Leading the Future for Students, for Educators, and in ...

Leading the Future

for Students, for

Educators, and

in Technology

Transforming education

today to build the

workforce of tomorrow

// 1

Introduction

03

Strategy 1:

Begin Workforce

Development

in K-12

04

Strategy 2:

Start a Mentoring

Program

06

Strategy 3:

Expose Students

to Workforce

Technologies

08

Strategy 4:

Take Advantage

of Collaborations

10

Strategy 5:

Promote Equity

12

Conclusion:

Breaking Down

Barriers

AT&T¡¯s Mission

in Education

AT&T invests in education and job

training to create a skilled and diverse

workforce that powers our company ¡ª

and our country ¡ª for the future.

LEADING THE FUTURE IN EDUCATION



02

Did you

know?

T

oday, nearly every job is

touched by some form of

technology. If it¡¯s not, it will

be soon. Technology has changed

the way employees communicate,

collaborate and connect. It has

changed not only how we work,

but where we work. The jobs of

today and tomorrow demand a

tech-savvy, robust and diverse

talent pipeline.

Unfortunately, the need

is outpacing the supply. Nearly

40 percent of American employers

say they cannot find people

with the skills they need. Almost

60 percent complain job seekers

are not prepared to tackle even

entry-level jobs.1 All told, over six

million jobs are unfilled in the U.S.

today.2

This gap means education

must evolve. But preparing

students and reskilling current

workers for the jobs of the future

is not solely the responsibility of

schools, colleges and universities.

It must be a community

effort, and industry must play

a substantial role. Improving

education and developing

the 21st-century workforce

will require corporations to

collaborate with educators

and community organizations

to grow programs that work.

That¡¯s why AT&T is committed

to helping students succeed in

school and develop the skills

they need to thrive in their

careers and their lives.

Technology is a significant

part of the equation.

¡°Technology is making

it easier for everybody ¡ª

regardless of age, gender,

geography or income ¡ª to

learn anytime, anywhere,¡±

says Charlene Lake, senior

vice president for Corporate

Social Responsibility, AT&T.

¡°Innovations in technology

remove physical barriers

associated with learning. That¡¯s

extraordinarily important to the

future success of students and

the workforce.¡±

This guide presents five

ways industry and education

can ¡ª and are ¡ª collaborating

to prepare students for the

future workforce. In sharing

this guide, we hope to inspire

educators and businesses to

look for creative ways to work

together to help lead the future

for students, for educators and

in technology.

?

Since 2008, AT&T has

committed $450 million in

programs to help millions

of students in all 50 states

and around the world.

?

Over the past 5 years

(2013-2017), AT&T invested

nearly $145 billion in their

networks, more than any

public company in the

United States.

?

From mobilized learning to

IP networking and security

solutions, hundreds of AT&T

professionals are serving

schools and universities

across the country.

// 2

Begin Workforce

Development in K-12

A



few years ago, teacher

Conor Corey was

struggling to find

curriculum for his fifth-grade

math class in one of the poorest

schools in Philadelphia. By

chance, Corey discovered Khan

Academy, an organization that

provides free, online educational

resources. Khan Academy filled

Corey¡¯s immediate needs for

math curriculum, and provided an

alternative for students who were

advancing faster than their peers.

In 2017, Corey moved to

Willow Dale Elementary, a Title I

school with approximately 1,200

students in a working-class

district north of Philadelphia.

¡°The superintendent saw

several things I was doing with

open resources, including Kahn

Academy, and he gave me the

opportunity to come to Willow

Dale and pilot it as an intervention

for math classes throughout the

school,¡± says Corey.

The Khan Academy pilot

was a success. Willow Dale

raised standardized test scores

by more than 20 percent, the

only school in the district to

do so. Based on those results,

Corey wanted to explore how

he could use Khan Academy

to provide students additional

curriculum and workforce

development opportunities.

Aspire is AT&T¡¯s signature

philanthropic initiative that prepares

people for careers in technology,

Diversity plays a significant role in

the selection process.

¡°In addition to supporting the great

Move This World (New York)

uses multimedia content to

develop social skills and strengthen

media and telecommunications, and

educational companies of tomorrow,

emotional intelligence in Pre-K

helps more students graduate high

we are also empowering diversity in

through high school.

school. The program was launched

entrepreneurship across the country,¡±

10 years ago to provide access to

says Wintroub. ¡°We pledge that for

California) creates training, resources

education and training that enable

each class at least half of the members

and information that substitute

people to acquire or keep good jobs.

will be people of color or women, and

teachers need to be successful. The

from areas of the country that are not

program is customized for each

tech hotbeds.¡±

school system¡¯s unique context and is

In addition to working with various

organizations to promote educational

opportunities, AT&T also seeks to

After six months, the companies

Substantial (501(c)3/Oakland,

delivered online with modern, mobile-

scale the best new educational

are on their own, but remain part of

technology ideas through Aspire

the Aspire Accelerator community.

