Patricia Levesque is the Chief Executive Officer for ExcelinEd.
Opportunity. Access. A chance to succeed.
These concepts were all made scarce by the COVID-19 pandemic.
But in education, they were already in short supply.
ExcelinEd is committed to 5 goals that over 5 years, will help 5 million students – or more – emerge from the pandemic supported, equipped, empowered, engaged, and inspired.
With the effects of the pandemic driving sweeping policy change, the next 5 years will determine the trajectory of 21st century education. This is a critical moment for all students.
Does a strong education to workforce system actually exist?
And are the knowledge and training students receive in this system actually leading to in demand opportunities that pay a family-sustaining wage?
The short answer to both of these questions is: No.
Almost all high-demand job opportunities require a postsecondary credential. And only 18% of credentials earned in K–12 programs are aligned with employer demand or meet a basic wage threshold of $15 per hour.
Right now, not a single state ensures high-quality paths for all students – of any age – to earn needed skills, knowledge and experiences for higher-skill, higher-wage, in-demand jobs.
Not a single state has an education to workforce system that works well.
Students need high-quality offerings that turn into college credit or real credentials and that are aligned with jobs actually in demand.
States need a systemic, long-term, flexible approach to help all learners (students and adults) access pathways to opportunity.
It’s not enough for policymakers to approach strengthening ed to workforce options by reacting to the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Offering stopgap credentials or directing Governors’ Emergency Education Relief Funds (GEER) to meet the demands of jobs that were displaced by the pandemic, while worthwhile, offers learners short-term fixes that don’t meet their long-terms plans or goals.
The pandemic did prove that learners are ill-prepared to face an increasingly automated and digital world. While so much grinded to a halt during quarantine, the rate of change did not.
Jobs and market demand change at a frenetic pace. Which means that to adapt, we need to focus not only on high schoolers; people must become students in some form again at 30, 40 – even 60 and older.
States’ ed to workforce systems aren’t built to meet this new standard of “lifelong learning.” These systems are not engineered to give learners the on- and off-ramps they need to earn necessary experience, knowledge and/or credentials.
There are lots of ways that learners get stuck on the state ed to workforce Merry-Go-Round:
Why do learners get stuck? One major reason is lack of stakeholder coordination and awareness at the state level.
As a result, students of all ages face circuitous routes toward needed experience and/or credentials and corresponding huge education and re-education costs.
Learners trying to navigate states’ ed to workforce systems face too many roadblocks, barriers and dead-ends.
State agencies should work together to create a comprehensive set of options that make it easy for learners to go from Point A to Point B, with the ability to choose on- and off-ramps between education and the workforce along the way.
Over the next five years, state leaders will have ample opportunities in the post-pandemic policymaking frenzy to strengthen education to workforce policies and create these pathways.
We know that the first step to create robust learner pathways is for policymakers to see that K-12, postsecondary and workforce strategies, policies, programs, supports and data are interconnected.
From this view, we can create a roadmap for learners, with complete pathways that bridge government systems and are applicable across state borders. Pathways that meet learners where they are, provide options and flexibility and prepare them for long-term success in our fast-changing world.
ExcelinEd launched Pathways Matter to help individual states create a “highway system” for K-12 education to workforce journeys.
ExcelinEd wants to work with states from idea to implementation. And then, we hope to work with stakeholders to refine and improve.
So far, ExcelinEd has published 10 state analyses, with more to come, that examine successes and offer ideas to bolster current policy. We’ve identified 20 key policies that span the breadth of students’ time within the ed to workforce system.
But this is the true silver bullet to making any of this work: State executives must build a true connected system – a continuum.
After working in the Speaker’s Office of the Florida State Legislature and then in the Governor’s Office, I’ve invested plenty of time in a good Task Force. But this work cannot occur around one lunch, one table or one Zoom account. Policy creation of this kind cannot be done in isolation.
Engaging all stakeholders who play an important role in designing and effectively implementing pathways is key: Employers, intermediaries such as Chambers of Commerce and local nonprofits, policymakers, government agencies and, of course, individuals who seek to benefit. A regionally diverse, cross-sector advisory group can help guide stakeholders.
Five years after the launch of Pathways Matter, we want to see more kids – and adults! – who understand AI, drone operation, logistics. We want to see more health care workers exploring cutting-edge wellness solutions. We want to see more budding entrepreneurs with ideas to lift others up.
Now is the time for states to invest in quality pathways to higher-skill, higher-quality, higher-wage jobs.
In working together, policymakers can ensure the greatest return on investment for learners right now, and well into the future.
As we emerge from the pandemic, opportunity is ahead. And the pathways to get there matter.
