embed career-readiness concepts into subjects such as health and STEAM.

One outcome of this process was the creation of the school’s fabrication lab. Students and a STEAM teacher were given free rein to design the space. The students did “empathy interviews” with their classmates to learn what equipment they wanted in the lab. They then built dioramas that they presented to the school board for funding.

The lab is now home to robotics and e-sports teams, among other features. “Middle school is often a time when we see kids start to disconnect,” Orchard View Superintendent Jim Nielsen says. “All of the students involved have found connections to school that weren’t available four or five years ago, and it’s been vital to our sense-of-belonging goals for our district.”

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These programs cover more than traditional hands-on careers such as mechanics, plumbers and electricians. Today, they extend into evolving fields such as wind energy, aviation mechanics, CNC machining, robotics and automation, hybrid and EV automotive and diesel repair, welding, HVACR and many more. Roles in fields like these are expanding career choices beyond white- or blue-collar to include a new breed, the “skilled-collar.”

As parents and educators, we can help today’s students find the path that fits their interests and goals, not someone else’s expectations, by encouraging them to consider a wider variety of education and career choices than currently done.

Beginning career exploration in middle school and junior high

Today, career exploration often starts in high school. However, shifting to middle school and introducing boys and girls to the diverse, skilled-collar career landscape lets them embark on self-discovery and explore interests and strengths they may never have considered or known about. Many hands-on science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and career options didn’t exist just a generation ago.

A few excellent resources that exist to involve middle school and junior high school students in these fields and potential careers include:

• SkillsUSA is a nonprofit organization that offers resources for career and technical educators and students interested in hands-on careers in more than 130 fields. Curriculum resources and information on scholarships and competitions are available online for middle school, high school and college-level teachers and learners.
• TechForce Foundation is a nonprofit committed to career exploration and workforce development for technician professionals. It offers free resources for students, educators and schools through its TechForce network, including $4 million in scholarships and grants, training, local career-focused events, job postings, contests, opportunities to connect with industry and more.
• The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) promotes manufacturing careers, including many skilled trade jobs. NAM’s website includes videos, infographics, lesson plans and other resources for educators and students.
• The U.S. Department of Labor’s CareerOneStop website offers a wealth of information on skilled trades careers, including wages, training and job outlook. Also, the Department of Education’s Career Clusters group different trade careers together and provides information on the skills needed for each cluster.

Shifting perspectives to include these other post-secondary education alternatives is crucial—not just to show students what options exist but to fill the employment demand in many industries today.

Exploring the breadth of post-secondary educational options

Factors fueling Gen Z’s increased interest in skilled trades include labor shortages (75% of employers globally report having challenges filling roles), significant growth in technological trades and the rising cost of four-year colleges.

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The average cost of attendance for a full-time student living on campus at a public four-year school was $21,337 during the 2020-2021 school year, and costs were more than double this for those attending private four-year universities. Secondary students are beginning to realize that the cost of a four-year education may no longer be realistic or representative of the best path. In fact, according to a 2024 report from The Burning Glass Institute, over half of college graduates were underemployed one year after completing their degree.

Meanwhile, trade programs that last two years or less offer targeted technical education for students who want a hands-on career. These programs may also benefit from lower total education costs, shorter lengths and employment demand. Even at the higher end, a technical education is often a more economical choice.

Career paths in skilled-collar fields

Trade programs offer a clear advantage: they equip graduates with targeted technical skills for specific in-demand jobs. With 9.5 million job openings in the U.S. and 6.5 million unemployed workers, the skills gap is one major factor preventing companies from filling roles.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the national annual average job openings between 2022 and 2032, including openings due to net employment changes and net replacements, for technicians in these occupations to be:

• Automotive service technicians and mechanics: 67,000+
• Aviation technicians: 10,000+
• Bus and truck mechanics: 24,000+
• Energy technicians: 39,000+
• HVACR technicians: 37,000+
• Electric-mechanical and mechatronics technologists and technicians: 1,000+
• Welding technicians: 42,000+
• Non-destructive testing technician: 7,000+

Long-term skilled-collar career evolution

While higher education institutions play a vital economic role, a skilled-collar job can open the door to a fast-track pathway to entrepreneurship. This, too, appeals to a generation in which 60% are interested in starting and running their own business. More than one in six skilled tradespeople create their own businesses and 20% become partners in a business.

