The Strategies Xchange
Where Education & Business Align
September 15 James Madison University in Harrisonburg #StrategiesXchange
Overview
Participating Conference Hosts
Why You Should Attend
Realizing that expectations for workers are shifting is forcing our schools to change their approach as well. School leaders and teachers are recognizing that lectures and high-stakes testing are not producing the skilled workforce employers desperately need. The businesses of today and tomorrow are looking to hire individuals who are adaptable and who can analyze, communicate effectively, and demonstrate creative critical-thinking skills.
One of the most innovative approaches to ensuring students’ academic and workforce success is through education-business partnerships. These partnerships build the talent pipeline from school to industry regardless of whether students attend a university or go directly into the workforce following high school.
There is no one size fits all model when it comes to education-business partnerships. The key is collaboration between academic institutions and local business leaders.
This collaboration can come in the form of employer provided teacher training, curriculum development, job-shadowing and internships for students, industry specific projects or coursework, and even access to earning industry-level certification while still at the secondary level.
Employers consistently struggle to procure applicants with adequate real-world experience or content knowledge. When schools partner with businesses willing to provide students with experienced-based opportunities it creates a supportive ecosystem within that community.
Students see the relevance of their coursework to their future career goals when businesses are involved, and schools see dropout rates fall. Employers find that these partnerships enable them to connect not just with students, but with parents and school staff.
These connections result in an increased presence in the community leading to an improved positive image that encourages higher profits and competitiveness.
If these education-business collaborations can help to close the skills-gap and improve overall academic achievement, why are all schools not partnering with local businesses? If employers are struggling to find qualified workers, why haven’t they reached out to the local school district? The truth is, schools and business may not know how to develop partnerships that will bolster the talent-pipeline. Resource and time costs tend to also provide barriers.
The Strategies Xchange: Where Business & Education Align is hoping to highlight how to create partnerships and to go about removing real or perceived barriers inhibiting collaboration between schools and businesses. Virginia Ed Strategies is using this conference to bring together educators and employers from across the state who have successfully created innovative partnerships that are producing academic and workforce success. For two days, we will highlight and showcase these collaborations so that attendees leave with the knowledge and connections needed to create or bolster similar partnerships within their own communities.
Virginia Ed Strategies believes that all students should graduate with more than a diploma; they should leave high school ready for college, careers and life, prepared to pursue the future of their choosing. Whether in education or industry, we hope you will join us at The Strategies Xchange to start creating your partnerships.
Antoinette Jenkins
Leah Williams-Rumbley
Zuzana Steen
Beth Rhinehart 
Kristie Proctor
Deborah Jonas
Andy Gail 
