THIRD EDITION
The Economics of Education
GeorgiaPartnership
For Excellence In Education
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Letter of Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Making the Connection: Why High School Graduation and Work Readiness Matter . . . . .2
Key Issue #1: Early Life Experiences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Key Issue #2: Academic Achievement in Every Grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Key Issue #3: Transition to Work or Post-Secondary Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Community Support for School Improvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
For More Information and Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Inside Back Cover
Cover Photo: Analyzing the statement and diagram of an organic compound on a computer screen.
This report was researched and written by Susan Walker, Director of Policy and Research, and Adrienne Goss, Policy Intern.
Published May 2010.
Fellow Georgians,
W
elcome to the third edition of what has become a signature message of
the Georgia Partnership: education is economics. A vigorous, successful
public education system is essential to Georgia’s economic prosperity.
In early 2004, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in
Education combined efforts for the inaugural Economics of Education publication. After two years of
overwhelming response, we produced a second edition with updated data and research.
Now, in 2010, the message that education is economics is even more critical. Our state and nation are
reeling from an economic recession that has wrought havoc on families, industries, local governments,
and the public education sector. At the same time that Georgia finds itself running faster and faster to
keep pace with other states and nations competing for a piece of the economic pie, we are witnessing
first-hand how closely linked our education and economic systems are. Unemployment rates have soared
across the board, but the impact of the economic downturn has disproportionately affected those
workers lacking high school diplomas. The bottom line has never been clearer than it is now. To be a truly
competitive state, to ensure prosperity for our state and its citizens, and to emerge from the recession
with greater hope for our future, we must do everything we can to improve our public education system.
The purposes of this document are to build awareness of the key issues related to success in education
and workforce development, and to empower individuals and businesses to get involved by identifying
a variety of specific ways in which they can make an impact. The opportunity to improve the education
system in Georgia is not limited to what can be done by the employees and leaders of that system.
Rather, our opportunities are as diverse and numerous as the individuals and communities across the
state who are willing and able to get involved.
The following pages provide an overview of key education issues and offer specific action steps to
demonstrate the wide variety of ways in which business leaders and community members can get
involved and make a difference in the education and future of Georgia. The last page of this booklet
provides a list of key resources that are available for more information and support.
Join us in our efforts to strengthen investments in Georgia’s greatest economic engine _ the excellent
education of our youth.
Steve Dolinger
President, Georgia Partnership for
Excellence in Education
George Israel
President & CEO, Georgia Chamber of Commerce
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
1
Making the Connection: Why High School
Graduation and Work Readiness Matter
“The best economic stimulus package is a high school diploma.”
- Governor Bob Wise, President, Alliance for Excellent Education, January 2010
T
he success of our public education
system is a leading indicator of Georgia’s
economic and social prosperity.
One of the best ways to measure the
success of a K-12 education system is to
monitor the quantity and the quality of its
high school graduates. Individuals who do
not successfully obtain a high school
diploma adversely affect the economies of
our communities and our state. The direct
impact of non-graduates is felt through the
loss of personal income and a region’s
lower per capita income. Other impacts are
felt indirectly: higher crime rates, higher
welfare expenses, increased rates of unemployment, and greater costs of healthcare
for the poor.
which continues the trend of annual
increases in this critical indicator.1
Despite the rise in graduation rates over
the past years, Georgia still lags behind
other states in the percentage of high
school students earning a diploma. The
most recent data from the National Center
for Education Statistics ranks Georgia 45th
in the nation for public high school gradu“Approximately 50.7 percent of
Georgia’s high schools are dropout
factories — schools in which less
than 60 percent of the freshman
class graduate on time.”
– Alliance for Excellent Education
Dropouts, Diplomas, and Dollars: U.S.
High Schools and the Nation’s
Economy, 2008
As shown in figure 1, the state’s 2009 high
school graduation rate is 78.9 percent,
Figure 1. Public High School Graduation Rates in Georgia, 2005-2009
100%
90%
75.4%
80%
69.4%
70.8%
78.9%
60%
50%
40%
2006
As a state, we cannot afford for our
students to slip through the cracks of the
K-12 education system. Our economy, our
communities, and our workforce depend
on the steady supply of competent, wellprepared high school graduates. We must
expand our efforts to produce a student
body equipped with college- and workready skills, especially in the vital fields of
science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics.
Impact of High School Noncompletion on Employment and
Earnings
The correlation between educational
attainment and rates of unemployment is
remarkable (see figure 2). The earning
potential of a high school graduate
exceeds that of a non-graduate, and the
gains for students who pursue postsecondary education are even higher.
Concurrently, the unemployment rate is
much lower for individuals with higher
levels of education.
72.3%
70%
2005
ation rates.2 How can Georgia successfully
compete in the global economy if its graduation rate is below that of 90 percent of
the nation?
2007
Source: Georgia Department of Education. State Report Cards.
2008
2009
A high school diploma is necessary for
Georgia residents to adequately provide
for themselves and their families. Students
who fail to complete high school are at a
higher risk of unemployment and they
tend to earn less money over time than
students who graduate from high school.
Research has repeatedly shown that
compared to high school and college grad-
1 Georgia Department of Education, 2008-2009 State Report Card. Retrieved from http://www.doe.k12.ga.us.
2 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. “Public School Graduates and Dropouts From the Common Core of Data: School Year 2006-07.” Because NCES calculates
graduation rates using a different formula than that of the Georgia Department of Education, they report Georgia’s graduation rate in 2007 as 64.1 percent.
2
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
uates, those who have not completed high
school
• Are less likely to be employed full-time;
• Will be unemployed more frequently; and
• Will experience longer periods of unemployment.3
Additionally, unemployment trends clearly
indicate that the recent economic recession has impacted high school dropouts
more severely than any other population,
as revealed in figure 3.
Figure 2. Educational Attainment and Employment in the United States, 2009
Unemployment
Rate
2009 Annual
Average
Median Weekly Earnings
(& approx. annual)
15% 10% 5% 0%
0
4.6
Bachelor’s Degree & Higher
8.0
9.7
14.6
400 800
1200
$1,137 ($59,124)
Some college/Associate’s Degree
$726
($37,752)
HS Graduates, No College
$626
($32,552)
Less than a High School Diploma
$454
($23,608)
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009. Earnings and unemployment are for full-time workers age
25 and older, not seasonally adjusted.
The correlations between education levels
and employment rates can be seen and felt
clearly in local communities. In the state of
Georgia, many counties with high graduation rates also tend to have lower rates of
unemployment, a fact that is illustrated in
the maps shown in figures 4 and 5. In
February of 2010, at least 35 counties with
unemployment rates above 12 percent also
had graduation rates below 74 percent. If
Georgia’s local and state leaders hope to
lessen the rate of unemployment in these
communities, it is imperative that they
enact policies and supports to ensure that
every student graduates from high school.
Communities that increase the educational
levels of their residents become more
attractive to businesses searching to
locate in an area with an abundant supply
of qualified workers. Additionally, as
greater percentages of the population are
able to secure employment, communities
benefit from an increase in their tax
Figure 3. Unemployment Rates by Education Level, 2007-2010
18%
December 2007
15.2%
16%
14%
12%
10.1%
10%
8%
6%
8.5%
7.8%
6.9%
4.7%
4.2%
4.9%
3.9%
4%
3.8%
2%
2.1%
2.1%
High School Dropout
High School Graduate
1/10
11/09
9/09
7/09
5/09
3/09
1/09
11/08
9/08
7/08
5/08
3/08
1/08
11/07
9/07
7/07
5/07
3/07
1/07
0%
Some College or Associate’s Degree
Bachelor’s Degree or Higher
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table A-4: Employment Status of the Civilian Population 25 Years and Over by
Educational Attainment, February 2010.
3 Levin, H., Belfield, C., Muenning, P., and Rouse, C. “The Costs and Benefits of an Excellent Education for All of America’s Children.” Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education at Teachers College,
January 2007.
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
3
Figure 4. Public High School Graduation Rates by County, 2009
ឣ
ឣ
ឣ
អ
Below 74%
74% - 80%
Above 80%
N/A
Source: Georgia Department of Education. Counties marked N/A either did not
have a high school senior class in 2009 or did not calculate a graduation rate in
2009.
revenue. Figure 6 quantifies these potential revenue enhancements; the chart
depicts the earning potential for an individual based on the level of educational
attainment and the amount of taxes paid
by that individual. Compared to high
school dropouts, individuals who earn a
high school diploma increase their income
potential by roughly 35 percent and
contribute nearly 44 percent more in tax
payments. The benefits are substantially
greater with the completion of a bachelor’s
degree. The additional taxes that could be
secured by increasing the number of high
school graduates would further support
the financial health of the state and
national economy.
Figure 5. Unemployment Rates by County, 2010
ឣ
ឣ
ឣ
More Than 12%
10% - 12%
Less Than 10%
Source: Georgia Department of Labor, February 2010. For February 2010,
the average unemployment rate in the state of Georgia was 10.8% and
the national average was 10.4%.
If every Georgia student who failed to
complete high school in 2009 had graduated,
the estimated additional income of these
students would total $16,653,520,000.4 If
the dropout rate in the Atlanta metropolitan area alone were cut in half, the class of
2008 would have graduated 14,000 more
students. These 14,000 students would
contribute
• $110 million more spending in the
economy;
• $40 million more in investing;
• $349 million more in home purchases
by the midpoint of their careers; and
• $14 million more on vehicle purchases
each year.5
This additional spending and investment
would potentially support 1,200 new jobs
and increase the gross regional product of
metropolitan Atlanta by up to $204 million
by the time these graduates reached the
midpoint of their careers.6 Imagine the
impact that this would have made on local
businesses that rely on discretionary
spending, as well as the housing and automobile industry, during the recent
economic recession if these results were
multiplied throughout the state of Georgia.
