Activities in early July usually involve barbecues, fireworks displays and relaxing vacations for most folks. Not so for over 1200 students, teachers, administrators and representatives from business, government, labor and community-based organizations who attended the fifth annual National Leadership Forum on School-to-Career Transition (NLF) from June 30 to July 2, 1996, in sunny Long Beach, CA.
NCRVE and Jobs for the Future, two organizational leaders in the national school-to-career field, co-sponsored the event to challenge the thinking and practice of practitioners and policymakers, to promote networking among new and experienced educators in the field, and to renew the commitment of all involved.
The conference theme, "It's Everybody's Business," reflected the need for broad and diverse constituencies to create school-to-career systems that serve all students well as they move between education and high-skill careers. The theme was also demonstrated by the diversity of the attendees, the various session formats, and the speakers who shared their experiences and visions to improve the lives of all young people by forging better connections between work and learning.
In his opening address via satellite, Labor Secretary Robert Reich stressed the importance of the public-private partnerships that have allowed the school-to-career movement to grow by leaps and bounds. "These partnerships are providing exciting work and learning opportunities for all of our young people and are improving the long-term prospects of our national economy," Reich said. Following Secretary Reich's inspirational remarks, Jeff Howard from The Efficacy Institute generated spirited discussion with his message that "all children can learn" at high levels and that all obstacles to learning can be overcome.
The Conference Faculty--a group of the nation's leading school-to-career practitioners--then led a series of sessions based upon their years of experience in building school-to-career systems. The topics ranged from "Training Worksite Supervisors" to "Developing Teacher Internships" to "Mentoring: An Essential Element in School-to-Career Initiatives."
For the following day-and-a-half, attendees selected from various sessions organized around four pathways, including effective learning environments, organizational structures, broad and active partnerships, and national and state policy. Practitioners, policymakers and researchers were encouraged to answer two essential questions that related to the conference theme: "How can we best serve all students?" and "How can we involve broad stakeholder groups in this system design?"
Based on evaluations from last year's Forum, planners added several new features to the conference program to better meet participants' interests and learning styles. In addition to seminars and action labs, case study sessions offered structured opportunities for participants to read and discuss in-depth particular issues in implementing school-to-career transition programs. Another new feature, box lunch sessions, gave participants a chance during the lunch break to discuss topics in smaller, informal settings with facilitators who were particularly experienced with the issues. Topics included "Integrating Challenging Academic and Vocational Studies," "Revising School Schedules," and "Postsecondary Institutions and Effective School-to-Work." Team time sessions also offered teams the expertise of conference faculty in planning and implementing school-to-career transition strategies.
Two additional features increased opportunities for participants to network. These included a "Lucy booth" (as in the Peanuts comic strip) where conference faculty gave free consulting and advice, and an expanded exhibit hall where exhibitors shared their products and services.
The closing session served as a reminder of "why we do what we do." Student leaders from school-to-career sites shared their insights from the Youth Conference which ran concurrently with the Forum. (See article, "All Means Me!") One participant summed up her experience this way: "Overall, the event was a great way to meet folks from around the country as well as to talk in depth with people from my own team."
Bernadette Chi is a member of the NCRVE Development team and a doctoral student in education at U.C. Berkeley.