The Tennessee Business Roundtable will hold an education summit on October 16 at the Nashville Downtown Public Library.
Mike Edwards, Knoxville Chamber president and CEO, is this year's chairman of the event. He said that the summit will "provoke some hard questions and answers for all of us."
Marc Tucker, founder and CEO of the National Center on Education and the Economy, and William E. Brock, former U.S. Senator from Tennessee, will present the much-talked-about report, "Tough Choices or Tough Times" at the summit.
For more information, read the release from the Tennessee Business Roundtable.
The Tennessee Career Center is holding a webcast on Monday, July 14 at 10:00 a.m. to describe how to get the most benefit from the Career Readiness Certificate program.
This Career Readiness Certificate program is aimed at helping the upcoming workforce learn valuable, employable skills and also for businesses to identify those employees who have the most promise for their organization.
Nashville, TN – A partnership between Tennessee departments of Education, and Labor and Workforce Development garnered top-ranking graduation and success rates for a third consecutive year. Jobs for Tennessee Graduates works with high school seniors to ensure they graduate and are prepared for a career or higher education. The JTG program again has been awarded the highest national accolade – the Five of Five Award – signifying JTG students exceeded the goals of the program.
“This partnership is changing the lives of hundreds of Tennessee students,” Acting Education Commissioner Tim Webb said. “The achievements of JTG students open the door to a promising future and show their peers what can be accomplished. Each JTG teacher should be commended for their role in this success story.”
“I am proud of the continued success of the JTG program and being a leading example for the nation,” said Commissioner James Neeley. “The partnership between the Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the Department of Education has proved invaluable to this program and the Tennessee youth it serves. My congratulations go out to both JTG and the students who will soon be entering the workforce with the skills they need for success.”
The chart illustrates the achievements of JTG students in each of the areas measured by parent organization Jobs for America’s Graduates:
| JTG 2007 Achievement | JAG Goal | |
| Graduation Rate | 96.54% | 90% |
| Full-Time Placement Rate | 92.02% | 80% |
| Positive Outcome Rate | 84.89% | 80% |
| Full-Time Job Placement Rate | 71.51% | 60% |
| Civilian/Military Job Placement Rate | 66.29% | 60% |
“I want to applaud my 35 teachers in the 41 Senior School-to-Career Programs across the state,” JTG Executive Director Betsy Houston said. “This is a very prestigious award and extremely difficult to achieve.”
JTG specialists work with at-risk students during their senior year and remain in contact with participants for the full year after graduation from high school. The awards will be presented during the National Training Seminar in New Orleans July 7-11. For more information, contact Rachel Woods at (615) 253-1960 or Rachel.Woods@state.tn.us.
Tennessee educators will soon be learning new teaching methods and best practices so that they can efficiently adapt to the new education standards that are being implemented for current seventh grade students.
School administrators met this week to hear about the new standards. Further training will begin this summer for all Tennessee teachers.
U.S. Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue had a column this week about the lack of financial education in American public schools. He said that this leads to poor financial decisions for adults who do not know better.
Donohue writes, "For too long, America's education system has failed to equip students with the knowledge they need to make good financial decisions. An alarming number of adults are unable to balance a checkbook, understand the terms of a basic mortgage, realize the benefits of compound interest, and properly manage credit card debt. Today we are suffering the consequences."
Tennessee's State Board of Education this year added personal finance to the curriculum for high school students, along with additional courses in math, science and foreign languages.
The Technology Center Directors from the State of Tennessee voted unanimously for all Tennessee Scholars to get free tuition to attend any Technology Center in the state.
This vote is important because this will help Tennessee educate students in areas that will eventually help fill high-skilled, high-demand jobs.
Ruth Woodall, Director of the Tennessee Scholars program for the Tennessee Chamber said that the program will give extra money to students for books if the student requested it and could show need.
There is a local Tennessee Technology Center in Knoxville. For more information on the programs offered, visit the Tennessee Technology Center website here.
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