Background Facts and Figures
The State Scholars Initiative (SSI) brings business leaders into the nation’s classrooms, where they work with educators to motivate students to complete a rigorous course of study in high school – one that will give them a boost in college and/or in their careers. SSI originated in the work of employers and educators in Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia that dates back to 1988. In 2002, President George W. Bush and then-U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige launched SSI to support statewide business/education coalitions committed to improving the academic achievement of high school students.
The Need for Rigorous Coursework
SSI was created to address a particular reality: Our businesses and our economy are demanding more of workers – more skill, a more flexible knowledge base and, above all, a greater capacity to learn – than at any time in history. Our companies will require this, and the quick-changing global economy will demand it.
According the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employees will need some education after high school – a bachelor’s or associate’s degree, generally – to qualify for most of the nation’s fastest-growing occupations.1 Even those individuals who don’t go on to college will benefit from a strong academic background, as the training in many fields – from computer technology and auto mechanics to nursing – becomes increasingly complex.
The problem is: We’re not preparing enough students to satisfy this demand. Shortages of workers with postsecondary training could range as high as 12 million by 2020.2 A study published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2005 outlines why: When it comes to high school math proficiency, for example, the U.S. ranks 24th out of the 29 OECD countries studied, after Hungary and Spain; American students’ problem-solving skills are equally weak.3 And while the U.S. boasts the highest average number of years of educational attainment (almost 14), it also has one of the lowest rates for high school graduation.4
The Scholars Core
The business/education coalition in each state defines a SSI Core Course of Study. Patterned after the recommendations of the National Commission on Excellence in Education and other groups, the Core includes no less than the following:
4 years of English
3 years of math (algebra I, geometry, algebra II)
3 years of basic lab science (biology, chemistry, physics)
3.5 years of social studies (chosen from U.S. and world history, geography, economics, government)
- 2 years of a language other than English
The Scholars Edge
There are real-world payoffs for students who take the Scholars Core Course of Study – and for the businesses encouraging them to do so. A long-term study by the U.S. Department of Education showed that students who succeeded in challenging courses were more likely to go on to college and earn degrees.5 In addition, it found that the courses students took were a more accurate predictor of their success than grades, test scores, or class rank, particularly for minority students.
The future looks brighter for Scholars, as well. Scholars programs have been shown to motivate students to take more math and science courses. In Arkansas, one of the earliest Scholars states, the percentage of graduates completing algebra II rose from 48 to 71 percent between 1990 and 2000, and the percentage of those completing chemistry rose from 33 to 63 percent.6
Average ACT Scores by Level of Academic Preparation
Note: ACT’s “core curriculum” is the same as SSI’s except that it has no language requirement. Source: ACT, “2005 National Score Report.”In addition, students who complete a rigorous course of study like the Scholars Core perform better on standardized tests. For example, students who’d taken four years of English scored an average of 46 points higher on the SAT verbal test than those who’d taken only three. On the ACT, a rigorous curriculum gave students a boost of 2.4 points, on average (see figure at right).7
Other research has shown that those who complete college earn on average almost $1 million more than high school graduates over the course of a lifetime.8 But even students who don’t go on to college do better, if they’ve taken academically rigorous courses.9 Recent research indicates that for high school seniors, an improvement in math performance equals a significant boost in annual earnings.10
For the business community, and the community at large, the value of the State Scholars Initiative is clear. SSI helps young people attain one of the most important skills they’ll use in work and life: the ability to tackle challenging work and learn what they need to know to do it. It creates stronger students, who are ready to master new information; more flexible employees, who are equipped to adapt to the evolving economy; and engaged citizens, who are more likely to be thoughtful and informed.
The link between academic achievement and prosperity – or lack of it – is a powerful one. A study of international variations in math and science education since the 1960s, reported in Finance and Development, the International Monetary Fund’s June 2005 quarterly magazine, found a one-to-one correlation between increases in average test scores and national economic growth: in country after country, a boost in test performance was linked to a distinct rise in annual per capita GDP growth.11 On the flip side, a recent study forecasts a decline in U.S. per capita personal income if we don’t move to educate all of our students well.12 In short, for students who want to do well in life, and for businesses and communities that want to prosper, a rigorous course of study in high school isn’t an option; it’s a necessity.
