Essential Skills Recommendations
P-12 Essential Skills
The Business Council and its member companies have long supported education issues important to college and career readiness, including increasing access and equity in advanced courses, computer science for all initiatives, increased math and science education, as well as maintaining high academic standards. These are issues we continue to support as they are crucial to preparing students for life after high school. Equally important to the foundation of strong academic standards are “essential skills.”
In the past decade, businesses have struggled to find skilled talent. At the same time, the workforce system has been frustrated with industry responses about skills needed to train, as feedback often consists of “the basics of showing up on time, with a good attitude, the ability to communicate and work well with others, and to persist in problem-solving challenges.” The workforce system has not been funded or prepared to address these skills. However, the need for these “essential skills” was again reiterated in the results of The Business Council’s spring 2021 Business Workforce Survey.
The unrelenting demand for these skills provides an opportunity with the New York State Education Department’s (NYSED) interest in ensuring that schools are educating the “whole” student. Because we live in a world where the technology-driven economy is constantly evolving, The Business Council and member business and associations request the Department’s consideration of using these “Essential Skills” as foundational to p-12 education, not just for college and career readiness, but to ensure that students have the life skills to succeed and thrive in an ever-changing global economy.
Across the state, there are great examples of these skills being taught in select programs, but they are not universally accessible to all students, creating an equity disparity that varies from school to school. The Department has the opportunity to uplift and scale the successful curriculum found in these schools, so all students have equal access to these crucial life skills which also build social and emotional intelligence.
Recommendations:
Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, every school shall provide an essential skills program that teaches skills and characteristics critical to student success in college, career, and life to each student kindergarten through grade twelve (12). Each student shall have attained essential skills in order to graduate. The essential skills program shall include but not be limited to instruction on:
- Working Well With Others – Including effective communication skills; respect for different points of view and diversity of team members; the ability to cooperate and collaborate with diverse stakeholders; and the ability to approach conflict management with a problem-solving lens so all parties are respectfully understood.
- Personal Leadership – Including the ability to take initiative or appropriate action when needed without waiting for direct instruction; the ability to self-motivate and see a task through to completion; the ability to provide appropriate leadership to or support for colleagues or teammates; the ability to hold oneself personally accountable and take constructive criticism; the ability to model responsible, ethical behavior and self-control.
- Adaptability – Including an openness to learning with a focus on problem solving, critical thinking, embracing new ways of doing things, and creatively innovating change.
- Information Technology (IT) Literacy – Including basic computer literacy, a knowledge of ubiquitous software programs, and exposure to programming languages.
- Accountability – Including the ability to effectively manage time, be organized, and prioritize tasks with attention to detail.
Metrics and Measurability:
BOCES Employability Profile and Rubric
BOCES programs have an “Employability Profile” and rubric that has a scale for rating many of these skills and more including work ethic and professionalism, interpersonal skills, teamwork, response to supervision, problem solving, time management, general workplace technology skills, technical language skills – oral, and technical language skills – reading and writing. We would encourage NYSED to leverage the expertise of educators across the state who are experienced in teaching and grading adoption of these skills to develop educational guidelines and standards that can be used in other classrooms.
To see some examples of essential skills currently being taught in New York schools and to submit additional "best practices" in essential skills education, please visit The Business Council's website here.
Essential Skills Recommendations
P-12 Essential Skills
The Business Council and its member companies have long supported education issues important to college and career readiness, including increasing access and equity in advanced courses, computer science for all initiatives, increased math and science education, as well as maintaining high academic standards. These are issues we continue to support as they are crucial to preparing students for life after high school. Equally important to the foundation of strong academic standards are “essential skills.”
In the past decade, businesses have struggled to find skilled talent. At the same time, the workforce system has been frustrated with industry responses about skills needed to train, as feedback often consists of “the basics of showing up on time, with a good attitude, the ability to communicate and work well with others, and to persist in problem-solving challenges.” The workforce system has not been funded or prepared to address these skills. However, the need for these “essential skills” was again reiterated in the results of The Business Council’s spring 2021 Business Workforce Survey.
The unrelenting demand for these skills provides an opportunity with the New York State Education Department’s (NYSED) interest in ensuring that schools are educating the “whole” student. Because we live in a world where the technology-driven economy is constantly evolving, The Business Council and member business and associations request the Department’s consideration of using these “Essential Skills” as foundational to p-12 education, not just for college and career readiness, but to ensure that students have the life skills to succeed and thrive in an ever-changing global economy.
Across the state, there are great examples of these skills being taught in select programs, but they are not universally accessible to all students, creating an equity disparity that varies from school to school. The Department has the opportunity to uplift and scale the successful curriculum found in these schools, so all students have equal access to these crucial life skills which also build social and emotional intelligence.
Recommendations:
Beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, every school shall provide an essential skills program that teaches skills and characteristics critical to student success in college, career, and life to each student kindergarten through grade twelve (12). Each student shall have attained essential skills in order to graduate. The essential skills program shall include but not be limited to instruction on:
- Working Well With Others – Including effective communication skills; respect for different points of view and diversity of team members; the ability to cooperate and collaborate with diverse stakeholders; and the ability to approach conflict management with a problem-solving lens so all parties are respectfully understood.
- Personal Leadership – Including the ability to take initiative or appropriate action when needed without waiting for direct instruction; the ability to self-motivate and see a task through to completion; the ability to provide appropriate leadership to or support for colleagues or teammates; the ability to hold oneself personally accountable and take constructive criticism; the ability to model responsible, ethical behavior and self-control.
- Adaptability – Including an openness to learning with a focus on problem solving, critical thinking, embracing new ways of doing things, and creatively innovating change.
- Information Technology (IT) Literacy – Including basic computer literacy, a knowledge of ubiquitous software programs, and exposure to programming languages.
- Accountability – Including the ability to effectively manage time, be organized, and prioritize tasks with attention to detail.
Metrics and Measurability:
BOCES Employability Profile and Rubric
BOCES programs have an “Employability Profile” and rubric that has a scale for rating many of these skills and more including work ethic and professionalism, interpersonal skills, teamwork, response to supervision, problem solving, time management, general workplace technology skills, technical language skills – oral, and technical language skills – reading and writing. We would encourage NYSED to leverage the expertise of educators across the state who are experienced in teaching and grading adoption of these skills to develop educational guidelines and standards that can be used in other classrooms.
To see some examples of essential skills currently being taught in New York schools and to submit additional "best practices" in essential skills education, please visit The Business Council's website here.