In September 2014, the Cleveland Foundation commissioned a study entitled “Building Opportunities for Cleveland Residents: Aligning Demand and Supply of Professional and Technical Education.” The foundation commissioned the nationally respected consulting firm FutureWorks to analyze the job demand and supply picture in Greater Cleveland. The goal of this article is to summarize some of the findings in the report and how those findings will impact our work in the Wickliffe City School District.
Section 1- Labor Trends
Labor trends provide local workforce data- job related education requirements; education attainment levels, commuting patterns, and employment distribution across occupation and industry.
The major takeaway is that: By 2020, 64% of Ohio jobs will require a postsecondary credential. Currently, only 43% of residents, 25 years and older have some college or earned bachelor’s or associate’s degree. (Note- Only about 29% of residents in Cuyahoga County has a college degree and only about 22% of residents in Lake County have a Bachelor’s Degree or better)
Section 2- Job Demand
Job demand evaluates 41 key professional and technical occupations using four key variables: level of demand; earning potential; share of total jobs and projected growth.
The major takeaway is that eighteen of the 41 professional and technical occupations reviewed meet all or the majority of criteria. Most require some postsecondary credential.
Section 3- Talent Supply
Talent supply reviews student enrollment and completion data at the secondary level and the postsecondary level.
The major takeaway is that local secondary and postsecondary institutions are producing too few students with the credentials needed in many high-demand technical fields (i.e. only 108 of a total of 4,334 associate degrees awarded in 2012 were in IT- the demand for IT workers was over 11,000 in 2013).
Section 4- Demand/Supply Alignment
Demand/Supply alignment data produced on demand across key occupational areas with data on credential output form postsecondary institutions.
The major takeaway is that there is a substantial misalignment between the demand for workers and supply of appropriately credentialed workers in key areas including IT, advanced manufacturing, and health.
This study is important as we shape our educational program for the future of our students. It is clear that we need to help prepare our students for the opportunities that exist now and into the future in northeast Ohio, and we need to help them make decisions about their future that will put them in a position to find success. According to the report, there are many occupations in the area where the demand is high, the prevailing wage is above the sustaining wage for a family, and the projected growth of the occupation is high. The list of such occupations include:
• Computer and IT Workers
• Health Diagnosing and Treating Practitioners
• Business Operations Specialists
• Health Technologists and Technicians
• Advanced Manufacturing
• Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers
• Metal and Plastics Workers
• Construction Trade Workers
• Health Therapists Aides and Support Workers
• Engineers and Engineering Technicians
• Nursing
• Architects
• Life Science Workers
• Financial Specialists and Clerks
• Front-line Supervisors of Skilled Workers
• Managers
Almost all of these occupations require some type of professional and/or technical training, and/or postsecondary credential.
As we shape our educational program to help our students become competitive with their peers in the area, in the country, and internationally we must consider what parts of the current program remain valid, what parts need to be improved, what parts need to be dropped, and what needs to be added. Such decisions are difficult in that they may break with long-standing tradition. Pride and tradition and good and important parts of all organizations, are meaningful as we think about institutional history, and must not be lost because they make an organization what is it is. However, we cannot let programs that are no longer valid or important to the future success of students continue to operate in the ways they have operated in the past. As an organization and community, we must balance the past with the future to establish programming that instills and keeps the pride and tradition of the district with the forward thinking and future focused needs of students in its forefront.
To that end, the district is introducing a Strategic Plan to the community that will prepare students for that future by engaging them in STEM programming, more advanced coursework, and workforce development programming balanced with an emphasis on foundational skills, instructional and technical improvements, and early childhood programming. The plan will continue to emphasize the pride and tradition of the Wickliffe City School District and the community, and it will help establish Wickliffe as a premier school district in a premier community in northeast Ohio.
As the plan is implemented beginning in the spring of 2015, we ask that you partner with us in support of the program and the young people of the community because together we will help our students become learners, leaders, and community servants in the most positive manner possible.
Side Note- If you are interested in a copy of the Cleveland Foundation Report, please contact me and I am happy to send it to you.