Home > The lowdown on higher education > Archives > College Readiness category
College Readiness
December 10, 2008
Communication skills crucial, IBM executive says
There are many fine engineers at IBM and other technology companies, but the ones who rise to the top often do so not because of technical know-how but as a result of outstanding written and oral communication skills.
So said Tony Befi, vice president of high-performance computing system development and IBM’s top executive in Austin, in a speech at a Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Tuesday.
“The ability to communicate effectively is so much more critical now,” Befi said. “There’s a broad set of skills required in this world.”
Content, of course, is all-important. But the right tools are essential as well, Befi said. For example, he said, text-messaging is a superior way of staying in touch with his daughter, e-mail having apparently become so 20th century.
Blogging, uploading video and other skills are increasingly important in the business world, he said.
“I’m not saying everybody should be doing these things, but this is the type of thing you should think about because this is the kind of world our children are growing up in,” Befi said.
Befi and other luncheon speakers also emphasized the importance of postsecondary education to the Austin region and its population. “In addition to enhancing our economic well-being, a well-educated person is an enriched person,” Befi said.
Several educators, government officials and business leaders were honored for efforts in behalf of a Chamber of Commerce campaign to boost college enrollment. The award recipients ranged from Pat Forgione, superintendent of the Austin school district, to Lois Hollis, a senior assistant at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment Categories: College Readiness
January 24, 2008
College-readiness standards approved
Expectations for Texas high school graduates rose a notch or three today when the state’s Higher Education Coordinating Board approved college-readiness standards.
The board unanimously adopted a half-inch-thick package of standards that now go to the state’s public education commissioner for approval. The standards are to be woven into the curriculum during the next several years by the State Board of Education.
“We wanted to spell out clearly what colleges expect,” said Evelyn Hiatt, senior director for college-readiness initiatives for the coordinating board.
“I think we have a tremendous job to do in terms of building awareness. We also have to allay people’s fears that the kids can’t do it.”
The standards do not constitute a new requirement for graduating from high school. Rather, they spell out the knowledge and skills in four broad areas that a student needs to succeed in an entry-level college course. Those areas are English and language arts, mathematics, science and social studies.
The standards also include a laundry list of “performance indicators,” which are essentially examples for assessing a student’s preparedness. The more of these indicators a student has mastered, the better prepared he or she will be.
But the indicators include some doozies that might give even some of the best students pause. For instance:
— Calculate, describe and use the appropriate measure of center (e.g., mean, median, mode) and spread (e.g., range, IQR, percentiles, variance, standard deviation).
— Construct an equation using the concept of static equilibrium and solve for an unknown quantity.
— Compare agricultural and nomadic pastoral societies.
A state law enacted last year required development of college-readiness standards. The measure was prompted in part by significant academic shortcomings among entering college students. For example, about 60 percent of Texas high school graduates need remedial training in math.
Permalink | Comments (13) | Categories: College Readiness
