The Education Track targets the region’s entire educational delivery system (early childhood education, K-12, two- and four-year colleges, the region’s four BOCES, etc.) to raise high tech career awareness and reduce long-term structural gaps between the skills of graduates and the needs of employers in growth-oriented industries to ensure a sustainable educated and trained workforce. A particular focus is improving student literacy in science, technology, engineering, and math, as well as critical thinking and “soft” skills that contribute to college and career readiness.

Tech Valley Connection for Education and Jobs: Officially launched in November 2012, this is a joint initiative of GLOBALFOUNDRIES and the Center for Economic Growth to create a 13-county regional laboratory to trial the most innovative practices and best ideas in education, articulate the vision of the future education system, and successfully eliminate roadblocks to achieving that vision. Initial work on the initiative began in 2009, and it is designed to be able to scale upward in size in order to help improve the education system nationally. Stay tuned for the launch of the initiative’s website in early 2013.  Overview

Tech Valley STEMSmart Alliance: CEG serves as the regional coordinator of the Tech Valley STEMSmart Alliance, the Capital Region hub of the Empire State STEM Learning Network.  Empire STEM, administered by the State University of New York, is a community-led collaborative advancing the interdisciplinary teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Albany’s Promise Cradle-to-Career Network: CEG is a lead business partner in SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher’s Albany Promise Cradle-to-Career Network, a major cross-sector regional network designed to maximize student success, increase graduation rates, strengthen community development, prepare a 21st century workforce, and support economic revitalization in the Capital Region.

SUNY Collaboration: CEG worked with a consortium of SUNY community colleges, in concert with the Chief Executives Network for Manufacturing, on a successful 2012 application for a for a federal Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training grant which will expand the colleges’ advanced manufacturing-related two-year education and career training programs. CEG has also been a business community partner of the University at Albany in presenting its New York SUNY2020 plan to Governor Cuomo.

Early Childhood Education: CEG has partnered with organizations such as United Way and America’s Edge to encourage investment in and access to early childhood education, a critical component of a successful cradle-to-career pathway.