Impact of High School Noncompletion on the Community
The social and economic viability of a
community strongly correlates with the
number of high school graduates it
produces. Failure to graduate from high
4 Alliance for Excellent Education. “The High Cost of High School Dropouts: What the Nation Pays for Inadequate High Schools.” August 2009. Retrieved from http://www.all4ed.org/files/HighCost.pdf.
5 Alliance for Excellent Education. “The Economic Benefits From Halving Atlanta’s Dropout Rate: A Boom to Regional Businesses.” January 2010. Retrieved from
http://www.all4ed.org/files/Atlanta.pdf. The data in this report refer to the city of Atlanta and its 28 surrounding counties.
6 Ibid.
4
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
school has both private and public consequences: individuals’ personal incomes are
lower, which results in lower tax collections
to finance public services.7 As the number
of high school non-graduates rises,
communities bear the costs of reduced
revenue to local businesses, increased
costs to support unemployed and underemployed citizens, increased costs of
health care for the poor, and the need to
import college and technical school graduates to fill the needs of the local
workforce. Figure 7 reveals the alarming
ways in which high school non-completers
create economic hardships for the community as a whole. Additionally, recent
economic research has quantified the
financial burden of high school noncompleters on the public economy.
According to a detailed cost-benefit
analysis of efforts aimed at improving
graduation rates, the lifetime public benefits of higher tax revenues coupled with
lower government spending on health,
crime, and welfare are substantial. For
every additional student that graduates
high school, the average economic benefit
to the public sector is $209,100”8
Moving Forward: Improving Lives,
Communities, and Economies
Together, we can improve the quantity and
quality of our K-12 education system’s
high school graduates by implementing
improvements throughout the system. Our
efforts must address each of the following
elements:
• Early life experiences that impact a
child’s future school success;
• Academic achievement in every grade
as the foundation for high school
completion; and
• College and workforce readiness that
enables all youth to successfully transition from high school to work or
post-secondary education.
Progress on all three of these key issues
will ensure that Georgia’s students graduate from high school on time, prepared to
enter post-secondary education or the
workforce. Our students will then be
equipped to provide for themselves and
their families and make a positive contribution to their communities.
Figure 6. Median Earnings and Tax Payments by Education Level, 2005
$46,600
Master’s Degree
$39,000
Bachelor’s Degree
$11,900
$31,500
Associate’s Degree
$9,100
$24,900
High School Graduate
Less than High School
$14,700
$18,800
$0
$6,600
$4,600
$20,000
$40,000
$60,000
$80,000
EARNINGS AND TAX PAYMENTS
ឣ After-Tax Income
ឣ Taxes Paid
Source: Baum, S. and Ma, J. “Education Pays: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and
Society.” College Board, 2007. Median earnings and tax payments are by full-time, year-round workers age
25 and older. Taxes paid include federal income, Social Security, and Medicare taxes, and state and local
income, sales, and property taxes.
Figure 7. Compounded Impacts of High School Non-completers
INDIVIDUALS
THE COMMUNITY
Higher rates of unemployment
and lower lifetime earnings
Reduced buying power, reduced tax
revenues, and less economic growth
Decreased health status, higher
mortality rates, more criminal
activity
Higher health care and criminal justice
system costs
Higher rates of teen pregnancy
and single motherhood
Higher public services costs
Less voting and volunteering
Less community involvement
Source: Levin, H., Belfield, C., Muenning, P., and Rouse, C. “The Costs and Benefits of an Excellent
Education for All of America’s Children.” Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education at Teachers College,
January 2007.
7 Levin, H., Belfield, C., Muenning, P., and Rouse, C. “The Costs and Benefits of an Excellent Education for All of America’s Children.” Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education at Teachers College,
January 2007.
8 Ibid.
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
5
Key Issue #1: Early Life Experiences
T
he early years of a child’s life
indelibly shape his or her future.
During the critical time between
birth and age five, when the brain undergoes its most rapid development,
children learn more than during any
other five-year period of life.
Yet the least amount of money is spent on
children’s education during this time. Early
experiences influence the development of
children’s cognitive and social skills and
behavioral and emotional health. Thus, the
first years of life largely determine a child’s
readiness for school and may be predictive
of future academic success.
Children whose early years are spent in an
environment that meets their basic physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs
are better prepared for the school experience. Yet not all children are provided the
experiences and resources needed to
succeed in school, and so they enter
kindergarten at many different developmental stages and with a wide range of
abilities. According to the 2009 National
KIDS COUNT Data Book, Georgia has an
overall rank of 42 among all 50 states on
ten measures of child and family wellbeing.9 Interventions are needed to enrich
the development of all children and start
them off fully able to succeed in school.
Early risk factors are cumulative and all
contribute to lower academic achievement
in school. Health factors including birth
9
10
11
12
13
14
weight, neonatal health, and the health of
the mother; poverty indicators such as
mother’s education level and family
employment and income; and early
learning opportunities for development
and increased skills collectively impact
success in school. By addressing the
impacts of child well-being, health, and
early learning opportunities on children’s
first years, we can positively impact a
child’s future success in school.
Child Well-Being and Economic
Security
A nurturing environment is one that
adequately meets a child’s needs – physical,
cognitive, emotional, and social – and
fosters his or her healthy development. Yet
for a child born into an insecure environment, the capacity for healthy development
is compromised by multiple risk factors,
including a lack of basic comforts, poor
nutrition, minimal opportunities for stimulation and enriching activity, and
unpredictable or unstable surroundings.10
Such instability in a child’s first years of life
will often have negative consequences on
his or her future academic success. For this
reason, ensuring a healthy and secure
start in life for all children is an imperative
and valuable economic investment.
Family income has been shown to be a
particularly strong indicator of children’s
future difficulty in school, and studies
show that children who live in low-income
households during their early years are
less likely to achieve successful academic
outcomes. In fact, a family’s low-income
status during children’s preschool and
early school years exhibits a strong correlation with lower rates of high school
completion.
• In 2008, the average rate of child
poverty in Georgia – defined as the
percentage of children under age 18
who are living in families with income
below the federal poverty level – was 20
percent.11 In many counties, however,
the child poverty rate approaches 50
percent, as illustrated in figure 8.
• In 2008, 42 percent of Georgia’s
children lived in low-income families,
with low-income families defined as
below 200 percent of the poverty
threshold.12
• In 2010, 56 percent of Georgia’s K-12
public school students are eligible
under federal guidelines to receive free
or reduced price school meals.13
• Georgia’s high school graduation rate in
2009 was 73 percent for economically
disadvantaged students. For noneconomically disadvantaged students,
the rate was 83 percent.14
Education is key to breaking the cycle of
poverty. Children whose parents have
lower levels of education are more likely to
live in poverty. Data from a national
research center show that in Georgia, more
than half of young children whose parents
do not have a high school degree live in
poor families (as depicted in figure 9).
Annie E. Casey Foundation. “2009 KIDS COUNT Data Book: State Profiles of Child Well-Being.” Retrieved from http://www.aecf.org.
Hodgkinson, H. L. “Leaving Too Many Children Behind: A Demographer’s View on the Neglect of America’s Youngest Children.” Institute for Educational Leadership, April 2003.
Annie E. Casey Foundation. “2009 KIDS COUNT Data Book: State Profiles of Child Well-Being.” Retrieved from http://www.aecf.org.
National Center for Children in Poverty. “Georgia Demographics of Low-Income Children.” September 2009. Retrieved from http://www.nccp.org/profiles/state_profile.php?state=GA&id=6.
Annie E. Casey Foundation. “2009 KIDS COUNT Data Book: State Profiles of Child Well-Being.” Retrieved from http://www.aecf.org.
Georgia Department of Education, 2008-2009 State Report Card. Retrieved from http://www.doe.k12.ga.us.
6
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
Poverty’s negative impact is often multiplied because it exacerbates other
conditions that can affect a child’s future
success in school. Poverty can contribute
to poor physical and mental health, developmental delays, unemployment, teenage
pregnancy, crime, and drug use. Poverty
also may reduce access to quality childcare
and early learning opportunities that help
build a foundation of skills that foster
future school success. The unfortunate
reality is that many children living in
poverty are starting school without the
verbal, mathematics, and basic life skills
that they need to learn at high levels.
Figure 8. Children Living in Poverty, 2008
ឣ
ឣ
ឣ
ឣ
33% - 50%
26% - 33%
18% - 26%
6% - 18%
Before entering kindergarten, the average
cognitive scores of preschool-age children
in the highest socioeconomic group are 60
percent above the average scores of children in the lowest socioeconomic group.15
At age four, children who live below the
poverty line are 18 months below what is
normal for their age group; by age 10 that
gap is still present. For children living in the
poorest families, the gap is even larger.16
Figure 10 illustrates the gap in achievement scores for kindergarteners based on
variations in family income. The early
impact of poverty on educational attainment is glaring. In only their first year of
school, poor children are already behind.
The effects of child poverty continue well
beyond the early years and are often associated with dropping out of school,
behavioral, social, and emotional problems, and poor health.17
Healthy Beginnings for Children
Healthy children become healthy students.
The availability, quality, and cost of health
care influence child development and
school readiness.18 Poor health can lead to
academic challenges throughout the K-12
school years, including the need for special
education services, retention in a grade,
and the non-completion of high school.
