ABEC 2007 "Dare to Lead" Annual Conference — June 18-19, 2007

During its recent "Dare to Lead" conference, the Arizona Business & Education Coalition (ABEC) challenged the national and local business and education leaders in attendance, to develop the courage and patience it takes to push education reform forward. Featuring business, research and educational views, the conference stage was set by the rousing slide presentation Did You Know.

National and local business leaders affirmed that the changing world is indeed, affecting the way we do business. Arthur Ryan, Prudential Chairman & CEO, and Craig Barrett, Chairman of Intel, spoke of the national crisis surrounding U.S. competitiveness and challenged Arizona leaders to not wait, but to take action and invest in education, research and development, technological innovation, and infrastructure. Both supported continued focus on developing more rigorous standards and aligned assessments; and, while both believe we're making progress, they said "it's not enough."

David Livingston presented research on school board leadership demonstrating a .25 affect on improved student achievement, followed by Hector Montenegro who gave an inspiring presentation about beliefs and strategies embedded throughout his Texas school district, from school board leadership to classroom leadership, to closing the achievement gap.

Throughout the day-and-a-half summit, panels of education and business leaders responded to issues and shared specific views. Attendees learned more about the Arizona Academic Scholars Initiative and heard from Beat the Odds principals. The conference concluded with Dr. Lattie Coor, Chairman and CEO of the Center for the Future of Arizona, offering big ideas for the future of Arizona education. He also facilitated a discussion on implications for Arizona leaders.

Nearly 150 business and education leaders attended the conference.

Arthur Ryan, Prudential Chairman & CEO
Building Consensus: Successes, Challenges and Opportunities in Business Involvement in Education
Art Ryan advised that we must continue pushing standards and assessments which reflect the realities of the marketplace. Business leaders need to talk to reporters; talk to consumers; and make people understand that it will take more work. He also emphasized the importance of investing in our teachers. Regarding teacher pay, he recognized the quality of National Certified Teachers and advocated performance-based pay, rewarding teachers who take initiative or providing incentives to teach in rural areas. Regarding school choice and charter schools, he advocates finding effective programs and scaling them up. Tax credits, if available, should be applied broadly - not narrowly. Data is of great importance to the work of education reform, and should be broadly available. Finally, he stated that we have the responsibility to tell our youngsters the truth. Too many are graduating or leaving the school system believing they are prepared - and they are not. They deserve to know they lack necessary skills.

Craig Barrett, Intel Chairman of the Board
Leadership - a Global View
Craig Barrett's remarks at the evening reception celebrated ABEC's five years of success. He mentioned ABEC's achievements in public policy and support of higher standards and raising expectations for all students. He recognized ABEC for its efforts in increasing public awareness of the issues and engagement of citizens, but cautioned "it is not enough." He spoke of the national crisis around US competitiveness and challenged AZ leaders to not wait, but to take action and invest in education, research and development, technological innovation, infrastructure, and urged ABEC and others to pursue financial reform.

Dr. David Livingston, McREL
Leadership Matters: School District Leadership and Its Impact on Student Achievement
Dr. David Livingston, principle consultant for Mid-Continent Research on Education and Learning (McREL), presented research that Leadership Matters. He described the leadership functions and actions that have up to a .25 affect in increasing student achievement. View the PowerPoint presentation.

Hector Montenegro, superintendent, Ysleta Independent School District - El Paso, TX
Daring to Lead: Courage, Community and Culture of Leadership: The Tools for Systemic Change
Hector Montenegro vividly and energetically described the baseline beliefs and strategies used in his border district that moved Ysleta schools from underperforming to top performers in the state of Texas. View the handout of the presentation.

Dr. Lattie Coor, Chairman and CEO, Center for the Future of Arizona Do We Have the Courage to Tackle the New Global Agenda? Dr. Lattie Coor offered some "big ideas" to ABEC and conference participants for improving Arizona's public education system. They included:

• We must educate students to the world. We must find a way to bring Arizona students to proficiency on NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) over the next ten years and move to "advanced" status over the next 20 years.
• We must find a way to have Arizona's scores equal to the top five nations on the TIMMS test, an international test of math and science proficiency, through the goal of building capacity in math and science.

With the 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants as the key to Arizona's future, Dr. Coor recommended reading the report Rising Above the Gathering Storm. "We should look at Arizona's workforce 20 years out…understand the characteristics of that workforce and the role of our immigrant population."

