An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Preparing a Workforce for the 21st Century Economy

PACTA

February 17, 2010

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Institute for a Competitive Workforce

(ICW)Works to ensure that businesses have access—today and tomorrow—to an educated and skilled workforce.

Promotes high educational standards and effective workforce training systems so that they are aligned with each other and with today's rigorous business demands.

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

“Human capital is the number one business challenge”

Tom Donohue, President and CEO

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

The Global Numbers Game

If India and China successfully train 6% of their population, their skilled workforce would be nearly equal to our entire workforce

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

An Aging Workforce

• 150 million Americans are currently in the workforce

• 77 million are ‘Baby Boomers’ nearing retirement age

• Only 40 million Gen X’ers and Y’ers are available to replace them

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Factors Leading to theNeed for Postsecondary

Credentials

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

A Student Drops Out of High School Every 26 Seconds (6,000 per day)

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of CommerceSource: Tough Choices or Tough Times,

National Center for Education and the Economy

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

World Rankings

• Quantity and quality of high school graduates– 30 years ago, the United States was 1st

– Today, the U.S. is 18th of 23 industrialized countries

• U.S. 15-year-olds– Rank 15th of 29 in reading literacy– Rank 24th of 29th in math literacy

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Annual Spending on Remedial Education & Private Training (U.S)

• Remedial Education - $3.7 billion

• Private training - $58.5 billion

Source: Alabama Policy Institute 2007

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Source: Harry Holzer and Robert Lerman, America’s Forgotten Middle Skill Jobs, 2007.

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

What are Employers Saying?

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Source: Business Roundtable ‘s Springboard Project, American Worker and American Employer Surveys

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Source: Business Roundtable ‘s Springboard Project, American Worker and American Employer Surveys

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

The World of Work is Changing

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Pipe Fitting Design

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Then

Now

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Strengths and OpportunitiesCreating a 21st Century

Workforce

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of CommerceSource: Tough Choices or Tough Times report - NCEE

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

CTE

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Career and Technical Education:A New Vision

• Multiple pathways to postsecondary education and training

• Integration with general curriculum

• Achieve alignment to both workforce and postsecondary education

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Role of CTE in Economic and Workforce Development

• CTE provides framework for lifelong learning– Entry points within industry clusters exist for

younger students and adult learners

• CTE increases high school graduation rates– By providing relevancy in education, students

are more likely to stay in school

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of CommerceSource: Business Roundtable ‘s

Springboard Project, American Worker and American Employer Surveys

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

What’s Happening at the Federal Level?

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

The goal of this administration is to ensure that every child has access to a complete and competitive education – from the day they are born to the day they begin a career. 

-President Obama

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Obama Administration

• Increased emphasis on education and training

• Additional money for college

• A Secretary with a vision for improvement

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

White House Initiatives

• American Graduation Initiative– 5 Million more postsecondary degrees in 10

years

• Educate to Innovate– Promote STEM through National Lab Day,

National STEM Week, increased awareness

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

• Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA/NCLB)

• Reauthorization of the America COMPETES Act

• Reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA)

Federal Legislation

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Resources

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

• Monthly e-newsletter• Monthly issue-focused conference calls• Publications• Staff technical assistance• www.uschamber.com/icw

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

ICW-U.S. Chamber of Commercewww.uschamber.com/icw

American Youth Policy Forumwww.AYPF.org

Alliance for Excellent Education www.all4ed.org

Education Trustwww.edtrust.org

Education Policy Resources

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Career Voyages – DOLwww.Careervoyages.gov

College Readiness Planningwww.knowhow2go.org

College and Career

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Digital Skills

• Education Development Centerwww.edc.org

• Center for Implementing Technology in Education (CITEd)

www.air.org/ehd/ehd_education_tech.aspx

An Affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

For more information, contact

Lydia Logan

Vice President and Executive Director

Institute for a Competitive Workforce

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

1615 H Street, NW

Washington, DC 20062

Llogan@uschamber.com

www.uschamber.com/icw