15
16
17
18
Source: Annie E. Casey Foundation. KIDS COUNT Data Center, 2008. In 2008, the
federal poverty level for a family of four was $21,200.
Figure 9. Rate of Child Poverty by Parental Education, 2008
100%
80%
60%
57%
40%
40%
20%
12%
0%
Less Than
High School
High School
Diploma
Some College
or More
Source: National Center for Children in Poverty. “Georgia Demographics of Young,
Poor Children.” September 2009.
Klein, L. G. and Knitzer, J. “Promoting Effective Early Learning: What Every Policymaker and Educator Should Know.” National Center for Children in Poverty, January 2007.
Ibid.
Cauthen, N. K. and Fass, S. “Ten Important Questions About Child Poverty and Family Economic Hardship.” National Center for Children in Poverty, December 2009.
Rhode Island KIDS COUNT. “Getting Ready: Findings from the National School Readiness Indicators Initiative: A 17 State Partnership.” February 2005.
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
7
Figure 10. Achievement Gap as Children Begin Kindergarten
Quality Early Learning
Opportunities
Academic Ability Scores
60.0
“Prevention is almost always
cheaper than treatment. If we do
not invest [in education] now, we
most certainly will pay later.”
55.0
SCHOOL READINESS GAP
50.0
45.0
40.0
Bottom
20%
2nd Lowest
20%
Middle
20%
2nd Highest
20%
Top 20%
– William Schweke, Research Director
for the Corporation for Enterprise
Development
Smart Money: Education and
Economic Development, 2004
Family Income
Reading
Math
General Knowledge
Optimal Development
Source: Barnett, W. S., Hustedt, J. T., Robin, K. B., and Schulman, K. L. “The State of Preschool: 2004
State Preschool Yearbook.” National Institute for Early Education Research, 2004.
Early, comprehensive prenatal care
increases the likelihood that a child will be
born healthy. Women who receive sufficient prenatal care are less likely to have
premature or low birth weight infants and
are more likely to obtain regular medical
care for their children.
• The rate of late pre-term births
Premature birth and low birth weight can
lead to a child’s difficulty in school. Infants
born weighing less than 5.5 pounds have
an increased risk of physical and developmental problems and are more likely to be
enrolled in special education classes or to
repeat a grade during their schooling.19 A
study of premature and low birth weight
children found that lower reading and
mathematics scores were predicted by
these significant variables: lower maternal
education and income, lower birth weight,
and lower maternal health.20 At age 17, low
birth weight children were 50 percent
more likely to score below average on
reading and math tests than normal birth
weight children.21
• Pre-term births cost the U.S. more than
(between 34-36 weeks gestation) in
Georgia is 10.4 percent.
• Among uninsured women in Georgia,
the rate of late pre-term births is 22.6
percent.
$26 billion annually.22
Children and families with health insurance
are more likely to use primary health care
services to address existing health conditions and prevent future health problems.
A lack of health insurance can disrupt a
child’s school attendance and ability to
participate in learning activities. Further,
insufficient health care or delays in treating
medical problems can negatively impact a
child’s physical and mental development.23
Whether or not children will become
successful students depends largely on the
quality of their early learning experiences.
Research demonstrates the importance of
providing young children with high quality
early education experiences that help
them develop the language, literacy, and
pre-mathematics skills they will need to be
ready for kindergarten.
Parents as Teachers
Parents remain the best and most consistent source of rich early learning
experiences. Parents can stimulate their
children’s early learning through exposure
to educational games, media, and the arts
and by engaging children in everyday
conversations with adults. Young children
who are read to regularly by their parents
develop better literacy skills, are better
readers when they reach elementary
school, and are more likely to succeed
academically.25 Yet research has found that
family and home conditions vary widely
across socioeconomic levels, which creates
gaps in the foundational cognitive skills of
young children. (See Insert: Read To Me!
and Figure 11.)
• In 2007, 10 percent of Georgia’s children under the age of 6 did not have
health insurance.24
19 Rose, S. A., Feldman, J. F., Jankowski, J. J., and Van Rossem, R. “Pathways From Prematurity and Infant Abilities to Later Cognition.” Child Development, 76(6): 1172-1184, November/December 2005.
20 Roberts, G., Bellinger, D., and McCormick, M. C. “A Cumulative Risk Factor Model for Early Identification of Academic Difficulties in Premature and Low Birth Weight Infants.” Maternal and Child Health
Journal, 11(2): 161-172, March 2007.
21 Breslau, N., Paneth, N. S., and Lucia, V. C. “The Lingering Academic Deficits of Low Birth Weight Children.” Pediatrics, 11(4): 1035-1040, October 2004.
22 March of Dimes. “2009 Preterm Birth Report Card.” November 2009. Retrieved from http://www.marchofdimes.com/georgia/37560_62773.asp.
23 Annie E. Casey Foundation. KIDS COUNT State Level Data Online, 2009. Retrieved from http://www.kidscount.org/sld/compare.jsp.
24 Ibid.
25 Rhode Island KIDS COUNT. “Getting Ready: Findings from the National School Readiness Indicators Initiative: A 17 State Partnership.” February 2005.
8
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
• Children living in poverty are less likely
to be read to daily than their peers in
non-poor households.26
• To borrow words of researchers at the
Economic Policy Institute, “the inequalities
of children’s cognitive ability are substantial right from ‘the starting gate.’ ”28
• Children of lower-income families enter
school with smaller vocabularies than
children of the same age in professional
families.27
High-Quality Pre-kindergarten
Programs
Fortunately, high-quality early education
programs can benefit children at risk and
help close the early achievement gap for
disadvantaged students. Pre-kindergarten
programs are a source of rich learning
opportunities and help to promote school
readiness for children in their preschool
years. There are numerous positive effects,
both immediate and long-term, of prekindergarten programs, which include:
• Improved language, listening, word
analysis, vocabulary, and math skills;
Read To Me! Among U.S. Families, Who is Reading to Their Children?
• Higher reading and math achievement
from 6-15 years of age;
Children living in families below the poverty threshold are less likely to be
read to daily than their peers in non-poor households.
• Lower rates of grade retention and
special education placement;
PERCENT OF CHILDREN AGES 3-5 READ TO EVERY DAY
In families below poverty
39.7%
In families 100-199% above poverty
49.6%
In families 200% above poverty
63.9%
• Decreased likelihood of dropping out of
Data for 2007. Source: 2009 Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics.
• Decreased likelihood for involvement in
school; and
the juvenile justice system.29
Similarly, children whose mothers have lower education levels are less likely
to be read to daily than children whose mothers are more educated.
PERCENT OF CHILDREN AGES 3-5 READ TO EVERY DAY
Mother’s Education Level:
Less than high school
30.8%
High school diploma
39.4%
Some college
54.6%
Bachelor’s degree or higher
73.7%
Data for 2007. Source: 2009 Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics.
Figure 11. Children’s Language and Word Use Differs Across Income Groups
Measures of Lanuage
Recorded Vocabulary Size
Utterances Per Hour
Different Words Used Per Hour
Families of Upper
Socioeconomic Status
Families
on Welfare
1,116
310
297
525
168
149
Source: Hart, B. and Risley, T. R. “The Early Catastrophe: The 30 Million Word Gap by Age 3.” American
Educator, 27(1), Spring 2003. Children in the study were age 34-36 months.
The benefits of a quality preschool education extend throughout a child’s life.
Preschool impacts cognitive development,
social and emotional development, and
academic achievement. Preschool is also
linked to lower rates of delinquency and
crime. By the third grade, one-third of the
achievement gap is closed as a result of
preschool education.30
A well-known longitudinal research study
of the Perry Preschool program further
substantiates the gains from a preschool
education. The study compares the results
of 123 African-American children born into
poverty. As depicted in figure 12, those
individuals who participated in the
preschool program had significantly better
outcomes over the course of their lives
than the students who were not enrolled
in any preschool program. In addition, the
economic benefit to investing in these children far outweighed the costs (see figure
26
27
28
29
Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics. “America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well Being, 2009.” Retrieved from http://www.childstats.gov.
Hart, B. and Risley, T. R. “The Early Catastrophe: The 30 Million Word Gap by Age 3.” American Educator, 27(1), Spring 2003.
Lee, V. E. and Burkam, D. T. “Inequality at the Starting Gate: Social Background Differences in Achievement as Children Begin School.” Economic Policy Institute, November 25, 2002.
University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development. “Investing Today for Tomorrow: The Costs and Benefits of Early Childhood Care and Education.” June 2003. Retrieved from http://www.education.pitt.edu/ocd/publications/sr2003-06.pdf.
30 National Institute for Early Education Research. “Long-Term Studies Show Lasting Gains From Pre-K.” Preschool Matters, 8(1), January/February 2010. Retrieved from
http://nieer.org/psm/index.php?article=306.
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
9
13). Research on the financial impact of the
Perry Preschool program has found that
every $1 invested returned $17 to society and
individuals over the course of forty years.
Georgia has received national attention for
its exemplary state-funded pre-kindergarten program. According to the National
Institute for Early Education Research, the
Georgia Pre-K Program was the first
preschool education program in the United
States made universally available to all
four-year-olds in a state. For the 20072008 school year, Georgia ranked third in
the country for its rate of access to prekindergarten for four-year-olds.31
compelling economic research such as the
outcomes of the Perry Preschool program.