To create the Arizona we want, he suggested the following goals:

• 12 by 12, or increasing the graduation rate by 12% by 2012
• Top 10 by 20, or placing Arizona's graduation rate in the top 10 states by 2020
• A four-year math requirement for graduation
• Financial support for teacher development
• Developing a plan for Arizona's next "middle generation"
• Make the term "investment in our future" a way to express ourselves
• Customize pathways from 10th grade to postsecondary and career education

Read Dr. Coor's full comments.

The Imperative of Leadership
The video, Did You Know, set the stage for the exploration of leadership and established the urgency for daring to lead in these changing times. Rapid technological changes are shrinking our world and affecting industries across the board, as evidenced by the responses from a panel of business and education leaders. Panelists stated new technologies and shifting demographics are affecting the industries of health care, law, communications, and even the business of education. The lingering question: are we asking enough of our students? Are we setting high enough expectations? Are they adequately prepared?

Establishing the Culture of High Expectations
Raising Expectations for the Middle 50%
Business and education partners interested in the Arizona Academic Scholars Initiative heard from policymakers about the importance of raising expectations and learned from practitioners how to implement a local Arizona Academic Scholars Initiative effort.

Focused Leadership: Closing the Achievement Gap
A researcher and two principals from "Beat the Odds" elementary schools described the hard work of "no excuses" in focusing on raising student achievement.

Partners in Leadership
A panel of highly-regarded business leaders active in public education discussed the important role business leaders play in improving public education. Of special note were comments regarding the many organizations seeking business leader support - and the importance of ABEC as the leader in convening others to find common ground and educating others on these issues.

Tom Horne, superintendent of Public Instruction, described the efforts underway at the Arizona Department of Education beginning with the Wallace Grant, to provide leadership development to school administrators, and the emerging work in leadership development, called AzLEADS.

Implications For Arizona Leaders
Comments in response to Dr. Coor came from a panel of education and business leaders responding to the question, "With what we know is the urgency for Arizona's economic future and the quality of life for Arizona graduates, what is the call to action for Arizona leaders? Comments included:

• We are failing our children by setting low expectations. This is a "Katrina" that will hit us in 10 years. Business must engage more forcefully.
• We must take this personally; make a personal commitment to change and to move toward the vision of hope and inspiration.
• Other countries invest in education. We need a common end in mind.
• There's a lack of attention today. We need to step up. The cornerstone is leadership. We have the responsibility for electing good government - and we must own that responsibility.
• There is hope; a difference today from the past five years. The culture is changing. Philanthropy must be included in this work. Business must not bail; rather, be a strong voice for education and lend a perspective to the "end" game.
• Kids in China are not smarter, but we must raise our level of expectations we have. When we set higher expectations, adults must also support them. We must have political will.
• As needs of today have changed, so must the educational system. Educational systems cannot be "better" today, but must be "different" today in order to meet new and changing needs.

Participants engaged in table discussions and responded to panelists with recommendations which included:

• Persistence, patience and trust: continue these discussions and stick with it for the long haul.
• No magic: this is about continuous improvement, not magic bullets. ABEC can promote best practices and recognize good work of teachers.
• Courage: businesses must stand up; even when customers react that they don't want the businesses they patronize to be political, they must rise above.
• Partnerships are important: to help each other toward meeting their goals. Partners must set clear expectations for their goals, find champions and capture imagination in each organization.

View a complete list of ALL the participating panelists.

The ABEC public policy committee identified two legislators who take on their legislative work in the style ABEC supports. Representative Jackie Thrasher and Senator Tom O'Halleran are thoughtful, collaborative and patient enough to take the time to find consensus.

ABEC also gave special recognition to two members:

• The Education Partner Award was given to Vicki Balentine, superintendent of the Amphitheater School District in Tucson. She is a member of the State Board of Education and a leader with the Pima Business Education Round Table and has helped move the Arizona Academic Scholars Initiative across all of Pima County.
• The Business Partner Award was given to Bob Enderle, Director, Human Resources, Medtronic. Bob has assisted without limitation, in the interviewing and hiring of ABEC staff. Bob is an example of ABEC members - giving the time needed to assist in ABEC's work.

Congratulations to the following who will each receive a complimentary registration to the 2008 Conference:

• Education: Janice Shelton, La Paz County Education Services Agency
• Business: Jeanne Forbis, Corporate Affairs Manager, Intel Corporation
• Associations: Jim McPherson, Assistant Vice President Public Affairs, Flinn Foundation