South Korea is competitively successful and produces excellent students. Families who move to America, even temporarily, find that their children do very well in school. Korean children achieve easily in mathematics, refine their English quickly, and win honors within two to three years in subjects such as science, history, foreign languages, and of course, English!

Given the success of Korean students, is there anything to be learned from America? Is there anything Korean families and corporations can learn? Perhaps, five criteria from college admissions officers in the United States might give some clues:

1. Courses: The quality of a high school student’s program. Are the courses challenging? Honors? Advanced placement?

2. Achievement: What is the student’s grade point average (GPA)?

3. Test Scores: What are the SAT or ACT scores?

4. Essay: How imaginative and well thought out is the student’s essay?

5. Resume: How balanced and enriched is the student’s resume? Does he/she participate in volunteer work? School athletic teams? Extra curricular activities like band, orchestra, yearbook, etc.?

Two criteria stand out: the “imaginative” component of the essay and “how balanced” of the resume. A more comprehensive understanding of these American criteria can be gained from the “SCANS” Report.

Updated in 2009, the American government assigned The Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) to examine the demands of the workplace and whether young people were capable of meeting those demands. (The entire report can be found as a PDF file at: http://wdr.doleta.gov/SCANS/teaching/)

The study concluded that: “all American high school students must develop a new set of competencies and foundation skills if they are to enjoy a productive, full, and satisfying life.”

The commission identified five competencies and three foundation skills that were deemed necessary to succeed in he business world. The competencies fell into two categories ― thinking and social skills.

The “SCANS” competencies:

1. Resources: Is able to identify, organize, plan, and allocate resources. Examples of resources are time, money, human relationships, and materials.

2. Interpersonal: Works well with others. Is an effective team-player, shows leadership, negotiates, works with diversity.

3. Information: Is able to find and use information. Can evaluate, organize, interpret, communicate, present, and use computers to process information.

4. Systems: Understands complex inter-relationships. Can see trends and patterns. Is able to predict the impact of such patterns.

5. Technology: Can work with a variety of technologies. Can apply technology to complex tasks and problem situations.

The “SCANS” foundation skills:

1. Basic skills: Reading literacy, writing fluency, mathematics, listening, and speaking.

2. Thinking skills: Creative thinking, decision-making, problem solving, mental visualization, knowing how to learn (formal and informal), and reasoning.

3. Personal qualities: Responsibility, self-esteem, social ability, self-management, integrity/honesty.

These are skills that American employers need the most from their workers. They are so important that “SCANS” skills are the predictors of success in the workplace.

One key is that many of the desired skills are not academic. They cannot be developed by discipline and focus alone. In fact, they require a different kind of nurturing ― one that encourages individual use of free time to discover one’s talents and interests.

Creativity thrives in an environment that is open-ended and pressure-free. Most critically, American approaches to education promote the use of imagination. Teachers provide lessons and assignments that cannot be quantified on standardized tests but do promote creative thinking.

A study of the recommendations of the “SCANS” report offers insight into what American businesses value and seek.

Attention to the “SCANS” report in Korea, with its highly educated workforce, will further strengthen collaboration with the USA!

By Andrew Rose

Andrew Rose retired after 42 years in American public education. He was chief school administrator of a school district in New Jersey for 25 years. He is also educational director of a non-profit organization called JEWEL (Joining East and West in Educational Liaisons). To learn more about him, visit his educational website: www.Drandyrose.com and his blog: www.teachersaflame.com ― Ed.