[Vision2020] Education= "Widget Production"

[Ron Force]

Ed board: Idaho grads needed
More educated 'widgets' must be produced at lower cost, ed board president 
Westerberg says
By William L. Spence 
January 21, 2011

BOISE - The State Board of Education wants to double the percentage of young 
Idahoans earning college degrees over the next decade, from 31 percent today to 
60 percent by 2020.

Board President Richard Westerberg said Thursday that's a "world-class 
aggressive" goal, but if Idaho fails to hit the mark it risks turning into an 
economic backwater.

"By 2018, 61 percent of all new jobs will require some sort of post-secondary 
certification, so do we have a choice?" Westerberg said, speaking to the joint 
budget and education committees. "My experience is that if we aren't producing 
the work force that businesses need, they'll go someplace else."

Likening Idaho's colleges and universities to manufacturing plants, he said 
they'll have to produce a lot more "widgets" without a corresponding increase in 
state funding.

"It isn't reasonable to expect an increase in per-student funding to support an 
increase of this magnitude," Westerberg said. "We need to drastically increase 
output, while significantly decreasing the per-unit cost and maintaining 
quality. Global competition requires it."

The state board has authority over Idaho's entire educational system, from 
public schools and the superintendent of public instruction to colleges and 
universities, the agricultural research centers, community colleges and 
professional-technical institutions.

The 60 percent goal, which applies to Idahoans from 25 to 34, was set after a 
yearlong strategic planning effort, Westerberg said. A variety of initiatives 
will be needed to meet that target.

For example, dual enrollment and concurrent credit courses help high school 
students realize they can do college-level work. They also reduce the time it 
takes for someone to complete a degree program, and help the institution because 
students are more likely to attend the college or university where they earned 
the dual credits.

The state board also reduced the number of credits needed to graduate, from 128 
to 120, and it's encouraging institutions to be more flexible in the way they 
provide course content. Westerberg noted his own daughter took an online nurse 
practitioner course from Idaho State University because she couldn't attend 
school full-time. That meant she wasn't taking up a seat at the university, so 
the space could be "sold" to another student.

"Again, we're trying to make more 'widgets' at a lower price," he said. "I think 
all our institutions need to focus more on online learning."

Finally, the board is hoping to implement an "outcome-based budgeting" program 
in the next year or so.

"We've had extensive discussions about that over the past year," Westerberg 
said. "We're closing in on a model that I think makes sense for Idaho."

The plan would tie 3 percent to 5 percent of an institution's annual state 
funding to certain "key performance indicators," he said. These goals and 
measures are already part of each institution's strategic plan - things like 
degree completion rates, cost per credit hour and post-graduation job placement 
rates.

The idea "is really based on the notion that what gets recognized and rewarded 
gets attention," Westerberg said. "We want to recognize and reward the good 
performance at our institutions and focus on areas that need improvement."

Also on Thursday, the Idaho Freedom Foundation and American Council of Trustees 
and Alumni released a report praising the State Board of Education for its 
transparency and diversity of opinion.

However, the report also gave the state failing grades for cost and 
effectiveness and general education requirements.

"We were most impressed with the state board," said ACTA program officer Heather 
Lakemacher. "Its members are engaged and ask good questions. Over a two-year 
period, every member voted no on at least one agenda item. That's something we 
just don't see in other states."

Idaho's college retention rates and graduation rates, on the other hand, are 
below the national average. Depending on the institution, 25 percent to 50 
percent of freshmen don't return for their sophomore year, Lakemacher said, and 
in most cases fewer than 10 percent graduate within four years.

When it comes to general education requirements, ACTA found "large numbers of 
Idaho students are graduating without a strong base of knowledge" in areas such 
as literature and composition, economics, foreign language, math, science, and 
government or history.
---

Spence may be contacted at bspence at lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2274.


      
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