Officials focus on career education
State education officials are expected to meet later this month to discuss how they can better prepare all students for postsecondary opportunities.
The meeting, planned for Oct. 27 at Arkansas Tech University’s Ozark campus, was spurred in part by a formal call to action by some Northwest Arkansas educators to improve the delivery of career and technical programs.
Michael Poore, the Bentonville School District’s superintendent, recently released a two-page white paper this month that describes how educators and business leaders in Northwest Arkansas increasingly are collaborating to meet workforce needs.
That progress, however, is being stifled by various factors, including the inability of some state agencies — namely the departments of education, career education and higher education — to cooperate, according to the paper.
“These three historically have been segregated in such a manner to generally not be able to successfully coordinate their respective areas of educational work and process so as to improve educational opportunities and capacity for students,” the paper states.
“They also have not seemed adept at understanding how to support career pathway programming. Sometimes the limitations come from within the individual organizations; other times limitations are created because the three entities do not collaborate.”
The paper resulted from a think tank held last month with multiple educational and community leaders. Poore said he was the primary author of the paper, but he had help from many — including other Benton County superintendents and his staff members — in writing it.
“We’ve got to find a way to make it easier to move forward on what our businesses want and our kids need,” Poore said.
Rick Neal, superintendent of the Pea Ridge School District, said he has worked closely with Poore on the subject over the past few months. He developed a steering committee to discuss possible changes.
Pea Ridge has been a leader in developing career education programs with its Manufacturing and Business Academy, a conversion charter school that opened last year. It emphasizes college and career readiness through partnerships with local businesses that give students realworld working experience.
“Everybody right now is very enthusiastic about where we can go with career education and how we can make this a real important part of the academic piece,” Neal said.
Those planning to attend the Oct. 27 meeting include officials from the Arkansas departments of education and career education. Bruce Sikes, chancellor of Arkansas Tech University at Ozark, and Richard Abernathy, director of the Arkansas Association of Educational Administra- tors, also will be there, Neal said.
The paper cites other inhibitors for school districts trying to meet the demands of the business community. Graduation requirements, for example, could be modified to meet career path courses.
“As an example, would a student who is learning to be a diesel mechanic not be better served taking a business math course rather than Algebra II?” the paper states.
The paper also suggests enhancing the availability of career tech centers in the state. Most districts have students who live in rural areas more than 30 minutes from their region’s career tech center, the paper states.
Other states are doing some of these things, Poore said. He pointed to Oklahoma as one of the best models to follow.
Some changes educators desire may require legislative action, but others may be corrected by having stakeholders meet and modify rules tied to state agencies, the paper states.