Working in tandem, traditional higher education and post-secondary trade schools can help meet the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s economy by ensuring students are exposed to the full range of careers available.

The post How to steer students toward “skilled-collar” career opportunities appeared first on District Administration.

A national keyword search conducted by K12 data tracker Burbio shows how often four big topics—including mental health and career and technical education—are covered at meetings nationally. Burbio has been providing regular updates on what school boards in the largest districts have been talking about.

Its most recent analysis looks at this year’s school board discussions in districts serving about half of the students in California, Florida, Texas, New England and parts of the Deep South. Not surprisingly, there’s some evidence of political lines being drawn, particularly around SEL and related topics.

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Student mental health has been an ongoing and major concern for administrators. Mental health and related terms such as “therapist” were mentioned at nearly half of the meetings in California and more than 40% of the sessions in New England, compared to just 13% in Texas.

The SEL divide is similar, though the term was mentioned less often in all parts of the country. Social-emotional learning was covered at nearly 40% of meetings in New England and more than 20% in California, compared to around 5% in Florida and Texas, both of which have laws restricting the teaching of sensitive topics such as race and LGBTQ issues.

CTE and security

Regional divides are narrower for career preparedness and safety. CTE was on the agenda at nearly 75% of Florida school boarding meetings, 63% in California and half of the meetings in the South.

Security was most common in Florida (78% of meetings), Texas (64%) and New England (54%).

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Here are the sizes of the exposure gaps in major STEM and career disciplines:

• Advanced manufacturing: 75%
• Health science: 57%
• Finance: 56%
• Architecture and construction: 53%
• Computers and technology: 51%

“The solution to this lies within redefining education for Black students through access to identity-affirming informal learning environments; so they understand the full scope of their aptitudes, and also the full scope of what careers are possible,” said Cynthia Chapple, founder and CEO of Black Girls Do STEM.

What’s an exposure gap?

As of 2021, just 9% of the STEM workforce was Black. Still, that’s an increase from 7% a decade earlier, the report points out.

The difference between students’ aptitudes (as demonstrated on assessments) and their expressed interests is how the organizations behind the study calculate exposure gaps. The gaps also identify which fields a student hasn’t had the opportunity to explore—particularly the careers that might be a good fit.

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For Black female students, the gaps between aptitude and interest are even more substantial:

• Advanced manufacturing: 88%
• Computers and technology: 73%
• Architecture and construction: 72%

Let’s close the STEM divide

Solving the problem starts with administrators using aptitudes to create more personalized career pathways for Black students. Once students’ aptitudes are identified, educators should engage with families to map out STEM and CTE courses that lead to industry certifications. Students are more likely to follow their aptitudes when they have family support.

These pathways should also be interdisciplinary and career-connected, comprising work-based learning, internships and
apprenticeships.

Black Girls Do STEM, for instance, is a seven-year pathway program that exposes students to STEM fields to stimulate their interests in various career fields. The nonprofit’s two programs, which include a Saturday academy, include mentoring, SAT/ACT preparation, college tours and internships and externships, among other components.

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The difference in interest reveals an entrenched belief that going to college right out of high school is somehow more significant than starting a job or a technical training program. My school set out to change that by offering a health career training program.

Our career training program is breaking down the college-only mindset. We think beyond the classroom and attend to our internal and external communities. The result is that we have redefined how we celebrate and define success when our students graduate from high school.

Connecting to our community

First a little background. In 2007, our small 1,300-student Missouri high school started allowing our learners to earn an associate degree and a high school diploma simultaneously. This dual-enrollment program lets us support students and give them a head start on career options beyond graduation.

It appealed to students who didn’t see a four-year degree as part of their futures. Only one in six people in St. Francois County have a college degree. Being hyper-focused on college pathways, meant we were ignoring the many other avenues our students could take into well-paying careers. We knew we needed to create more direct paths to careers for our students.

