Education

As Colorado has grappled with the correct balance for tax and expenditure policies, the resourcing of higher education has hung in the balance, one of the few discretionary areas within our state budget. But is a well-prepared workforce discretionary? We must ensure that we invest our resources in an efficient, relevant system of education that provides the greatest gains for our future. And we will have to make some decisive choices on the best return on our investments.

It's unusual for our most-prepared students, from families with a tradition of higher education, to avoid achieving at least a degree. In fact, according to The Education Trust, Washington, D.C., by age 24, 75 percent of U.S. students from the top income quartile have achieved at least a bachelor’s degree. On the other side of the equation, for students from the lowest quartile, fewer than nine percent have this same level of achievement by the same age.

In Colorado, we have a lot going for us. We rank 14^th in the U.S. in wealth. We have attracted an amazing number of people, packing college degrees from other states, into our economy. The concern isn’t where we are, but where we’re going. According to the Center for Education Policy Analysis, in 2005-06, we still ranked second in the nation in population of adults with college degrees. On the surface, this sounds pretty good: a prepared workforce without our having to pay for it. But the paradox is that we ranked 31^st in college completion rates. For every 100 students who enter ninth grade in Colorado, only 19 will graduate with an associate’s degree within three or bachelor’s degree within six years of graduation.

The hidden threat is our achievement gap. The fastest-growing populations in Colorado are unfortunately those at the lowest end of that gap. While our White population has grown 14 percent from 1985 to 2005, the Black population has grown 77 percent, and the Hispanic population has grown 155 percent over that same period. And while around 36 percent of Whites go on to college, only 28 percent of Blacks and only 11 percent of Hispanics are doing so.

The implications for our workforce are glaring. We must devise a policy strategy that we can execute, one that ensures a prepared workforce and enhances, not diminishes, our state’s productivity and standard of living. We have to maximize our return on our educational investment.

Community colleges bridge the gap. Long known for our access mission, open to everyone who can benefit, we have helped youth and adults prepare for further education or directly enter the workforce. But the stakes are rising, and community colleges will have to even more effectively reach into K-12 education and connect to our four-year colleges and universities to reverse the negative effects on the workforce that the achievement gap portends. School districts and community colleges and four-year colleges and universities must engage in a seamless educational continuum. By collaborating, we can be not only efficient but effective. We must work together to define the outcomes for students at every level—and to avoid students’ repeating the same educational experiences.

There is good news. First, at the most reasonable cost to students and to Colorado taxpayers, community colleges are preparing students for university success. We serve students across the spectrum, from well-prepared to educationally-lagging. Research has demonstrated that community college graduates who go on to a four-year institution do as well as or better than students who start their freshman year at the university. Why is this significant? It is remarkable that students who come to our open-access institutions, without selection criteria, will then compete so favorably with students who met those criteria for admission. The students who enter our four-year colleges and universities after their community college experience can earn those prestigious degrees at a fraction of the cost. And those students who otherwise would not have had an opportunity to advance, whose families for generations to come would have been stalled on the wrong side of the achievement gap, will break through and achieve.

Second, there is mounting evidence that students who earn college credit in high school, even those students whose families sit on the disadvantaged side of the achievement gap, are more likely to go on to postsecondary education, and to be successful. This is a great strategy for the most engaged and advanced students to excel and get a jump on college, but it is also working for students who otherwise are at risk of leaving long before high school graduation. In addition to accessing early college experiences in subjects like calculus and physics, students in career and technical education (CTE) courses learn applied skills, like business, accounting, health careers, agriculture, and mechanics, concurrently with academic subjects like mathematics, English, and communications. They begin college before they complete high school, sometimes earning a certificate or associate’s degree concurrently with the high school diploma.

It is imperative that we change our approaches to learning to take advantage of our technological world—and better equip our students to compete in the global economy. The youngest students we serve are technologically savvy and adept. Their play is enhanced by technology, and their learning must be so, also. We must challenge their imaginations and engage them in their learning. In the military, we train our troops with high technology, like virtual reality, to simulate the experiences for which they are being prepared. At Disneyland and Disney World, we teach students about history and about the world by technologically immersing them in the experiences. Education can similarly engage students who may not be initially excited by theoretical mathematics or physics. And it can reach out to students whose families do not have the tradition of higher education.

At the Community College of Aurora, we have embarked upon a transformational era in learning experiences that are effective for all students. At our Center for Simulation at the Lowry Campus, we are helping students learn through relevant educational experiences. For example, in Emergency Medical Services (EMS), we teach and train paramedics and emergency medical technicians in simulated work environments—a mock-home, street, and restaurant with ambulances and equipment—where they rescue and administer to high-technology mannequins in simulated emergency experiences. Each environment simulates the real world, with the distractions and challenges of working in the field. The students’ responses are recorded by highly sensitive cameras and microphones, and the high-fidelity mannequins exhibit real-life reactions to the students’ interventions. They learn high-level mathematics and science, in a relevant context. We have invited in high school students and working professionals to engage in this learning. And there are other programs, in community colleges across the state, where these authentic learning environments and engaging educational strategies are transforming education.

The workforce of the future will rely upon workers across the spectrum of jobs that have technology, creative, problem-solving, critical thinking, and analytical skills. Far from the corporate world of our parents, where an employee stayed throughout a career of 30+ years with one company, these workers will be called upon to learn and adapt to new jobs that haven’t yet been invented. Not everyone will be a Ph.D. engineer. In fact, our economy neither needs nor can accommodate such a design. But we do need to ensure that throughout their work lives, Coloradoans can learn and work, moving seamlessly in and out of educational experiences.

We must transform education to be seamless, relevant, engaging, and efficient. These strategies are effective for well- and under-prepared students alike. It is a major investment in our future, and the returns are very high.

About Dr. Linda S. Bowman

Dr. Linda S. Bowman is the President of the Community College of Aurora and Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs at the Colorado Community College System. Dr. Bowman holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration from the University of Colorado, Masters degrees in Public Administration and in English, and a Bachelors degree in English and Spanish. Her community service includes volunteer work for Aurora Rotary Club and serving as Past Board Chair for the Aurora Chamber of Commerce. She is a member of the board for the Aurora Economic Development Council, the Arapahoe/Douglas Workforce Center, Lowry Redevelopment Authority, WELLS Nursing Simulation Center, and Colorado Community Colleges Education Foundation. She also serves as a member of the Governor's P-20 Council. Linda has been designated as a Co-Command Chief for the 460^th Space Wing, Buckley Air Force Base. She has been named "Woman of the Year" by the Aurora Chamber of Commerce, "Woman of Distinction" by the Mile High Girl Scouts, "President of the Year" by the State Student Advisory Council and a Presidential Honoree by the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society.