Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley® Develops Its 'Workforce of the Future'

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --The Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley®, long a world class hub of high tech research and development, is determined to equip its workforce with the tools it needs to succeed in the future.  A half dozen projects now underway share the underlying goal of modernizing education and workforce development programs throughout the region.

• A statewide "First to the Top" coalition of elected officials and business and education leaders helped Tennessee become one of only two states to receive $500 million first-round funding in the federal "Race to the Top" program.  The coalition supports higher classroom standards across the state.
• A statewide Teacher Evaluation Advisory Committee is setting clearer – and significantly higher – standards by which teachers will be graded every year. "This makes it clear that the whole state is serious about reform," said Knoxville Chamber President and CEO Mike Edwards, a participant on the committee. "We're establishing a very rigorous framework that, ultimately, will affect teacher tenure policies." The committee is testing the program this year.
• The Innovation Valley has mounted an effort – Vols4Stem – to coordinate STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) activities in area schools. STEM is already an important part of several high school curricula in the region. That is especially the case in Oak Ridge, home of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Department of Energy's largest research facility. There is a movement afoot to locate a STEM school in Knox County using $3 million in Race to the Top dollars.  "We know we're going to need a STEM-qualified, 21st century workforce," says Jennifer Evans of the Knoxville Chamber. "It aligns what's taught in school with what's needed now in the job market now – and what will be needed in the future."  Knox County Schools, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Battelle and the University of Tennessee are partners in the initiative.  A partnership between Battelle and the University of Tennessee manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
• Roane State Community College just received a $2.8 million Department of Labor award to establish a program to train technicians in advanced materials work and the solar industry. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is heavily involved in developing 21st century materials that are stronger and lighter, and the Innovation Valley is the center of the Tennessee Solar Initiative.
• A local initiative has established the Education Management Information System (EMIS) for local schools. With 60 million records now available electronically, teachers get real time information that helps them respond to the needs of specific students. Going forward, teachers will be able to monitor students' performance to see how well classroom strategies worked. With its wealth of system-wide information, the data warehouse also helps supervisors evaluate programs and allocate resources wisely.
• As part of a lunch and learn program, teachers visited area businesses this summer to hear about the specific skills employers need now and will need in the future. The goal is to give teachers practical, "real world" experiences that can be used in the classroom.

"We're serious about education," says Edwards, who just finished a Ford Fellowship to study educational reform. "With the national lab, a major research university, solar and biofuels initiatives centered here and so many high tech companies represented across the Innovation

Valley, we know that improving our schools and developing a STEM-qualified workforce are essential to our future."

For more information about the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley economic development partnership, visit http://www.knoxvilleoakridge.com or contact Garrett Wagley at (865) 246-2661 or at [email protected].

Media representation: Clark Miller Communications, (865) 414-1908.

SOURCE Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley