A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

   EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE:  1 p.m.                 Contact:  Tom Lyon    March 11, 1994                                     (202) 401-1220 

RILEY RELEASES REPORT LINKING JOBS AND SCHOOLS;

SAYS SCHOOLS HAVE MUCH TO LEARN FROM MODERN WORKPLACE

"We've got to understand and act on the message underlying the G-7 jobs summit in Detroit next week," Riley said. "Our education system is still rooted in the old assembly-line vision of education that did the job when I was growing up, but it is not preparing our children fast enough for the emerging global economy. This is why the President has proposed a broad strategy to reform and redesign the American education system."

Talking with students, teachers, business leaders and parents at the Baltimore Academy of Finance, Riley cited a just-released report, Quality Education: School Reform for the New American Economy, prepared for the U.S. Education Department under a contract with the American Society for Training and Development.

According to the study, 89 percent of the jobs created in the United States between 1992 and the year 2000 will require postsecondary levels of literacy and numeracy, but only half of new entrants into the workplace are likely to possess those skill levels.

"Today's workplace is changing," Riley said. "The emphasis now is on quality, innovation, and continuous improvement. This report shows that America's schools can learn a great deal from the success stories of American businesses. To better prepare students for this new world of work, the classroom should look more and more like the new high-tech, high-performance work site that will dominate the economy of the future."

Riley's remarks followed a tour of the Academy, a "school within a school" at Lake Clifton-Eastern High School, that offers a two-year program for students interested in financial service careers. The academy provides specialized courses developed by educators and industry experts, as well as required academic courses. Ninety-eight percent of the students are minority.

Since 1989, 95 students have graduated from the academy. Of those, 65 went on to a four-year college, 27 attended a community college, two entered military service and one student went directly to work in the financial field.

Career academies will be one of the building blocks in the administration's School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1993. They introduce students to the workplace of the future through the integration of academic learning with the study of an industry, and through team-based projects and work-based education.

During the tour, Riley was accompanied by one of the study's authors, Anthony P. Carnevale, chief economist for the American Society for Training and Development and the chairman of the National Commission on Employment Policy.

"The reform of schools and the modernization of the workplace are inextricably linked," said Carnevale. "Both business and education institutions face the same economic challenges and the same barriers as they struggle to shift to the more flexible structures necessary to promote global quality standards." The study found that economic changes have greatly increased the value of education for both employers and employees.

In the report, Carnevale and co-author Jeffrey D. Porro stress the importance of all children meeting world-class education standards and identify other elements of quality that schools should adapt: variety, customization, convenience, certified learning, innovation, social responsibility, continuous improvement, productivity and efficiency.

The report emphasizes that using new technology, integrating academic and real-world learning, and promoting more effective collaboration between schools and employers will help schools to achieve those quality goals.

The report's findings clearly reinforce this administration's commitment, through Goals 2000 and the School-to-Work Opportunities Act, to articulate what students will need to know to enter the working world and to increase business involvement in the process of learning, Riley said. Goals 2000 will establish world-class academic and skills standards for students. School-to-Work will help students achieve these skills and prepare them for careers and further education. Both initiatives have been passed by both houses of Congress and are currently in conference.

For a copy of Quality Education: School Reform for the New American Economy, please contact Barbara Vespucci, Planning and Evaluation Service, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20202, telephone (202) 401-3132.