The recent financial crisis has made policy wonks argue about short- and long-term solutions to the challenges we face.  Philosophical debates about our independent banking system, stock market regulation, and federalism itself lace the halls of Congress, monopolize the water cooler chatter at our workplaces and overwhelm the blogosphere.  However, there is one long-term solution to our economic situation with which very few informed individuals disagree. 

Investing in a better educated and more skilled workforce is the most viable long-term strategy for helping America and Utah emerge from this crisis in a stronger and more competitive global economic position than we entered it.

Consensus about better educating our children and producing better prepared graduates is not difficult to achieve; how to create that better educated citizenry is where the debate begins.  We recommend the Utah Legislature take a comprehensive reform approach to improving our public schools.  This will require strategic thought and planning, and likely several years.  For this legislative session, however, we recommend a simple first few integrated steps that signal a longer-term commitment to improving Utah’s schools.

First, we must define the problem that we need to solve.  America’s public education system is not in trouble because it lacks innovative ideas – it is in trouble because those ideas often act as solutions in search of problems.  Initiatives that work in Japan or Massachusetts won’t necessarily work everywhere.  Prior to implementing interventions, some key questions need to be answered, such as:

• What are leading indicators that effectively predict dropping out of school?
• In what ways are students most ill-prepared for high school and college?
• What skills are required to specialize in careers that will be in the highest demand in the coming years?

Second, we must set milestones at key intervals throughout the student lifecycle.  These milestones will be informed by the answers to the key questions above.  If we continue to determine the success of our school system solely by the standards of high school completion and college readiness, we will continue to be effective coroners – diagnosing problems after it is too late.  Setting milestones, or leading indicators, which might include 1^st grade readiness, reading proficiency at the 3^rd grade, and completion of Algebra 1 and Biology 1 by the 8^th grade (all found to be “gatekeeper” indicators in various states and districts), will enable policymakers, thought-leaders, and practitioners to address problems of Utah’s education system before it is too late.

Additionally, we must match our high school graduation requirements with the entrance requirements of our state universities.   Through milestones we can ensure better prepared high school entrants, which will pave the way for stronger graduation requirements.  Currently, only 54 percent of Utah high school graduates attend college, and a full 75 percent of those students require some degree of remediation during their first year in college.   Most problematic is that only 27 percent of our young people (ages 25 – 34 years old) have obtained their bachelor’s degree, ranking Utah 31^st in the country for the number of college graduates in this age group.  This figure is most alarming when put in context that our older age groups (ages 45 – 64 years old) rank 12^th in the U.S. for the total number of college graduates.   At a time when higher education is most needed for professional success, Utah is declining.  We must graduate better prepared students, and we can do that by strengthening our high school graduation requirements.  This would not pigeonhole all students into going to college.  On the contrary, it would increase graduates’ choices by equipping all graduates with the credentials to pursue higher education if they choose to do so.

Finally, we must better integrate the high school and higher education experience.  Integrated career pathways should be developed to take a student from the 11th grade through the first two years of college.  The process will not only offer direction and goals for our students, but will provide them with the certification and specialized training to obtain the high-demand, high-value careers that will propel our state’s economy. An associate’s degree will be awarded and the credits will fully articulate to Utah universities, enabling the graduate with options – a specialized, high-paying job, the ability to continue his/her higher education, or both. Additionally, the institutions of higher education must collect information surrounding student achievement in their first two semesters and share that data with the high schools from which they originate; thus communicating with their education partners the areas in which student knowledge needs to most improve.

We urge the Utah State Legislature to consider comprehensive education reform in the state of Utah.   For starters, the Utah Legislature can send a clear signal to our state and the country by taking the first few steps delineated above.  Deriving key indicators of future success and creating clear interim milestones throughout students’ K-8 experience will help better prepare students for high school.  Strengthening graduation requirements for students will equip more students to attend college at higher rates of preparedness. And better integrating higher education and higher school will create a more seamless and effective transition.

From these foundational steps, the Legislature can build a series of programs and initiatives that will be better informed and applied to a more prepared student body. 

Contributed by Randy Shumway, president of the Cicero Group and Dr. Trent Kaufman Executive Vice President of the Cicero Group