Accelerator. The program, started in

So far, AT&T has accelerated a total

revolutionizes learning by combining

2015, offers support and mentoring to

of 27 companies.

STEM education with physical play. It

innovative edtech startups.

¡°We started the Aspire Accelerator

This year¡¯s class comes from

a diverse set of backgrounds ¡ª

friendly technology.

Unruly Studios (Boston)

teaches kids how to code and gets

them active.

to empower early stage organizations

geographically, culturally, ethnically or

Weird Enough Productions

developing education technologies,¡±

professionally ¡ª and is committed to

(501(c)3/Lithonia, Georgia) teaches

says Anne Wintroub, director, Social

taking on an entirely new and unique

students how to combat fake

Innovation, AT&T. ¡°These are ideas we

set of challenges:

news, identify media bias and

see as having the greatest potential

Caribu (Miami) allows any trusted

to positively affect students, teachers

adult to read and draw with children,

and parents across the globe.¡±

through an interactive video call, no

Every year AT&T selects six to

10 companies to work with for six

matter how far apart they are.

MindRight (501(c)3/Newark, New

create positive content through an

edtech tool.

Words Liive (Washington, D.C.)

makes it effortless for teachers to

integrate music into lessons.

months. During those six months the

Jersey) empowers youth of color

Zoobean (Arlington, Virginia)

selected companies get access to an

to heal from systemic oppression

provides a web application, mobile

array of AT&T resources. The program

trauma ¡ª including structural

app and prospective hardware device

is highly competitive. In 2018, AT&T

violence, poverty, racism and

through which families can track

received nearly 400 applications and

discrimination ¡ª with support via

their independent reading and stay

accepted just eight companies.

text message.

motivated to read.

Photos courtesy of AT&T

Strategy 1:

Giving Promising EdTech Startups a Leg Up:

The Aspire Accelerator Program

Continued on page 4

LEADING THE FUTURE IN EDUCATION

// 3

Workforce development has been

viewed as a tool for people already

in the workforce. But today, it can

also help youth acquire knowledge

and skills they¡¯ll need in the

future. Research shows workforce

development programs can help

narrow the gap between labor

shortages and the skills needed

for highly skilled positions. Starting

early and using technology in

the process is key. Platforms like

Khan Academy provide a robust

library of online learning tools and

curricula so students face fewer

learning limitations.

¡°Kids born today will have

jobs that don¡¯t even exist yet,¡±

says Corey. ¡°Students will need

to develop skills beyond basic

literacy ¡ª skills that can help them

compete in the global economy.¡±

Rather than force highly

motivated students to stick to

standard curriculum, programs like

Khan Academy help students learn

new skills that can better prepare

them for the workforce.

¡°To teach by competency

instead of by grade levels is a game

changer,¡± says Corey. ¡°We have kids

in second and third grade creating

their own video games based

on what they learn with Khan

Academy. We have fourth graders

doing algebra. We have fifth

graders learning physics. To have

a resource available to students

that¡¯s factual and mastery based

is unbelievable. I think it¡¯s going to

help students better prepare for

the direction they want to go in

their careers.¡±

In 2017, AT&T contributed

$2.25 million to Khan Academy

to launch LearnStorm, a national

LEADING THE FUTURE IN EDUCATION

learning challenge designed to

equip students with the skills

and mindsets they need to

start the school year strong.

LearnStorm combines Khan

Academy¡¯s thousands of free,

standards-aligned exercises

with new, limited-time-only

incentives to engage, celebrate

and reward every student ¡ª no

matter their level. The initiative

reached nearly one million

students, 23,000 teachers and

13,000 schools, and encouraged

90 million minutes of learning.

Hands-on programs are

also highly effective workforce

development tools. Last year,

15 Bronx High School students

completed the first-ever summer

internship program in AT&T retail

stores in New York City. The

program, dubbed DreamYard in

the Bronx, allowed students to

shadow AT&T sales and customer

service experts at nine Bronx-area

retail stores. Over the course of

four weeks, the students learned

about wireless technology

and business management

in a real-world setting.

¡°This was the first time in a

work setting for all of them, and

the impact was significant,¡± says

Marissa Shorenstein, president,

east region external affairs, AT&T.

¡°Just giving them an AT&T shirt to

put on each day and heading off to

work had such an impact on them

¡ª they understand the value of

work and a job.¡±

At the end of the summer, each

student gave a presentation on

the skills they gained throughout

the program.

¡°The goal was to equip

students with the professional

skills and experience they need to

succeed in college and beyond,¡±

says Shorenstein. ¡°We hope the

experiences will inspire these

students to continue to pursue

careers in technology ¡ª and

maybe one day, back at AT&T.¡±

Strategy 2:

Start a Mentoring

Program

Did you know?

?

