Problem:
Texas is losing many billions of dollars in wealth capital and extensive social capital every year because we don’t take full advantage of our human capital. We live in an innovation economy, yet our education system is not scaled, aligned and focused on delivering citizens and workers who can drive a strong economy in a time of innovation.
We conservatively estimate that in Central Texas , only about 58 percent of the students
who were seventh graders in 1992 had graduated high school within six years, and only about 14 percent had attained a Bachelor's or Associate's degree in Texas within the decade.(i) When those same seventh graders were starting high school, the cost of not raising our high school completion rate to 90 percent was calculated to cost Travis County alone over $180 million annually in lost tax revenues.(ii)
Much of the lost potential is rooted in lower outcomes achieved by different socioeconomic and ethnic groups across our state, as has been well described in the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's "Closing the Gap" report. At the same time, our most capable students often report not feeling challenged by their work and being treated as "a number in the system." The result is that a huge proportion of our students of all capabilities never achieve their maximum potential, socially or educationally. And because earning capacity goes down as educational achievement decreases, we must turn around the college-going trend by 2015 or cost our state almost $80billion every year by 2040.(iii)
Proposed Solution:
Austin Community College (ACC), Austin Area Research Organization (AARO) and the University of Texas have partnered to initiate a regional collaborative to determine a common vision and better align education systems across the Central Texas region.
This collaborative has been branded Education Equals Economics, or the E³ Alliance, and is led by business and civic entrepreneur Susan Dawson. This far-reaching initiative combines a concept to better align the various components of the overall educational system with a comprehensive vision of what we want to achieve from that system, starting at birth and continuing through college and career. A more efficient and effective process to generate intellectual and social in the region, will leberage the model in other regions across the state.
The E3 Alliance is not intended to replace many excellent programs underway in schools. Instead, it is meant to break down systemic barriers so that we can better utilize our limited resources, leverage innovation, share best practices across schools, districts, universities and other providers (horizontal alignment), and define the needs and expectations for college and career success consistently at every grade level, such that teaching and assessment are well articulated (vertical alignment). By better aligning our systems horizontally and vertically, the public and private sectors can work together to create broad and sustainable improvements for all students and taxpayers.
Timeline:
From project initialization in mid 2006 through 2007, we will:
1. Consolidate research data to build the objective educational system map across the Central Texas region, showing key indicators, outcomes and system disconnects, as well as the dollars and services that flow into the education system, so that we can understand where the real leverage points are to increase the social and educational success of our students.
2. Undertake an inclusive, iterative consensus-building process to define a vision of what we collectively want our students to achieve through best practices in our educational systems, with clear goals and outcomes.
During the remainder of the five year Implementation Phase, we will use this common vision and objective data map to:
3. Better align our education system vertically and horizontally and prioritize, implement and start institutionalizing change.
Outcomes:
Outcomes should include:
- more efficient utilization of resources
- more resources brought into the region
- extended best practices
- increased high school graduation rates and transitions into and through higher education
- ultimately, increased earnings power and a stronger tax base for the region
and through higher education, and ultimately increased earnings power and stronger tax base for the region. We can measure positive impact by "Closing the Gaps" in college attendance and completion in Central Texas , and preparing our “home-grown” students for relevant, rewarding, challenging lives and careers, whether or not they attend college.