Creating career pathways

While our industry tours lagged in interest, we knew they were the right idea. They allowed students to see career options in our community. Still, we needed more ways to support direct paths into careers.

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We started recognizing students who secured jobs right out of high school. To make this more public, we also changed our messaging to parents and started hosting evening events for parents and their students to explore the many career paths and training programs they could begin while still in high school.

Along with those programs, we started offering training for an industry-recognized certification in healthcare as part of the health science program in our career and technical education offering. Our certified CTE health sciences teacher oversees the program and collaborates with partners, like local employer Parkland Health and online healthcare training provider MedCerts, to ensure the program prepares students for real careers.

One early challenge was that professional online certificates are designed for individuals who can complete their training in a few months. However, we needed the course to last for an entire school year. We changed the program’s pace so students spend one hour each day on classwork. Supported by online modules, our health sciences teacher provides lectures, hands-on activities and career exploration to round out the training.

Students learn career-specific and transferable skills in the classroom and clinical settings. For example, the two certificate programs we offer—clinical medical assistant and phlebotomy—teach learners the importance of terminology, customer service and communication in a practical and applied way. Our first cohort will take the certification exam at the end of 2024, and, upon passing, we anticipate they will be able to find jobs right away in our healthcare community.

Community is key in valuing career pathways

Three essential points made this program successful:

1. Think community—When we looked at our community’s demographics, we realized there was a disconnect between what we had traditionally been offering our students and the paths local people pursued. We needed to offer something that matched their world view and that meant helping our students find career paths that led from high school into skilled jobs.
2. Leverage community—Local employers need skilled labor. Schools are places of learning. We realized that we could deliver something local employers needed and that would benefit our students.
3. Broaden community—When local resources don’t provide what is needed, find online resources that can. These days, any training you can think of is available. It might take a little work to morph it into the typical school day and year, but the effort is worth it if you have engaged the first two points.

Educators are sometimes so focused on getting kids to college that we forget many students have other plans that deserve as much attention as college preparation. When we stop and consider the interests of our students and our community’s needs—such as healthcare—we can shift away from that traditional mindset. With innovative thinking, we can go beyond the classroom and celebrate all our students’ paths to success.

The post These pathways are launching high schools past a college-only mindset appeared first on District Administration.

“The overall part that’s exciting is we’re elevating expectations,” he adds. “It’s been a lot of fun seeing those things begin to happen.”

Tuscaloosa City Schools will now pay for high school students to earn up to 12 credits at a four-year university or 24 at a community college. The district has also opened a community resource center at its alternative school. There, community organizations offer wraparound services—such as clothing and food assistance, mental health care, family therapy and drug and alcohol counseling—that the district can’t afford to provide on its own, Daria points out.

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A unique professional development program Tuscaloosa’s administrators and teachers participate in is a regional educator workforce academy. Over the years, Daria and his team have cemented a strong partnership with West Alabama business and industry with the help of the local chamber of commerce. The academy—a year-long immersive experience that Daria calls “eye-opening”—helps ensure principals, school board members and other educators fully understand the expectations of employers.

“We go into business and industry here in our town and we listen and learn from our CEOs,” he explains. “We visit the businesses, we go through the plants, and we walk out of there with a deeper understanding of what they need out of our students when they graduate, so our students thrive and excel, and go into career paths that allow for additional education post-high school.”

About 20-30 educators from Tuscaloosa City Schools participate in the academy each year—including elementary school principals who, at first, weren’t sure why they had to attend. “The takeaway for them is they came back saying ‘We’ve got a role in workforce development, even with pre-K and kindergarten,'” he says. “You see our schools being more responsive to that.”

Another offshoot of the focus on post-K12 pathways is that a diploma is no longer the only measure of success. The district now aspires to create a graduation action plan for every student. Last year, nearly 90% of Tuscaloosa’s seniors had mapped out whether they were enrolling in college, joining the workforce full-time or enlisting in the military.

