What’s Happening in American Education?

1. What’s Happening in American Education? Kent Farnsworth Kilgore College Oct. 19, 2010

2. Time Interview with Peter Drucker (1990)

3. A series of new reports… • “While U.S. higher education has long been admired internationally, our continuing preeminence is no longer something we can take for granted. The rest of the world is catching up, and by some measures has already overtaken us. We have slipped to 12th in higher education attainment and 16th in high school graduation rates.” Spellings Commission Report, “A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of Higher Education.”

4. America’s Perfect Storm: Three Forces Changing Our Nation’s Future • Divergent skill distribution • Changing Economy • Changing Demography ETS Policy Information report, 2007

5. What has happened in 20 years since Drucker’s Interview? • “Ninety percent of the fastest-growing jobs in the new knowledge-driven economy will require some postsecondary education” (Spellings Commission Report, p. 1).

6. The Report of the New Commission of the Skills of the American Workforce.(Tough Choices or Tough Times) • “If we continue on our current course, and the number of nations outpacing us in the education race continues to grow at its current rate, the American standard of living will steadily fall relative to those nations, rich and poor, that are doing a better job…. Although it is possible to construct a scenario for improving our standard of living, the clear and present danger is that it will fall for most Americans.”

7. Divergent Skill Distribution • Reading and math performance unchanged in 25 years. • U.S. adults are not educated at the levels required by today’s labor market. • HS Graduation rates: • 70% • 50% among disadvantaged minority groups.

8. “A Stronger Nation Through Higher Education” • New Report from the Lumina Foundation. • National Goal – 60% College degree rate by 2025. For 25-64 year olds: • Gregg Co. 31.2% • Rusk Co. 23.4% • Harrison Co. 23.4%

9. Changes in Global Economy • Booming Economies in Asia • Global Change in the Nature of Work due to Technology • Global shift in population and age distribution.

10. 1950 New York City London Tokyo Moscow Paris 2015 Tokyo Bombay (Mumbai) Lagos Dhaka Sao Paulo 5 Largest Cities in the World1950, 2005 and 2015 (projected) • 2005 (6) • Tokyo • Bombay (Mumbai) • Shanghai • Moscow • Mexico City • Seoul These lists vary by source

11. Factors Influencing Change… • Losing ground in the education race to other nations. • Work no longer place bound. • Lower cost wage structures elsewhere in the world. • Aging population in developed world. • Growth in the world we know little about.

12. Changes in U.S. Demography • Within 20 years, all the growth in our population will be among minorities. • By 2040, combined minority groups will be the majority population.

13. Summarize: • The World of Work is requiring higher skill levels. • Other countries are passing us by educationally. • There are large performance gaps between the preparation levels of various ethnic groups in the U.S. • All of the growth in our population is among the groups with the lowest skill levels. • Only items 2 and 3 can be changed.

14. Why this is important to you at Kilgore College? • This will be the century of the community college

15. Nearly 50% of all undergraduates in the U.S. are enrolled in community colleges. • 48% of minorities in all of higher education are in community colleges. • 2,340,269 of 4,880,548 (2005) • 46% of all African Americans. • 53% of all Hispanics. • 50% of Native Americans. Center for Educational Statistics

16. Foundations and Gov’t turning to us because… • We are where students are choosing to begin. • We have faculty who are teaching specialists. • We can mobilize grass roots change. • We will critically examine performance data and revise processes. • We can select “change oriented” leadership.

17. Why Kilgore College forAchieving the Dream?