Getting To Work

The Central Ohio Compact’s distinctiveness—its strength—is found in its sharp focus on college readiness and on learners’ transitions from both high school and the workplace, into the postsecondary experiences that can make a difference in their lives.

Compact members understand that tackling the talent challenge involves a number of complex issues. We are trying to build a competitive, sustainable economy by grasping the simplicity of human aspiration and by making postsecondary attainment possible for all citizens.

NEW AREAS OF FOCUS FOR THE COMPACT

Advocate for policy and practices that galvanize collaboration to make college affordable for everyone. Strong policy can be the difference between college affordability and deep, long-lasting debt or, for some, a decision that college is out of reach entirely. Ohio’s adoption of College Credit Plus saved families more than $110 million in its first year alone. Promoting policies that make it easier for students to pursue 2+2 and 3+1 bachelor’s degrees can do even more to ensure access, affordability and student success.

Engage employers to develop a regional workforce strategy. Successful pilots have demonstrated the capacity for K-12, higher education, and industry partners to build programs that move students seamlessly from high school to college to the workplace, jumpstarting promising careers and filling critical workforce roles. Now is the time to bring strategic efforts to scale based on the region’s anticipated workforce needs for 2020 and beyond.

Mobilize our community to address non-academic barriers for students. As our region becomes increasingly diverse, so do the needs of our collective student body. Our students are more geographically and racially diverse than ever before. They are more likely to juggle school and work than ever before. And a substantial number will approach the prospect of college as first-generation students whose families are unequipped to provide support that can ensure good outcomes. A community that finds ways to provide that support will have solved a critical challenge on the path to greater degree attainment.

Pursue a meaningful data exchange that focuses on student success. Seizing upon the momentum that has resulted in wins that include the development of the Central Ohio Compact Dashboard and strong initial reverse transfer results in Ohio Department of Higher Education’s “Credit When It’s Due” initiative, our region must push further to ensure that the compatibility of tracking systems is a benefit rather than a hindrance to student success.

Educational Service Center of Central Ohio Superintendent Tom Goodney weighs in on the next steps for the Central Ohio Compact.

As we accelerate our preparations for the 2016-17 school year, I am ever more aware of the heightened focus and importance of our children’s college and career readiness. For generations of Central Ohioans, a high school diploma meant a steady job and a middle-class income needed to support a family. It offered an opportunity to pursue a satisfying career. But today, a high school education is no longer enough. Success in careers and in life demands knowledge and skills that make some form of postsecondary education a virtual requirement.

On April 7, 2016, more than 300 Central Ohio stakeholders and participants came together for the Seventh Summit of The Central Ohio Compact to examine and address the matter. Many of this year’s attendees were new to the summit and for the first time a cohort of students were included in session work.

This year’s summit highlighted the fifth year of progress since the case was made for a regional goal of 60% of adults earning a postsecondary certificate or degree by 2025. A key resource in tracking this goal will be a dashboard to evaluate the region’s progress. In a major step forward, a Dashboard Beta Launch tutorial was included on the agenda, representing a key deliverable of the Compact and its work to this point.

Another decision point of participants was the commissioning of a renewal of the Compact. Through small group and session work, participants determined an updated Compact partnership should expand to:

Ensure robust human services engagement;
Focus on behaviors and analyses which promote policy alignment;
Promote much deeper employer engagement; and
Champion the requirement for relevant, college pathway communications to parents and students.

I am very excited that the ESC of Central Ohio and Columbus State Community College were commissioned by summit participants to serve as partners in drafting the updated Compact. Participants suggested that this updated version shifts the goals and activities from purely theoretical to the context and impacts on real students, families and employers.

The ESC of Central Ohio is well positioned to lead such an endeavor and continues to pivot its work to assist in creating a more college and career ready region. Last year, the ESC released Navigating Central Ohio’s College & Career Readiness System to guide schools, districts and institutions of higher education to better prepare students for participation and success at the postsecondary level and in the workforce. The report provided clarification regarding the state’s new College Credit Plus program, identified some of the region’s most promising college and career readiness practices and advanced recommendations to maximize students’ readiness for college and careers.

In addition, the ESC is involved in several of Ohio’s Straight A Fund grant projects with a focus on college and career readiness and career pathways. These projects involve new and renewed regional partnerships, expanded use of mobile and digital technologies, a more focused and intentional use of data and more. The ESC is also a key partner in the Central Ohio Partnership for College and Career Readiness Expansion project. This is a federally-funded grant project designed to engage more minority and low-income students in earning college credit through Early College High School programs.

Finally, the ESC has invested additional capacity toward the region’s college and career ready goals in its hiring of new staff to focus directly on this work. Christine Galvin, director of instruction with Bellefontaine City Schools, and Marcy Raymond, formerly of Metro High School, Reynoldsburg City Schools, and New Albany-Plain Local Schools, have joined the ESC to develop networks, assisting schools, districts, and institutions of higher education as they continue to build partnerships and programming focused on career pathways and college and career readiness.

We look forward to building and developing our college and career ready services in concert with our partners and stakeholders as this work moves forward and continues to evolve.

Critical steps in setting the Compact’s action agenda in motion include:

CONFIRMING OUR MEMBERS’ COMMITMENT

All summit participants and other prospective members will be urged to sign a Joint Resolution confirming their support for the Compact’s objectives and the strategic initiatives designed to achieve them. The Joint Resolution will acknowledge that district-level and institutional practices may vary based on the local environment and unique needs of students, and that signatories have agreed to share proven and promising practices and engage in collaborative action, where appropriate.

FORMING STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP TO ACCELERATE CHANGE

When it comes to improving college readiness and raising postsecondary success rates, no one can go it alone. Alliances that give P-12 educators and postsecondary institutions access to skills and resources that lie outside their boundaries are essential. So Compact members will form strategic partnerships that enhance their capacity to build students’ learning aspirations, strengthen academic preparation, promote adult learning opportunities, and improve the productivity of educational institutions at all levels.

BUILDING OUR KNOWLEDGE BASE

A process for identifying and sharing information about proven and promising practices in all four of the Compact’s strategic initiative areas will be established. All Compact members will have access to this information on a continuing basis, and it will be used by members interested in “going to scale,” that is, replicating these practices in different settings and contexts.

REPORTING ON OUR PROGRESS

Through a common website and periodic meetings, Compact members will track progress toward our 60 percent goal and the enabling objectives, share best practices, and create a culture of collaborative innovation as we bring the best ideas to scale, learn from our mistakes, and persist as a region.

The Compact’s success will require persistence, innovation, and collaboration. It also will require political will. There is substantial evidence that the necessary political will exists in Central Ohio to invest what is required in education. But the Compact must strengthen people’s confidence that additional investment will produce the
results that are needed.