Name: How Schools Should Prepare All Students for the Future of Work: The Big Equity Challenge
Start: 2021-03-31T13:00:00ZEDT
End: 2021-03-31T14:30:00ZEDT

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The disruption to the economy caused by COVID-19 is already reshaping the kinds of job opportunities and challenges today’s students will face when they enter the workforce. Those challenges will be especially big for students of color, those living in poverty, English language learners, and students with special needs.

This online summit will examine which groups of students have fallen the farthest behind academically during COVID-19, what schools need to do to help them catch up, and what skills they will need to succeed in a post-COVID-19 economy. It will also tackle the challenges of getting more students of color involved in STEM fields and the role schools play in making that happen.

The summit will also feature exclusive survey data from the EdWeek Research Center on these topics as well as insights from senior executives from a diverse mix of companies across the United States about how the pandemic is reshaping the skills students will need to succeed in the workplace.

First Time Summit attendee? Learn More about our Summits.

Agenda

COVID-19 and the resulting financial struggles for millions of people are disrupting the American and world economy in ways that are likely to reshape career opportunities and challenges for young people in big ways, and especially those who come from communities of color or economically poor communities across the country. This discussion will feature the latest economic data to show how students’ career plans will be forced to change to meet the new realities and what that means for how schools prepare students for the jobs of the present and the future.

Sarah D. Sparks

Assistant Editor, Education Week

Sarah D. Sparks covers education research, data, and the science of learning for Education Week.

The EdWeek Research Center conducted an exclusive survey of teachers on key questions related to how they think schools need to change to better prepare students for the post-COVID-19 economy, what groups of students they think are falling farthest behind during the pandemic, what types of careers teachers are now encouraging students to pursue, and the quality and status of internship programs. Using those survey results, this discussion will feature the voices of educators on what steps they think schools must take to prepare all students for the future of work.

Alyson Klein

Assistant Editor, Education Week

Alyson Klein is an assistant editor for Education Week.

Due to COVID-19, most students now have extensive experience using online tools to learn and communicate. They have experience participating in videoconferencing meetings, troubleshooting technical problems, working at home amid distractions, and being more self-sufficient. Those are valuable skills in many workplaces, which were already expanding the use of remote working even prior to the pandemic. But many kids—especially English language learners, students with special needs, and students from economically poor communities with poor WiFi connections—had insufficient and sometimes nonexistent experiences with remote or hybrid learning during the pandemic. This discussion will examine the steps schools must take to help those students build the virtual working skills they will need once they graduate from high school or college.

Mark Lieberman

Reporter, Education Week

Mark Lieberman is a reporter for Education Week covering technology and online learning.

Students who pursue careers in STEM fields are likely to have more job opportunities and earn higher salaries in the long run than people in other fields. Yet the percentages of Black and Hispanic students who pursue careers in STEM fields are much lower than for their white or Asian counterparts. What effect has the pandemic and the widespread use of remote and hybrid learning had on this gap? How should schools, beginning at the elementary level, encourage and support more students of color in developing their knowledge and skills in science, technology, engineering, and math? This discussion will examine what has worked, and not worked, to bridge this gap, and what needs to happen now.

Kevin Bushweller

Assistant Managing Editor; Director of Editorial/Business Collaboration, Education Week

Kevin Bushweller oversees coverage of educational technology and learning environments for Education Week.

Kevin Bushweller

Assistant Managing Editor; Director of Editorial/Business Collaboration, Education Week

Kevin Bushweller oversees coverage of educational technology and learning environments for Education Week.

Alyson Klein

Assistant Editor, Education Week

Alyson Klein is an assistant editor for Education Week.

Mark Lieberman

Reporter, Education Week

Mark Lieberman is a reporter for Education Week covering technology and online learning.

Sarah D. Sparks

Assistant Editor, Education Week

Sarah D. Sparks covers education research, data, and the science of learning for Education Week.

Education Week can provide 1 hour of Professional Development credit for online summits if the educator attends live. A Certificate of Completion will be emailed to you shortly after the summit has ended. On demand viewing of a summit cannot be used for credit. As with all professional development hours delivered, Education Week recommends each educator verify ahead of the online summit that the content will qualify for professional development in your school, district, county, or state with your supervisor, human resources professional, and/or principal or superintendent’s office.

How Schools Should Prepare All Students for the Future of Work: The Big Equity Challenge

Agenda

How the COVID-19 Economy Is Reshaping the Workforce for Today’s Students

Steps Schools Must Take to Prepare All Students for the Jobs of the Future

How to Bridge Big Equity Gaps in the Development of Virtual Working Skills

Getting Students of Color More Involved in STEM Fields: What Schools Need to Do

How Schools Should Prepare All Students for the Future of Work: The Big Equity Challenge

Agenda

How the COVID-19 Economy Is Reshaping the Workforce for Today’s Students

Steps Schools Must Take to Prepare All Students for the Jobs of the Future

How to Bridge Big Equity Gaps in the Development of Virtual Working Skills

Getting Students of Color More Involved in STEM Fields: What Schools Need to Do

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