Ohio Expands Options for Students to Earn Industry-Recognized Credentials


I am a big proponent of work readiness.  Some students may not aspire to go to college and the rigor of the traditional classroom may be too much for them.  College is not for everyone, but should be available to everyone.  Just because a student elects not to go to college does not mean they can't have a career or earn a decent wage.  
High school students now have 49 more industry-recognized credentials at their fingertips, thanks to the input of companies and industries throughout the state. The Ohio Department of Education added the credentials to guide career-based program development and help students understand and prepare for Ohio’s in-demand jobs and careers. Some students go right into the workforce after earning credentials. For others, the credentials allow students to earn money to help finance college.
One way students can earn a high school diploma is by earning an industry-recognized credential and achieving a workforce readiness score on the WorkKeys assessment. Here is the complete list of  industry-recognized credentials in 13 career categories. Each one links to the sponsoring organization, which can be national, statewide or regional. The sponsoring organization determines the qualifications and testing that the credential requires. 

Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 14, 2017 at 6:15 PM

    Principals need to produce a more consistent message to parents and students about alternatives to college bound courses.
    Personnel within districts are often highly differing in their approach to alternative routes such as are outlined above. Some school employees discourage kids from good alternatives for no good reason.
    In my opinion, Columbus schools should make much better use of their alternative programming at the Career Center.

    ReplyDelete
  2. William K. Ragland IIAugust 15, 2017 at 5:34 AM

    Jermaine, when I first started in education I firmly believed that college was the only way for our students to make it. The last five years have completely changed my thought on students going to college. At South, we were sending kids to college that didn't really want to go, but were being told they "had" to go. These students were failing out of college, coming back home because they didn't like or could no longer afford to attend. They were coming home thousands of dollars in debt. Sending kids to college that are either ill prepared or don't want to attend, is a costly mistake. I started to listen to my students more, when they told me they didn't want to attend college right away I started to push other options. My mantra went from "you're going to college to you need to have a plan".

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownAugust 20, 2017 at 11:07 AM

    Thanks Jermaine. In my internship role at Hughes STEM High School, I will be working with our staff specifically on this alternative pathways to graduation legislation. Also a shout-out to the "mentorship" thread that we will be using both student peer-to-peer resources and community resources (University of Cincinnati students, adult professional volunteers) to engage senior students in building a plan to fulfill the required two of nine alternatives. We're placing a heavy emphasis on the "industry-recognized credentials" as a strong pathway to employment.

    Here are the nine alternatives where students must meet at least two requirements:
    • Attendance rate of 93 percent during the 12th grade year;
    • Earn a GPA of 2.5 on a 4.0 scale in all courses completed during 12th grade
    (must complete at least four full-year courses);
    • Complete a capstone project during 12th grade that the district or school defines;
    • During 12th grade, complete a work or community service experience totaling 120 hours
    that the district or school defines;
    • Earn three or more College Credit Plus credits at any time during high school;
    • Earn credit for an Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate course and earn
    an AP exam score of 3 or higher or IB exam score of 4 or higher at any time during high school;
    • Earn a WorkKeys exam score of 3 on each of three test sections;
    • Earn a State Board-approved industry-recognized credential or credentials that equal at least
    three points;
    • Meet OhioMeansJobs Readiness Seal requirements (under development).

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownAugust 20, 2017 at 5:00 PM

    William, I'm right with you. I preached college as the only option. I still largely do, but that's because I work with middle schoolers, and want them to be working towards college at this point. But, I do believe we need to make sure we are training kids who don't have the desire or skills to have good paying jobs once they graduate. The problem is that most people who talk like this, use it as a way of keeping classism alive. We have to walk the fine line of doing everything we can to make sure kids have the option to go to college if they so choose, but also prepare them for another life as well.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Justice System is a Joke

I said what I said. Don't ask me any clarifying questions. Don't ask me if I really mean it. Yes, I believe the justice system is a joke. Take the following from my hometown: A Poland doctor was sentenced Wednesday for hitting and killing an Akron man in a fatal boat crash on the Berlin Reservoir. Mahoning County Judge John Durkin sentenced Dr. Joseph Yurich to 10 days in jail, plus 90 days of house arrest and five years of probation. He must also provide 200 hours of community service — medical care — to those at the Rescue Mission. Yurich will have to pay a $1,000 fine and lose his driver’s license for 45 days. After that, he’ll have occupational driving privileges. “I’m certain some may say that you were given preferential treatment because you’re a doctor…Quite frankly, if you have the opportunity to save even one life while on community control as a result of this sentence, I believe that to be justice,” Judge Durkin said. To read more, click the following li...
Read more

Responsibility for Educating Others

Listen yall, I try not to make things a racial issue, I really don't, but a statement was recently made to my friend really has me thinking about how problems will ever be fixed. The statement made to my friend was "it is not your responsibility [educate white people] about their ignorance". The background (quickly told from the perspective of my friend so uses 1st person pronouns) . At my school a term I have heard used a lot is "our population". Now, in my experience in my district, when a few people say "our population", it is code for students of color/black students. Ex: At a high school that use to be predominately white but now has more students of color, teachers have said "Our population has changed so much" or "Our population makes it so that we can't teach". The incident (still telling in 1st person from friend's perspective) While interviewing a recess aide who said she was from a village in Ohio (**red ...
Read more

Teacher Training & Preparation

I was very fortunate to be asked to participate in "Summer Institute - Teacher Training" with my internship school, United Preparatory Academy - State under the United Schools Network.  It is a charter school that serves K-4 and teachers were required to attend for four weeks prior to the first day of school.  The first two weeks were geared towards year 1 & 2 year teachers.  The last two weeks, the 3rd and 4th year teachers joined the sessions, and a USN network retreat was also required. As a Principal in Training, I was very impressed with the topics covered and was interested in knowing, What types of Teacher Prep and training was done at some of the public schools prior to the start of school and for how long? Here are some of the major topics we covered with our teachers, staff and admin support staff: 1. Operations 2. Teaching Taxonomy - Strong Voice, Narrate the positive, what to do in the classroom, 3. Community Engagement 4. Curriculum, Instruction ...
Read more