|
Creating a "Next Generation" Approach to Education
June 2008
On Saturday, April 5, the Boston College Center hosted Transforming Business-Education Partnerships: Seeking Solutions for the 21st Century. This full-day conference sought to explore “next generation” approaches to education, which has long been a top concern of many Center members. The conference was intended to be just the beginning of a major new initiative focused on how business can more effectively use its influence, resources and employees to improve education.
Sparked by April’s dialogue and the input that followed, the Center is now embarking on the new initiative with an exciting vision. Others are invited to join this effort to make a real contribution to meeting one of the nation’s greatest challenges.
The First Step
The April conference drew a sold-out crowd of some 100 participants, including many of the most prominent corporate leaders in this field. Sponsored by Hewlett-Packard, the KnowedgeWorks Foundation, and Booz-Allen, the conference included speakers from Intel, IBM, Ernst & Young, ExxonMobil, Prudential Insurance, and Battelle.
The day was organized by William Symonds, a senior fellow at the Center as well as Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. In his opening remarks, Symonds noted that despite an enormous expenditure of corporate resources on the public schools, many business leaders are afflicted by what he calls the 3 Fs: Frustration, Futility and Fatigue. Indeed, 25 years after the report, “A Nation at Risk,” first called attention to the problem, the United States has actually lost ground. As a result, the shortcomings of the nation’s schools today threaten both the future of the economy, and the viability of the American Dream.
The fundamental goal of the initiative is to break through this frustration by developing more promising ways forward.
Ending the Isolation: The "Uncommon Table"
To launch the initiative, the Center is working to convene an “Uncommon Table” of key stakeholders in education to help create a new era of corporate citizenship in this vital arena.
The Uncommon Table is a direct response to one of the central complaints heard April 5: All too often, business has been somewhat isolated from other key players in education, even as it has invested billions of dollars and countless hours of employee time and expertise in programs to improve public schools.
The Uncommon Table would end this isolation by bringing corporate leaders together with prominent educators, foundations, nonprofit community organizations and teacher unions. Moreover, these participants would agree to come together not just for one meeting, but for a sustained series of meetings.
Nothing quite like this forum exists today. At the Uncommon Table, the Center aims to promote a much deeper dialogue about the enormous challenges the nation faces in education while building better ties among the key players.
At present, for instance, many educators are openly suspicious of business, a divide exposed by the growing controversy over the federal No Child Left Behind law. It’s clear many business leaders don’t understand the pressures educators face. Yet as Tony Wagner – author of the forthcoming book, “The Global Achievement Gap” – pointed out April 5, many educators are even less aware of the skills today’s students must master to prosper in the 21st century economy.
The Uncommon Table will seek to break down such barriers, and then work to develop more effective education policies that business could embrace. At the same time, the Uncommon Table will work to improve the work companies do in education through their school partnerships and programs.
Meetings to Begin in the Fall
Initial meetings of the Uncommon Table are in the planning stages, but expected to occur this fall. Because there has been so much interest, two meetings are planned to start, with one aimed primarily at participants from Texas and the West, and a second designed for those from the Midwest and East.
In addition to the “Uncommon Table,” the Center hopes to champion better citizenship through collaboration, communication and education. Many of the speakers on April 5 noted the problems of schools – which educate more than 50 million students on a budget of some $500 billion – are far too large and complex for any one company to solve. But companies can achieve far more by collaborating with one another, as well as other organizations.
One route is to work with other companies and organizations based in the same city or region, a kind of collaboration KnowledgeWorks is promoting through its Strive initiative in Cincinnati.
A second route is to join with others to scale-up proven programs nationally. The National Math and Science Initiative – initially funded with a $125 million grant from ExxonMobil – is an especially exciting example of such national collaboration that was among the programs highlighted on April 5. The Center hopes to play an important role in identifying, researching and educating companies on the most promising opportunities for collaboration.
Ongoing communication about the progress of the initiative and the findings from research and collaboration will be a key to success in making business an effective partner in improving American education. Shared knowledge and understanding between business and educators is a vital piece to the puzzle.
Toward the end of sharing knowledge, early this fall the Center plans to offer an Education Webinar in which Wagner will speak about his new book with Symonds. As this initiative develops, the Center will also offer Executive Education programs for practitioners and executives interested in learning from some of the top leaders in the field.
While this is an ambitious undertaking, those involved agree the scale of the problem demands nothing less.
In the spirit of the initiative as a collaborative endeavor, the Center is seeking ideas, suggestions, comments and criticisms, as well as the active participation of those interested. To share your thoughts, contact the Center at ccc.bized@bc.edu. Future updates on the Uncommon Table and other aspects of the initiative can be found at www.bcccc.net.
View more June 2008 articles > |
