by Kris Kennedy

Created on: November 13, 2009   Last Updated: December 08, 2009

Business Leadership and Education

A partnership between business and education can facilitate preparation for work.. School to work concepts, well thought of in the past, needs a second look. Business leaders can offer the assistance in preparing students for the world of work as well as meeting state testing standards.

Problem Defined

Many businesses and college are claiming that students are graduating from secondary school without the basic skills. The students need the ability to transfer skills to employment and personal tasks rather than test well., employment and post secondary education. To understand fully the tasks facing students at graduation business leaders can help write observable and measurable goals. These measurable goals can determine whether the testing objectives and measurable goals match.

Organizational Assistance

There are programs within the schools that can assist in making this partnership. These are vocational membership programs. The membership programs of DECA, Future Farmers of America, and Future Farmers of America. Some school districts still have Future Homemakers of America. These programs work with local business people on the skills necessary to succeed in the business people's fields. The can serve on advisory boards if academic instructors and provide anecdotal record, experience and task examples.

These organizations have competitions in which students compete with each other on real life tasks. Much as the science fairs of the past gave science students the opportunity to apply learned tasks, these competitions give students an opportunity to illustrate the transfer of knowledge to tasks. Business leaders sit as judges for these competitions.

Senior Projects

Many states are requiring seniors to do a project. These are hands on activities. The students work with teams, which should be business leaders to set the requirements for the projects and mentor the seniors as they complete the projects. At the end, the students must present the projects to community leaders.

After these presentations the business leaders who serve on senior projects should be solicited and offer advice on the shortcoming and the strengths seen in seniors. The educators should be open to the suggestions made. Within weaknesses, the Grade Levels Equivalents (GLE) needs sharing with business leaders to determine reconciliations of needs and the GLE. If there are hefty weaknesses, which are not reconcilable, local districts need to extend this knowledge to educational administration services for the state.

Committee Placement

Business leaders need prominent placement on curriculum committees. Business leaders need examination of GLEs to offer input on the value of these requirements. In addition, it can offer an opportunity to place post secondary educators and business leaders an opportunity to compare and contrast each needs. Through these discussions, business leaders and educators can develop a working relationship to build good citizens through cooperation.

Business leaders accept the product put out by educators. Just as consumers determine the desired product from business, business leaders need input into the product educational institutions provide.

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