Interim University President Robert Berdahl @@http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2012/03/robert_berdahl_university_of_o.html@@traveled to Portland on Tuesday to speak to the Oregon Education Investment Board about the establishment of achievement compacts.@@http://www.oregon.gov/Gov/OEIB/OregonEducationInvestmentBoard.shtml@@
Berdahl talked about the efforts of the University, local Lane County school districts, Lane Community College and the establishment of achievement compacts between each institution and the OEIB in order to meet Gov. Kitzhaber’s “40-40-20” goals. These goals, to be completed by 2025, include 100-percent high school graduation rates, 40 percent of Oregonians attaining a bachelor’s degree, 40 percent receiving an associate’s degree or other training and only 20 percent not continuing into higher education.
“We discussed the ’40-40-20′ and how we are cooperating in order to meet those,” Berdahl said. “The initial measure is having everyone complete high school, so we are working very assiduously to help schools improve the education that they provide.”
Course readiness was an area of discussion for the meeting. Berdahl explained that mathematics and verbal skills are two areas in which students struggle statewide, and current research through the University’s College of Education will help shed light on which programs prepare students for college most efficiently.
“The research will be on programs that are successful and can be replicated to have faculty and high schools working together,” Berdahl said. “It’s a fairly complete effort to work across all of these various levels to improve the quality of education and achieve those goals (of 40-40-20).”
Berdahl explained the University’s supporting role in helping more students get into college and succeed. He hopes the University’s efforts will aid students statewide.
“Our role will be to define what programs are most effective, and to set expectations on what is necessary for students to succeed in college. There is a huge array of things that we have going on that are aimed at helping students prepare,” Berdahl said.
Another goal of the OEIB is to get more students to graduate high school with some college credit already under their belts, making for a smoother transition into higher education.
“One of the outcomes we are looking for is for students to have at least 12 college credits when they graduate,” OEIB member and Superintendent of Springfield Schools Nancy Golden @@http://www.sps.lane.edu/15771078165931603/blank/browse.asp?a=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=54560@@said.
Golden said that the OEIB will shift between a compliance role and a support role in order to help each institution break down barriers in order to meet their respective achievement compacts. LCC President Mary Spilde @@http://www.lanecc.edu/presoffc/presmess.htm@@commented that the achievement compacts won’t be permanent, but will change as each institution changes in order to meet the transforming dynamics of the entire system.
“It’s very important to understand that this is very evolutionary,” Spilde said. “The compacts that we have for next year are probably not going to be the compacts we have going forward as we gain more experience with this.”