Page 39 - EdViewptsSpring2017

“...reflect on what a student should know It becomes the responsibility of the So, if the teachers are not teaching
and be able to do after completing a administrator in curricula and lesson it, how do administrators get them to
K-12 public education in New Jersey.” plan review to ensure that all relevant teach it? A wise colleague of mine
(http://www.state.nj.us/education/cccs/) standards are addressed. told me, “The teachers won’t buy in
This has not changed. Currently, the An article in The Sunday Star-Ledger unless the principal (or department
content areas include: 21st Century Life on December 11, 2016 identified 25 supervisor) makes it a priority.” Thus,
and Careers; Comprehensive Health top jobs in New Jersey. According it falls to the administrator or subject
and Physical Education; Language to the NJ Department of Labor and area supervisor to make sure that 21st
Arts Literacy; Mathematics; Science; Workforce Development, these listings Century Life and Careers instruction is
Social Studies; Technology; Visual and represent key job growth areas in our part of everyday instruction. But how?
Performing Arts; World Languages. state. Of the 25 top jobs, 18 listed
(http://www.state.nj.us/education/cccs/) average starting salaries above the In a society where many
The content areas covered by these $50,000 mark. look at the first year of
standards are in direct correlation to a A report released in June 2016 by the
challenge President Obama set down Association for Competitive Technology college as “Grade 13”
in 2009 to “help America’s children rise (ACT) reveals hundreds of thousands of high school, students
to the challenge of graduating from high of technology-related job openings, are not gaining all of
school prepared for college and the but not enough qualified people to
workplace.” (https://www.whitehouse. fill them. The same article indicates the skills they need to
gov/the-press-office/president-obama- that the average salary for a software seamlessly integrate
calls-new-steps-prepare-america-s- developer throughout the United States
children-success-college-and-care) is $104,000. (Witte and Zampa, 2016) into the workforce.
Preparing students for success in Jonathan Godfrey, Vice President of
college and the workforce is a princi- Public Affairs for ACT led the research The building administrator or subject
pal goal of the re-authorization of “No team on the ACT report that shows area supervisor must work with
Child Left Behind.” The federal “Every over 223,000 job openings for software teachers to ensure Career Ready
Student Succeeds Act,” adopted in developers. He says that American Practices are solidly at the forefront of
December of 2015, requires state schools just aren’t teaching these instruction. Lesson plan and curricula
standards aligned with college and important subjects. (Witte and Zampa, reviews should include an audit for the
career skills, but defers to states on 2016). Obviously, if high-paying jobs presence of all NJ Student Learning
how to define such alignment. (http:// are going unfilled, educators are Standards. Classroom observations
www.nj.gov/education/ESSA/resourc- missing the mark somewhere. and subsequent observer-teacher
es/Overview.pdf) While focusing on conferences should include discussions
college and career readiness, ESSA In a society where many look at the and suggestions on ways to include
also leaves teacher evaluation meth- first year of college as “Grade 13” of Career Ready Practices (CRPs) and
ods; grant funding; student proficiency high school, students are not gaining 21st Century Life and Career Skills in all
and assessment; as well as increasing all of the skills they need to seamlessly subject areas. These practices are not
academic rigor, in local state hands. integrate into the workforce. “Too often, limited by grade levels and can extend
This is a departure from requirements high school students do not demon- from pre-school through high school.
of NCLB which left stringent federal strate workplace habits that employers A cursory review of the CRPs include
control in place for the management prioritize, including reliability, punctuality, skills that can easily be integrated
of local methods and policies. (http:// customer service and high-quality task into lessons across all subject areas.
www.nj.gov/education/ESSA/resourc- completion,” said Andrew Rothstein, Teaching students to work collabora-
es/Overview.pdf) Chief Academic Officer of the National tively, to include technology integra-
The assumption is that the legislation, Academy Foundation. (http://www.edu- tion and to communicate effectively in
cationworld.com/a_admin/tomorrows-
as well as the resulting standards, lay workforce-what-students-need.shtml) sharing information are all skillsets that
the foundation for curricula development transcend subject area disciplines.
at the local level for everyday instruction. As part of ESSA compliance, in 2015, Lifestyle skills—such as budgeting
But as curriculum is updated or written New Jersey revised Student Learning and personal “life” management can
by local districts, how many curriculum Standard 9 to include Career Ready also easily be incorporated. Allowing
writers realize that their curriculum Practices, in addition to financial students to speculate costs, the best
must include topics and activities that literacy; career awareness, explora- use of a specific dollar amount or cor-
go beyond their subject matter? Most tion and preparation; and Career and relating what something costs today
teachers concern themselves with Technical Education. This means that to what it cost in Colonial times permit
their own subject area even though a school districts must include Standard the student to tie textbook learning
student’s demonstrated proficiency in 9 in curricula and classroom instruc- to their own lives. Using technology
NJ Student Learning Standards 8 & 9 tion in order to be compliant with this tools such as presentation software,
can almost guarantee future success. federal mandate. student-created webpages or blogs, to

Educational Viewpoints -37- Spring 2017