Additional studies have bolstered the
evidence that investments in the early
years are the most cost effective ways to
improve students’ ultimate success in
school. Consider the following:
• The greatest amount of brain growth
occurs between birth and age 5. In fact,
by age 3, roughly 85 percent of the
brain’s core structure is formed.
• In contrast, the majority of our investments in education are made in the
traditional education years of K-12,
which begin at age five (see figure 14).
Georgia’s commitment to increasing
access to pre-kindergarten is backed by
• Economic studies suggest that investments in quality child care and
education for children in their
preschool years provide a return of 14
to 15 percent.32
All resources invested in learning during
the early years yield a high return on
investment. Investments in early education
programs and high-quality childcare not
only benefit parents and their children, but
businesses as well. Employees with inadequate childcare are more likely to be late
for work, absent from work, or distracted
on the job. Absenteeism caused by poor
quality childcare costs U.S. businesses
more than $3 billion a year. Early educational programs for Georgia’s children are
a building block for an educated workforce
in our state.
Figure 12. The Perry Preschool Study: Positive Impacts of Early Education Programs
Economic Effects on Participants
Educational Effects on Participants
7%
Earn $2,000+
monthly
34%
Receive special
education
services
29%
15%
13%
Own home
36%
20%
Never on welfare
as adult
45%
Graduated from
high school
on time
66%
41%
0%
10%
20%
ឣ Program Group
30%
40%
50%
ឣ No-Program Group
0%
20%
ឣ Program Group
40%
60%
80%
ឣ No-Program Group
Source: Schweinhart, L. J., Montie, J., Xiang, Z., Barnett, W. S., Belfield, C. R., and Nores, M. “Lifetime Effects: The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study Through Age
40 (Monographs of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, 14).” Ypsilanti, MI: High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, 2005.
3 1 Barnett, W. S., Epstein, D. J., Freidman, A. H., Boyd, J. S., and Hustedt, J. T. “The State of Preschool 2008: State Preschool Yearbook.” National Institute for Early Education Research, 2008.
32 Schweinhart, L. J., Montie, J., Xiang, Z., Barnett, W. S., Belfield, C. R., and Nores, M. “Lifetime Effects: The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study Through Age 40 (Monographs of the High/Scope
Educational Research Foundation, 14).” Ypsilanti, MI: High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, 2005.
10
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
Figure 13. Economic Return on Investment in Early Education:
The Perry Preschool Example
Figure 14. Public Spending & Brain Development: The
Disconnect, 2005
100%
$2,768
$7,303
$14,078
Benefits
80%
$171,473
$63,267
BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
60%
40%
PUBLIC SPENDING*
20%
$0
$50,000
$100,000
ឣ Welfare Savings
ឣ Education Savings
ឣ Taxes on Earnings
$150,000
$200,000 $250,000 $300,000
ឣ Crime Savings
ឣ Return to Individuals
Source: College Board. “Coming to Our Senses: Education and the American
Future.” December 2008.
0%
1
3
5
7
9
11
13
15
17
19
* Portion of total public investment in children being spent during
indicated year in children’s lives
Source: The RAND Corporation and Voices for Georgia’s Children. “The
Economic Case for Investment in Early Childhood Development.” 2005.
Ways to Make a Difference in Early Life Experiences
Look up, analyze, and share data about
the health and well-being of children in
your county or region. Visit the websites of
organizations such as Family Connection
Partnership, Voices for Georgia’s Children,
and the Georgia Children’s Health Alliance to
access current data and information.
Encourage parents to read to their children – beginning at infancy – every day.
Help employees and friends locate literacy
classes if necessary. Start a book of the week
club to encourage daily reading to children.
Develop quality early learning experiences for all children through Pre-K
programs, childcare, and other enrichment opportunities. Provide access for all
children to quality early learning experiences through affordable, well-organized
programs.
Support schools, businesses and
community organizations as they advocate quality prenatal care, healthy
development of babies, affordable health
care, and effective parenting skills.
Provide funding for local programs.
Provide advertising assistance by donating
billboard and newspaper space, televisions
and/or radio ad time, and encourage
friends and employees to participate.
Educate your workforce about the importance of prenatal care, parenting skills,
and early learning opportunities. Hang
posters. Invite experts to conduct Lunch &
Learn sessions. Provide or subsidize childcare.
Encourage community-wide strategic
planning to improve all aspects of children’s lives. Contact the Georgia
Partnership for Excellence in Education
and your local Family Connection
Partnership representative for assistance
in hosting a strategic planning session
focused on the well being of children. Use
local indicators of success including children’s health, school readiness, and school
success measures.
Support schools, businesses, and community organizations as they provide
parenting skills workshops. Find out when
sessions are offered and share the infor-
mation with your friends and co-workers.
Attend a session yourself to set an example
and encourage others to follow.
Support the medical community as it
educates the public regarding quality
prenatal care and the healthy development of babies. Make sure that quality
local obstetricians and pediatricians are
available on your company’s health plan.
Invite local doctors to share information at
your workplace, civic, or religious group.
Focus the community on the necessity
of sufficient resources for high quality
childcare. Provide or subsidize childcare
for your workforce. Work with government
leaders to design childcare programs that
also support the business community.
Reinforce in the workplace that parents
are their child’s first teachers. Support
employees when they need flexibility to
care for their children. Encourage
employees to obtain parenting skills
training. Create a lunch-time study group
to share parenting experiences, resources,
and encouragement.
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
11
Key Issue #2: Academic Achievement
in Every Grade
E
ach grade in a child’s school career,
from kindergarten through 12th
grade, is an important building
block contributing to the ultimate quality
of the child’s total education.
If the academic content of any of these
grades is not mastered at the appropriate
time, there is a negative effect on the
remainder of the education process. In
order to have a successful school career,
students must be able to read and calculate on grade level each year.
Georgia’s Student Achievement on
a National Scale
Individual states create assessments that
align with their state curriculum to
measure students’ academic progress.
These assessments differ from state to
state and often change over time, thereby
making long-term comparisons or comparisons among different states unreliable.
The National Assessment of Educational
Progress (NAEP) – a federally-mandated
program run by the U.S. Department of
Education – is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of
Figure 15. NAEP Math & Reading Scores in Georgia & the U.S., 2009
4th Grade Math
NAEP 2009
Georgia
22
National
19
44
29
43
0%
4th Grade Reading
NAEP 2009
33
50%
5
Georgia
6
National
100%
33
40
34
0%
8th Grade Math
NAEP 2009
Georgia
37
33
34
50%
23 6
24
7
100%
8th Grade Reading
NAEP 2009
21
5
Georgia
28
45
what America’s students know and can do
in various subject areas.33 The NAEP, also
known as “the Nation’s Report Card,”
enables a comparison of Georgia students
with the rest of the nation and provides a
reliable measure of the state’s academic
progress. Students who complete a
rigorous high school curriculum or have
grade point averages among the top 25
percent of high school graduates have
higher average NAEP scores.34 Thus, the
NAEP is a critical indicator of how well we
are preparing Georgia students to be
academically competitive with their peers
across the country. Figure 15 indicates how
well Georgia students scored in comparison with the national average on recent
NAEP measurements.
Over recent years Georgia has made some
progress toward improving student
outcomes as evidenced by the NAEP
results. Yet the performance of Georgia’s
students on the NAEP lags behind the
national average in many areas. The state
needs to accelerate progress in all areas in
order to prepare our students for future
success. Consider the following:
• On all four tests, the percent of Georgia
students scoring at or above Proficient
is below the national average.
25 2
• In comparison with the nation, Georgia
National
29
0%
ឣ Below Basic
39
50%
ឣ Basic
25
7
100%
ឣ Proficient
National
26
0%
43
50%
28
2
has a greater percentage of students
scoring Below Basic on all four tests.
100%
ឣ Advanced
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. NAEP State Profile, 2009.
33 NAEP results indicate student achievement at a point in time. NAEP assess different students each year. It does not indicate individual students’ progress over time.
34 The Nation’s Report Card. “America’s High School Graduates: Results from the 2005 High School Transcript Study.” February 2007. Retrieved from http://nationsreportcard.gov/hsts_2005.
12
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION14
State Measures of Student
Progress
In 2004, Georgia’s education leaders
adopted a new curriculum – the Georgia
Performance Standards (GPS) – that
provides clear expectations for assessment, instruction, and student work. Based
on best practices that have proven to be
effective in high-performing states and
nations, the revised and strengthened
curriculum drives both instruction and
assessment in Georgia’s schools.35
To assess students’ mastery of the
curriculum, Georgia administers the
Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests
(CRCT) in reading, English/language arts,
and mathematics in grades 1-8, and in
science and social studies in grades 3-8.
Scores below a specified level of performance on the CRCT indicate that a student
does not meet the standard in that subject
area. Students performing at this level may
need additional instructional support. For
Georgia students in grades 3, 5, and 8,
performance on the state CRCT carries
increased weight, as an insufficient score
in these critical grades can result in retention. Students in the 3rd grade who score
below grade level in reading and students
Figure 16. Performance of Georgia Students on the CRCT, 2009
Content Area
Reading
Mathematics
Grade
# Students
Tested
% Not Meeting
Standards
# Students Not
Meeting Standards
3rd
5th
8th
129,827
125,532
121,229
12.0
12. 1
7.3
15,579
15,1 89
8,850
3rd
5th
8th
130,0 6 1
125, 8 1 5
121,362
22. 1
20.7
29.9
28,743
26,044
36,287
Figure 17. Performance of Georgia Students on the CRCT by Race, Spring 2009
Reading
Mathematics
Grade
% White Students
Not Meeting
Standards
% Black Students
Not Meeting
Standards
% Hispanic Students
Not Meeting
Standards
3rd
5th
8th
7
7
4
18
18
11
15
16
11
3rd
5th
8th
13
14
21
33
29
42
24
23
35
Source: Georgia Department of Education, 2009.
