Integrating the country's educational system, employers, and job creators can reshape -- and reignite -- the American economy. An expert on education explains.
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AlGonzalezinfo's insight:
While I am happy to be working with teachers and students to help develop #FutureLeaders, the findings of this Gallup report are alarming.
Here are a few facts that tell the tale of our poor student engagement in schools and its relationship to our declining economy:
- Student engagement in school drops precipitously from fifth grade through 12th grade. About three quarters of elementary school kids (76%) are engaged in school, while only 44% of high school kids are engaged. The longer students stay in school, the less engaged they become. If we were doing this right, the trend would be going in the opposite direction.
- About four in 10 students in grades five through 12 (43%) say they plan to start their own business, yet only 7% currently have an internship or job in a real organization where they can apply that energy. News flash: Schools and colleges don't have jobs and internships -- employers do. If we don't get schools and businesses working together to give students these opportunities, everyone will lose.
- Only 14% of Americans say they are confident that college graduates are well-prepared for success in the workplace. And business leaders are even more skeptical, with only 11% saying that college graduates are well-prepared for success at work. Yet despite this, 96% of chief academic officers of colleges and universities are either somewhat or very confident that they are preparing college students for success in the workplace. It's hard to imagine a gap -- or moat -- bigger than that.
- And if you think our schools and colleges will be able to test our way out of this mess, that's a big mistake too. Perhaps the most important education-related news story of the entire year was Google -- the world's most admired brand -- announcing that it found almost no correlation between the grades and test scores of its employees and their success on the job. So the company no longer asks all its applicants to provide these things. This is a canary in the coal mine. As goes Google, so goes the rest of the business world.
While I am happy to be working with teachers and students to help develop #FutureLeaders, the findings of this Gallup report are alarming.
Here are a few facts that tell the tale of our poor student engagement in schools and its relationship to our declining economy:
Student engagement in school drops precipitously from fifth grade through 12th grade. About three quarters of elementary school kids (76%) are engaged in school, while only 44% of high school kids are engaged. The longer students stay in school, the less engaged they become. If we were doing this right, the trend would be going in the opposite direction.
About four in 10 students in grades five through 12 (43%) say they plan to start their own business, yet only 7% currently have an internship or job in a real organization where they can apply that energy. News flash: Schools and colleges don't have jobs and internships -- employers do. If we don't get schools and businesses working together to give students these opportunities, everyone will lose.
Only 14% of Americans say they are confident that college graduates are well-prepared for success in the workplace. And business leaders are even more skeptical, with only 11% saying that college graduates are well-prepared for success at work. Yet despite this, 96% of chief academic officers of colleges and universities are either somewhat or very confident that they are preparing college students for success in the workplace. It's hard to imagine a gap -- or moat -- bigger than that.
And if you think our schools and colleges will be able to test our way out of this mess, that's a big mistake too. Perhaps the most important education-related news story of the entire year was Google -- the world's most admired brand -- announcing that it found almost no correlation between the grades and test scores of its employees and their success on the job. So the company no longer asks all its applicants to provide these things. This is a canary in the coal mine. As goes Google, so goes the rest of the business world.