Business/Education Partnership Forum Newsletter

November 2009 - v4n11

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Note from the editor
• Top articles, commentaries, and announcements from October 2009
• Upcoming events

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

As I talk with people about their work on partnerships, there’s one ‘success factor’ that stands out more than others in many working programs: the power of personal relationships.

As one example, I spoke yesterday with two partnership leaders about a strong and growing chamber-led mentoring program. The program was based on sound thinking – mentoring has a strong body of research proving its value – but without a strong community network, the program would never have grown beyond a single mentoring relationship.

The program was created after a local business leader, one with a long history of supporting local schools, began mentoring a few high school students. Convinced of the many benefits of mentoring, both for students and for businesspeople/mentors, this banker approached the chamber about spearheading a larger-scale program. His standing in the community put weight behind his proposal, and they got behind it. Over the past few years the program has taken root and grown, with many area businesspeople signing on for a three-year mentoring commitment, and many others offering to host tours and mentoring sessions at their businesses.

This program succeeded thanks to the willingness of a handful of people to tap their personal relationships. After the chamber adopted this program, the founding businessperson went to his Rolodex and enlisted his personal contacts – other area business leaders – to participate. The district’s partnership office supported this outside program by promoting it through their channels and by encouraging school-level officials to identify students and make it easy for them to participate. Interestingly, one of the district’s partnership staff members ended up joining the chamber to run the program, further strengthening the ties between the chamber and district in ways that will undoubtedly help in the program’s growth.

Over the course of writing several case studies and talking with many more people, it’s become ever clearer that establishing and leveraging personal and professional relationships is a critical success factor in program development. They may not be a key component in the success of every partnership, but it’s evident that they can make your work significantly easier, and that the prospects for the success and growth of your program are much greater if you have internal and external supporters willing to commit to your work.

Something to consider –

Best,

Brett

TOP ARTICLES, COMMENTARIES, AND ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM OCTOBER 2009

Selected to highlight business thinking on education or innovative approaches to engagement

• YES to Billionaires - Forbes (October 1, 2009)
• Top San Antonio business leaders back Teach For America plan - San Antonio Business Journal (October 2, 2009)
• Cuts to basic skills classes hurt workforce - San Francisco Chronicle (October 2, 2009)
• A Crackdown on Bake Sales in City Schools - New York Times (October 2, 2009)
• School Governance Councils: Making Parents Partners - Hartford Courant (October 4, 2009)
• CDC: Fewer schools selling candy, soda to students - AP (October 5, 2009)
• Middle school students get a crash-course in hotel management - Houston Chronicle (October 5, 2009)
• School reform splits - Memphis Commercial Appeal (October 5, 2009)
• Failing schools to be academies - BBC News (October 7, 2009)
• Schools need overhaul to get students job-ready - San Francisco Chronicle (October 11, 2009)
• AT&T, United Way Launch $2 Million Initiative to Boost Parent Engagement in High Schools - Philanthropy News Digest (October 11, 2009)
• NC lt. gov leads panel linking curricula, business - CNBC (October 12, 2009)
• Vocational training for five-year-olds - Telegraph (October 13, 2009)
• New York City Private Sector Leads Charge to Transform Public Schools - PENCIL press release (October 15, 2009)
• IBM Launches Nationwide Initiative to Support Early Education in Hispanic Communities - IBM press release (October 18, 2009)
• Governor Beshear launches new education initiative - Kentucky government press release (October 19, 2009)
• Not Your Mother's PTA - Teacher Magazine (October 19, 2009)
• Science, tech initiative targeting Mass. 6th-graders - Boston Globe (October 20, 2009)
• Opportunity for businesses to support public schools, groom future workforce - The Chattanoogan (October 20, 2009)
• America's Premiere High School Science Competition Announces The Class Of 2009 - Siemens press release (October 23, 2009)
• Floating science teachers inspire students - Houston Chronicle (October 24, 2009)
• High-school science program offers college credit - Arizona Republic (October 25, 2009)
• Building a future: Students and city benefit from ROP class - Enterprise Record (October 25, 2009)
• L.A. Unified to allow parents to initiate school reforms - Los Angeles Times (October 28, 2009)
• Mt. Lebanon wants you in the classroom - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (October 29, 2009)
• The influence game: Bill Gates pushes education reform - USA Today (October 29, 2009)

UPCOMING EVENTS

• ICW Education and Workforce Summit, US Chamber of Commerce; November 9, 2009
• TAPE Annual Conference, Texas Association of Partners in Education, January 24-26, 2010

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