Education for the 21st Century:
Exploring Industry-Based Skills
Work in Progress at Teachers College
In a highly advanced, technological society such as the United States,
how do students know what skills they need to qualify for the jobs,
and the advanced training, of their choice? How can schools best
teach necessary skills? How can industry and education together help
create a more effective education system, a more vibrant, productive
economy?
Because of questions like these, industry-based skill standards are a
central component of the current education reform agenda. Advocates
believe that skill standards have many educational benefits:
Standards tell students what skills they need to gain access to
particular occupations; they tell schools what must be taught and help
schools evaluate how successfully those skills are being taught.
Standards also tell employers what skills a student has.
Building on American Professional Standards
According to Thomas Bailey of NCRVE, "Although the discussion of skill
standards seems relatively new, the U.S. already has extensive
experience with systems of standards. These are particularly common
for the professions. The current changes in the nature of work are
making the jobs of front-line workers take on aspects typical of
professions. Therefore, professional standards and certification are
often relevant to these new front-line occupations."
Indeed, the very process of developing standards can forge new
relationships between schools and employers, provide a framework for
employers to think about their needs, and in some cases bring about
reform in both workplaces and schools.
Industry-Based Skill Standards
To assess the current state of the skill standards projects and to
make suggestions to strengthen the growing national system of
standards, NCRVE has developed a four-part program of research. The
first project is being carried out by Thomas Bailey and Donna Merritt
at Teachers College. This project, building on a 1995 NCRVE report by
Bailey and Merritt entitled Making Sense of Industry Based Skills
Standards, will classify the various approaches used in establishing
standards, setting performance criteria, developing assessment
instruments, and designing curricula.
The second project, which will be carried out by David Finegold of
RAND, will examine the experience with industry skill standards in
Europe, with an emphasis on the United Kingdom.
The last two projects are case studies of skill standards systems in
professional, high-skill occupations. Gary Hoachlander at MPR
Associates is studying training and skill certification for airplane
pilots, and Thomas Bailey and Donna Merritt at Teachers College are
studying standards and certification for accountants.
Reviewing the Best
Based on these studies, NCRVE will organize a skill standards
conference in 1996 for practitioners, policymakers, and academics.
The purpose will be to review the best approaches to the development
and assessment of standards, examining the underlying assumptions of
the movement, the actual experience, and the implementation issues.
The conference papers will be published in a book that will be
accessible to a wide audience of educators, policymakers, and
scholars.
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