Peter McWalters, Rhode Island’s commissioner of education, remembers visiting Ireland about 15 years ago. He was there with other educators, administrating tests to students. At the time, the economy there was abysmal.
But even under the cloud of a poor economy, education was being taken very seriously. The kids did exceptionally well on the tests.
Today, many companies are opening offices or other plants in Ireland. They are tapping into a highly skilled work force.
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“It wasn’t about the economy,” said McWalters. “It was about the kids.”
McWalters said a similar story could be told for Singapore, where education is not only a priority among whole families, but among the community as well. The result is a skilled work force and real economic opportunity.
“When I visited there, it just blew me away,” said McWalters.
I called McWalters recently to talk to him in more detail about the “Rhode Island Scholars” program. It is part of an initiative and is being put in place by the Education Partnership here in Rhode Island.
More than 100 business leaders have committed to visit classrooms in four pilot communities – Providence, Portsmouth, West Warwick and Westerly – to discuss the long-term benefits of completing a college-prep curriculum.
The business leaders will talk to the students about why it makes sense to opt for tougher classes. That doesn’t sound like an easy sell. ‘Now Johnny, instead of taking those two electives, you should sign up for chemistry and another year of algebra.’
But it is an important sell. That’s why so many prominent business leaders are signing on to be a part of the program. They know that students who are challenged to work hard in our middle schools and high schools will translate into a more productive work force. And that is not only important for individual businesses, but for the overall health of the state’s economy.
With skilled workers at the ready, maybe a company doesn’t bother moving somewhere else or is encouraged to take a bold step and build an addition here.
It is also important to deliver the message to young students now that working harder and taking the tough courses will translate into both personal and financial rewards.
Roger Williams Medical Center President Robert Urciuoli is chairman of the “Rhode Island Scholars” initiative.
He points out that the health care industry is Rhode Island’s largest and will have a need for as many as 10,000 skilled workers in the next few years.
“Companies like Raytheon and Amgen share our need for educated workers, and math, science and communication skills are increasingly in demand among other world-class companies we would like to see move to Rhode Island,” he said.
So how do we get the kids to buy into the importance of this? Well, it’s going to take the support of a lot of people. It has to come from businesspeople taking the time to share their experiences, from the teachers who may have to work a bit harder to make sure the students are keeping up with increased expectations and from families demonstrating that they expect certain things from their children.
McWalters brought up an interesting point in our conversation. There’s this sort of national crisis, he said, that everyone wants their kids to have a wonderful childhood. And we all think our kids are so bright.
“It isn’t about being bright,” said McWalters. “It’s about hard work … as a culture, we’re not very supportive of systems that require hard work.”
Too often, McWalters points out, we make excuses. We buy into things like “girls don’t do math.”
“We can all do math,” said McWalters.
There is a time and a place for coddling our kids. But there is also a time for challenging them. And challenging our kids does work.
A couple of years ago, my daughter Amanda, in third grade at the time, came home and said she had Sister Catherine for reading. This was big news.
Sister Catherine’s tests are serious business – at least 10 definitions every Friday. But there’s a catch. They have to be learned word for word.
I remember my wife and I working with my daughter in the beginning. After a couple of nights, I was dreading that first Friday test, as if I had to take it myself.
“There is no way she’s going to be able to do this,” I said to my wife.
But she did do it. She did it that first week and all the weeks that followed. She didn’t always get a 100 percent – but she always came close. And now, two years later, my wife and I see that Amanda isn’t so intimidated if an assignment is particularly challenging.
Amanda learned lots of new definitions back in third grade – word for word.
And I learned not to ever underestimate her abilities.
As a community, we shouldn’t be underestimating the abilities of any of our children.
