Policy: State

To meet the demands of the 21st century workplace, today’s students need to master more than traditional academic skills. Future jobs will increasingly require employability skills – mastery of technology, problem-solving and communication skills, and the ability to work as a team and apply knowledge to new situations.

How can giving students and teachers more time at school benefit education outcomes? Schools across the country are implementing extended learning time (ELT) to answer this question. 

New York State Education Department (NYSED), in partnership with the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL), seeks to engage and properly prepare students for college and careers through an online career exploration and planning system, CareerZone.

At a time when rigorous content standards and evaluations of teacher and student performance are on the rise, it is especially pertinent and critical to ensure that teachers and education leaders attend to the foundation for learning and working. Education researchers have identified the components of that foundation as a collection of skills commonly referred to as Lifelong Learning Skills.

The United States used to lead the world in adult postsecondary attainment, but has gradually slipped to 12th. To help the U.S. regain its former position as a world leader in adult postsecondary attainment rates, many states have set aggressive postsecondary completion or attainment goals over the past several years. To achieve these goals, states are adding a variety of ingredients into the recipe to get more youth and adults into and through postsecondary programs. But notably absent from the “cookbook” in most states are dedicated efforts to improve secondary students’ access to high-quality college counseling. A December, 2014 report from the Education Commission of the States (ECS) identifies state approaches that may not reap the hoped-for gains in college-going and highlights recent research pointing to new, successful approaches to increase college-going rates – and a few states implementing promising efforts.

To help meet the demands of the 21st century economy, state policymakers need to take a more proactive role in helping districts and schools develop strategies that will effectively prepare students with special needs for college and careers.