By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
The skill sets parents want their children to learn are almost the same as employers ask for in their new employees.
Joining the two sets together is the Kansas State Department of Education, and its mission to prepare Kansas students for lifelong success through rigorous, quality academic instruction, career training and character development according to each student's gifts and talents.
"Our vision is that Kansas leads the world in the success of each student," said Randy Watson, commissioner of education.
Watson discussed preparing the next-generation workforce at the April 26 membership lunch presented by the Chamber in Hays.
He asked the audience to name the skills and characteristics they want the children in their lives to have as they begin their careers and how those skills relate to Kansas' economic prosperity.
The attendees, all representatives of various Hays employers, listed desired skills, including resilience, innovation, problem-solving, time management, oral communication skills, learning a foreign language, responsibility, team player, common sense and to learn from failure.
"Are the skills you want in your employees pretty close to what you want in the young people in your lives?" Watson asked.
Turns out, they are.
They're also some of the top skills missing in young adults, according to a 2023 survey of businesses by the Kansas Chamber of Commerce.
"These businesses' greatest concern with the workforce is soft skills—60 percent," he said.
"I would argue that almost all these skills you just described fall into that category of soft skills."
Watson said he's not sure he likes the term "soft skills" because "it seems as you're describing those skills, those must be skills we need to have, but they're certainly not measured on an academic test, generally."
The other top concerns about employees in the Kansas Chamber survey were technical skills, a degree and passing a drug test.
The top five skills seen as lacking in high school graduates newly in the job force, according to a consolidated survey of corporate America, included professionalism and work ethic, teamwork, verbal communication, ethics and critical thinking.
Similar results were revealed whether students have a certification or a two-year or four-year degree.
A successful Kansas high school graduate as defined by the Kansas State Department of Education "has some skills to go do anything post-secondary. Could be military, technical school, a four-year school, in the attainment of an industry-recognized certificate without the need to have remedial education," Watson said.
"We're trying to prepare kids with these skill sets: academic preparation, cognitive preparation, technical skills, employability skills and civic engagement."
The Kansas job market was examined by the Georgetown Policy Institute and found the state needs 73% of its workers to have a post-secondary certificate or degree.
About 37% of those workers should have a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 36% need to have a certificate or associate's degree.
Kansas has a gap in those numbers with a 51% post-secondary success rate.
The gap has been narrowing, but "we need to get to that 73 percent," Watson said.
Kansans are demanding higher standards in academic skills, as well as employability and citizenship skills, and the need to move away from a “one-size-fits-all” system that relies exclusively on state assessments, Watson said.
This new vision for education, "Kansans Can," calls for a more student-focused system that provides support and resources for individual success.
The Kansas State Department of Education outcomes for measuring the success of students are
• Social/emotional growth measured locally
• Kindergarten readiness
• Individual Plan of Study focused on career interest
• High school graduation rates
• Postsecondary completion/attendance
SEE RELATED STORY: USD 489 earns 6 state accreditation honors for 2022-23 school year
Watson said he believes there are two major challenges in education today: undesirable student behaviors and a shortage of educators.