Education Assessment

Transitions

Part 4 of the education assessment

I. Overview

A lifetime of learning crosses many discreet educational systems. Beginning in the home, it moves through all levels of education, and continues into and throughout the workforce. Two factors are key to success:

1. successfully transitioning within and across systems
2. building connections among and within the various systems and their institutions

For students, life-long learning is a series of transitions as they move from grade to grade, school to school, school to work, and continues in the workforce, to achieve individual goals. It is a cycle in which students must be prepared to learn, able to be successful at each level and prepared to progress to the next step. These transitions can be periods of turmoil for many students and the community must ensure that they are supported through each step. Community and workforce support for students are critical factors for success during these transitions.

To best secure success through these transitions, it is essential to foster connections among and across systems while also recognizing the need for and existence of individual institutional structures. This report notes major challenges for both K-12 and higher education institutions including demographic changes; preparedness and student achievement; equal and open access; and retention and completion. These factors are interdependent within and among the varying stages of the education system and institutions must find ways to smoothly coordinate transitions and take advantage of overlap when it occurs.

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II. Continuum of Education

Early Education - 12th Grade

An effective educational/life-long learning process begins with preparing students to learn at home and in early education and care environments. It has been demonstrated that adults who receive quality preschool care as children attain significantly higher levels of schooling and higher monthly earnings. This report does not address this issue in depth, however, extensive information can be found in the Early Education and Care Community Assessment and the Frequently Asked Questions EEC data update published earlier by the CAN (Community Action Network, 1999 & 2002).

Students then transition to elementary and secondary school systems. During this period, there are multiple institutional shifts as students progress from elementary school through junior high to high school; this can produce challenges particularly in retention and completion. The K-12 system is experiencing major challenges resulting from diversity shifts and increasing standards. This has resulted in more students being at risk of dropping out of both primary and secondary schooling, an extremely costly result to both the individuals and society. In Travis County alone, there are 55,310 students defined by TEA as AT-Risk of dropping out (TEA, SY 2000-2001). A second impact on the Travis County K-12 system has been the consistent gaps in on-time graduation (especially pronounced for economically disadvantaged students) between White students and Hispanic and African-American students (TEA, SY 2000-2001). It is during this period that community support as well as cooperation among the various institutions greatly facilitates successful student transitions and ultimately overall success both in achievement and completion.
After secondary school there is a major transition for every student. Many options present themselves and students must define their individual goals. Some students will choose to pursue post-secondary education, some will go straight to the workforce and some a combination of both.

Post-Secondary Education

The report Implications for Increasing Student College Participation and Success (Just for the Kids, 2000) indicates that high school preparation is statistically related to student participation and success in Texas public institutions of higher education. The purpose of the research was to better understand how the Texas high school curriculum prepares students in skill areas needed to do freshman college-level work. The study found that higher levels of college readiness are related to three significant factors:

• Diploma type earned in high school (Advanced versus Regular)
• Completion of math and science core areas (found to relate to math, reading and writing readiness)
• Completion of English and social studies non-core courses

Additionally, The Condition of Education reports that the strongest predictor of eventual completion of a bachelor’s degree for first generation students was the academic rigor of secondary education, not educational expectations, support from parents and schools or family income.

To “close the gaps in participation,” Closing the Gaps outlines strategy in keeping with these findings. In order to ensure that students receive the high school courses needed to succeed in higher education and the workplace, the report states that the Recommended High School Program of college-preparatory courses should be the standard curriculum. The plan further states that automatically enrolling all public high school students in this standard curriculum will prepare students for life beyond secondary education, whether they plan to attend a college or university, an alternate form of continued education or enter the workforce. In addition, students can be encouraged to enroll in an even more rigorous curriculum when appropriate.

