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Tolles hosted the event at the request of Senator Portman, and the round table in the district’s Robotics Advanced Manufacturing Technology Education Collaborative (RAMTEC) Center joined together business and educational leaders from Battelle, Amazon, Honda, the Ohio Department of Education, the Ohio Association of Career-Technical Education, Governor John Kasich’s office, Columbus Metro High School, JobsOhio, Nationwide, Boeing and more.

Portman discussed how a skilled workforce and the expansion of career centers and STEM education in the state will help encourage major manufacturers and job creators to select Ohio for their business needs. Business leaders also discussed how the skills gap is impacting their ability to hire an effective workforce. 

“We were happy to be part of this important discussion on solving the state’s skills gap,” said Tolles Superintendent Emmy Beeson, who began with the district on August 1. “Career-tech has played a vital role in workforce development for more than 40 years, and Tolles is certainly positioned through our strong STEM programs to address the needs brought to the forefront during the round table hosted by Senator Portman.”

Beginning his Fall, educators who work with students on their career choices have a new program designed to share important resources, networking and specific information regarding Ohio’s required Career Advising Policy.   Every student in grades 6-12 should receive career counseling. A barrier to implementing this policy is that most educators have not had any training in providing career advising. 

An online 8-week course with one face-to-face meeting (required) has been designed for administrators, counselors and teachers and others who guide students in career choices to learn more about Ohio’s Career Advising Policy, career counseling, career development, and available resources to meet the policy requirements and effectively guide students.

Click here for more details.

Click here to register for the Session starting Sept. 25

Today’s career-tech administrators work in an ever changing environment, influenced more and more by the media,  including responding to media inquiries, as well as requests from business to help meet workforce needs. 

Join 2017-2018 Ohio ACTE President Nate Bishko and special guest speakers and hear their perspectives on leadership at the Ohio ACTE Leadership and Empowerment Meeting Sept. 29 at the Great Lakes Science Center.

Special guest and featured speaker Wayne Dawson, award winning news co-anchor of Fox News in the Morning, Cleveland, will share his leadership journey and provide insights into the media and how schools can interact effectively with members of the media.

Also, business leaders will present their leadership perspectives and their expectations for education during this one-day that is sure to rev up your outlook on leadership, as well as provide valuable information you can use in your role as a career-tech leader.

Join 2017-2018 Ohio ACTE President Nate Bishko and special guest speakers and hear their perspectives on leadership at the Ohio ACTE Leadership and Empowerment Meeting Sept. 29 at the Great Lakes Science Center. 

 Attendees will also be able to tour the Great Lakes Science Center.

Sept. 29 - Great Lakes Science Center, Cleveland

Leadership and Empowerment Meeting

Registration is just $75 for Ohio ACTE members. 

Click here to register

SPACE IS EXTREMELY LIMITED and the DEADLINE TO REGISTER is Sept. 20.

As a result of feedback from educators throughout Ohio as well as an advisory group, the Ohio Department of Education is restructuring the Ohio Resident Educator Program for this school year, including the program’s summative assessment. Beginning teachers with resident educator licenses take the Ohio Resident Educator Summative Assessment (RESA) in year three of the four-year program. These teachers become eligible for a professional teaching license once they pass RESA and complete four years of the program, including focused mentoring components and any local requirements.

The passage of SB 3 late last year, exempts career-technical educators teaching under an alternative censure from the assessment, although a new assessment is being developed by ODE.  The law states the new assessment for career-tech must be in place by Dec. 31.

To read the full article click here

This school year, new requirements take effect for how to intervene when students miss too much school, and the Ohio Department of Education recently released a guidance and frequently-asked-questions document to help schools with the change. To read the guidance document click here.

The 2017-2018 academic year is the first in which local boards of education will face the main policies of 131-HB410: a ban on using suspension or expulsion as punishment for absenteeism, and a requirement to form intervention teams to identify and seek to address the causes of students' excessive absences.

The bill sets thresholds for triggering a designation of "habitual" truancy and "excessive" absences. Habitual truancy under the bill means 30 or more consecutive hours of unexcused absences, 42 hours unexcused within a month or 72 hours in a year unexcused. Excessive absence means 38 missed hours in a month or 65 hours in a year, with or without a legitimate excuse.

Meeting the habitual truancy threshold triggers the need for an absence intervention team.

The State Board of Education has already issued a model policy for districts to use as a reference when setting their own policies.

To read the guidance document click here

The Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) recently received a $100,000 challenge grant to support efforts to boost the proportion of Ohioans with some kind of post-secondary credential.

