Synergies Among Higher Education , K-12 Education and the Business Community Paul Rowland, Dean College of Educatio

1. Synergies Among Higher Education, K-12 Education and  the Business CommunityPaul Rowland, DeanCollege of EducationUniversity of Idaho

2. The Need Workplace (vocational) needs: employers need numerically competent individuals. Citizenship needs: to participate in a democratic society requires numeracy. Personal needs: to make personal life choices requires mathematical skills.

3. The Challenge – Two R’s Relevance – learners need to know how what they are learning matters. Rigor – learners need to be challenged to the extent that they can understand the perform.

4. Challenges • Vocational needs are widespread: • Technology instructors (read a tape measure) • NASA (engineers, technicians, scientists, mathematicians for Constellation Project)

5. Roles and Synergies The synergistic assumption: • The whole is greater than the sum of the parts The goal: A mathematically competent workforce/ citizenry.

6. Typical Role Definition • K-12 – prepare students for workplace skills and/or college level work • Higher education – prepare students for advanced workplace skills • Business community – hire competent workforce

7. Assumptions of Typical Roles Model Education is intended to prepare individuals for the workplace. Educational institutions are responsible for delivering that preparation. The business community if responsible for providing employment to qualified individuals.

8. A Synergistic Model of Roles • The common goal (numerate workforce/ citizenry) suggests some common interests and areas for collaboration. • All three entities can benefit from collaboration.

9. The Current Model HigherEducation K-12 Education Business Community

10. A Synergistic Model HigherEducation Business Community K-12 Education

11. Synergistic Roles Business Community helps the education community understand what knowledge, skills, and dispositions are needed for workplace success. Education community develops standards based on that understanding in concert with the business community. Higher education and K-12 work together to develop standards of knowledge, skills, and dispositions for teachers at all levels

12. Synergies continued • Business community provides teachers with opportunities to understand how mathematical skills are used in the workplace. • Teachers incorporate their understanding of workplace skills in their teaching. • All three communities provide recognition for excellence and best practices. • All three communities provide collaborative opportunities.

13. Synergies continued Take steps to develop synergies within each group: • Greater collaboration among teachers to develop better understandings of student learning. • Greater collaboration among higher education mathematics and math education faculty. • Better understanding across the business community of the different levels and types of mathematical skill needs.

14. Synergies continued • Addressing the problems of society and business requires multidisciplinary teams. Mathematics provide useful and often critical insights into understanding problems and proposing solutions to them. ALL members of these teams must have a fundamental knowledge of the contributions of mathematics.

15. Synergies continued • All three groups need to work together to help each other look well into the future and anticipate the changes in the workforce/ citizenry over the next decade or more. • All three groups must help all of us understand where we are, where we are going, and how far we have gotten.

16. Warnings Mathematics is more than a tool. Citizens are more than workers. The third “R” is relationships – teachers are more than technicians. We all are (and should be) accountable to society.