Performing well on the CRCT is important
because it provides an indicator of future
academic success:
• Students who are not reading on grade
level by the end of 3rd grade are much
less likely to graduate from high school.37
• Children who are not calculating geom-
Source: Georgia Department of Education, 2009.
Content Area
in the 5th and 8th grades who score below
grade level in reading and/or mathematics
must be provided additional instruction
and subsequently retested. Georgia law
mandates that if a student scores below
grade level again on the retest, he or she
must be retained.36
etry and algebra on grade level by the
end of 8th grade are less likely to be
successful in post-secondary
education.38
• Students who take rigorous mathematics and science courses are much
more likely to go to college than those
who do not.39
Figure 16 shows the number of children in
Georgia who scored below grade level on
the spring 2009 administration of the
CRCT. Roughly one out of every five third
and fifth grade students in Georgia fails to
meet standards on the mathematics
section of the CRCT, and nearly one in
three eighth grade students performs
below standards. When the data is disaggregated by race, the differences in the
level of achievement become even more
profound (see figure 17).
Economic Consequences of Low
Student Achievement
When a student fails to achieve proficiency
on the CRCT, he or she faces being
retained in that grade or subject for one
more year. Consider the impact on the
state if each of these students were
35 For more information about Georgia’s curriculum, see the Department of Education’s website at http://www.georgiastandards.org.
36 A team comprised of the parent, a teacher, and an administrator can unanimously promote the student to the next grade level despite CRCT performance. Source: Georgia Department of Education
Promotion and Retention Guidance. Retrieved from http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/pea_policy.aspx?PageReq=PEARetention.
37 Education Commission of the States. “P-16 Quick Facts.” 2007. Retrieved from http://www.ecs.org.
38 Horn, L. and Nuñez, A. “Mapping the Road to College: First-Generation Students’ Math Track, Planning Strategies, and Context of Support.” NCES 2000-153. U.S. Department of Education, National
Center for Education Statistics, March 2000.
39 U.S. Department of Education. “Mathematics Equals Opportunity.” October 1997. Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/pubs/math/index.html.
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
13
retained — in the short-term, the fiscal
burden of providing these students an
additional year in school, and in the longterm, the reduced likelihood of their
graduating from high school in the future.
Indeed, the financial burden of student
retention to the state and local communities is substantial. When a student has to
repeat a grade, he or she spends an additional year in the K-12 education system.
With the expense to the state of educating
a child for one year in Georgia averaging
$8,909, retention becomes a costly
problem.40 Consider the big picture, as
shown in figure 18:
• At the end of Georgia’s 2008-09 school
year, 61,642 students were retained —
3.8 percent of the total enrollment.
• An additional year in school for each of
those students costs the state an
average of $8,909, adding up to an
exorbitant sum for Georgia.
How much of a cost burden is the epidemic
of student retention likely to pose in your
own community? Use the steps in figure 19
to make a basic calculation. Be aware that
these calculations represent only the additional costs incurred the next year. The
actual costs over time might be even
greater should those same students be
retained additional times during their
school career. And within the next 10-15
years, the community will bear additional
costs should any of those students fail to
complete high school as a result of their
early academic challenges.
Figure 18. Student Retention in Georgia, 2009
61,642
X
Georgia students
retained in 2009
$8,909
=
Average annual cost of
education per student
More than $549 million
Total cost of student
retention in 2009 for Georgia
Figure 19. The Cost of Student Retention in Your Community – You Do the Math
1. Visit www.gaosa.org to look up the number of children retained in your school
or district as reported by the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement.
2. Multiply the number of students by the cost of one year in your school
system.
Number of
Students
Retained in 20___
Multiply by Annual Cost
to Educate One Student
in Your School System
X
$
Total Annual Cost to
Re-Educate
Retained Students
=
Cost of Student Retention This Year: $_____________________
40 Georgia Department of Education. FY 2009 School System Financial Reports. Retrieved from http://www.doe.k12.ga.us.
4 1 Auguste, B. G., Hancock, B., and Laboissière, M. “The Economic Cost of the U.S. Education Gap.” McKinsey Quarterly, June 2009.
42 McKinsey & Company. “The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America’s Schools: Summary of Findings.” April 2009.
14
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
National research underscores the severe
economic consequences of states’ failure to
educate all students to high levels of proficiency. According to research published by
McKinsey & Company, “each of the longstanding achievement gaps among U.S.
students of differing ethnic origins, income
levels, and school systems represents
hundreds of billions of dollars in unrealized
economic gains.”41 This research determines that had the U.S. closed the
achievement gap between white students
and black and Latino students, the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) would have been
between $310 billion and $525 billion
higher in 2008. Also, had the U.S. closed the
achievement gap among low performing
states on the NAEP, the GDP would have
been between $425 billion and $700 billion
higher. Economically, these numbers represent the equivalent of a permanent
national recession in our country.42
Ways to Make a Difference in Academic Achievement in Every Grade
Encourage schools to plan strategically.
Serve on a school council. Volunteer (yourself or your employees) to facilitate
strategic planning sessions. Encourage
your local board of education to maintain
a long-term view when implementing new
strategies.
Participate in the Georgia Partnership’s
Annual Bus Trip. Recognize and reward
the academic successes of schools across
the state. Then plan a local bus trip to highlight the achievements of your local school
system.
Support educators as they analyze data
to make decisions about school improvement. Review local student achievement
data to become familiar with current levels
of achievement. Volunteer (yourself or
your employees) to participate in data
analysis. Provide a facilitator, space,
refreshments, and/or supplies for a
strategic planning session. Connect with
Georgia Leadership Institute for School
Improvement (www.glisi.org) to support
leadership development.
Work with educators to design evaluation systems for school improvement
initiatives. Share your expertise regarding
goal setting, data collection and evaluation, measurements and metrics, and
Balanced Scorecards. Volunteer to serve
on an evaluation committee.
Encourage the students in your life to
enjoy and succeed in their school career.
Ask the children in your life (employees,
children, friends) about their grades,
efforts, attendance, and school experience.
Encourage extracurricular activities (such
as debate, quiz teams, and language clubs)
that facilitate improvement in academic
success. Recognize, praise, and reward
students (your own and those across the
community) for academic achievement
through articles in the paper or club
newsletters, special discounts on goods
and services, special events, or cash prizes.
Support tutoring programs in your
community. Volunteer your time, make a
financial contribution, or provide in-kind
support to tutoring programs offered by
schools, businesses, and community organizations. Share schedules and contact
information about these programs with
your neighbors and employees. Connect
with a local Junior Achievement office
(www.ja.org) and volunteer your time to
educate youth about entrepreneurship,
work readiness, and financial literacy.
Establish a business partnership with
one or more schools in your community.
Explore ways that your organization can
sponsor academic enrichment programs
that support school improvement initiatives or conduct process management
reviews for support services departments.
Contact your local Communities in Schools
office and offer to participate in a
mentoring or career awareness initiative
or volunteer to serve as a Community
Coach.
Encourage schools to provide additional
learning time for students who need it.
Volunteer to help principals analyze their
school schedules and identify creative
ways to increase instructional time.
Organize others in your community to
influence the local board of education to
approve measures such as extended
school hours or year–round school attendance. Learn about the Georgia Virtual
School (www.gavirtualschool.org) and
encourage schools and students in your
community to pursue this opportunity.
Ask local educational leaders to identify
how you can help. Contact your local
board of education, superintendent, and
principals to identify their specific needs.
Invite educational leaders to speak to your
business or community organization. Ask
questions to increase your understanding
of the policy issues that affect student
success.
Encourage students to pursue additional
learning opportunities. Urge schools to
offer higher level, rigorous courses (such
as Advanced Placement courses in high
school) and encourage local students
(including your own) to enroll in them.
Create scholarships that allow students
to attend summer school and college
sessions. Work with educational leaders to
design academic enrichment programs
that your community organization can
offer to students.
Provide a work environment that encourages the involvement of employees in
their children’s activities and education.
Provide flextime, matching leave, jobsharing, or time off so that parents can get
involved in their child’s education. Provide
in-house publications that emphasize the
importance of parental involvement at
every stage of a child’s life.
Encourage and enable your district to
participate in the premier leadership
program for Georgia’s educational leaders
and aspiring leaders, Georgia Leadership
Institute for School Improvement (GLISI).
Visit www.glisi.org for information about
this unique experience, which blends best
practices from business leadership with
powerful content on school improvement
and academic achievement. Encourage
your superintendent to send district teams
to each event. Make a corporate contribution or in-kind partnership to ensure
continued and expanded offerings by
GLISI.
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
15
Key Issue #3: Transition to Work or
Post-Secondary Education
T
raditionally, the attainment of a high
school diploma signals that a student
is ready to enter the workforce or
attend college, it is important that
students have the skills to be successful in
the workforce immediately after graduating from high school.
pursue postsecondary education.
Sadly, some employers and institutions of
higher education now view a high school
diploma with some skepticism. Good
grades on a high school transcript do not
always translate to a mastery of content
knowledge or the development of critical
thinking skills. Most colleges and universities require admissions exams to
demonstrate college-readiness. Even with
these additional measures, many students
enter college having to enroll in remedial
classes. Similarly, employers who hire high
school graduates need to provide remediation in basic skills to many of their
workers. There is a large expectations gap
— a gap between what students know and
what they need to know in order to be
successful in the workforce or postsecondary education.43 Closing this gap is
essential to making certain that Georgia’s
students are prepared for success after
high school.