Women remain underrepresented

in the science and engineering

workforce. While women receive

more than half of bachelor¡¯s

degrees awarded in the biological

sciences, they receive far fewer

in the computer sciences

(17.9%), engineering (19.3%) and

mathematics (43.1%).3

?

For the past five years, AT&T and

Girls Who Code have offered

high school students more than

300 hours of instruction in web

development and design, robotics

and mobile development, including

mentorship and exposure to top

female engineers and entrepreneurs.

?

Beyond Girls Who Code, AT&T

collaborates with other nonprofit

education groups such as iCouldBe

and Nepris to connect students to

mentors. AT&T also recently kicked

off a pilot with Career Village, a

nonprofit educational technology

organization that helps young people

in low-income communities get

personalized online college and

career advice.

Did you know?

?

Since the program¡¯s launch in 2015, AT&T Aspire Accelerator

participants included 63 percent women-led companies and 44

percent minority-led companies.

?

Unlike other accelerators, companies do not have to move to participate

in the Aspire Accelerator. All activities can be conducted online.

?

In addition to a $100,000 investment and an additional $25,000

to cover costs associated with the program, Aspire Accelerator

companies receive access to a dedicated Entrepreneur in

Residence, UI/UX design services and opportunities to participate

in education conferences. For nonprofit participants, the

¡°investment¡± is in the form of a charitable contribution.



Continued from page 3

// 4

A

s a freshman in high

school, Anah Lewi knew

very little about

computer science. But while

searching the internet, she

discovered a video that caught

her attention. ¡°What Most

Schools Don¡¯t Teach¡± featured

tech pioneers and celebrities

discussing the benefits of

learning to read and write code.

¡°That video brought to life

something I¡¯d never thought

about before,¡± says Lewi. ¡°So

much of our lives are governed

by technology today ¡ª it

should be something students

learn about. I decided after

watching that video that I

wanted to learn to code.¡±

Lewi applied for and was

accepted to the Girls Who

Code Summer Immersion

Program, which is supported

by AT&T. Girls Who Code is a

national initiative that exposes

high school girls to computer

science and jobs in technology.

During the seven-week

class, Lewi learned a variety

of technical and business

skills. But the curriculum

was challenging, and Lewi

sometimes felt frustrated.

Fortunately, mentoring

is a large component of the

Girls Who Code program.

¡°Computer science is

challenging, and you are going

to make mistakes. The mentors

and teaching assistants were

always there to help us and

encourage us when we got

frustrated,¡± says Lewi.

Mentoring is proven to have

a positive impact on students¡¯

efficacy, confidence and decisionmaking skills and to enhance

their career aspirations.4 For Lewi,

mentoring encouraged her and

kept her engaged.

¡°

Mentoring is important not only for

a young woman of color, but women

in general because we are heavily

underrepresented in the tech industry. It¡¯s

important to have someone to look up to.¡±

¨C Anah Lewi, Former Participant, Girls Who Code Program

¡°Mentoring is important not

only for a young woman of color,

but women in general because

we are heavily underrepresented

in the tech industry. It¡¯s important

to have someone to look up to,¡±

says Lewi.

Interaction with Girls

Who Code mentors also put

Lewi on AOL¡¯s radar, with

whom she interned during

the summer before her

senior year of high school.

Following high school

graduation, Lewi enrolled at

Wellesley College, where she¡¯s

pursuing an undergraduate

degree in computer science.

¡°Having that exposure

before coming to college

absolutely changed the way I

looked at computer science,¡±

says Lewi. ¡°And I now have a

network of people I can turn

to when I get frustrated and

I know they¡¯ll encourage me

and help keep me going.¡±

How Mentoring Promotes Success:

AT&T Aspire

LEADING THE FUTURE IN EDUCATION

Did you

know?

? Studies show

that students

who participate

in online

mentoring

outperform

their peers both

emotionally and

academically.5



The Aspire program has three parts: Connecting with organizations

that are doing great work in education and scaling those

organizations (for example, programs like Girls Who Code, Imagination

Foundation, Media Maker and ); finding and promoting

technological innovations that are solving real-world problems in the

education community; and mentoring.

AT&T employees mentor students throughout the country to help them

discover their career passions and potential. Since October 2012, AT&T

employees have impacted more than 350,000 students through more than

2.2 million hours of mentoring.

According to Senior Vice President for Corporate Social Responsibility

Lake, AT&T emphasizes online mentoring because it allows more students

to receive ¡ª and more AT&T employees to offer ¡ª mentoring services.

¡°It¡¯s difficult for many professionals to mentor in the traditional way,

which usually involves spending time with a student offsite,¡± says Lake. ¡°If

we can provide mentoring opportunities via technology it makes it easier

for everybody that wants to get involved to do so. Our employees are

passionate about education, and they play a critical role in this program

through their mentoring efforts.¡±

// 5

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