Concord, NH – 7 innovative education initiatives – some that will create new learning pathways for students – have received the unanimous backing of NH’s Coalition for Business & Education – a group of NH leaders from business, education, the NH Legislature, and NH nonprofits.
The Coalition took action at its July meeting at Northeast Delta Dental in Concord, which is chaired by its President and CEO, Tom Raffio.
Among the 7 initiatives are those that aim a stronger focus on STEM education (science, technology, engineering, math) in order to increase the flow of talented employees to NH companies in a technology-driven economy.
- STEM – Smarter Pathways: A NH Charitable Foundation initiative in partnership with the Community College System of NH, the University System of NH, the NH Dept. of Education, the NH Department of Resources & Economic Development, and the NH Coalition for Business & Education. The goal is to collectively create learning pathways for students that meet the workforce needs of NH businesses.
- STEAM AHEAD NH: A collaboration among the Manchester School District (especially West High School), the Manchester Community College, the University System of NH, and Manchester businesses, including DYN and SilverTech. The goal is to create distinct pathways for students from secondary to post-secondary schooling in STEM, but with an “A” added for the Arts (STEAM), and to allow college credit in high school for college-level course work.
- Common Core Standards: Already implemented in most NH school districts, the Coalition will continue to provide support for the Standards and to work with the NH Department of Education to help give visibility to what is actually happening in the classrooms across the State as teachers successfully use the standards to teach.
- NH Scholars: This initiative is currently at work in 73 NH high schools. It encourages students to take a more rigorous course of study to prepare for college. Thousands of NH high school students have graduated from the NH Scholars program and added it as a credential to their college applications. The Coalition will support an effort to permanently fund this successful initiative going forward.
- 10,000 Mentors & Competency-Based Learning: Competency-based learning is already the standard for NH school districts, but former Chair of the NH Board of Education, Fred Bramante, has added the concept of business-mentors for school students. The Manchester School District is the first in the State to sign-on, and will be the recipient of 1,000 mentors organized by Bramante, his board, and the Coalition.
- Early Learning NH: This 501(c)3 organization works with early learning programs such as Child Care, Head Start and with pre-school and after-school programs to build private-public partnerships to support early learning initiatives. The Coalition will partner with this group to advocate for funding of programs such as Seacoast Early Learning Alliance, and to support quality ratings for early learning programs.
- NH Education Indicators: The Coalition will begin work to help produce a NH education indicators report that will educate us all in understanding NH’s education pipeline from early childhood through elementary school, middle school and high school, and into post-secondary schooling. Among the collaborators, and sources for information, will be the NH Dept. of Education, the NH College & University Council, the NH Center for Public Policy, and the Coalition.
The NH Coalition for Business & Education is in its second year of operation as an informal group of NH leaders with a commitment to improve education in NH – both the approach to learning and the outcomes – so that NH businesses and the NH economy can remain healthy and competitive. The NH Charitable Foundation serves as the fiscal agent for the Coalition.