School to Work
Georgia demonstrates a strong commitment to preparing students for success
after high school. Georgia is now one of
twenty states, plus the District of
Columbia, that requires all students to
complete a college- and career-ready
curriculum to graduate.44 Because a significant number of students choose not to
43
44
45
46
Career and Technical Education
Historically, vocational education was
viewed as a path for students who lacked
the desire or skill to pursue higher education. Currently, vocational education is a
valuable aspect of our educational
programs.
As our economy becomes even more
connected with the rest of the world, the
demand for highly skilled laborers will
continue to grow. Tomorrow’s jobs will
require workers who not only possess
specialized skills, but workers who have
the intellectual capacity to acquire new
skills. The Career, Technical, and
Agricultural Education (CTAE) division of
the Georgia Department of Education
helps to prepare students to meet the
demands of our increasingly global
economy. CTAE offers an array of
programs designed to help students
prepare for promising careers (see figure
20). The majority of Georgia’s students
enroll in the program — 64 percent of all
high school students and 56 percent of all
middle school students enrolled in at least
one CTAE course during the 2007-2008
school year.45 The program is yielding positive results. The high school graduation
rate of students with CTAE concentrations
in 2008 was 91 percent compared to the
state overall rate of 75 percent.46
Encouraging participation in CTAE is
key to improving graduation rates and
preparing students for future career
success. Numerous opportunities for
employment exist in specialized fields such
as health care and information technology
but not enough students graduate with the
qualifications to fill these positions. CTAE
program areas not only help to fill in these
gaps, but they can prepare students for
tomorrow’s jobs as well.
Figure 20. CTAE Program Areas Offered in Georgia
• Agricultural Education
• Business & Computer Science
• Architecture, Construction,
Communications, &
Transportation
• Engineering & Technology
Education
• Marketing, Sales &
Service Education
• Coordinated Career
Academic Education
• Family & Consumer Sciences
• Culinary Arts
• Healthcare Science Education
• Career & Technical
Instruction
Source: Georgia Department of Education. “Career, Technical and Agricultural Education Annual Report
2008.” Not all programs are offered at the middle school level.
Achieve. “Closing the Expectations Gap: Fifth Annual 50-State Progress Report on the Alignment of High School Policies with the Demands of College and Careers.” March 2010.
Ibid.
Georgia Department of Education. “Career, Technical and Agricultural Education Annual Report 2008.” Retrieved from http://www.doe.k12.ga.us.
Ibid.
16
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
Job Readiness
Historically, we have given more challenging courses to high school students
who were planning to attend college.
Preparing students to transition from high
school to careers, however, requires just as
much education as preparing our students
to transition to college. The best-paid jobs
with the greatest opportunities require
higher-level thinking skills. Workforce
careers such as electricians, construction
workers, and plumbers may not require a
four-year degree, but they require a high
skill level. These careers offer the earning
potential to support a family and offer
opportunities for career advancement.
According to one empirical study, these
jobs require workers who are able to read
for information and solve applied mathematics problems on a level comparable to
students preparing to attend college.47
Unfortunately, too many students graduate high school without these skills. In a
survey of 217 employers, 34 percent stated
that their recently hired high school graduates were deficiently prepared to enter
the workforce.48 Many companies have a
need for workers with critical thinking
skills but lack the resources to teach these
skills to their workers. Some companies
even explicitly state that they will not hire
students who were not prepared in high
school to read critically and reason mathematically; the benefits simply do not
outweigh the costs, and the rate of
turnover among young, less-experienced
employees is too high. One study estimated the cost of remedial training to a
state’s employers at $40 million per year.49
Businesses that identify a need for such
basic skills training often choose not to
spend the money to fill in these gaps — as
illustrated in figure 21. To ensure that our
students are employable and to strengthen
the quality of our workforce, it is critical
that every high school student graduate
with the skills necessary for successful
entrance into the workforce.
Figure 21. Training Gaps in Basic Skills
100%
90%
80%
77.8%
72.7%
70%
60%
52.2%
50%
students. We cannot afford to shortchange students by predetermining
whether or not they need a collegepreparatory curriculum. Nor can we fail to
develop applied skills such as creativity
and teamwork. Developing the ability to
read, write, and think critically and
creatively is essential to students’ success
whether or not they decide to pursue
higher education.
School to Postsecondary Education
40%
“All educational reform programs
that seek to improve college readiness and success are grounded
in the belief that larger numbers
of students can succeed in college,
given appropriate preparation,
motivation, and support.”
30%
20%
10%
0%
Reading
Writing
Math
This graph shows the percentage of employers
who identify a need for basic skills remediation
among their workforce, but choose not to provide
that remediation. For instance, 77.8 percent of
employers who identify a need for remediation in
reading do not provide the resources for this
training.
Source: Casner-Lotto, J., Rosenblum, E., and
Wright, M. “The Ill-Prepared U.S. Workforce:
Exploring the Challenges of Employer-Provided
Workforce Readiness Training.” The Conference
Board, July 2009.
– Thad Nodine, Ph.D., “Innovations in
College Readiness: How Early College
Schools are Preparing Students
Underrepresented in Higher
Education for College Success,”
October 2009.
The goal of a college-preparatory program
in high school is to ensure that students
begin college with the tools to succeed.
Many students, however, begin college with
the need to enroll in remedial courses:
• Among 12th graders who enrolled in
In addition to academic competence,
employers have a need for workers with a
number of applied skills such as creativity,
teamwork, and leadership. Again, many of
the companies who identify these skills as
“high need” do not offer training for them.
These areas are important both to career
and college success, but are often overlooked in school in favor of academic
preparation. Yet, we must make time to
develop these qualities in students as well.
Because of our rapidly changing economy,
we cannot predict with certainty what
opportunities lie ahead for Georgia’s
college between 1992-2000, 61 percent
of those attending a two-year school
and 25 percent of those attending a
four-year school completed at least one
remedial course.
• Among the students who took remedial
courses, 57 percent of them earned a
degree or certificate by 2000 if they
had only one remedial course that was
not in math or reading.
• Among students enrolled in any remedial reading courses, only 30 percent
earned a degree or certificate by 2000.
47 ACT College and Workforce Training Readiness. “Ready for College and Ready for Work: Same or Different?” 2006.
48 Casner-Lotto, J., Rosenblum, E., and Wright, M. “The Ill-Prepared U.S. Workforce: Exploring the Challenges of Employer-Provided Workforce Readiness Training.” The Conference Board, July 2009.
49 Greene, J. P. “The Cost of Remedial Education: How Much Michigan Pays When Students Fail to Learn Basic Skills.” Mackinac Center for Public Policy, September 2000.
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
17
• In contrast, 69 percent of the 12th
graders who did not enroll in remedial
courses earned a degree or certificate
by 2000 (see figure 22).50
The U.S. Department of Education found
that 95 percent of students who completed
a high school curriculum at the highest
level of academic intensity earned a bachelor’s degree.51 Students who enter college
prepared for college are far more likely to
finish. As a nation and as a state, we must
do a better job of getting our students
ready for college-level work. A variety of
strategies – including Advanced Placement
courses, dual-enrollment programs, and
challenging coursework – are critical
toward the fulfillment of this goal.
Figure 22. Educational Attainment of Remedial Coursetakers
Among 1992 12th-graders who enrolled in postsecondary education,
percentage who earned a specific degree or certificate,
by type and intensity of postsecondary remedial coursework: 2000
Percentage of
students in
remediation
catagory
Any remedial reading
6
7
Two or fewer courses of remedial
mathematics only
4
10
Two or more other remedial
courses, but no remedial reading
8
One remedial course, not
mathematics or reading
7
No remedial courses
“Curriculum rigor trumps just
about everything else in predicting
college success.”
– Coming to Our Senses,
December 2008
Advanced Placement Courses
The Advanced Placement (AP) Program
began as a pilot project in the 1950s for
bright high school juniors and seniors to
engage in college-level work.52 It has since
expanded to 17,000 schools nationwide.53
Roughly 34 percent of Georgia’s high
school seniors participated in Advanced
Placement courses in 2009 — as shown in
figure 23. Although less than 18 percent
scored well enough to receive college
credit for the course, this is higher than the
national rate of 15.9 percent.54
Success on the AP exam is an indicator of
future success in college. A study of
students in Texas found that students who
scored a 3 or higher on the AP exam were
17
11
27
13
20
10
42
11
41
13
39
4 7
0%
ឣ Certificate
30
57
58
20%
ឣ Associate’s Degree
40%
7
69
60%
59
80%
100%
ឣ Bachelor’s degree or higher
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. “The Condition of
Education: Student Effort and Educational Progress.” 2004.
more likely to graduate from college within
five years than students who did not pass
the exam, students who enrolled in AP
courses and did not take the exam, and
students who did not take any AP courses
at all.55 The research does not imply that
schools should enroll more students in AP
courses in order to prepare them for
college. Rather, the research gives an indicator for how well schools are preparing
students to do well on the AP exam, and
subsequently in college. Georgia can be
proud of its high rate of achievers on the
exam compared with the rest of the nation
and for its increase in participation and
rate of achievement on the exam during
the past five years.