If students do enroll in post-secondary education, it is not a one-way process. Students frequently leave and return several times throughout their academic careers. Students also have the option of transferring within higher education. Statewide, transfer students comprise approximately 24% (76,000) of the undergraduate enrollment in the public universities while almost 10,000 additional students transfer among the state’s public four-year universities (Transfer Issues Advisory Committee, 2001). 1,078 ACC students transferred between Spring 1998 and Fall 2000 (803 to 4-year institutions and 406 to 2-year) (THECB, 2001).¹

Workforce Preparation

Another major step in the process is to ensure that students are prepared for the workforce. However, while the K-12 system has significant accountability requirements focused on standardized testing and drop out rates, there is very little focus on what happens next, whether in higher education or the workforce. Alignment of higher education outcomes with workforce success is similarly limited. Information systems of some sort that will allow follow up with students from secondary education, through post-secondary, and into the workforce would be of great value to judge the true effectiveness of our education institutions.

Economically the Texas workforce, including employers and employees, has a great deal to gain from a more educated population. Preparedness for employment success, worker productivity and the economy are greatly affected by the education of the Austin area workforce.

Nationally, of the 15 jobs experiencing the most growth:

Eight jobs require some form of higher education degree (1 requires a PHD, five a Bachelor’s and two an Associate’s). While this leaves seven requiring solely on the job training, six of those are compensated in the third salary quartile, the lowest of any of the 15 professions listed (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2001-02).

Ensuring that all population groups are equally well prepared for the future workforce is a key concern for the state and our community. The Texas Legislative Council reports, "If the relationships between minority status and educational attainment, occupations of employment and wage and salary income do not change in the future from those presently existing, the future work force of Texas will be less well educated, more likely to be employed in lower-status jobs and likely to be earning lower wages and salaries than the present workforce in the state (See Figure 2) (Census, 2000) (THECB, 2002). ). In Texas, 33% of white 25- to 65-year-olds have a bachelor's degree, compared to 14% for all other races. This year, if all ethnic groups in Texas had the same educational attainment and earnings as whites, total personal income in the state would be $44 billion higher, and the state would realize an estimated $16 billion in additional tax revenues. “Preparing Texas workers to more effectively compete in the increasingly competitive international work force of the future will require changing the current patterns that exist between minority status and other characteristics by improving the education and skill levels of Texas minority workers” (Texas Legislative Council, 1996).

Addressing literacy rates is also an issue. Texas’ low literacy rate is a significant barrier to workforce development and success. In Texas only 16 to 19% of adults demonstrate high-level literacy. This compares to 26 to 28% of adults in top ranked states (National Center for Public Policy in Higher Education, 2000).

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III. System Alignment

The factors currently facing the education system have significant overlap, and thus lend themselves to coordination and unified efforts. Elementary, Secondary, and Post-secondary institutions share responsibility with the broader community to make our students successful. These collaborations are mutually beneficial for all stakeholders: educators, employers, and students.

Overlapping factors

Several factors impact both pre-K-12 and Post-secondary institutions. These include:

• Increasing enrollment
• Growing diversity
• Increasing retention challenges
• Need for quality educators
• Completion disparities
• Large increases in First Generation students

While significantly challenging our education systems, these issues also provide opportunities for potential collaboration and learning. The major gaps currently found in diversity, access, student achievement and completion, in both secondary and post-secondary education, are restraining our community from reaching its potential.

P-16 Possibilities

State higher education goals, as stated in Closing the Gaps, include more stringent educational expectations, increased political pressure for more college credit in high school, increased partnerships between PreK-12 education and post-secondary education, and more effective collaborations with business organizations. Texas legislation was recently enacted to facilitate greater cooperation and collaboration, referred to collectively as the P-16 partnerships. One of the more recent legislative efforts included several bills with a focus on raising the minimum standards for high school graduation and requiring the recommended standard curriculum to include college-preparatory courses. The recent federal bill, “No Child Left Behind” also has far-reaching implications for the entire education system, focusing on broadening academic testing, raising teacher standards and closing the gap between rich and poor students.

