Seattle, WA--(PR.com)-- Right now, the future of commerce is dreading the end of summer. But as the new school year approaches, businesses eagerly await the students who will shape tomorrow's workforce. According to a recent study by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), almost 80% of organizations viewed the quality of kindergarten through 12th-grade (K-12) education as critical for the future of business success. And businesses are more than willing to help.

The study found that more than 65% of corporate respondents are engaged in various educational partnerships or initiatives. The largest companies are more likely to be involved, with almost 87% of organizations with more than 10,000 employees reporting they partner with education on an ongoing basis.

"Collaboration - among business people, educators, government and community groups - has become a must in shaping school reform," says i4cp research analyst Judy London. "Global competition for skilled talent is fueling greater urgency in getting students both college and workplace ready. The task is huge, and stakeholders realize only a coordinated effort will get the job done."

The K-12 educational issues deemed most important by organizations center on teaching. More than 65% of respondents viewed quality of teaching as the most critical issue for the future workforce, and 60% pointed to the training and development of teachers. Parental influence was seen as a critical component by 54% of respondents, while half of polled companies pointed to academic standards and testing as a key issue.

When business partners with education, the most common association is with colleges and universities, with 59% of respondents citing such partnership initiatives. More than half said they work with individual schools, while 44% work with their local school districts and 43% engage with community groups regarding K-12 education. The overarching goal of these associations is to build the skilled-worker labor pool, according to almost 30% of respondents.

To assist in educational partnerships, 61% of responding organizations use "volunteerism" to impart knowledge to school children. Fifty-seven percent donate professional expertise to the classroom, and 42% offer apprenticeships and "action-study" programs.

However, companies are unsure of how effective their educational partnerships are. Almost half (49%) said they consider that the associations are effective to a moderate extent or less. And, 41% of respondents said they don't even measure the effectiveness of such partnerships.

"In a tightening economy, it's likely that more businesses going forward will have program-accountability measures built into their partnerships with schools," says London. "Business involvement with school-district management and the availability of new generations of software should help make that happen."

The areas of curriculum deemed most critical to the future workforce were topped by the need for interpersonal and teamwork skills, pointed to by 66% of respondents, followed by communication skills (65%) and analytical thinking (63%). More than half are concerned with math and science knowledge as a driver of a successful future workforce.

The Taking the Pulse: K-12 Education survey was conducted by i4cp, in conjunction with HR.com, in July 2008. There were 298 respondents. The full results of the survey are available exclusively for all i4cp corporate members.

About i4cp, inc.

i4cp is the world's largest private network of corporations focused on improving workforce productivity. Our vendor-free community facilitates innovation by giving our members - among the largest and most respected organizations in the world - access to:

1. Peers to spark new ideas and prevent "reinventing the wheel";
2. Research to enable members to understand current practices and next practices;
3. Tools to put ideas and research into action;
4. Technology to enable members to easily access tailored information and execute workforce strategies.

With more than 40 years of experience and the industry's largest team of human capital analysts, i4cp is the definitive destination for organizations seeking innovative ways to improve workforce productivity. For more information, visit http://www.i4cp.com/

Source: pr.com