Growth & Justice Blog

MnSCU accountability dashboard could be a model

Last October, I wrote about a mixed report card Minnesota received on its use of the web to disclose information about the state's business. Today, I'd like to award a Gold Star.

Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) today unveiled an accountability dashboard that provides increased public visibility of measures the MnSCU system uses to manage for continuous improvement.

Although the dashboard is primarily designed as a tool for the system's trustees, academic leaders and managers, it also provides citizens with a clear line of sight into the strategic priorities of MnSCU, its performance and the progress it needs to make.

Like other state information, this was previously available to the public — unfortunately, like too much public information, in forms not readily usable. The dashboard represents an important step toward transparency and accountability and could be a model for other public agencies.

Here's what the site does right.

Accessibility. Spend much time digging on most text-oriented state web sites, and you'll find that it's difficult to locate the information you seek.

The dashboard is accessible from a link on the homepage (Accountability). High-level information is portrayed graphically via dials arrayed on a single page. And drill downs to richer data and different breakdowns are available from the same place.

Focused measurement. The Trustees asked for tracking of a few key measures that indicate progress against the governing board's four strategic goals (the four gray dials are for measures still being developed). The dashboard concentrates on measures that matter, and links them both to the detail and the higher goal, so the tool can be used by leaders, analysts, managers and the public alike.

The good mix of measures reflects performance thresholds derived from leadership goals (how do we compare with where we want to be), external benchmarks or national comparisons (with others), and tracking of internal six-year trends (with our past performance).

A working tool. It's more costly to provide extra levels of reporting to satisfy different constituencies. Since this accountability tool is the same one being used to manage the system, there's little extra reporting or double entry needed for public reporting. Also important, the dashboard gives users access to actual data in spreadsheets so they can do their own analysis.

Although the main purpose of the dashboard is to support a "culture of continuous improvement," making its reporting more accessible through this web-based tool should have a positive impact on public, legislative and business support of MnSCU. This is where all government agencies should be heading.

[Technical Note: The site recommends disabling pop-up blockers in your browser. I use Firefox and had to do that to get the dashboard to run, but after that its functionality seemed to be fine.]

— Charlie Quimby

Looking beyond the education demographics

I've been exposed to volumes of research through Growth & Justice's work on a smart investment strategy to boost the post-secondary graduation rate for Minnesota students — especially students of color. I know intellectually why it's vital to the state. As LearnmoreMN summarizes the demographic trends:

[A] dwindling number of high school graduates... a greater proportion of graduates from low-income families and communities of color who traditionally are less likely to pursue post-high school options... Baby Boomers who are retiring... inadequate numbers of college-educated people to meet state job needs.

But to muster the will to solve big problems, human beings need empathy as well as statistics.

Earlier this month, I spent some time reviewing applications to The Page Education Foundation, which offers scholarships for post-secondary study to students of color. This year, Page received about 1,000 applications and will award 600 grants.

While some of these kids are stars from intact families who should have no trouble finding the financial assistance they need, many others are on the margin, with middling grades, low test scores and little family support. You cannot read their applications and remain unmoved by the challenges they face or their desire to succeed.

A young woman from Kenya lives with her unemployed aunt because both parents are dead. She hopes to attend college, but only has been in the U.S. for a few years and her academic preparation is suspect. Another student made it here with his family from a Thai refugee camp. One student's family of eight works a small farming operation and has an income of $17,000. It's not unusual to see kids who are working to help support the family instead of saving for college. Most years, I see an applicant who is responsible for the care of their siblings. One year, I had an applicant whose address was a church  shelter.

And these are the kids who haven't given up or totally fallen through the cracks.

On Thursday, May 22nd, some Page Scholars will be among 100 St. Paul high school seniors being honored for their hard work in earning a local college scholarship. The event is at Rice Park over the lunch hour. It might be nice to show your support there, but the real place we need to show up is in adequately funding the education pipeline that prepares students for this moment.

As a think tank, we're supposed to be research-based, not anecdote-based, and we look for systemic cause and effect, not heartwarming individual outcomes. But what do demographics tell you if you never see the people?

— Charlie Quimby

Dropout costs are too big for the state to ignore

On yesterday's Midmorning program on MPR, Superintendent of St Paul Public Schools, Meria Carstarphen, joined John Bridgeland, CEO of Civic Enterprises, in a conversation on high school dropouts in Minnesota. 

