Leading change isn’t easy. It requires planning and action. It requires leadership. It requires a movement…a group of people with a common ideology who join to achieve a common goal. And it all starts with research to guide our actions.
THREE SEMINAL STUDIES. We have reviewed piles of research and distilled the impetus and guide for our movement down to the findings in these studies:
“Utah’s Demographic Transformation,” Pamela S. Perlich, David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah, January 2010, see “Presentations”
http://www.bebr.utah.edu/index.html
“School Testing Results: How Utah Compares To States With Similar Demographics,”
Utah Foundation, September 2010
http://utahfoundation.org/img/pdfs/rr697.pdf
“Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements Through 2018,”
Center on Education and the Workforce,
Georgetown University, June 2010
http://cew.georgetown.edu/jobs2018/
THE FINDINGS IN THESE STUDIES REVEAL THREE CRITICAL CHALLENGES:
1) Increasing ethnic/racial diversity. Utah is experiencing a generational shift in our ethnic and racial makeup. By 2050 nearly one-third of Utah will be comprised of racial and ethnic minorities.
2) Utah test scores are below that of peer states. Utah’s math, reading and science scores over the
past two decades have been less than states with similar demographics. In addition, Utah’s
national rankings in test scores have fallen significantly.
3) The jobs of the future will require postsecondary training. Two-thirds of all jobs in Utah will
require postsecondary training beyond high school by 2018.
THE RESEARCH AND FACTS ARE CLEAR. EDUCATION IS THE PATH TO ENDURING PROSPERITY.
We have credible and current studies that show us that we must invest and innovate in education to be nationally and internationally competitive.
Prosperity 2020…it starts with education.