MEETING THE EMPLOYEE NEEDS OF BUSINESSES THROUGH BETTER EDUCATION STANDARDS

摘要

The composition and responsibilities of Business Education Teachers in basic education have changedrndrastically over the past several years. Future Business Education teachers will need to demonstraternknowledge of and competency in applying these skills at an elementary, middle and secondary level.rnStudents will need to be astute in general standards areas of computer and informational technology. Theyrnwill be accountable for entrepreneurship and international business. They will need qualitative as well asrnaccounting skills. Among the management and marketing concepts needed by Business Education studentsrnare: characteristics of the marketing process, impact of marketing on both the American and Globalrneconomic systems, how consumer behavior refocuses and dictates marketing decisions, Internet commercernas it related to the economy, basic tenets of management and leadership theories, and human relationsrnfunctions. Students must also be able to demonstrate proficiency in economics, law and personal finance.rnCompetency in business communications including presentation skills utilizing and accessing sharedrninformation resources via networks and/or the Internet, social, verbal, written and non-verbalrncommunications skills in personal and professional situations across cultures, using technology to enhancernthe effectiveness of communications, and demonstrating proficiency in written and oral communication arernalso required. Finally, students must be well versed in career planning skills including: developing skills forrnself awareness, career awareness research and planning, and workplace expectations, and the role of studentrnbusiness organizations. Have institutions of higher education kept pace with the critical changes in staternstandards through program improvement, course offerings, and recruitment of students? The purpose of thisrnresearch is to conduct an exploratory investigation into the issue of outcomes assessment using these newrnstatewide standards. For the first part of this research, chairs from the Schools of Businesses fromrnPennsylvania Colleges and University will be asked to respond to questionnaires concerning thernimplementation of the new state standards into their programs, the measures they will use for the assessmentrnof student competencies, and new student recruitment strategies. Administrators will be asked questionsrnconcerning the impact of the new three dimensional certification, business, computer, and informationrntechnology on their present programs as well as anticipated changes in their high school programs broughtrnabout by the additional venues brought about by the redefined certification. They will also be asked aboutrnthe implications of the K-12 versus the previous 7-12 certification for their districts. Will school districtsrnredefine their business education programs to include K-12? Will computer and informational technologyrnbe implemented in the elementary and middle schools? Will business education remain a "stand-a-lone"rndiscipline or will it be integrated into other disciplines? Will the new certification provide better quality ofrntheir present programs? Will these programs be extended to prepare high school graduates to take collegernlevel courses in business, computer and information technology? Will graduates from the business,rncomputer, and information technology major be better prepared to enter college as a business major/minor orrnto enter the world of work with a higher level of business competence? Our expectations are that thisrnresearch will give us a clearer picture of the needs of Pennsylvania businesses regarding the graduates of ourrnstatewide high schools. This in turn will give us a better focus on how to assess and implement thernstatewide certification standards in our universities and colleges so that our business education collegerngraduates will themselves be better prepared to educate K-12 students for the world of business.