2009 ABEC Annual Meeting & Conference

Highlights and Outcomes of
The 2009 ABEC Annual Meeting & Conference
Creating Conditions for Global Competitiveness
June 1, 2009
East Valley Institute of Technology (EVIT)

Global Competition: Conditions For Success - How The World's Best Performing School Systems Come Out On Top

Andreas Schleicher, Directorate of Education, Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OCED)
View Presentation >>

Andreas Schleicher provided us with an overview of the international scene in public education. In the 1960s, he said, the United States was ranked first in the world in the number of adults with high school qualifications. But the world has awakened to the value of education to their citizenry and their ability to compete. They have not only caught up but in many cases, surpassed us. In fact, the one area that the US still is ranked first, is in the cost of a college education - but not in the supply of graduates. Arizona is living proof. In the report by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, the "National Report Card On Higher Education (2008)" measures Arizona's performance on higher education with best-performing states on six key indicators. Here's how we measure up:

Preparation of high school students for college: "D"

Participation of population in education/training beyond high school: "A"

Affordability of college: "F"

And it matters. The international achievement gap is imposing on the US economy an invisible yet recurring economic loss that is greater than the output shortfall in what has been called the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. If the United States had closed the gap to better-performing nations such as Finland and Korea, GDP in 2008 could have been $1.3 trillion to $2.3 trillion higher (equivalent to 9 - 16% of GDP) If the gap between black and Latino student performance and white student performance had been similarly narrowed, GDP in 2008 would have been between $310 billion and $525 billion higher. The magnitude of this impact will rise in the years ahead as demographic shifts result in blacks and Latinos becoming a larger proportion of the population and workforce. This fact has huge implications for Arizona. As ABEC continues to advocate for high expectations for all students, we must also pursue, promote and advocate for closing the achievement gap.

While how much countries spend on education matters, other things matter, too, Professor Schleicher pointed out, including setting high expectations for all students, universal standards, focus and coherence of the curriculum, attracting great teachers, a focus on outcomes, use of data for instructional decisions and using best practices in the classroom. These recommendations align with the discussions ABEC participants have had about a school finance model that supports outcomes, use of best practices, and creation of an effective data collections system.

School Finance: Creating Conditions for Innovative Policy Making

Jacob Adams, Claremont Graduate University Professor and founding director of the School Finance Redesign Project
View Presentation >>

Twenty-six years ago, after the report "A Nation at Risk" this country was consumed with two issues for American education: global competition and student achievement. "Here we are," Dr. Jacob Adams said, "26 years later, still talking. When will we get serious?"

Schools and schools systems must innovate. There is just no choice. Schools have been falling short of learning goals since the report "A Nation at Risk." But the "systems" themselves do not facilitate innovation - they stifle it. They simply are not designed to deliver resources productively, to account for resources or to be able to analyze expenditures for the best use of funds in student learning. We cannot look to putting more money into a system - but must look at how we can get better results with the money we have.

Basically, systems must agree on and set goals; align resources; engage students with good curriculum and teaching; gather performance information; assess strengths and weaknesses; develop action plans that address strengths/weaknesses; repeat; and report out.

Policy needs to be crafted that create system conditions that deliver resources transparently and flexibly, focus and enable educators' work, expand resource knowledge and experiment with new methods and redesign resource accounting and accountability.

For ABEC, the guidance offered by Dr. Adams, based on research from ten researchers all experts in school finance, aligns with the work on the ABEC School Finance Reform Initiative. He and his work will continue to be a touchstone to the project.

For additional information, refer to "A Policy Strategy for Funding Student Success," by Dr. Jacob Adams.

Maintaining Global Leadership: Improving Student Performance in Math and Science

View Presentation >>

Partnerships: Business Plays a Role in Creating Opportunities for K-12

View Presentation >>

Gerald W. McElvy, President, ExxonMobil Foundation

One of the ways business can assist education is to find effective programs and help to bring them to scale. Exxon/Mobil responded to the report "Rising Above the Gathering Storm" to select two programs endorsed in that report, to invest in and work to bring them to scale. One of the programs focuses on Advanced Placement course offerings for students and the other targets university students in content areas and enables them to also receive their teaching certification.

Research finds that students who pass an AP exam are more likely to attend and graduate from college than students who do not participate in AP. Teachers who have depth-of-knowledge in their content area are competent and confident in that subject matter and stay in teaching longer.

Mr. Gerald McElvy introduced an online, computer-based math software program targeted to primary grade students, called Reasoning Minds. He was very enthusiastic about the results they have found in districts using this program.

