Aligning Academic Standards and Workforce Preparation

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Company/Organization: San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, Alliance for Education: Applications by Business and Labor for Educators (ABLE)
State: California
Level of Involvement: District
Community: San Bernardino
Type of Initiative: Advocacy & Expertise
Target Education Priority: Prepare All Students for College and Careers

"Preparing students for graduation and beyond is no longer just a high school issue; it's a community issue and an economic issue. Our business, labor and government partners have stepped up to the plate to support our schools because they recognize that an investment in education is an investment in the future vitality of our communities." -- Dr. Herbert Fischer, Superintendent of San Bernardino County Schools

Overview
The Alliance for Education is a partnership organization in San Bernardino County, California, encompassing over 1,200 business, labor, government, community/faith-based organizations and education representatives, all of whom share the goal of producing an educated and skilled future workforce for the region. The partnership is organized to facilitate stakeholder involvement in P-16 education and economic and workforce development. The Alliance embraces the principle that rigor, relevance, and relationships are the key to a strong education system. The Alliance for Education is committed to working with the education community to support academic priorities as well as initiatives in the San Bernardino County School District’s to increase family involvement and bolster student supports. This approach has built a strong foundation of respect and trust between the organization and the district’s.Top of FormBottom of Form

Strategies for Success
The Alliance for Education acts as a convener for San Bernardino County, providing a forum for educators, parents, students and business and community leaders to share ideas and strategies and develop a common mission. The Alliance for Education has aligned common goals with Regional Occupational Programs, secondary and postsecondary career/technical education, the Community College District’s within San Bernardino County, the Economic Development Department, the county’s Workforce Development Department, and county and city Workforce Investment Boards, such as ensuring all students gain the requisite skills and content-knowledge in science and math to prepare them both for college and work. The Alliance for Education assumes that it does not always have to reinvent the wheel to have an impact and strives to tap into existing programs and systems, such as Project Lead the Way and the county’s Economic Development Agency, to align and coordinate workforce preparation and training opportunities for students.

Recognizing that the members of its business community have the best insight into what skills and content their future employees should possess, the Alliance for Education developed “Applications by Business and Labor for Educators” (ABLE) in 2005 ABLE offers business leaders the opportunity to help design lesson plans that align state standards to required job skills. The ABLE program also provides students with work-based learning experiences, including job shadowing, internships, field study and ultimately work experience, all of which tie directly to the lessons plans developed in concert by business leaders and teachers. Project-based learning opportunities connect the classroom and the workplace. Business leaders welcome students into their organizations and schools invite employers into the classroom. As a result of this unique, strategic collaboration between educators and employers, students are able to better understand the relationship between curriculum and careers, making the importance of their academic preparation obvious.

The Alliance for Education leverages strategic business expertise and advocacy tools recommended by Business Toolkit for Better Schools, including,

Join or start local or statewide nonprofit coalitions of like-minded business leaders to advance education reform
Organize, support and partner with education, civic and political allies
Define the skills and knowledge graduates need to get and keep well-paying, family-supporting jobs
Partner with school districts and labor to upgrade career and technical education
Play a convening role to bridge institutional barriers that block reform or make the system incoherent
Keep the public conversation focused on the vision for the public education system
Advise on subject-matter issues, such as academic standards, curriculum and assessments, especially in mathematics and science

Indicators of Success
Each year, the Alliance puts together an executive report and “stakeholders report,” outlining where the Alliance has been and where it is going. The ABLE program is still in its initial stages and has yet to be officially evaluated. In the few short months since the program expanded to include lesson plan templates that link required academic standards to required job skills, business leaders, educators and math curriculum specialists have collaborated to make up to ten lesson plan templates that align California standards in Algebra with the expectations of the workplace. All of these are available for public use.

Next Steps
Recognizing that there is still much to be done to build sustainable relationships between educators, business leaders and other stakeholders in strengthening public education, as well as quantify the organization’s own impact on the development of these relationships, the Alliance currently is refining the “Get Connected” section on its website. The goal of “Get Connected” is to build a public forum where teachers can identify specific areas where they want to work with business and where business leaders can find more ways to become involved in local schools to meet specific needs. “Get Connected” would also track the connections being made. More generally, the Alliance will continue to stand as a leader in the San Bernardino region, bringing together the business, labor, government, and education communities to ensure all students receive an education fortified by rigor, relevance and relationships.

Related Materials

Website

San Bernardino Alliance for Education

Materials for the Public

Presentations

ABLE PowerPoint Presentation

Updated: March 2007