Raising the Bar for Prek-20 Education in Oregon: White Papers
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Raising the Bar for PreK-20 Education in Oregon: White Papers Raising the Bar for PreK-20 Education in Oregon: White Papers The six white papers gathered here describe Oregon’s challenge in helping more Oregonians than ever before to attain a higher level of education. These papers, commissioned by the Roundtable and completed in 2005, lay the groundwork for discussions by Oregon’s leaders and citizens about education changes that are needed and those that are under way. A New Vision for Oregon Education. Oregon must dramatically increase the education attainment of its citizens. The state’s PreK-20 education systems must perform better, and they must The Competitive Imperative. be funded and structured differently. With increasing global competition and evolving technology, Oregonians must be well educated in order to Preparation. hold good jobs and keep the Oregon Preparation is the strongest key to success economy competitive. in higher education. Too many Oregon ninth graders fail to obtain a high school diploma; Affordability. 40 percent of those who do are not ready to Oregon students, especially low-income succeed in postsecondary education. students, are finding a postsecondary education increasingly harder to afford. Pathways and Persistence. Costs are higher, aid is not keeping pace, Students travel many paths to their and most students are making up the education objectives. Oregon is smoothing gap with borrowing. these pathways but has more work to do. What Cost, What Results for PreK-20? Oregon needs a uniform, transparent process for budgeting public dollars across the PreK-20 spectrum. It needs to know how it is spending funds, and what it is getting for the investment. Acknowledgments and Credits This collection of white papers was made possible by generous grants to the Oregon Education Roundtable from the Oregon Community Foundation, the Lumina Foundation for Education, and the Ann & Bill Swindells Charitable Trust. These papers were developed under the direction of Jill Kirk, Oregon Business Council vice president and manager of the Oregon Education Roundtable project. Officials, experts, and peer reviewers from Oregon and beyond contributed their knowledge and insights to this work. The Roundtable is grateful both to our donors and to those who volunteered their time to inform our research. Authors of the six papers are, respectively: Jill Kirk, A New Vision for Oregon Education; Joe Cortright, The Competitive Imperative; John Svicarovich, Preparation; Affordability; Pathways and Persistence; John Tapogna, What Cost, What Results for PreK-20? John Svicarovich edited and produced these papers. Casey Tichenor of Graphic Communication designed this collection for print and online publication. A New Vision for Oregon Education. Oregon must dramatically increase the education attainment of its citizens. The state’s PreK-20 education systems must perform better, and they must be funded and structured differently. This paper presents a new vision for Oregon education, one that calls for educating more Orego- A New Vision nians to a higher level than ever For Oregon Education before. To accomplish that aim, st it calls for smarter investment in Transforming Our Systems for the 21 Century a PreK-20 continuum that puts students first and emphasizes results. Summary The vision outlined here is sup- Our economic, social, and individual well being demand that Oregon educate ported by five white papers. The more Oregonians to a higher level than ever before — and better than ever first describes how the changing before. All Oregonians should — at a minimum — obtain a postsecondary de- global economy and workforce are driving the need for higher gree or credential. To achieve that objective, Oregon must make the education levels of education attainment experience — from preschool to graduate school — more responsive to learner among Oregonians. The next needs, more accessible, more accountable, and more efficient. three explore key aspects of postsecondary access — prepa- This calls for a fundamental transformation of our existing public education ration, affordability, and student systems, which will have to perceive, manage, and measure their performance persistence — and their connec- tion to the PreK-20 experience. differently than they have in the past. The fifth paper describes how There are three pillars to that transformation: Oregon could better budget its education investments, basing Our systems must adopt a student-centered, PreK-20 frame of reference them on student-centered data — seamless in curriculum, learning experiences, standards, and and tying them to performance outcomes. Subsequent papers assessments. will discuss how the new Oregon policymakers must adopt a unified, transparent education budget approaches envisioned in the and budgeting process, tying expenditures to performance outcomes. earlier papers might look in daily practice and what kind of Oregon’s education enterprise must build a comprehensive, integrated governance these approaches data system that supports student planning and achievement, smoother may require. education pathways, and institutional accountability for results. Why Education Matters to Oregon The Economic and Social Stakes Are High Research and experience suggest a strong link between the well being of a people and their level of education attainment. Where a populace is well educated, the economy benefits from greater innovation and competitiveness, increased productivity, higher tax revenues to finance public services, increased consumption, increased workforce flexibility, and decreased reliance on government financial support. Communities have less crime, more charitable giving and volunteerism, a more vital civic life, and greater social cohesion and appreciation of di- versity. Individuals enjoy higher salaries and benefits, more stable employment, higher savings levels, improved working conditions, more personal/professional mobility, 1-1 improved health and life expectancy, better prospects for their children, enhanced personal stature, and more leisure time. Although there is less concrete analysis to go on, it appears that the reverse is also true: the lower a state or region’s education attainment, the more it struggles to maintain a competi- tive economy and all the benefits of that economy. The more likely it is to incur costly public support in the form of social services, emergency and indigent health care, and justice and cor- rections systems. And the Stakes Are Getting Higher Like advanced economies everywhere, the Oregon economy has, over the past several decades, become increasingly propelled by knowledge-based manufacturing and services, not only electronics, software, and electronic commerce, but also new products, process in- novation, and sophisticated business practices now common in long-established traditional industries. Out-competing, even staying up with economies in other states and nations, demands skills that can be developed only through rigorous and increasingly advanced education. More- over, people at all levels of an organization must now hold such skills. This total workforce requirement did not exist even as recently as 30 years ago, when relatively few people needed advanced organization and leadership training, and when people without such training could still earn family wages with minimal education. As Anthony P. Carnevale and Donna M. Desrochers point out in Standards for What? The Eco- nomic Roots of K-16 Reform, competitive economies are now based on value added to prod- ucts and services rather than mass production of standardized, low-cost commodity goods. To stay competitive, companies must pay attention to product and service quality, variety, customization, convenience, consistency, and shorter product improvement and introduction cycles. This requires greater location of authority in front-line workers and managers, specific product and service expertise, and a range of sophisticated skills and abilities that are now fundamental to the knowledge economy. To paraphrase, employees today must have: Basic competence in reading, writing, and mathematics Knowledge of how to learn Listening and oral communication skills No Oregonian Creative thinking and problem solving skills can afford to Skills in interpersonal relations, negotiation, and teamwork. have less than a two-year Such requirements place enormous demands on our education systems, which must now postsecond- educate all Oregonians in skills and knowledge previously reserved for a small percentage ary degree or of leaders and managers. These requirements also mean that all individuals now need more credential, and formal education than ever before. Whereas a high school diploma was the minimum univer- preferably every- sal expectation of students up to a few decades ago, it now appears that no Oregonian can one should have afford, literally, to have less than a two-year postsecondary degree or credential. Preferably more. everyone should have more, and should be prepared for more formal learning as a lifelong 1-2 process. This higher level of education attainment will not guarantee someone a secure place within the economy. However, failing to achieve it will almost certainly doom an individual to a precarious existence in an economy that tends to reward those who are educated and tends to punish those who are not. The ante is also being raised in what a credential represents. Both higher education officials and employers have been increasingly displeased