Projected Changes in Personal Income per Capita,
2000 to 2020, Based on Three Assumptions
Source: National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, November 2005.
Participating Business and Education Partnerships
Twenty states are currently participating in SSI, in that they are receiving funds and operating SSI projects in their states, or they have completed their SSI projects and remained within the SSI Network: Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming. WICHE is responsible for providing technical assistance, monitoring, oversight, and cost reimbursement to the SSI projects in these States. Four additional states previously were funded and operated and concluded SSI projects: Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Washington. Each SSI state has at least two school districts participating in its first two years. The following organizations have established coalitions in partnership with their state’s governor and chief state school officer to participate in the State Scholars Initiative:
Arizona Business & Education Coalition
Arkansas Business & Education Alliance
Connecticut Business & Industry Association
Indiana’s Education Roundtable
Partnership for Kentucky Schools
Committee for a SECURE Louisiana
Maryland Business Roundtable for Education
Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education
Michigan Business Leaders for Education Excellence
Public Education Forum of Mississippi/Mississippi Economic Council
Missouri Chamber of Commerce & Industry
New Hampshire College & University Council
Oklahoma Business & Education Coalition
The Education Partnership (Rhode Island)
South Dakota State Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Utah K-16 Alliance
Virginia Career Education Foundation
Partnership for Learning (Washington)
The Education Alliance (West Virginia)
Wyoming P-16 Education Council
If you are interested in finding out more, contact program director Terese Rainwater at trainwater@wiche.edu and (303) 541-0225.
Endnotes
1. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook 2006-07 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor), accessed 12/19/05 at <http://www.bls.gov/oco/>.
2. Anthony P. Carnevale and Donna M. Desrochers, “The Missing Middle: Aligning Education and the Knowledge Economy,” prepared for the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education, by the Educational Testing Service (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education, 2002), accessed 12/19/05 at <http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/hs/commisspap.html>.
3. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, “Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators 2005” (Paris, France: OECD, 2005) accessed 12/19/05 at <http://www.oecd.org/document/34/0,2340,en_2649_34515_35289570_1_1_1_1,00.html>.
4. Ibid.
5. Clifford Adelman, “Answers in the Tool Box” (Washington, D.C.: U. S. Department of Education, 1999).
6. Council of Chief State School Officers, “State Indicators of Science and Mathematics Education” (Washington, D.C.:CCSO, 2001), 32-33.
7. ACT, “2005 National Score Report,” accessed 12/19/05 at <http://www.act.org/news/data/05/data.html>; College Board, “2005 College-Bound Seniors,” accessed 12/19/05 at <http://www.collegeboard.com/about/news_info/cbsenior/yr2005/links.html>.
8. National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, Measuring Up 2002 (San Jose, CA: National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, 2002), 15.
9. Adelman, “Answers.”
10. Sources cited by Eric A. Hanushek in “Why Quality Matters in Education,” Finance and Development (a quarterly journal of the International Monetary Fund) 42, no. 2 (June 2005): Casey B. Mulligan, “Galton versus the Human Capital Approach to Inheritance,” Journal of Political Economy 107, no. 6, part 2 (December 1999), S184-224; Richard Murnane, John B. Willett, Yves Duhaldeborde, and John H. Tyler, “How Important Are the Cognitive Skills of Teenagers in Predicting Subsequent Earnings?” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 19, no. 4 (Fall 2000), 547; Edward P. Lazear, “Teacher Incentives,” Swedish Economic Policy Review 10, no. 2 (2003), 179.
11. Eric A. Hanushek, “Why Quality Matters in Education,” Finance and Development (a quarterly journal of the IMF) 42, no. 2 (June 2005), accessed 12/19/05 at <http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2005/06/hanushek.htm>.
12. National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, “Income of U.S. Workforce Projected to Decline if Education Doesn’t Improve,” Policy Alert (November 2005), accessed 12/19/2005 at <http://www.highereducation.org/reports/pa_decline/index.shtml>.