The University of Texas at Austin recently released a K-16 initiative, Every Child Every Advantage (University of Texas at Austin, 2002), based on the concept of education as a continuum. This system-wide initiative is receiving national notice for its expansion of focus from higher education alone to the entire K-16 learning process. This plan emphasizes teacher preparation, professional development and research.

Connections

K-12 and Post-secondary Institutions

Communication between K-12 and post-secondary learning must be strengthened to foster student success as a high school diploma will not be the final educational credential for most of today’s high school students. According to the National Commission on the High School Senior Year 2001 report, the roadblock to greater participation in higher education continues to be the independent operations of the postsecondary education and K-12 systems, each with its own systems of governance and finance, its own policies, goals and objectives, and institutional culture. Existing literature supports the vision that secondary schools and colleges have a special obligation to break the bureaucratic barriers and develop flexible arrangements for students to move from one level to another. These collaborations have great potential to boost academic achievement and college readiness. Implications for this sort of alignment could be seen in curriculum alignments and remedial coursework. According to the aforementioned 2001 report, relationships that cultivate educational achievement and a focus on high academic standards for all students, from the highly prepared to the under-prepared, will result in the following positive outcomes for students:

• Reduced areas of curricula redundancy in the last year of high school and the first year of college
• Greater retention
• Increased interest in learning
• Higher academic achievement
• Motivation for higher education
• Smooth transition between high school and college

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board encourages and supports partnerships between secondary and post-secondary institutions. The first two goals outlined for the state in their Closing the Gaps: Texas Higher Education Plan include specific discussion of the importance of transitions and the vision of education as a continuum. One of the strategies to “close the gaps in success” is to create incentives and requirements for seamless student transitions among high schools, community and technical colleges, universities and health-related institutions. Goals in forming this seamless opportunity structure include:

• Increase the number of high school students earning college credit while still in high school.
• Expand awareness of higher education opportunities among parents and high school faculty/staff.
• Emphasize the under-served and historically under-represented populations
• Support integration of academic and vocational skills.

Workforce and the Education System

Only 24% of Texas Employers are satisfied with how colleges and universities in Texas are preparing students for work versus 46% nationally (U.S. Census Bureau, 1997). This impacts graduates, employers and our community as a whole. UT System Chancellor Burck stated, "without a well-educated workforce, Texas will fail to be competitive in attracting industry with high-paying jobs for the new information-age economy, as well as in maintaining the quality of life of the people of the state. The future economic prosperity and social cohesion of Texas depend on supplying the growing demand for well-educated 'knowledge workers’” (University of Texas at Austin, 2002). Low levels of completion and literacy negatively impact productivity and create a workforce shortfall. This indicates a need for enhanced coordination between the education and workforce sectors to increase access, participation, diversity of student population, and degree completion as well as educational development. While students attending institutions of higher education are traditionally more independent of the larger community, the need in the future may present itself at a new level, providing opportunities for innovation in assisting both K-12 and higher education.

Multiple strategies can be effective in improving the connection between education and the world of work. In basic terms, these are:

• Educator professional development: engaging educators and industry experts to promote instruction that is more attuned to real world needs;
• Work based learning: providing opportunities for students to work (paid or unpaid) in occupations of interest and both acquire “soft skills” and improve career awareness;
• Industry specific training: classroom instruction jointly designed by educators and industry leaders to address specific industry/occupational needs;
• Career awareness: any of a wide range of relatively short term experiences for students (ex. Classroom presentations and industry tours) to promote greater awareness of opportunities and expectations in the workforce.

Our community is fortunate to have a number of industry “clusters” that bring together similar employers (ex. Health or Semiconductor Manufacturers) with educators and other stakeholders to build industry and education based partnerships leading to academic and career success for students of all ages.

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IV. Concluding Note

In order for students to successfully transition among and between educational institutions and the workforce, closer connections need to be formed. Curriculums need to be more closely aligned within and among institutions, dialogue needs to occur to ensure that institutions are producing students prepared for the workforce and outreach needs to occur about the importance and ways to access all the available educational opportunities.

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1. The total is unduplicated transfers.