Its Not your fathers Oldsmobile

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Its Not your fathers Oldsmobile!

• Tom Welch
• Director, Seeding Innovation
• Office for the New Economy
• tom.welch_at_ky.gov
• February 19, 2004

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What will Kentuckys economy need?

• Need for high-tech/neo-entrepreneur
• Neo-entrepreneurs
• Ability to combine highly-trained intellect with
  solutions to problems not yet clearly defined or
  which represent nonparadigmatic problems

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• Reengineered identity for young Kentuckians
• Synthesizes the following
• Unparalleled academic preparation
• Entrepreneurial approach
• Confidence as a fundamental characteristic of the
  identity
  
• Understanding of the global nature of their
  tasks
  

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Major initiatives of Seeding Innovation

• Encourage students to prepare to participate in
  areas related to New Economy directions.
  
• Mathematics
• Science
• Engineering
• Entrepreneurship
• Infuse entrepreneurial thinking in the K-16 arena.

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• Role Model Program
• Mentor Program
• Internships
• Summer camp for Entrepreneurs
• Governors Recognition program

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Its Time To Get With It . . .
It may not be your fathers Oldsmobile . . .
But it sure looks like your grandmothers high s
chool!
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Manhours for car and credit hour production
1912-2004
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What do the data reveal?

• A look at data from the 2000 census reports

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How does Kentucky stack up?

• of adults over 25 with less than a 9th grade
  education
  
• US average 7.4
• KY average 11.7

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Lets get personal (US avg. 7.4)

• Bourbon 9.3
• Clark 10.4
• Marion 15.2
• Montgomery 14.7
• Nicholas 16.5
• Washington 17.1
• Woodford 7.5

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of adults 25 with less than a 9th grade
education

• 110 Kentucky counties below the natl average

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Kentucky counties that beat the national average
for adults with more than a 9th grade education.
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• 18 counties have more than 25 of the adult
  population over 25 with less than a 9th grade
  education
  
• Owsley County has 33.8 of the over 25 adult
  population with less than a 9th grade education.

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of population with a high school diploma or
higher

• US average 80.7
• KY average 74.1

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with HS dip (US avg 80.7)

• Bourbon 75.4
• Clark 75
• Marion 70.5
• Montgomery 70.5
• Nicholas 62.9
• Washington 68.8
• Woodford 82.6

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of population with a high school diploma or
higher

• 111 Kentucky counties below the natl average

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Kentucky counties that beat the national average
for adults with a high school diploma
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80.7 of the US adult population has a high
school diploma.

• 32 Counties have less than 60 of the population
  with a high school diploma.
  
• Owsley and Clay counties have less than 50 of
  the adult population with a high school diploma.

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of adults over 25 with a BA or higher

• US average 22.8
• KY average 20.8

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of adults 25 with a BA or higher (US avg.
22.8)

• Bourbon 13.5
• Clark 15.6
• Marion 9.1
• Montgomery 13.4
• Nicholas 7.5
• Washington 13.3
• Woodford 25.9

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of adults 25 with a BA or higher

• 106 Kentucky counties below the natl average

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Kentucky counties that beat the national average
for adults with at least a BA.
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• 39 Kentucky counties have fewer than 10 of the
  adults over 25 who hold a BA or higher.
  
• Edmonson County has a population with only 4.9
  of the adults holding a BA or higher.

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Where do we rank?

• 25th in population
• 34th in patents issued
• 35th in math proficiency
• 46th in 8th graders taking Algebra

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• 55 Kentucky counties did not have a single
  business classified by the KY Economic
  Development Cabinet as a knowledge-based
  business or industry.

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Who wins? Who loses?

• Counties win and lose in terms of an economic
  base.
  
• Each student wins or loses because of the
  preparation and opportunity for learning at high
  levels which we provide or do not provide.

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• In the 19th and 20th centuries, geography imposed
  limitations on opportunities for learning.
  
• In the 21st century, we cannot afford to accept
  geography as a reason to limit opportunities for
  students to achieve and participate in the
  learning-based economy.

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• We are not in the school business.
• We are in the learning business.
• How will we broker learning opportunities for
  each students learning portfolio?

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• Some thoughts . . .

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• Change constant, accelerating, ubiquitous is
  the most striking characteristic of our world.
  . .
  
• and our education system has not yet recognized
  this fact.

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• Whatever the reasons were for the present form
  of schools, they have little or nothing to do
  with the problems that we face now, and so they
  need to be changed.

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• The trouble is that most teachers have the idea
  that they are in the information dissemination
  business.

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• Schools as they now exist largely confine
  students to sitting in boxes with the choice of
  acquiescing to teacher demands or getting out.

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• A fanatic is someone who redoubles his efforts
  when he has forgotten his aim.

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• The only relevance of the curriculum for most
  students is that if they do what they are told,
  there will be a tangible payoff.

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• A subject is something you take and when you
  have taken it, you have had it, and if you have
  had it, you are immune and need not take it
  again.

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• Arrangements should be worked out with colleges
  and universities to admit students from a school
  system on the basis of performance rather than
  grades in subjects.

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• To accomplish renewal, we need to understand
  what prevents it. The aging society develops
  elaborate defenses against new ideas.

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• The fact is that our present educational system
  is not viable and is certainly not capable of
  generating enough energy to lead to its own
  revitalization.

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• The teachers of the future must bring this
  revolution off or it will not happen.

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• The preceding thoughts were from
• Teaching As A Subversive Activity
• by
• Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner
• c 1969!

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If we can agree

• We dont know what will occur if we can agree
• We DO know what will occur if we dont!

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• The problem is NOT that
• high schools are not
• getting the job done.

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High Schools have been very successful at
accomplishing exactly what they were designed to
do.
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The modern high school was formed to

• 1. Ensure that any student presenting themselves
  for university level work had at least 125 hours
  of instruction in a set of core subjects.
  
• 2. Ensure that students not going to college
  followed a course of study deemed appropriate by
  the adults in charge.

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• Are there ways to re-form the system?

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One idea . . .
Governors School for the Future of the Common
wealth