Collaborative Efforts between Accreditation Expectations and

Industry Standards

NASASPS Annual ConferenceMinneapolis, MN

April 27, 2010

Melinda Isaacs, AdvancED

Tom Richardson, Melior, Inc.

2© 2010 AdvancED

Objectives for the Session

•Provide a general understanding of AdvancED (parent organization of NCA CASI and SACS CASI)

•Discuss the benefits to schools and students of greater collaboration among educational partners

•Review crosswalk activities of partnerships

3© 2010 AdvancED

A Picture of AdvancED

World’s Largest Educational Community

• 27,000 public and private schools• 30 states and Navajo Nation• Department of Defense Education Activity • 65 countries• 15 million students• 18,000 volunteers• 3 million plus teachers

4© 2010 AdvancED

A Picture of AdvancEDDedicated to Advancing Excellence in

Education through:Accreditation Standards, continuous improvement,

quality assurance NCA CASI and SACS CASI are the

accreditation divisions of AdvancED

Professional Services Professional development, technical

assistance, conferences, consulting

Research and Innovation Publications, resources, tools,

evaluation

5© 2010 AdvancED

Why Are We Concerned About Collaboration?

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Challenges

• Disconnect between students, teachers, and the system

• Digital Natives are being taught by Digital Immigrants

• Students do not see relevance • Society has not valued technical skills• Severe skill shortage• 7000 students drop out everyday

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“Wired” Students

• Today’s students are considered “digital natives” meaning they have only known a digital world.

• Characteristics of digital natives:– Are capable of parallel processing

and multi-tasking– Prefer graphics over text– Prefer random access– Function best when networked– Thrive on instant gratification and

frequent rewards

Source: The Future of Education in America: A Structured Response to Uncertainty, McREL, November 2005

8© 2010 AdvancED

Our Future Workforce

9© 2010 AdvancED

Paradigm Shift in Perspective

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• Facts & skills based• Teacher controlled• Work alone• Avoid failure• Discipline based

• Deeper understanding • Student controlled

pace• Creative by creating • Work in groups • Synthesize and analyze• Try, fail and try again

New Economy Requires Old + New Basics

11© 2010 AdvancED

Revealing Statistics• Fewer than 40 percent of the nation’s

largest and fastest-growing job classifications require four-year college degrees.

• Fewer than 30 percent of all jobs demand college degrees — a figure that has barely budged in the last two decades.

www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/feb/06/; Paul Barton article

12© 2010 AdvancED

More than 80 percent of respondents in the 2005 National Association of Manufacturer’s Skills Gap Report indicated that they are experiencing a shortage of qualified workers overall – with 13 percent reporting severe shortages and 68 percent indicating moderate shortages. Career and technical education plays a vital role in helping American business close this gap by building a competitive workforce for the 21st Century.

The Association for Career and Technical Education(ACTE) ; www.acteonline.org

13© 2010 AdvancED

More trend data…

• Nearly 40% of today's postsecondary students are self supporting adults age 24 and up, almost half attend part-time, more than 1/3 work full-time, 27% have children• 44% of Americans don’t believe they have theeducation they need for the jobs they want• 32 states do not have enough young adults in thepipeline to replace college-educated, retiring BabyBoomers• There are 32 million adults who started, but did notcomplete, a college education• Every 23 seconds a student drops out of school in the US.

14© 2010 AdvancED

Job Zones Education Example

Zone 1:Little or nopreparation

A high school diploma or GEDcertificate, formal training sometimes required to obtain a license

Taxi drivers, amusementand recreation attendants,counter and rental clerks,cashiers, waiters/waitresses

Zone 2:Somepreparation

A high school diploma, perhapssome vocational training or job related coursework; an associate's orbachelor's degree could be needed

Sheet-metal workers, forest-fire fighters, customer-servicerepresentatives, pharmacytechnicians, retail sales clerks, tellers

Zone 3:Mediumpreparation

Training in vocational schools, on the job experience, or an associate'sdegree; B.A. sometimes required

Funeral directors, electricians,forest and conservation technicians, legal secretaries

Zone 4:Considerablepreparation

Most jobs require a bachelor'sdegree, but some do not

Accountants, human-resourcemanagers, computer programmers, teachers, chemists, detectives

Zone 5:Extensivepreparation

A bachelor’s degree is the minimumrequired for these jobs; some require graduate education

Librarians, lawyers, aerospaceengineers, physicists,school psychologists, surgeons

From Education Week, 2007, Diploma Counts

15© 2010 AdvancED

Job Sectors 2006-2016 Growth and Replacement

• Some of the areas where the greatest job opportunities will be available include:

• Career and Technical Fields (skilled labor) such as:

• Home health care• Medical Assistants• Network Systems• Data Communication Analysts

• Education• Veterinary Sciences• Computer Software Engineers and

Applications

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Finding Common Ground• Preparation for post-secondary readiness

regardless of what pathway is chosen• What skills are needed in the workplace AND

college: basic knowledge and skills in written and spoken

English, mathematics, science, humanities, history, economics and foreign languages

development of applied skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, oral and written communications, leadership, personal responsibility and work ethic, innovation, and the ability to use technology

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Collaboration Between. . .

• Schools and business/industry• Schools and credentialing bodies• Accrediting agencies and business/industry• Accrediting agencies and credentialing bodies

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“If we are truly committed to student success and institutional quality we need to create a results oriented culture that reflects the complexity and depth of preparing students for THEIR future.”

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Implications• Leadership• Teaching and

Learning• Assessment

(Student and School)

• Culture of Improvement

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Implication for Leadership

• Resilient School Communities Distributed innovation…

extends beyond traditional boundaries

Collective intelligence Transparency

KnowledgeWorks Foundation, 2009

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Implication for Teaching and Learning

• A Global Learning Economy Learning Ecosystem Families have personal learning

ecologies that span national boundaries

Schools no longer exclusive agent of coordination

Personalized, learner-centered experiences and environments

KnowledgeWorks Foundation, 2009

22© 2010 AdvancED

Implication for Improvement

• Creating and sustaining a culture of improvement Diversifying learning geographies

for institutions that create boundless learning exchanges

Understanding the complexity of improvement

Data diversity such as school and student performance statistics, poverty rates, degree of access to fresh food, and employment outlook

KnowledgeWorks Foundation, 2009

23© 2010 AdvancED

“If we are truly committed to student success and institutional quality we need to create a results oriented culture that reflects the complexity and depth of preparing students for THEIR future.”