An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Preparing a Workforce for the 21st Century Economy
PACTA
February 17, 2010
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Institute for a Competitive Workforce
(ICW)Works to ensure that businesses have access—today and tomorrow—to an educated and skilled workforce.
Promotes high educational standards and effective workforce training systems so that they are aligned with each other and with today's rigorous business demands.
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
“Human capital is the number one business challenge”
Tom Donohue, President and CEO
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
The Global Numbers Game
If India and China successfully train 6% of their population, their skilled workforce would be nearly equal to our entire workforce
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
An Aging Workforce
• 150 million Americans are currently in the workforce
• 77 million are ‘Baby Boomers’ nearing retirement age
• Only 40 million Gen X’ers and Y’ers are available to replace them
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Factors Leading to theNeed for Postsecondary
Credentials
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
A Student Drops Out of High School Every 26 Seconds (6,000 per day)
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of CommerceSource: Tough Choices or Tough Times,
National Center for Education and the Economy
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
World Rankings
• Quantity and quality of high school graduates– 30 years ago, the United States was 1st
– Today, the U.S. is 18th of 23 industrialized countries
• U.S. 15-year-olds– Rank 15th of 29 in reading literacy– Rank 24th of 29th in math literacy
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Annual Spending on Remedial Education & Private Training (U.S)
• Remedial Education - $3.7 billion
• Private training - $58.5 billion
Source: Alabama Policy Institute 2007
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Source: Harry Holzer and Robert Lerman, America’s Forgotten Middle Skill Jobs, 2007.
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
What are Employers Saying?
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Source: Business Roundtable ‘s Springboard Project, American Worker and American Employer Surveys
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Source: Business Roundtable ‘s Springboard Project, American Worker and American Employer Surveys
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
The World of Work is Changing
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Pipe Fitting Design
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Then
Now
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Strengths and OpportunitiesCreating a 21st Century
Workforce
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of CommerceSource: Tough Choices or Tough Times report - NCEE
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
CTE
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Career and Technical Education:A New Vision
• Multiple pathways to postsecondary education and training
• Integration with general curriculum
• Achieve alignment to both workforce and postsecondary education
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Role of CTE in Economic and Workforce Development
• CTE provides framework for lifelong learning– Entry points within industry clusters exist for
younger students and adult learners
• CTE increases high school graduation rates– By providing relevancy in education, students
are more likely to stay in school
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of CommerceSource: Business Roundtable ‘s
Springboard Project, American Worker and American Employer Surveys
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
What’s Happening at the Federal Level?
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
The goal of this administration is to ensure that every child has access to a complete and competitive education – from the day they are born to the day they begin a career.
-President Obama
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Obama Administration
• Increased emphasis on education and training
• Additional money for college
• A Secretary with a vision for improvement
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
White House Initiatives
• American Graduation Initiative– 5 Million more postsecondary degrees in 10
years
• Educate to Innovate– Promote STEM through National Lab Day,
National STEM Week, increased awareness
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
• Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA/NCLB)
• Reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act
• Reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA)
Federal Legislation
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Resources
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
• Monthly e-newsletter• Monthly issue-focused conference calls• Publications• Staff technical assistance• www.uschamber.com/icw
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
ICW-U.S. Chamber of Commercewww.uschamber.com/icw
American Youth Policy Forumwww.AYPF.org
Alliance for Excellent Education www.all4ed.org
Education Trustwww.edtrust.org
Education Policy Resources
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Career Voyages – DOLwww.Careervoyages.gov
College Readiness Planningwww.knowhow2go.org
College and Career
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Digital Skills
• Education Development Centerwww.edc.org
• Center for Implementing Technology in Education (CITEd)
www.air.org/ehd/ehd_education_tech.aspx
An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
For more information, contact
Lydia Logan
Vice President and Executive Director
Institute for a Competitive Workforce
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
1615 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20062
www.uschamber.com/icw