Education/Workforce

While Central Indiana offers a skilled incumbent workforce and excellent public and private universities, Indiana as a state has lagged behind the nation in key measures of educational attainment.

An educated population is the best predictor of economic growth, job creation and rising incomes in our knowledge-based economy. The Central Indiana Corporate Partnership is involved in several initiatives designed to build human capital and maintain our economic competitiveness into the next generation:

Building a World-Class Manufacturing & Logistics Workforce

Today's manufacturing and logistics jobs demand more education and greater technical skills than ever before. While traditional assembly line jobs have disappeared, new high-tech positions in fields like medical manufacturing, advanced technology vehicles, and supply chain management are being created.

With a generation of skilled Baby Boomers poised for retirement, the manufacturing sector confronts a national skills gap. Indiana is working proactively to meet this challenge:

CICP's Conexus Indiana initiative is helping to rebuild the state's pipeline for manufacturing and logistics workers by ensuring industry-approved educational programs are available. Conexus has developed a detailed skills template based on employer input that has been embraced by the Indiana Department of Education and Commission for Higher Education, and helped launch five new degree programs to prepare Hoosiers for manufacturing and logistics careers.

Conexus is also focused on changing the image of manufacturing and logistics to attract young people to these careers - they've launched Dream It. Do It. Indiana, an online/grassroots campaign focused on educating young people, their parents and teachers about the high-tech, high-growth manufacturing and logistics jobs available today.

GOVERNANCE REFORM FOR FAILING SCHOOL DISTRICTS

The most important thing that elected officials, civic and business leaders, concerned citizens and families can do for our community’s children is work together to provide them best opportunities to learn.  Quality education is the key to success in life, and a catalyst for economic growth in our region.

Unfortunately, in the Indianapolis Public Schools, entrenched bureaucrats and well-organized interest groups are protecting a system that rewards seniority over success, with mountains of rules and contractual obligations designed for the comfort of adults rather than the achievement of students.  Only 41 cents of every dollar spent in IPS reaches the classroom, principals have little power to improve conditions at their schools, and accountability from the district is scarce.

The results: Less than half of IPS students pass Math and English I-STEP requirements.  Graduation rates lag the state average by more than twenty percent.  Six of the seven schools identified by the state as chronic failures are IPS schools.

In December of 2011, the Indianapolis-based education reform think tank The Mind Trust issued a groundbreaking report detailing IPS’ struggles and putting forth a blueprint for change – making a dramatic shift from a traditional ‘top down’ district bureaucracy to a more decentralized, innovative model where schools are empowered to create a strong culture of learning, more funding is dedicated to education instead of administrative overhead, and schools are held accountable for results.

Despite predictable opposition from the IPS central office, the Mind Trust’s conclusions have earned bipartisan support from a growing number of elected and civic leaders – including CICP.  Click here to read the Executive Summary of the report, and stay tuned as we move forward towards making this vision of educational opportunity for all a reality in Indiana’s capitol city.

Science, Technology and Engineering Education

The U.S. has fallen behind other industrialized nations in educating workers in the technical fields - science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). This has become a serious economic hurdle, and it starts with K-12 education.

In Indiana, CICP's BioCrossroads initiative is focused on reversing this trend with the I STEM Resource Network. This network of higher education institutions around the state provides easily accessible, superior quality professional development for teachers; access to existing, practical, and exciting hands-on learning opportunities for students and families; and grassroots support for better STEM education policies across all Indiana communities.

IN-STEP AP Project

Another priority in improving science and math education in Indiana is to provide more challenging classes to high school students, to help get them on the right path early-on to exciting careers in industries like the life sciences, technology and advanced manufacturing - and earn college credit in the process. The Indiana Department of Education has set the goal that at least 25% of Hoosier high school graduates should pass at least one Advanced Placement (AP) class exam.

CICP's BioCrossroads initiative has partnered with the University of Notre Dame in a project to add more AP courses in math and science to K-12 curricula around the state. The IN-STEP AP initiative is focused on providing more professional development for teachers to become certified to teach these classes, and pursuing federal grants to help high schools pay for implementation.

K-12 Reading Reform

The chances for success for future generations is rooted in the quality of their K-12 education. Reading is the fundamental skill that makes all other learning possible; only 2% of students who experience serious problems with reading go on to complete a four-year college degree.

One of every four Indiana 3rd graders fails the Language Arts I-STEP standardized test. This matches the state's 27% high school dropout rate.

In 2010, CICP was the primary advocate for early reading reform, promoting an end to social promotion from 3rd to 4th grade if students cannot read at grade level. Third grade is a turning point in reading education, when kids go from ‘learning to read' to ‘reading to learn,' and repeated studies show that student who cannot read by the end of 3rd grade are unlikely to catch up to their peers.

This policy was approved by the Indiana General Assembly and adopted by the Indiana Department of Education, which is in the process of implementing a sweeping plan to improve reading education - installing a research-based curriculum, mandating more dedicated instruction time for reading, and providing special help for students who fall behind.

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