That initiative came in part from Daria’s conversations with seniors at past graduation ceremonies. “I’d ask, ‘What are you doing after graduation?’ and I’d get an answer of, ‘Ah, I don’t know, I’m going to figure it out, maybe work a little bit,'” he says. “Our answer was, ‘That’s not good enough.’ We need to know what they’re doing the day after graduation and that needs to be in a plan that has been in their pathway of preparation during their high school and middle school experience.”

Daria took the helm at Tuscaloosa City Schools in 2016. One of the biggest shifts he’s experienced is that he now feels the need to defend public education in a more turbulent political environment that has seen an expansion of school choice and vouchers.

“My position is that public education is the way to lift our communities and certainly our country,” he contends. “We recognize we have to be the best out there, and that does mean being future-focused and seeing around corners, and making sure we have the right funding to fund a high level of expectation and a high level of education for all students.”

The post Superintendent spotlight: Learning from CEOs and defending public education appeared first on District Administration.

Pressures on the wider U.S. workforce caused by a lack of employees with the requisite skills will drive more collaboration between K12 schools and employers, say product developers who are forecasting 2024’s biggest education trends.

It will also drive a surge in popularity in career and technical education programs. “As the talent shortage concern shifts to the state level, 2024 will be a year of increased collaboration between employers, schools and government agencies,” says Jeri Larsen, the chief operating officer of YouScience, a career guidance platform for students.

“The goal will be to create a more responsive and adaptable education system that ensures the workforce remains well equipped to meet the evolving demands of the job market.”

District leaders will be updating curriculums with a deeper focus on future-ready skills and adding more work-based learning, STEM education and vocational training programs.

“These efforts will be aimed at equipping students with the skills that are in high demand in the job market and promoting a broader range of career paths,” Larsen notes. “With a rapidly changing job market and evolving skill requirements, schools and education systems will find themselves under increased scrutiny to ensure that students are adequately prepared for the workforce.

Employers should grow ever more eager to collaborate with schools and districts, predicts Hans Meeder, a senior fellow for education and workforce education at YouScience and a former deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Education.

“Yet, a challenge lies in the limited experience of schools and districts in systematically collaborating with business partners,” Meeder points out. “Many are still navigating this uncharted territory, actively searching for tools, guidance and real-world examples to establish partnerships that are not only effective but also sustainable.”

What other issues will be top of mind for K12 leaders and their teams in 2024? Here are predictions, hopes and forecasts from solution providers that cover a range of education topics.

Academic growth and interventions will be carefully assessed

The disruptions of the pandemic will continue to loom large over academic progress, and administrators will be emphasizing growth and doubling down on the most effective interventions, say thought leaders at NWEA, the testing firm. Here are some of their insights:

• Which academic interventions are working best? “While school districts made some progress in reducing pandemic-related achievement gaps in the 2021-22 school year, progress stalled in the 2022-23 school year. Interventions that have strong evidence of efficacy include high-dosage tutoring, summer school programs and double-dose math classes. Districts should adopt these high-impact interventions while continuing to monitor implementation and adapt interventions to local context so that students can have access to meaningful opportunities to catch up on unfinished learning.” —Ayesha K. Hashim, research scientist
• Classroom practices that support high-growth learning will be essential. “The cornerstone of elevating educational quality rests upon strengthening the student-teacher relationship. By fostering meaningful and constructive interactions and offering valuable feedback to students, we empower them to take greater ownership of their learning. Recent research underscores the efficacy of specific approaches and practices in promoting substantial learning growth, such as allocating time for retrieval practice (where students benefit from multiple opportunities to reinforce new knowledge) and maintaining flexibility in student group dynamics (allowing for effective student movement between learning groups), among others.”—Chase Nordengren, principal research lead, effective instructional strategies
• Research-based interventions will be needed to help older students with reading fluency. “National data shows that almost 70% of eighth graders are not considered proficient in reading based on 2022 test scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as The Nation’s Report Card. In 2024, districts will be working to find research-based interventions to help older students with reading fluency. Middle and high school teachers will need support to help older students with foundational reading skills to address this problem. Programs that emphasize repeated reading and giving older readers the opportunity to choose practice readings on topics they find engaging will help older readers improve fluency.” – Laura Hansen, NWEA director of academic services
• A data-driven revolution in gifted and talented identification. “In 2024, states are poised to revolutionize their approach to gifted and talented education, driving greater equity and inclusion through a dual strategy of data-driven identification and the implementation of state policies mandating access to gifted services. Universal screening, encompassing a multitude of assessment tools, will ensure that no gifted potential remains unnoticed, while continuous monitoring and transparent reporting will guarantee equal access to the selection process. Simultaneously, state policies will require the development of individualized learning plans for gifted students, promoting inclusive enrichment opportunities, differentiated instruction, and robust teacher professional development.”—Scott Peters, senior research scientist

