South Dakota Joins Industry Partnership for ICT Education

Gov. Mike Rounds recently announced that South Dakota will join a national partnership, led by many of the country’s leading information and communication technology (ICT) companies, to improve science and technology education and the skill set of the state’s high-tech workforce. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, an ICT advocacy organization, will advise the state on designing curriculum that meets the needs of software, electronics, networking, telecommunications and Internet-based companies. South Dakota is the fifth state to partner with the organization, which will begin a full assessment of the state’s K-12 and higher education system later this year.

Gov. Rounds has created the P21 Advisory Council, a new advisory body, as part of plans for the organization. The 20-member council includes leaders from South Dakota businesses, universities, the governor’s office and the state legislature. Council members will help translate the partnership’s framework for 21st century education into policies that will address the specific needs of the South Dakota ICT economy.

The partnership will augment the governor’s efforts to improve STEM education through South Dakota’s 2010 Education Initiative, begun in 2004. That initiative has already taken several actions towards preparing students for high-tech careers, including a state scholars program that connects schools to local businesses, a statewide virtual high school program and a renewed focus on improving the effectiveness of state technical institutes. In addition, the state has set the goal of providing every student with a laptop by 2010. South Dakota offers a one-to-two match to district investment in the program. As of this fall, about 25 percent of high schools will receive laptops, according to an Associated Press report.

The partnership hopes that by cooperating with state governments to reform public education, it can improve the skill set of state workforces. The advocacy organization includes many of the country’s largest ICT employers, including Apple, AT&T, Cisco Systems, Dell, Intel, Microsoft and Verizon. States, such as South Dakota, that join the partnership’s State Leadership Initiative receive assistance in applying the Partnership’s educational framework, which includes skills related to ICT technologies, and financial literacy and entrepreneurship.

This framework has already been employed in North Carolina, West Virginia and Wisconsin in cooperation with the Partnership. Massachusetts joined earlier last month. North Carolina, the first state partner, has instituted a number of framework-related initiatives since joining in 2005. These include a program for high school students to attend in undergraduate courses, a survey of innovative teaching methods, and program that allows high school seniors to apply their accumulated knowledge to a research project.

Read more about the Partnership for 21st Century Skills at: http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php

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