e3alliance

1. Susan Dawson, P. E. October, 2006 www.e3alliance.org

2. E3 Alliance EDUCATION EQUALS ECONOMICS: Central Texans building a blueprint for our future. • What are we doing? Building an research-based regional blueprint to align our education systems to better fulfill the potential of every citizen and in turn, increase economic outcomes. • Why are we doing this? • Now tell me again what we’re doing? • Who is driving this initiative? • Can it work? • How are we going to do it?

3. Does the “System” Meet Our Needs? • Barriers to education • 44% of Central Texas students are economically disadvantaged 1 • The number of English Language Learners in AISD increased by 41% over the past 5 years 2 • We live in an Innovation Economy, but our schools were designed for an Industrial Economy and are scheduled around an Agrarian calendar • Students fall through cracks in the system • About 70% of students graduate high school, and the majority of those who drop out say they could have graduated • Fewer than 50% of our high school graduates are college ready • Some Texas colleges have 90% of new students in remediation courses • Only 18% (?) of students in Central Texas attain a higher education degree • And the cost is huge • Our high school graduation rate is among the lowest in the nation • The estimated cost of dropouts in Texas since 1985 is over $500 billion • In Central Texas, the projected cost of not “Closing the Gap” to college is $2.4B annually.

4. What If the Degree Attainment Rate Doesn’t Change? Degree Attainment in 2000 Persons 25 and over Millions

5. Too Few in Central Texas are College Bound Source: Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, 2006

6. What Does it Mean to the Region? • 72 of 120 Portfolio Austin companies reported problems recruiting the right talent1 • Mexico has 450,000 engineers currently enrolled in college, about 100,000 more than the U.S.2 • Austin has one of the largest technology workforces in the state, yet the number of students earning STEM degrees is decreasing • By 2020, the region will need approximately 8,000 more nurses; the area only graduates about 125 a year3

7. Changing Workforce Needs Percent 35 30.1 29 28.7 28.7 30 23.9 25 18.8 18.2 20 12.9 15 10 5.3 4.4 5 0 No High High School Some Bachelor's Graduate/Prof. School Diploma Graduate College Degree Degree Source: Texas State Data Center 2000 2040 * Projections are shown for the 1.0 scenario Projected Percent of Population Ages 18 to 65 by Educational Attainment Skill Needs of Future Workforce Population Skill Level

8. But What Do We Do? Or it costs us almost $80,000,000,000? 600,000 more students In college? • Major disconnects between providers • Little/no incentive to work together • Best practices aren’t really shared • Resources aren’t applied most efficiently • Private investment is not rationalized

9. Apply a Regional Model • Any given school/district/college does not scale • to capacity • And, the state will not “fix” things soon

10. Blueprint for Action Needs Articulation Aligned resources & practices Unified Community Vision Objective Data Map • Better aligned, more effective Educational System: • Close the Gaps to college success in all groups • Fill high wage regional jobs with our own citizens Increased Global Competitiveness Lower Human Services Costs Higher Quality of Life Enhanced Tax Base

11. Who Is Driving This Initiative? ACC President SETON CEO RRISD Super- intendent United Way State VP Region XIII Exec Dir AARO Comm. Chair TX State President UT System IPSI Exec Dir UT Austin VP Charles Barnett Jesus Chavez Marina Walne Jason Sabo Greg Vincent Pat Pringle Denise Trauth Ed Sharpe Steve Kinslow • All seven university presidents in the region • Target superintendents and K-12 leaders • CEOs of major businesses in the region • Non-profit and youth services Directors • Parents of past, current and future students E3 Alliance Steering Committee:

12. Can it Work? • We have schools, businesses, non-profits and parents working together to drive change • We have a plan that is NOT politically driven (but we’ll have to change some policies!) • We are driven by economic need and social need • We will conduct objective research to identify the leverage points of greatest impact on students and society In a Word, Yes.

13. What Is the Timing of E3 Alliance Work? Track One: Data Evaluation & Research Track Three: Alignment 2015 More Reach their Potential Higher Wage Earners Stronger Economy 2008 Track Two: Community Engagement

14. Research Track National Research Sources Regional Experience Longitudinal Data/ Analytics Decision Framework Phase 1: Phase 2: Phase 3: Define Methodology Define Data Sets Central Texas Snapshot Target District Data Scan National Research Spec’d, Published RFP Bid out and complete System Map WHAT: Susan Dawson Tony Grasso Comprehensive Research Team Contracted Expert Advisor Grad Student Researchers WHO: WHEN: ~5/06 – 10/06 ~10/06 – 12/06 ~1/07 – 12/07

15. Community Engagement Track

16. How Can You Help? • Need Facilitators • Thought Leader Summit 11/8 • Town Hall Meetings • Need graduate researchers • A “quant jock” to run some of our analyses • Some literature review researchers

17. Bringing it Together EDUCATION Better fulfill the potential of every student, socially and intellectually EQUALS • Drive higher quality (achievement, attainment) of our student population • Scale the capacity of our workforce • Increase ROI from our education investments ECONOMICS www.e3alliance.org