Edtech evolution will be all about AI

The expiration of ESSER funding and tightening budgets will force K12 leaders to prioritize, says Jeremy Cowdrey, the CEO of Discovery Education. That means, in the wake of the COVID-era flood of edtech, administrators and their teams will begin paring down the edtech resources they are using down to the most effective platforms.

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“We are calling this movement the great rationalization and consolidation,” Cowdrey explains. “They will seek to renew products that have high usage, personalize learning and drive deeper engagement in instruction. They will keep edtech resources that have shown a proven, measurable impact on students.”

Leaders will maintain relationships with edtech providers who are purpose-driven and offer multiple solutions from one consolidated platform, he adds.

Beyond that, artificial intelligence will likely continue to suck up all the oxygen in the edtech space. “AI will impact everything—from creating relevant lesson plans to acting as a teacher’s assistant and student learning,” says Sara Gu, co-founder and COO of ClassIn, which provides blended, hybrid and remote learning platforms. “AI tools are being developed for educators and launched into the market every week. Many of these are designed to save teachers time.”

As many AI tools are designed to save teachers’ time, Gu says she expects a comprehensive lesson-planning tool will soon emerge. “With the vast amount of material currently available on the internet and the number of databases that the [AIs] can pull from, a world where all teachers have to do is plug in their learning objectives and standards and get an array of choices in each of the categories—materials, activities, and assessments—can’t be that far off.”

Gu also predicts that student behavior will guide the development of AI codes of conduct and determine how the technology is used in schools. Gu sees a fine line between AI being used as a tool and being used to cheat.

“There is not yet one commonly accepted approach to integrating AI tools and technology into a school or school district’s code of conduct,” she continues. “Early policies range from extremely strict “student work submitted for academic credit and completed using AI will be considered plagiarism” to encouraging teachers to use AI tools in their classrooms.”

Teachers will increasingly use AI to assess and grade students and these tools could save time and reduce burnout, says Sari Factor, chief strategy officer at K12 curriculum provider Imagine Learning. “Educators will have more equitable access to actionable, research-based measures of student success to better inform instruction, allowing educators to focus on providing personalized support to students,” says Factor.

Ethical school leaders will also have to ensure that principles such as transparency, accountability, fairness, and privacy are priorities when adopting AI-driven educational tools. “Leveraging AI and digital-first curriculum to develop personalized lesson plans that cater to unique student needs, for example, will allow teachers to focus on delivering impactful lessons that inspire student success,” Factor contends. “As a result, we’ll see less teacher burnout over time.

Beyond AI, Gu expects more schools to lean on virtual and hybrid instruction to cope with teacher and staff shortages. She notes that a charter network in San Jose, California, has transferred math and science classes to Zoom where students are taught by teachers from around the country.

“We also expect hybrid solutions to gain momentum in response to student demand as schools work to balance their finite resources while offering more flexibility,” Gu predicts.

ESSER expiration requires reliable data

States and school districts have about $70 billion left to spend this school year, which “will be a mix of states and districts spending their remaining funds while also looking to the future,” says Lindsay Dworkin, NWEA’s senior vice president of policy and government affairs.

“As the one-time funds expire,” Dworkin adds, “it will be more important than ever for education communities to have access to reliable and actionable data to know which interventions have been most effective in helping students grow, and where to continue investing strategically amidst shrinking budgets.”