Early College Program
As a person’s level of education increases,
so does financial stability. Thus, it is important to encourage as many students as
possible to pursue higher education. For
traditionally underrepresented populations, however, this goal often seems
unattainable. In order to encourage the
pursuit of postsecondary education among
low-income students and ethnic minorities,
the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation partnered with other businesses and
organizations to implement the Early
College Program in 2002. The Early
College Program exposes students to
college-level work, and many students take
classes on a college campus. There is no
50 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. “The Condition of Education: Student Effort and Educational Progress.” 2004. Retrieved from
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2004/section3/indicator18.asp.
5 1 College Board. “Coming to Our Senses: Education and the American Future.” December 2008. The highest level of academic intensity included 3-4 years of English, math, and science, and
International Baccalaureate or Advanced Placement courses.
52 Nodine, T. “Innovations in College Readiness: How Early College Schools are Preparing Students Underrepresented in Higher Education for College Success.” Jobs for the Future, October 2009.
53 College Board. “AP Program Facts.” 2010. Retrieved from http://www.collegeboard.com/about/news_info/ap/faqs.html.
54 College Board. “The 6th Annual AP Report to the Nation.” February 10, 2010.
55 Dougherty, C., Mellor, L., and Shuling, J. “The Relationship Between Advanced Placement and College Graduation.” National Center for Educational Accountability, February 2006.
18
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
cost to students while they are in high
school, thereby removing — at least initially
— the financial hurdle to beginning a
college career. Students can earn up to two
years of college credit, including an
Associate’s Degree, before even graduating from high school.
The Early College Program began with
three schools during the 2002-2003
school year. It now serves students in 201
schools in 24 states, including Georgia.
During the 2008-2009 school year, the
program targeted students who needed
this support:
• 74 percent were students of color;
• 56 percent were eligible for free or
reduced lunch;
• 10 percent were English language
learners; and
• 32 schools served students who previously dropped out of traditional high
school or were at risk of dropping out.56
The results of the program have been
impressive. In 2008, the national four-year
graduation rate for Early College students
was approximately 92 percent. In addition
to being more likely to graduate high
school, students graduating from Early
College schools are more likely to enroll in
college immediately after graduation, as
shown in figure 24.57 By focusing on
students most at risk for dropping out of
high school, the Early College Program has
improved the chances of underrepresented students completing high school
and enrolling in college, placing them on a
path toward academic and career success.
Figure 23. Advanced Placement Participation and
Performance in Georgia, 2004-2009
Figure 24. Percent of Graduates Enrolling in College
Immediately After High School
100%
100%
90%
90%
80%
80%
70%
70%
60%
60%
50%
50%
40%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
33.6
30.3
89%
66%
56%
58%
51%
30%
20%
21.9
12.4
2004
16.3
2008
17.8
2009
ឣ Percent of graduating class participating in AP
during high school
ឣ Percent of graduating class earning a 3 or higher
on at least one AP Exam during high school
Source: College Board. “The 6th Annual AP Report to the Nation: Georgia
Supplement.” February 10, 2010.
10%
0%
Early
College
Schools
National
Average
National
Average
for Blacks
National
National
Average for Average for
Hispanics Low-Income
Students
NOTE: Low-income refers to the bottom 20 percent of all family incomes.
Data for early college schools are for 2008; national averages are based on
2006 data, the most recent year available.
Source: Nodine, T. “Innovations in College Readiness: How Early College
Schools are Preparing Students Underrepresented in Higher Education for
College Success.” Jobs for the Future, October 2009.
56 Nodine, T. “Innovations in College Readiness: How Early College Schools are Preparing Students Underrepresented in Higher Education for College Success.” Jobs for the Future, October 2009.
57 Ibid.
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
19
implemented Georgia Work Ready to help
match employers with qualified job
seekers. Georgia Work Ready includes the
following components: Work Ready
Certificate, Work Ready job profiling, Work
Ready Region, and Certified Work Ready
Community (see figure 26).60
Workforce Development
The largest portion of the U.S. labor
market lies in middle-skills jobs — jobs that
require more than high school, but not a
four-year degree — as shown in figure 25.
In fact, some of the money that we spend
as a nation investing in higher education
would be better spent on investing in
middle-skills job training. The National
Skills Coalition estimates that for every job
requiring a bachelor’s degree, nearly twice
as many jobs require middle-skill training.58
Unfortunately, far too many workers lack
the training and skills for these jobs. Of
those adults currently in the workforce, 57
percent of them have low literacy, limited
English proficiency, or lack an education
credential beyond high school. Even more
strikingly, during July 2009 when the
economy lost a quarter of a million jobs,
60 percent of employers had problems
finding qualified applicants to fill vacancies.59 Had we taken the time to train more
“As the skills gap widens among
new entrants to the workforce,
it’s clear that all stakeholders —
employers, education, and the
public workforce system — must
collaborate to effectively
prepare workers to be successful
on the job.”
Georgia Work Ready seeks to involve all
stakeholders in our state’s economy to
increase the number of adults prepared for
the workforce. By offering free training and
skills assessment, job seekers can better
determine their qualifications for employment. The process benefits employers by
simplifying the hiring process; employers
can quickly determine which workers are
prepared with the skills that they need
based on the applicant’s certificate level.
Work Ready Regions collaborate to
improve education, strengthen economic
development, and help counties meet their
goals to become Work Ready.
– Tony Bingham, President and CEO,
American Society for Training and
Development
high school graduates for middle-skill jobs,
perhaps we could have reduced the impact
of the economic recession for some families.
Making Georgia Work Ready
One effort to ensure that Georgia’s
workers are prepared to enter gainful
employment is the Georgia Work Ready
initiative. In 2006, Governor Sonny Perdue
and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce
Figure 25. The Middle-Skills Gap Between Available Jobs & Qualified Workers, 2006
100%
80%
60%
50%
40%
20%
20%
44%
30%
25%
31%
0%
Low-Skill
ឣ Jobs
Middle-Skill
High-Skill
ឣ Workers
Persistent shortages of middle-skill workers inhibit industry growth and U.S. competitiveness.
Source: National Skills Coalition. “The Issues.” Retrieved April 2010 from
http://www.nationalskillscoalition.org.
58 National Skills Coalition. “Proportionate Investment? Why America Needs a Better Plan for Investing in People.” Retrieved from http://www.nationalskillscoalition.org/the-issues/a-strongeconomy/nsc_proportionateinvestment_2010-02.pdf.
59 National Skills Coalition. “The Issues.” Retrieved April 2010 from http://www.nationalskillscoalition.org/the-issues.
60 Georgia Work Ready, 2009. Retrieved from http://www.gaworkready.org.
20
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
Figure 26. Components of Georgia Work Ready
Certified Work Ready Communities, March 2010
Work Ready Certificate
• Measures core skills in applied mathematics, reading for
information and locating information.
• Measures work-related attitudes and behaviors that are
trainable such as cooperation and discipline.
• Free online training available to improve certificate level.
Job Profiling
• Compares a worker’s certificate level with available jobs
to help ensure successful employer-employee connections.
• At no cost to employers meeting minimum hiring
requirements.
• Improve hiring procedures and reduce turnover and
training costs.
Work Ready Region
• 16 regions in Georgia focusing on different growth industries
including advanced communications, advanced manufacturing, aerospace, bioscience, energy, and logistics.
• Each region is comprised of leaders from education,
workforce, local development authorities, and economic
development.
• Focus is on the goal of creating a long-term, viable workforce
for the state economy.
ឣ Certified Work Ready Communities
ឣ Achieved Certificate Goals
ឣ Certified Work Ready Communities In Progress
Source: Governor’s Office of Workforce Development, Georgia Work
Ready.
Certified Work Ready Community
• Have enough Work Ready Certified workers for current jobs.
• Have enough talent capable of learning the technology for
tomorrow’s jobs.
• Demonstrated commitment to raising graduation rates.
• Promotes community engagement in meeting these goals.
• Completes all requirements within three years.
• Most counties are in the process of becoming Work Ready
(See map of Certified Work Ready Communities).
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
21
Ways to Make a Difference in Transition to Work or Post-Secondary Education
Foster strong academic preparation in
high school. Challenge students to enroll
in rigorous courses. Provide scholarships
to students who cannot afford the cost of
the Advanced Placement exams.
Promote students’ pursuit of higher
education. Sponsor a financial aid workshop at a local high school. Fund a
scholarship for students in the Early
College Program to offset the cost of
tuition after high school.
Encourage schools to include workforce
readiness skills in the curriculum.
Emphasize the need for educators at all
levels to develop skills such as creativity
and teamwork in addition to the academic
curriculum.
Sponsor internships and apprenticeships
for high school students. Give students
first-hand experience in the workforce.
22
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
Show them the connection between what
they learn in the classroom and how it is
applied in specific job fields.
Invite teachers and educational leaders
to participate in corporate training. Show
them how your organization develops skills
such as creativity and leadership. Share a
copy of your training curriculum with
teachers so that they may begin to develop
these skills in their students.
Encourage schools to provide meaningful
professional development. Offer “real
world” work experiences to teachers. Help
them to make the connection between
academic content and its application to
specific jobs. Demonstrate model lessons
that they can emulate in their classrooms.
Participate in Georgia Tech’s Georgia
Intern-Fellowship for Teachers (GIFT).
Volunteer to speak at a school career
day. Participate in a school-wide program,
or offer to spend the day in a classroom.
Stress the importance of mastering
academic content and developing applied
skills in order to be prepared to enter the
workforce or postsecondary education.
Become a Certified Work Ready Facility.
Formulate a plan to use Work Ready
Certificates and Work Ready job profiles.
Visit www.gaworkready.org to get started.
