The Human Resource Investment Council (HRIC) on which the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education serves, has provided a large number of grants to businesses around the state to work on continuous improvement. Many of these grants require that the business sites work with schools. The Rhode Island Skills Commission, a non-profit organization sponsored in part by HRIC, RIDE, RIAFT and NEARI, works to restructure schools to support students’ attainment of high standards. The Commission is developing a Certificate of Initial Mastery and a Certificate of Advanced Mastery which will certify student attainment of standards and will focus high schools and postsecondary institutions on the career development of all students. The Director of the Department of Labor and Training and RIDE’s Commissioner received a grant from the German Marshall Fund of the United States to send teams of Rhode Islanders to visit Swiss and German companies in order to learn more about the apprenticeship systems of these countries. They also have established a Work-Based Learning Design and Implementation Committee, co-chaired by the Lieutenant Governor, a Representative of the General Assembly, the Secretary/Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, and the CEO of Arkwright Incorporated. The goal of this committee is to provide work-based learning experiences for all Rhode Island students prior to high school graduation. The state of Rhode Island has received a $12 million federal grant to implement a school to career system from 1998 to 2003. The grant is administered through five School to Career Partnership Councils, each including representatives of business, labor and education. Augmenting that effort, RIDE received a $5 million special education systems change grant from the federal Office of Special Education Programs to help youths with special needs make successful transitions to employment. RIDE, with leadership from the General Assembly, is also working with schools and districts to implement In$ite – a uniform financial reporting system developed by Coopers & Lybrand. In$ite will provide clear and consistent data on school resources and spending. This will add further crucial information through which to examine the workings of schools and how those workings influence student performance. Return to the Statewide Analysis Home Page || Return to the Information Works Home Page |