Because decision-makers will continue to analyze persistent learning gaps, they also will be looking for innovative approaches to instruction and assessment.

Administrators and teachers will become more discerning about edtech purchases as ESSER money expires and shortages increase workloads. Says Gu, of Classin, who estimates that schools adopted between 600 and 1,400 products during the pandemic.

“While many of these products helped plug the gaps during remote instruction, now districts are faced with the dilemma of too many tools. The process has already begun, but schools are starting to become more strategic about which tools they keep and which ones they stop using.”

The ongoing importance of equity and PD

The academic identities of educators will have to be a focal point in district administrators’ efforts to make their districts more equitable, says Fenesha Hubbard, the lead professional learning designer at NWEA.

Academic identities comprise educators’ attitudes, beliefs and dispositions toward teaching and learning. “When teachers develop an unhealthy academic identity, their internalized negative perception is very likely to influence their instruction and can shape their students’ academic identity,” Hubbard, explains.

Educators will strive to better understand themselves and others by exploring their beliefs, examining their actions and strengthening their academic identity. “More teachers will identify and address their academic identities, whether healthy or not, and employ strategies in their classroom to help all students thrive,” Hubbard forecasts.

Family engagement will be emphasized

Districts will take several approaches to leveraging the strengths of families to accelerate student achievement, including by providing more learning materials that can be used at home, say Vidya Sundaram and Elisabeth O’Bryon, co-founders of the nonprofit Family Engagement Lab.

Here is what they expect will happen:

• How can districts make the most of classroom instruction? “Improving the quality of instructional materials is a smart, cost-effective strategy to improve learning outcomes. Districts looking to optimize their curriculum investment will also implement newly available curriculum-aligned offerings, from professional learning to assessments and family communications,” says Sundaram, the Lab’s CEO.
• What’s the role of families in effective SEL programs? “With student mental health needs outpacing many schools’ capacity to provide support, it will be even more critical to look to families as vital partners in supporting student success,” notes O’Byron, the chief impact officer. Educators can promote relationship-building between parents and children and share activities that let families reinforce specific SEL skills at home.
• How do you envision school learning environments changing for multilingual learners? “As we continue to see an increase in the linguistic diversity of our school communities, as well as growing interest in multilingual learning environments, I am hopeful that a spotlight is shone on what a tremendous asset multilingualism is. Embracing multilingualism truly enriches school communities and, as such, schools need to be equipped to equitably and authentically engage multilingual families as partners in supporting student learning.”
• How do you envision K-12 edtech evolving next year? “While generative AI has been the hot topic of 2023, I expect next year we will see K12 technology advancements that strengthen the capacity of teachers (such as automating repetitive tasks), and more multilingual culturally responsive learning resources for students and families.”

Literacy will revolve around the science of reading

The science of reading, or SoR, has gotten almost as much attention as AI in K12 circles over the last year. In 2024, districts navigating its adoption will, for one, have to ensure teachers, principals and other administrators are receiving adequate PD in the science of reading, say thought leaders and experts at IMSE, the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education.

“States that have passed SoR legislation recognize the need for teacher prep programs to include SoR, but getting universities to change is a slow-moving shift, even if legislation requires it,” says Janelle Norton, IMSE’s senior manager of strategic partnerships.

“Expect more administrator training in SoR as districts recognize the need for principals to understand what children need to learn to read,” Norton adds.

Teacher shortages will likely be a barrier as district leaders work to embed the science of reading in their curriculums, says Alana Mangham, a lifelong early educator and IMSE’s current director of development and implementation support.

“There aren’t enough qualified individuals in the science of reading,” Mangham notes. “Schools can only hope to find capable candidates. And, if they do, the next hurdle is paying them equal to or better than what they can make as a private professional.”

Elsewhere in the literacy spectrum

Elsewhere in the literacy realm “multilingual learner instructional practices will become a hot topic,” concludes Nicole Florez, literacy specialist and IDA structured literacy dyslexia interventionist for IMSE. She predicts more leaders will “recognize the need for culturally responsive teaching in response to the growing population of English language learner.”

