Dr. Lance Evans , State Superintendent of Education (Photo from MDE Facebook)
- The plan aims to assist students in finding a career path. It takes into consideration the business needs identified throughout the eight regions of Mississippi.
A new workforce development plan has been adopted by the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) to assist students in finding a career path before high school or college.
Under the K-12 Workforce Development Plan, MDE will provide school districts with a framework they can use to tailor a unique system for students in their area to help students identify and create a path in a particular field.
Brett Robinson, Associate Superintendent in the Office of Career and Technical Education, said the plan was developed through the work of a task force comprised of superintendents, principals, teachers, career and technical education (CTE) directors and representatives of AccelerateMS and the Mississippi Economic Council.
He said the plan is adjustable, allowing each district to modify it to meet their region’s employment needs as well as the interests of the students.
“The major goal of this plan was to create something that MDE has as the foundation,” Robinson told the Board.
Goals within grade levels are separated into four groups, each focused on various skills students will need to be successful in the workplace. Skills in early grade levels will include teamwork, communication, career awareness, and following directions while in high school grades the focus shifts to career training and work-based learning.
Robinson described how the plan focused on providing the skills without adding additional work for teachers by utilizing existing high quality instructional materials.
“So, again, it’s taking what we’re doing, but asking to have a little bit of a mind shift to understand that we can, as much as we’re focusing on academic standards, we can also recognize and draw attention to the skills that are being taught as part of that lesson as well,” Robinson explained.
The plan includes materials counselors can use to help students and families form an individualized pathway for students to reach their employment goals, including the classes required.
A digital aspect of the plan will include a website where educators can access templates and other information about the program.
“We want to make this a digital format, as part of that we’re going to encompass a whole lot of other things in that we’re going to create templates available to districts,” Robinson added.
State Superintendent Dr. Lance Evans said the website will be a central location for the information educators need.
“This is where all of it lives, all of the information, every plan so that we have one single place that we can direct districts to,” Evans said.
While the plan takes into consideration the businesses and industries identified throughout the eight regions of Mississippi by AccelerateMS, Board member Glen East suggested ensuring the plan has fluidity. Children change their career paths as they age and schools change their course offerings. He said the focus should be much wider than just the careers found in a school district’s specific region.
“That was the driving force behind how they designed it too, you know, is to make it your own,” Evans replied.
In other business, the State Board of Education approved a motion to appoint Chad Spence as the interim superintendent of the Okolona Separate School District. The district was moved into a district of transformation after MDE was informed last year that the district was unable to make payroll. That lack of financial security led MDE to take over the district, resulting in the need for the appointment.
John Farrell, Chief of School and District Transformation, who has been acting as a temporary interim superintendent of the district, said Spence has more than two decades of educational administrative experience. His experience includes serving as the superintendent of the Okolona Separate School District in the past. Farrell said that under Spence’s leadership, the district was successful, including the high school there receiving an A rating on the accountability scale.
“And also during that time the district was financially sound, completing all their audits each year,” Farrell said.
