Only 63 percent of San Diego County students are considered proficient in English Language Arts and only 53 percent are proficient in History-Social Science.

When Dr. Sally Bennett-Schmidt from the San Diego County Office of Education spoke to the LEAD San Diego IMPACT cohort to share these metrics, the nearly unanimous reaction was shock and disbelief.

While these numbers are increasing, the pressure to continue an upward trajectory, coupled with cuts in education funding, mean instructors focus heavily on language, science and math, but have little time to spend on other areas, such as visual and performing arts.

While some may think painting, woodworking, music or theatre are not as important when looking at these startling proficiency scores, the cohort learned it’s precisely this misconception that is hurting our educational system, our kids and our future workforce.

Dr. Ed Abeyta, director of K-16 education at UC San Diego Extension, suggested it’s a disservice to our students if we don’t give them the time and opportunity to experience what the arts can bring to a “left brain” mind.

In the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) disciplines, students are taught to memorize complex solutions often without real-world application. They’re taught that there’s one right way and one right answer. Whereas in the arts, students are rewarded for thinking outside the box, being creative and employing divergent thinking to come up with multiple solutions. Yet, when looking at our ideal future workforce, we need scientists, technicians, engineers and mathematicians to be innovative, think outside the box and develop new solutions to old problems, and we need artists who can help convey this technical data visually.

“We’re really good at killing creativity,” said Barbara Edwards with Math for America San Diego.

Instead, she suggested, we need to create curriculum and instruction that fosters creativity and invites students into a puzzle or problem.

Our esteemed speakers from UC San Diego’s CREATE, Math for America San Diego, San Diego Science Project, University of San Diego and UC San Diego Extension are all pushing to change this paradigm in education by looking at how incorporating the arts, while changing instructional approaches, can help create a future workforce proficient in the STEM disciplines but also well-versed in “right brain” activities and open to looking at things in a different way. They suggested we should no longer focus solely on the STEM principles, but incorporate the arts and divergent thinking into those areas, which is often referred to as the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) movement.

There’s clearly much work to be done to shift this effort for a movement into systematic change. So what can we do as business and community leaders to help change what we deem to be “critical” in educational instruction to ensure we have a workforce well-equipped to tackle the problems of tomorrow?

Whether it’s joining the PTA, tutoring, fundraising for arts programs in schools, letting your voice be heard at the school board level or hosting a teacher at your workplace to talk about skills the future workforce will need, there’s a number of ways we as a community can get involved in the education of our children.

By shifting our educational paradigms, empowering teachers with the tools to keep students engaged and stimulated, and encouraging community members to become active participants in education, we’ll not only see increased student success, but a better-equipped workforce and, ultimately, a better quality of life for our region.

Creativity, embracing risk, questioning, systems thinking, collaboration, communication and worldview – these are among the skills needed for the 21^st century, according to Grant Lichtman, chief operating officer at the Francis Parker School.

Lichtman – who was a guest speaker at LEAD San Diego’s IMPACT session dedicated to K-12 education – advocated that there is a disconnect between what we teach and what we want students to learn. The day was filled with discussions related to facts and figures on the educational system and potential solutions from various speakers, including Lichtman who says the world is changing at a dramatic rate, yet our educational system is not.

While his presentation was focused mainly on how we develop current and future students into individuals who possess the needed 21^st century skills, I couldn’t help but also think about how we – as business leaders – instill and foster these skill sets among our current workforce.  I viewed the discussion through the eyes of someone who works in a field in which these skills are not only desirable, but necessary to survive.

The industry in which I work – like many other industries – can no longer get by on a set-in-stone knowledge or skill set. We must evolve. We must think critically. We can’t rely upon knowledge “professed” to us in college. We must come up with new solutions – and not be afraid to fail every once in a while. We also need to know not only how to “play nice in the sandbox,” but also how to engage in real collaboration for sustainable solutions to business challenges … and today, that often happens across borders and among different cultures.  It’s from this perspective that innovation and creativity is born.

How we instill these 21^st century skills in children is therefore an important task. Also critical is how we nurture these skill sets for those who are currently in the workforce.  Programs, like those offered through LEAD San Diego, do just that.

At NST, we recently completed our annual retreat in which we reviewed our mission, vision and values and I’m proud to say that we adopted a new value this year, one that – while we’ve been practicing it, we’ve never put it on paper – focuses on the notion that we push ourselves and each other. It’s about not accepting the status quo. It’s about continual learning and exploration. It’s about feeding our sense of curiosity – and to not do it is no longer an option.

Teresa Siles (@tsiles) is vice president and director of social media at Nuffer, Smith, Tucker, a full-service public relations firm in San Diego focused on creating conversations and building relationships to help clients succeed.

“For the past 150 years, we’ve been tinkering with education,” said Scott Himelstein, director of the Center for Education Policy & Law at University of San Diego. “We haven’t evolved … but we’re reaching a tipping point. Things can’t stay the same.”

Education-related issues can spark heated debate – I saw that firsthand at a recent LEAD San Diego IMPACT program in which Himelstein spoke.  The cohort also heard from Sally J. Bennett-Schmidt, director of assessment at the San Diego County Office of Education, who made it clear there is a problem: only 60 percent of students (grades 2-11) are meeting state standards in English and only 56 percent are meeting the standards in mathematics.  Further, barely 40 percent of San Diego County students graduated with the requirements to enter into the University of California or California State University system. These students don’t even have a choice as to whether to go to a UC or CSU school because they don’t meet the requirements. Sixteen percent dropout altogether, and minority populations are at greater risk.

“We are not satisfied with these data,” said Bennett-Schmidt. “Everyone of these students has a face, and their parents are sending them to us with expectations.”

While getting agreement on the causes of our problems in the educational system or  solutions for the future is a daunting task, most people agree that something has to be done.

“At the end of the day, a strong public school system is something just about everybody wants,” said Richard Barrera, board president, San Diego Unified School District.

So how do we get there? What can we – as business men and women, civic-minded individuals, parents, employers and human beings – do? Putting politics aside, there are a few things that are not debated:

• Speak up – don’t let education be somebody else’s problem. This is your education system too.
• Organize with others – parents, teachers, administrators and others should collaborate and work toward solutions. Strong communities make a difference.
• Become involved with your school board – can you name people who sit on your local school board? Most people can’t. Learn about and get involved with your local school board.
• Be accountable – while it’s easy to play the blame game, we all play a role. Do your part to make a difference.
• Invest in our schools – An “investment” doesn’t always mean money. It can also mean investing your time, energy and other resources. For those looking to get involved through volunteerism, the Union-Tribune (client) Volunteer for Education Campaign aims to mobilize, challenge and recruit San Diego County residents to pledge to volunteer in K-12 schools throughout the 2011-12 school year.

Creating an education system that allows our kids and kids’ kids to be successful – regardless of race, background or socio-economic status – is not only the right thing to do, but our future also depends on it.

Teresa Siles (@tsiles) is vice president and director of social media at Nuffer, Smith, Tucker, a full-service public relations firm in San Diego focused on creating conversations and building relationships to help clients succeed.