Support and encourage adult learning –
GED, technical school, community
college, university, and adult literacy
programs. Volunteer to teach reading or
English to adults in your community.
Contribute to community organizations
that offer such classes. Encourage your
employees to continue their education and
create office policies that enable them to
do so. Help build awareness of opportunities for adult learning.
Community Support for School Improvement
T
he opportunity to improve the
academic achievement of all students
is not limited to educators alone.
There is much the community can do to
support local school improvement efforts.
Business and civic leaders can work with
educators to design ways to support and
encourage the strategies schools are using
to increase student learning. In fact,
community support for public education is
vitally important on several levels.
Altruistically, communities should have the
goal and expectation that all students will
be educated to become productive citizens
and achieve a pleasing quality of life. From
a practical view, communities should
support schools’ improvement initiatives
because an educated workforce is vital to
business and industry. Additionally, with an
educated work force come higher salaries,
which boost the local economy.
The future of Georgia’s economic viability
requires a quality education for its children, beginning with first-rate early
learning experiences, academic excellence
throughout school, and a solid preparation
for postsecondary education and the workforce. Georgia cannot afford to lose a
single student in the educational pipeline.
The support of local communities is
needed in order to keep every student on
the path of high school completion.
Nationally, thousands of students are lost
in the educational pipeline, failing to
complete high school or pursue higher
education. Figure 27 gives a projection of
the decrease in the number of students
enrolling in first grade and the number
that actually graduates from high school
Figure 27. Educational Pipeline: Grade 1 Through Bachelor’s
4500
Enrollment by Educational Level, 000s
4000
3958
3635
3633
3673
3708
3703
3658
3624
3532
3487
3500
3080
3000
2799
2500
2015
2000
1491
1410
1500
1169
1000
725
500
0
Gr 1
Gr 2
Gr 3
Gr 4
Gr 5
Gr 6
Gr 7
Gr 8
Gr 9
Gr 10
Gr 11
Gr 12
Enter
PSE
Enter
Yr 2
BA/BS
in 4
BA/BS BA/BS
in 6 Anytime
Educational Level
The increase in the number of students from grades 8 to 9 in the figure is a consequence of what Haney, W., Madaus, G., Abrams, L., Wheelock, A., Miao, J., and
Gruia, I. (2004) determine is the result of students having to repeat grade 9. In Georgia, there were 19 percent more students in grade 9 during 2000-2001 than in
grade 8 during 1999-2000.
Source: College Board. “Coming to Our Senses: Education and the American Future.” December 2008.
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
23
and college. The projection shows how
dramatically the student population in high
school and postsecondary institutions
drops over time. This representation,
however, need not represent Georgia’s
future. The talented and dedicated leadership in Georgia’s communities have the
tools to plug every leak in the educational
pipeline.
Many of Georgia’s localities have already
begun the work of community planning for
school improvement. Some have formalized their support for school improvement
by creating, implementing, and evaluating
a community plan to support school
improvement. These plans focus on what the
community can do – not just what schools
should do – to increase student learning.
Across the many regions of the state, the
process and outcomes of community planning for school improvement will vary.
Each region in Georgia has its own characteristics, history of support for public
education, and current structures for
community involvement, all of which will
shape the local plan. Yet local community
and business leaders can draw on the
experiences of other regions that have
successfully implemented an action plan
and made a positive difference in their
educational system.
The Georgia Partnership for Excellence in
Education supports the three-step strategy
to realize a region’s full potential outlined
by the Southern Growth Policies Board:
convene-connect-commit.61 Effective community planning begins with an area’s existing
resources. To gain momentum for school
improvement initiatives in your region,
bring together stakeholders and build partnerships with current organizations that
support local, sustainable best practices,
such as the Georgia Partnership for
Excellence in Education, Communities in
Schools, Family Connection Partnership,
Junior Achievement, and more. Measurable
and sustained success can be achieved
through the lasting, collaborative commitment of the individuals, businesses, and
institutions in your community.
Interested in Developing a
Community Action Plan to Support
School Improvement Initiatives?
The Georgia Partnership for Excellence
in Education seeks to encourage and
assist communities as they develop
and implement plans to support their
schools’ improvement efforts. Visit the
Partnership’s website (www.gpee.org) to
obtain a copy of the document, The “How
To’s” of Community Planning, to see a
sample community plan, and to acquire
6 1 Georgia Work Ready Initiative Fact Sheet, November 2008. Retrieved from http://www.gaworkready.org.
24
THE ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION – THIRD EDITION
additional details about developing a
community plan. Call the Georgia
Partnership’s office for information on how
we can help facilitate the process of
community planning for school improvement in your area.
In spite of the academic growth shown by
such indicators as increased graduation
rates, improvements on the NAEP, and
greater success with Advanced Placement
courses, Georgia still has many hurdles to
overcome in creating equitable educational outcomes for every child. The
support of local communities is needed in
order to improve the well-being and
economic security of young children; the
quality of children’s early learning opportunities; academic achievement at all
grade levels; and preparation for work or
post-secondary education. The challenge
to graduate every student from high
school cannot rest on the shoulders
of educators alone. As demonstrated
throughout this text, the personal and
economic consequences of failing to graduate from high school are too costly. The
future of Georgia’s youth and the future
viability of the state compels all stakeholders — educators, policy makers, and
business leaders — to invest in quality
education for every student.
For More Information and Support
T
he following organizations and their
websites provide information that support
the key issues outlined in this document.
The Georgia Partnership for Excellence in
Education – www.gpee.org
The Partnership provides advocacy, policy,
and communications support to business,
government, and education leaders to raise
academic standards and results in Georgia’s
public schools.
The Georgia Chamber of Commerce –
www.gachamber.com
The Georgia Chamber of Commerce
promotes education as one of the resources
necessary to keep the business community
of the state of Georgia economically
prosperous.
Georgia Department of Education –
www.gadoe.org
The Georgia Department of Education
offers information on public school policies,
operations, curricula, calendars, and
contact information. This resource also
provides details on testing, exceptional
students, classroom instruction, technical
career education and more.
Georgia Family Connection
Partnership – www.gafcp.org
The Georgia Family Connection Partnership
tracks critical information especially
relevant to the influences of early life
experiences on education. Through the
KIDS COUNT publication, this organization
provides comprehensive reports listing,
by county, numerous indicators related to
children’s well-being.
Georgia Leadership Institute for School
Improvement – www.glisi.org
Georgia Leadership Institute for School
Improvement (GLISI) is a partnership
devoted to the success of Georgia’s
educational leaders. GLISI focuses on
leadership development, policy influence,
and research and analysis to support
and equip educational leaders to drive
change for student success.
Governor’s Office of Student Achievement
– www.gaosa.org
The governor’s office provides the latest
information to support student achievement at every grade. The information
includes annual accountability report cards
on K-12 Public Schools with CriterionReferenced Competency Tests (CRCT)
results.
Bright from the Start: Georgia
Department of Early Care and Learning –
www.decal.ga.gov
This organization is responsible for the
childcare and early education needs of
Georgia’s Pre-K program, licensing and
monitoring child-care facilities, and
administering federal dollars to a variety
of programs servicing young children.
Georgia School Council Institute –
www.georgiaeducation.org
The Georgia School Council provides
current information on school performance
with comparisons available by region,
system, and state. In addition to giving the
latest in test scores, the council provides
information on education issues and news.
Board of Regents of the University
System of Georgia – www.usg.edu/regents
The Board of Regents oversees 35 colleges
and universities in the state. The governorappointed board seeks to contribute to
Georgia’s advancement by providing
excellent college programs and pursuing
and disseminating research.
Voices for Georgia’s Children –
www.georgiavoices.org
This organization provides research to
government, business, and community
leaders on how to improve the well-being
of Georgia’s children. Their policy agenda
seeks to create change in child mental,
physical, and oral health, reduce child abuse
and neglect, improve elementary school
reading achievement, and reduce juvenile
detention rates and school dropout rates.
Technical College System of Georgia –
www.tcsg.edu
The Technical College System oversees the
state’s technical colleges and several other
programs. The system offers certificates,
diplomas, and Associate’s degree programs,
continuing education, and economic
development.
Communities in Schools – www.cisga.org
Communities in Schools (CIS) assists
educators and social service providers in
creating a learner-centered environment
through training, individual consultation,
and technical assistance provided by field
facilitators.
Junior Achievement – www.ja.org and
www.georgia.ja.org
In partnership with businesses and
educators, and with the help of volunteer
tutors, Junior Achievement uses hands-on,
experiential programs to educate K-12
students about entrepreneurship, work
readiness, and financial literacy.
Georgia Professional Standards
Commission – www.gapsc.com
The Commission is responsible for the
certification, preparation and conduct of
personnel in Georgia’s public schools.
Georgia Student Finance Commission –
www.gsfc.org
This commission helps Georgia students
locate financial aid for college. In addition
to administering scholarships and grants
such as HOPE (Helping Outstanding Pupils
Educationally), the commission offers
student loans and free financial aid
consultation. The commission also developed GAcollege411 — an online resource that
aids in the college application process.
Georgia Work Ready –
www.gaworkready.org
A partnership between the state government and the Georgia Chamber of
Commerce, Georgia Work Ready facilitates
pairing employers with qualified workers.
This site provides additional information on
the initiative and its plans for promoting
economic growth in the state of Georgia.
GeorgiaPartnership
For Excellence In Education
233 Peachtree Street, Suite 2000
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
404-223-2280
www.gpee.org
233 Peachtree Street, Suite 2000
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
404-223-2264
www.gachamber.com
© 2010 Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education
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