This installment of our @matec newsletter article ”Education Challenges in the 21st Century”, inspired by Cathleen Barton’s presentation at the HI-TEC 2009 event, focuses on the National Governors Association’s Innovation America Initiative. The initiative, originally developed in 2006, focused on strengthening our nation’s competitive position in the global economy by improving our capacity to innovate. The goal was to give governors the tools they need to improve math and science education, better align postsecondary education systems with state economies, and develop regional innovation strategies. 

In an effort to help postsecondary education meet the economic needs of the state, Innovation America introduced the “Postsecondary Education Compact”. Through the compact, state governments, the postsecondary education system, the Boards of Regents, and the private sector collaboratively embrace a public agenda to align higher education policies, programs, curricula, and resources with current, emerging, and future economic realities. Elements of the compact were to:

  1. Involve stakeholders
  2. Conduct audit of state needs
  3. Articulate the goals and “priority mission” of postsecondary education
  4. Specify the responsibilities of the state
  5. Create a system of mutual accountability
  6. Articulate and agree on roles of individual institutions

Full details regarding the Innovation America and the “Postsecondary Education Compact” can be found at www.nga.org/center/innovation.

Despite these efforts, four years later there still appears to be some degree of disconnect between state and local education alignment. What major economic challenges does your state currently face, and what specific strategies have been or should be created to resolve them? What evidence of progress have you experienced?

Lara Smith