ABEC "Best Practices" in Business-Education Partnership Initiative

BACKGROUND

The Arizona Business & Education Coalition (ABEC) was formed by Arizona's business and education leaders who understand that our future economic success is directly linked to the success of our K-12 schools. Businesses and school districts in Arizona have already created successful partnerships and programs that directly support student achievement. However, there is no state organization or local group dedicated to supporting and recognizing best practices in business-education partnerships.

Not all business leaders are interested in advocating for specific public policy issues; but they are interested in public K-12 schools and are willing to assist. Many businesses are looking to invest their time and money into education but want to be certain that their investments are tied to results.

The ABEC "Best Practices" in Business-Education Partnership Initiative will recognize best practices and provide examples to schools and businesses for developing and maintaining partnerships that support student achievement in public education. This initiative will provide information to businesses and schools on how to create, implement, evaluate, and sustain, as well as recognize such programs in Arizona.

GOALS

The ABEC "Best Practices" Initiative was created to better advocate for effective public/private partnerships in support of student achievement in public education. The goals of this initiative are:

1. To seek out and promote best practices in business-education partnerships that improve student achievement;
2. To foster relationships and better understanding of the needs between the business and education communities; and
3. To be a credible resource for engaging business-education partnerships.

ABEC recognizes that both businesses and schools/school districts may mutually agree to enter a partnership on either a short-term or long-term basis. ABEC also realizes that partners often provide much more than financial support; other contributions may be staff expertise, goods and services, and exposure. The primary interests of ABEC are those partnerships that increase student achievement, regardless of the type of support. For these school-business partnerships, recommended guidelines can be beneficial for success.

Key elements of the ABEC "Best Practices" Initiative include:

1. a set of guiding principles to be developed for local businesses and school districts in order to create partnerships;
2. information resources provided to and about business mentors and speakers;
3. best practices in business-education partnerships that increase student achievement, identified by surveying local business and schools about partnerships and programs that are currently in place;
4. a recognition program created for successful "best practice" partnerships;
5. a series of workshops and/or expositions offered where educators and business leaders can come together to learn more of each other needs and begin to build relationships based on a shared understanding that support the mutual needs;
6. a library of business-education partnerships in Arizona created by cataloging existing and future programs; indexed by issue and strategy, and where possible, tied to other states' best practices; and
7. public policy developed, if needed, in order to make programs successful.

AWARDS PROGRAM

As part of this initiative, ABEC wishes to recognize excellence and innovation in business-education partnerships that support Arizona's K-12 public education system, in order to encourage the expansion and creation of other programs based on these successful models.

In choosing the 2008 recipient of the ABEC "Best Practices" in Business-Education Partnership Award, the selection panel focused on the evidence presented and the degree to which the partnership "achieves and measures success" that improves student achievement.

The 2008 recipient of the ABEC "Best Practices" in Business-Education Partnership Award is The Gowan Achievement Project, a partnership between the Gowan Company and Crane Elementary School District #13 in Yuma, Arizona. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!

Read the News Release
"Best Practices" Awards Presentation