The funding from the Lumina Foundation's Attainment Challenge Grant program will go to bolster efforts to meet the goal of a 65 percent post-secondary attainment rate by 2025. The Board of Regents and the Governor's Executive Workforce Board have endorsed the goal, and the State Board of Education has discussed it as well.

ODHE says it will use the grant funding to work with businesses to align the goal with employers' needs for workforce development and diversity; develop a statewide and county-by-county data dashboard to connect with efforts of local education attainment partnerships; promote the value of high-quality technical certificates and certifications and collect consistent data on who earns these credentials; and support efforts to increase post-secondary attainment among underrepresented and low-income populations.

"Ohio has strong partnerships for attainment and an effective outcomes-based funding formula that has helped to increase completion," said ODHE Chancellor John Carey. "These conditions provide a strong foundation for achieving Ohio’s attainment goal, and resources from this grant will help us leverage them to move our outcomes to the next level."

"ODHE's goal of increasing Ohio's postsecondary attainment rate to 65 percent by 2025 supports our efforts to build a skilled and productive workforce and create a culture of continuous learning in Ohio," said Ryan Burgess, director of the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation.

"We applaud Ohio for its commitment to increasing education attainment beyond high school," said Jamie Merisotis, Lumina's president and CEO. "Today’s workplace demands a greater breadth and depth of talent, and Ohio is wise to pursue a strategy focused on ensuring its residents possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in our rapidly changing labor market."

To read the full article click here

- Rep. Margy Conditt (R-Hamilton)
- Rep. Darrell Kick (R-Loudonville)
- Rep. Janine Boyd (D-Cleveland Heights)
- Dr. Bob Mengerink (superintendent, Cuyahoga County ESC)
- Anthony Knickerbocker (career and technical education director, Lancaster City Schools)
- John Stack (president and owner, Cambridge Education Group)
- Karen Boch (superintendent, Wellston School District)
- Dr. Thomas Maridada II (CEO, BRIGHT New Leaders for Ohio Schools)
- Hannah Powell (executive director, KIPP Columbus)

According to Cupp, the purpose of the task force is to examine the issue of poverty and education and, in particular, the achievement gap related to that circumstance. The end goal is both to generate information that will be useful to members of the General Assembly in their deliberations on education policy and to derive some practicable and proven-effective strategies from this effort that can be supported and enhanced by legislative and state policy.

At the first meeting July 27 members got an overview of the data on income and academic achievement and discussed where to focus further discussions Thursday at the first meeting of the Speaker's Task Force on Education and Poverty.

Cupp said he hopes to use future meetings of the task force to hear local as well as national perspectives on how to overcome the achievement gap between students from low-income families and others. "We will go where the effects, the real life examples and the research take us," Cupp said.

Staff of the Joint Education Oversight Committee -- researcher Terrence Moore and Executive Director Lauren Monowar-Jones -- reviewed some general data on the achievement gap among Ohio students, as well as research methods for determining if and how well a given effort can close that gap.

Looking at a cohort of students who started third grade in 2006, Moore described aggregate data from Ohio's Education Management Information System (EMIS) showing the gap in state test proficiency rates remains relatively constant over the years between students classified as economically disadvantaged and those who aren't.

Moore said signs of a good "treatment" that will have a positive effect on closing the gap include evidence that it can be administered consistently; that results can be obtained broadly among the student population; and that there is sufficient effect to justify the cost.

The flip side of that last factor, Moore said, the "education diversion threat" -- the worry that an ineffective strategy is supplanting something that would work better. "Oftentimes these treatments have to displace some other form of instruction," he said.

Monowar-Jones noted Ohio data showing the achievement gap based on income is broader than similar gaps seen when comparing students of different races.

She also reviewed how the circumstances of poverty involve characteristics beyond family income. "There is much more than money when you talk about poverty ... specifically, poverty creates culture around itself," Monowar-Jones said, reviewing writings by Ruby Payne, author of "A Framework for Understanding Poverty," and J.D. Vance, author of "Hillbilly Elegy."

Topics committee members mentioned for possible future discussions Thursday included early childhood education, student mobility, wrap-around services and teacher quality, among others.

To read the full articles click here

Join your Career-Tech colleagues and kick off the school year with business leaders and others who will share their leadership philosophies, careers, and educational expectations! This year's Leadership and Empowerment Meeting will be held September 29th, at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland. Featured speakers include Ohio state Senator Kenny Yuko (invited), and Fox 8 News Co-Anchor, Wayne Dawson. Wayne will share his leadership journey perspective on how schools can effectively interact with the media. Attendees will also hear from local business and organization leaders on leading in today's varied business climate. Don't miss out on this opportunity to learn from community leaders and colleagues and start your school year strong!