“States are leveraging the right stakeholders to develop learning modules around second language learners and literacy,” she concludes.

Math will matter even more in 2024

If 2023 was all about the science of reading, state education leaders will turn their attention to providing systemic support for math education in 2024, says Karen Beerer, Discovery Education’s senior vice president of teaching and learning.

In the wake of COVID learning loss, several states have already passed new laws requiring schools to identify and provide additional math support to students and teachers.

Alabama is creating an Office of Mathematics Improvement to monitor the implementation of screener assessments, diagnostic assessments, and formative assessments for grades K5. Florida now requires students deemed “deficient” in math to receive intervention and monitoring from their district while Louisiana mandates additional professional learning in numeracy for math teachers in grades 4-8.

“While these are just a few examples of state departments of education adding additional support to math education,” Beerer notes, “I believe in 2024 these efforts will accelerate and become the norm nationwide.

The post Education in 2024: Partners break down 8 big trends appeared first on District Administration.

Pressures on the wider U.S. workforce caused by a lack of workers with the requisite skills will drive more collaboration between K12 schools and employers, say product developers who are forecasting 2024’s biggest education trends.

These college and career trends will also drive a surge in popularity in CTE programs. “As the talent shortage concern shifts to the state level, 2024 will be a year of increased collaboration between employers, schools and government agencies,” says Jeri Larsen, the chief operating officer of YouScience, a career guidance platform for students.

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“The goal will be to create a more responsive and adaptable education system that ensures the workforce remains well-equipped to meet the evolving demands of the job market.”

District leaders will be updating curriculums with a deeper focus on future-ready skills and adding more work-based learning, STEM education and vocational training programs.

“These efforts will be aimed at equipping students with the skills that are in high demand in the job market and promoting a broader range of career paths,” Larsen notes. “With a rapidly changing job market and evolving skill requirements, schools and education systems will find themselves under increased scrutiny to ensure that students are adequately prepared for the workforce.

Employers should grow ever more eager to collaborate with schools and districts, predicts Hans Meeder, a senior fellow for education and workforce education at YouScience and a former deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Education.

“Yet, a challenge lies in the limited experience of schools and districts in systematically collaborating with business partners,” Meeder points out. “Many are still navigating this uncharted territory, actively searching for tools, guidance and real-world examples to establish partnerships that are not only effective but also sustainable.”

What other issues will be top of mind for K12 leaders and their teams in 2024? Here are predictions, hopes and forecasts from solution providers that cover a range of education topics.

The post What will drive more urgency around career prep in 2024? appeared first on District Administration.

The “Freedom to Succeed” master plan, which should be completed next fall, will also emphasize:

• Hands-on learning and real-life skills. Students should have expansive opportunities to learn by doing and get trained in real-life skills, especially via paid “earn-and-learn” opportunities.
• Universal access and affordability. Students should have access to career education without incurring substantial debt or having to navigate confusing bureaucracies.
• Breaking down silos. State agencies will greatly expand alignment and coordination across sectors—both public and private—to ensure students are offered more career and skill-building opportunities.

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“All families, students, and workers deserve the freedom to succeed: to build real-life skills and pursue careers — including those that don’t require college degrees,” Newsom said in a statement earlier this year. “California is leveraging billions of dollars in investments to prepare students and workers for good-paying, long-lasting, and fulfilling careers.”

Newsom has directed the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the chancellor of the California Community Colleges and the presidents of the California State University and the University of California to produce the career education master plan in collaboration with the State Board of Education, the Labor and Workforce Development Agency and the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.

California has been increasing CTE spending, including $500 million on the Golden State Pathways program, which provides students, no later than 10th grade, with opportunities to examine careers that require specialized technical training. The state has invested another $200 million each in dual enrollment programs and youth apprenticeships.

Regional K-16 Collaboratives will receive another $250 million to work with businesses to ensure K12 and higher ed career education programs are preparing students with the skills to meet future labor demands.

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