Frederick Community College Facilities Master Plan Chapter 2 Environmental Scan 2-42 May, 2023 changing. The 1980’s alert, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform, spurred business’ involvement and attention to state and federal elementary and secondary education policy.120 It caused business leaders to be aware of mediocrity, economic downturn potential, growing international competition, the need to fundamentally transition to an information age requiring a workforce with higher and more demanding skills and knowledge. In 2005, the Commission on the Future of Higher Education, also known as the Spellings Commission was convened by U. S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. Similar to previous presidential commissions, committees and task forces on education it inquired if the American education system was losing its competitive edge. This focus was at the post-secondary level. The final report had six primary recommendations: • Expand access and success by improving preparation and persistence, and by addressing non-academic barriers such as finance; • Restructure the financial aid system to provide incentives for the measurement of costs and institutional productivity; • Create a robust culture of accountability and transparency; • Embrace a culture of continuous innovation and quality improvement through the development of new pedagogies, curricula, and technologies; • Develop a national strategy for lifelong learning; and • Increase federal investment in areas critical to the nation’s global competitiveness. The social scientific study of competency began in the early 1970s. The first competency model was developed in the early 1970s by the eminent psychologist David McClelland and 120https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1808/Busi ness-Involvement-in-Education.html 121 https://knepublishing.com/index.php/KnESocial/article/view/3106/6554 others at a fledgling consulting firm called McBer and Company (McClelland, 1973 and 1976). The U.S. Department of State was concerned about the selection of junior Foreign Service Information Officers (i.e., young diplomats who represent the United States in various countries). The traditional selection criteria, tests of academic aptitude and knowledge, did not predict effectiveness of a Foreign Service Officer, and were screening out too many minority candidates.121 Over the last fifty years competency modeling has been applied to individuals but the following is cautionary to business and industry. “Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, businesses entered a new era every 50 years…Technology will allow companies to achieve scale and retain customer intimacy. Power will shift from professional managers to the experts who deliver those customers. Companies will own only those assets critical to their mission and rely on external ecosystems to manage the rest. Investors won’t just invest in companies; they’ll also invest in projects. And every company will have two engines, the one that powers today’s profits, and the one that will generate the profits of tomorrow.”122 Since 1936 until the 1990’s, the U.S. government offered vocational lists and employment matching through the book, The Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Information about the characteristics of jobs and the individuals who fill them is valuable for career 122 https://www.bain.com/insights/3000-years-ofbusiness-history-in-two-minutes-video/
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTc2ODM1