For more information and to register click here

 The Adecco Group, the world’s leading provider of workforce solutions, at the Ohio ACTE Connections to Education Conference on July 25 announced a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ohio Department of Education, becoming a partner with the state in on-the-job training efforts aimed at strengthening Ohio’s labor market.

The announcement follows The Adecco Group’s October 2016 pledge to facilitate 10,000 work-based learning opportunities by 2020, with an emphasis on apprenticeships. In addition, the partnership supports Ohio’s New Skills for Youth grant and will build on the state’s Success Bound program, an initiative that is providing career readiness resources to students.

Small, medium, large and Fortune 500 businesses are encouraged to work with The Adecco Group to coordinate on-the-job training programs tailored to each business’ needs. The human resources company is not only a resource to employers interested in exploring work-based learning options but also can act as the liaison between employers and other stakeholders, such as educators, ensuring that all requirements are met in order to activate work-based learning at a job site. With a network of skilled, local recruiters who understand Ohio’s employment landscape, the staffing company also is positioned to take on the role of Employer of Record for work-based learning participants ages 16 or older.

“We’re seeing a shallow pool of talent available to fill open positions across nearly every sector and geography in the U.S., including Ohio,” said Tyra Tutor, senior vice president of corporate development and social responsibility at The Adecco Group. “As workforce gaps continue to keep employers up at night, we believe work-based learning and apprenticeship models are a feasible solution to matching talent with the right skills for the jobs of today and tomorrow.”

“We share The Adecco Group’s vision for supporting student learning through work-based and apprenticeship experiences that supplement classroom learning. These experiences give students important skills that support their success in further education or in the workplace and contribute to a high-quality talent pool for Ohio’s businesses,” said Paolo DeMaria, state superintendent of public instruction. “Enormous opportunity exists for Ohio’s businesses to partner with educators in setting students up for lifelong success while developing our state’s future workforce.”

The Adecco Group has seen firsthand how on-the-job training can transform a community. The company partners with Kentucky’s Department of Education and area businesses on a program geared at developing the state’s talent pool. In its third year, 96 percent of students who have completed the program have gone on to continue their education, extend their time in the program or receive a full-time job offer.

“Our senior leaders see co-ops as one of the most effective ways to address employment gaps,” said Holly Brady, assistant manager of human resources at Toyotomi, a Toyota supplier that was an early adopter of The Adecco Group’s Kentucky program. “They’ve allowed us to engage with young talent that we otherwise wouldn’t have access to. Each student we work with learns the skills needed to be successful at our business, and we see them as potential full-time employees.”

“Gov. Kasich’s budget contains provisions to provide high school students with more work-based learning opportunities,” said Ryan Burgess, director of the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation. “The partnership with Adecco will provide Ohio’s businesses with customizable solutions so they can focus on engaging students in work-based learning and building a skilled and productive workforce.”

Companies are encouraged to reach out to The Adecco Group if they are interested in offering work-based learning opportunities or enhancing their current training programs. Schools should contact Tyra.Tutor@AdeccoGroup.com or visit www.adeccousa.com/workbasedlearning.

Ohio’s high school students now have 49 more industry-recognized credentials at their fingertips, thanks to the input of companies and industries throughout the state. The Ohio Department of Education added the credentials to guide career-based program development and help students understand and prepare for Ohio’s in-demand jobs and careers. Some students go right into the workforce after earning credentials. For others, the credentials allow students to earn money to help finance college.

“We owe a big thanks to Ohio’s businesses for their input on these credentials. This invaluable information is helping show students all the great opportunities for their future success,” said Paolo DeMaria, superintendent of public instruction. “With these new credentials, students can create road maps to a career and even to higher education opportunities.”

Finding, hiring and retaining high-quality employees is a monumental task for businesses. Industry-recognized credentials help employers validate the knowledge and skills of potential employees and saves valuable time in assessing the skills of job applicants.

“ODE’s innovation to allow HUMTOWN PRODUCTS to have insight and input to these new credentials is revolutionary in connecting education to business,” said Mark Lamoncha, president and CEO, HUMTOWN PRODUCTS. “Without them, we are just hiring people that show up to work at a job. These credentials align the graduates with skills that they can perform as a professional in a career.”

One way students can earn a high school diploma is by earning an industry-recognized credential and achieving a workforce readiness score on the WorkKeys assessment. Here is the complete list of  industry-recognized credentials in 13 career categories. Each one links to the sponsoring organization, which can be national, statewide or regional. The sponsoring organization determines the qualifications and testing that the credential requires.    There are some credentials that high school seniors can earn in one year through the Senior Only Credential Program.

Read the entire article, click here.