Business plays an important role for educators. Exxon/Mobil, he said, like other potential business partners, will pay attention to effective programs if they hold mutually beneficial goals, and have identified mutually agreed upon outcomes and measures of progress. ABEC sees these business-education partnerships as great examples and will continue to promote their best practices to encourage others to become involved in effective collaboration.

Arizona: Creating Conditions Pre-K to Graduation

The morning panel presented information on various initiatives currently underway in Arizona, targeted at improving conditions for success. Following are few highlights:

Sally Downey, superintendent, East Valley Institute of Technology
Career and Technology Education (CTE) is guided by the concepts of rigor, relevance, relationships; every Scholar needs a skill"; CTE is not an either/or choice; CTE students are trained in Industry Standards; transportable credentials means no matter where they go, their certifications travel with them.

Sybil Francis, executive director, Center for the Future of Arizona
The Center for the Future of Arizona is leading a group that is exploring the possibilities of the model called Tough Choices for Tough Times. View Presentation >>

Steve Lynn, vice chairman of the Arizona Early Childhood Development and Health Board, First Things First
First Things First is focused on children, 0-5. He gave an update on the grant making process for FTF and said that for every $1 invested, the state benefits by $16.14 - a good investment for the future of Arizona. View Presentation >>

Carol Peck, president & CEO, Rodel Foundation of Arizona
The Rodel Charitable Foundation Macro program, targeting 4-6th grade students in math, is closing the achievement gap. Rodel also recognizes outstanding teachers, student teachers and school principals. View Presentation >>

John Pedicone, vice president, education, Southern Arizona Leadership Council
The Southern Arizona Leadership Council has collaborated to create Tucson Values Teachers, which promotes ways to support recruitment and retention of teachers in the Pima County region.

John Wright, president, Arizona Education Association
AEA seeks partnerships to do its work and is now involved with the Tough Choices for Tough Times pilot effort with the Center for the Future of Arizona. AEA is also involved with Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the Arizona K-12 Center, and a project called Innovation Spaces.

We are proud that each panelist represents an ABEC member organization and that ABEC is involved as a collaborator in many of these efforts!

Relationships: Creating Conditions for a Lasting Partnership

The afternoon panel focused on creating and sustaining partnerships. The panelists (ABEC member organizations) and highlights included:

Sandi Hicks, director of public relations, Deer Valley Unified School District
Cathleen Aubin Barton, US and Arizona education manager, Intel Corporation
Louise Moskowitz, senior community development consultant, APS
Alison Waterkotte, community outreach representative, SRP
Gus Miranda, public affairs representative, State Farm Mutual Insurance

Be ready, the panelists said, when the opportunity arises to develop a partnership. If the original concept isn't right, be sure to come back with other suggestions that are aligned with company and school district goals and objectives. Every panelist reinforced: communicate, communicate, communicate about your partnership. ABEC will continue seeking out and promoting best practices in business-education partnerships that improve student achievement.

Effectiveness: Measuring and Improving Partnerships

David R. Garcia, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Director of Arizona Education Policy Initiative (AEPI), Arizona State University, College of Education
View Presentation >>

Dr. David Garcia guided the audience into thinking about program evaluation and how to measure an effective business-education partnership. It's important, he said, to assess implementation of the partnership, to evaluate the sustainability and to recommend future directions for the partnership. He offered suggestions on how to measure the process and measure the outcome and he described tools that could be used for collecting the data. In the long run, companies that provide time and resources to business-education partnerships need to see the results of their investment. Knowing they've made a difference with their education partner is the best way to keep them engaged and ensure sustained assistance, plus - measurement that demonstrates growth in student achievement provides a real reason to celebrate! ABEC seeks out and promotes partnerships that use best practices - and measuring success is high on that list.

2009 "Best Practices" In Business-Education Partnership Award Recipients

Career Exploration:
AAA Cares, a partnership between Deer Valley Unified School District and AAA

STEM:
E.X.I.T.E. Summer Camp, a partnership between Flowing Wells Schools and IBM Tucson

Professional Development:
Intel® Teach, a partnership between the Arizona Department of Education and Intel Corporation

Best Emerging Partnership:
Powering our Future: Renewable Energy Summer Internship, a partnership between Mesa Public Schools, Salt River Project, Arizona State University, and the Arizona Foundation for Resource Education

Best Overall Partnership:
Intel® Teach, A partnership between the Arizona Department of Education and Intel Corporation

Conference Sponsors

World Sponsors:

State Sponsors:

Arizona School Administrators (ASA)
Arizona Community Foundation
Arizona School Boards Association (ASBA)
Salt River Project (SRP)

Local Sponsors:

Greater Phoenix Leadership
USA Funds
Pearson