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Tech ed reaches higher

Educators believe they can help the local economy recover from recent bad news, including the planned closure of the General Motors plant.

Education and business leaders across Rock County are working to create the Stateline Career and Technical Education Academy.

If the effort bears fruit, "I believe we will have industries moving to this area because of the educational partnerships that are here," said Steve Huth, coordinator of career and technical education for the Janesville School District.

The effort includes a way of delivering a high school education that has been used elsewhere with success. Called Career Pathways, it is designed to link students to careers at ninth grade and to guide them all the way through their apprenticeship, tech school diploma or college degree.

Career Pathways involves input from area business and industry, which would have a big say in the skills students learn to prepare them for local jobs. And it connects high schools to local institutions of higher education, such as Blackhawk Technical College and UW-Rock County.

Business and industry in recent decades have complained that the skill levels of graduating students aren't what's needed on the job, said Marty Mahler, director of the Nebraska P-16 Initiative, who spoke this month to dozens of local school and business leaders at Blackhawk Technical College.

Mahler taught high school tech ed before going to work in private business, where he found that what was taught in high school "wasn't even close to what those students needed to go out and be successful in the world."

As the local economy becomes more dependent on the global economy, local students will need higher levels of math, science and reading ability, and they'll have to collaborate with co-workers who might live anywhere on the planet, Mahler said.

Locally, some students already need better basic skills to take on the jobs of today, said Sharon Kennedy, vice president of learning at BTC.

BTC has added math and English courses to get some students' basic skills up to the level where they can handle BTC courses, Kennedy said.

All this might frighten some high school students, Kennedy acknowledged, but plans are in the works to give them a boost.

Huth said the Stateline Career and Technical Education Academy is based on similar efforts in the Kenosha and Eau Claire areas, which he said blossomed under similar school-business-industry partnerships in the wake of seemingly devastating plant closings.

When it comes to improving the local economy, "they can't do it without the education sector. There's no way," Mahler said.

Private funding

The academy may sound like a new school that demands new taxes.

It's not.

It will exist in pieces, located at high schools across the county as well as at Blackhawk Tech and UW-Rock County, Huth said.

And the academy, already 18 months in the planning, will get off the ground with mostly private funding from local businesses and foundations, state and federal grants and small contributions from the participating school districts.

The Janesville and Beloit school districts are being asked to cement their participation with a $15,000 annual contribution. The smaller districts would pay $5,000. It's likely that all the Rock County districts will join the effort, although Milton is waiting to decide until it has a new superintendent on board, Huth said.

Tech ed at a high level

A "technical academy" may sound like it's not for students whose goal is a four-year degree, but that's not true, either, Huth said.

Students headed into engineering or the medical or veterinary fields also would benefit, for example. And academic standards will be high, Huth said.

Not all students would become part of the academy effort, however. Some would continue in traditional courses.

Here's how the academy would work: Local councils of business/industry officials would help build a plan of study and skill sets needed for a variety of "career pathways."

The system would help students choose career paths and then guides them through a series of courses that lead to one of these options:

-- A one- or two-year diploma at a technical college.

-- An apprenticeship program.

-- A job.

-- A four-year college degree.

A key element of this strategy is that business people have a say in the design of the courses and the knowledge and skills students will need when they apply for a job.

Schools join in

The idea for a local tech academy started with the late entrepreneur and philanthropist Ken Hendricks. The original idea was for a freestanding technical high school. Now, the model calls for programs in automotive repair, nursing, engineering and other careers offered at existing high schools. Students would travel to the program of their choice for part of the school day.

Courses also could be held at Blackhawk Technical College, UW-Rock County or at a local business. Mercy and Beloit Memorial hospitals, for example, already host certified nursing assistant courses for high school students, taught through Blackhawk Tech.

Many of the building blocks of this new system already are in place. What's lacking is a plan to put all the pieces together into a career-oriented system of counseling and learning.

New buildings

Each career goal will be taught through a "center for excellence," which would be located at a school.

For example, the Janesville high school expansion projects will provide new facilities that would allow expansion of programs in culinary arts, plant science and small-animal science, Huth said.

Beloit Memorial High has a well-developed curriculum in transportation, with an instructor certified by the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation, he said.

Blackhawk Tech's recent expansion also should help.

By using existing programs and facilities, officials hope to avoid duplication of services and save money.

"So it truly is the model of working smarter, not harder," Huth said.

The future is near

The goal is for the centers of excellence to open in fall 2009. That means officials must have materials ready this November, when students start registering for the following school year.

Mahler said the new model would work because it answers the age-old question: Why do I need to learn this?

Students who can see a clear path from school to their future income become motivated to learn, Mahler said, adding: "When you engage these students, get out of the way."

The academy might be just the start as Rock County joins similar programs around the country that track students from high school through technical college or university.

Eventually, Huth said, the partnerships could evolve so that Blackhawk Technical College could offer classes at high schools when the high schools aren't in use, with BTC students and high school students sitting in the same class.

SKILLS EMPHASIS

The Stateline Career and Technical Education Academy plans to emphasize:

-- Rigorous academics delivered in the context of technical education.

-- "Soft" skills students need to get and keep a job. Soft skills include work ethic and ability to communicate effectively.

-- Career-specific technical skills taught by industry-specific specialists or master craftsmen, along the technical college model.

-- Collaboration between high schools, business, industry and colleges. Teachers and counselors would need training in the new instructional/career model.

CAREER PATHWAYS

The Stateline Career and Technical Education Academy is scheduled to begin in September 2009. Plans include "career pathways" that would guide students to jobs matched to business and industry in the region, including but not limited to:

-- Wholesale/retail trade.

-- Machine tool technology.

-- Welding.

-- Electro-mechanical.

-- Computer-aided design.

-- Electronics.

-- Dental technology.

-- Carpentry.

-- Electrical.

-- Design and construction.

-- Heating/ventilation/air conditioning.

-- Masonry.

-- Painting and decorating.

-- Information technology.

-- Commercial photography.

-- Cosmetology.

-- Advertising design.

-- Graphic arts.

-- Small engine repair.

-- Diesel engine repair.

-- Medium/heavy duty truck.

-- Auto body repair.

-- Material handling/logistics.

-- Manufacturing maintenance.

-- Protective services.

-- Food manufacturing technology.

-- Agricultural technology.

-- Horticulture.

-- Landscape design.