Bridgeland authored a study in 2006 that surveyed high school dropouts [Download pdf] and found that the problem is far worse in the nation's cities than in suburbs. Supt. Carstarphen serves on a Growth & Justice steering committee that is developing a “Smart Investment" strategy for education in Minnesota. Their conversation tracked closely with our analysis on the staggering social and economic costs of the high school dropout epidemic.

According to the 2006 American Community Survey of the US Census Bureau, the median earnings of a worker with less than a high school diploma are just a little over $19,000, whereas earnings for an individual with a high school diploma rise to $27,500. The cumulative difference in lost income totals nearly a half a million dollars over a lifetime.

Said another way, the individual who finishes high school gains substantially higher income; society and the taxpayer gain as well.   

Research commissioned by Growth & Justice confirms this impact in Minnesota. Lifetime taxable wages in the state grow approximately $251,900 for every non-graduate who becomes a graduate. Economic analysis by Henry Levin and Clive Belfield estimated that the increased tax revenues, plus 10-20% reduced criminalization and lower welfare and government health program enrollment, produced a social benefit to Minnesota of about $1 million for every additional graduate.

Conversely, every dropout will cost the taxpayers $1 million. 

With nearly 10,000 new dropouts each year, the opportunity cost to the state increases almost $10.6 billion annually. The cost of dropping out of high school is clearly too expensive — for both the individual and the state. Increasing high school graduation rates should be among the state's top priorities.

— Angie Eilers

Falling behind Wisconsin and Peircing analysis on states' fiscal woes

For years I've worked this friendly Minnesota-centric shtick about how good ol' Wisconsin is our closest relative, a kind of sister state that has a very similar history, culture and progressive instincts.  But the punch line is that they are cheeseheads and Packer fans after all, and just a little behind us for the title of Paragon of Progressive States, and not quite as far above average as a result.

  It's time to drop that routine from the repertoire and to acknowledge that the Badger State is more progressive and far-sighted economically than the Gopher State.  Lori Sturdevant's excellent Star Tribune OpEx piece and Q&A with Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle Sunday provides more evidence that Wisconsin is moving ahead with aggressive efforts to ensure more access to affordable higher education and health-care coverage.   Higher taxes (on cigarettes) and an imaginative partnership with business helps pay for this "human capital investment surge'' to the east, Sturdevant writes. 

When I was doing research in the mid-1980s for the Star Tribune for a fiscal study of Minnesota and other states, Minnesota unquestionably was one of the biggest spending states (and our economy was doing fine).  We ranked significantly ahead of Wisconsin on the bottom line:  state-local taxes and state-local spending as a percent of income.   That hasn't been true for several years now.   Latest figures from the Minnesota Taxpayers Association (not to be confused with the anti-tax League) show that Wisconsin ranks 10th in state-local taxes as a percent of income and Minnesota is 23rd.   On state-local spending as a percent of income, Wisconsin is 23rd and Minnesota is 31st.   Watch for right-wing business interests in Wisconsin to start making exaggerated claims about employers and jobs fleeing to low-tax Minnesota.  Boy that's going to feel weird.

Meanwhile, Neal Peirce, one of the nation's foremost authorities on the states and their governments, has produced a strongly persuasive case for states to reinvest, focusing on nation-state California.   His latest nationally synicated column makes the case and these excerpts get right at it:

Many states have never fully recovered from the sharp cutbacks they made in education, health coverage and child care in response to the economic slump of 2001-2004 that was triggered by the technology stock slump and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. And inflation is driving up the cost of government services.

So should governments just slash their budgets willy-nilly, hoping for a better day?

No. That's the firm opinion of Stephen Levy, director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy in Palo Alto. Levy focuses his argument on California, but it fits most of the country. We have strong growth sectors in Internet services, biotechnology, trade, finance and entertainment. But with a tidal wave of skilled baby boomers soon to retire, our work force will include fast-rising numbers of Latino and Asian immigrants, their children and grandchildren -- many of them lagging in the critical educational skills needed in a high-tech, intensely competitive global economy...

But look at what California has done instead (of investing in education). From 1984 to 2008, it let its per capita spending on prisons increase 126 percent while its per capita spending on its public universities -- once its claim to world fame -- declined 12 percent. "Prisons," the Sacramento Bee editorializes, "are sucking the life out of higher education in this state -- and thwarting the aims of economic advancement and social mobility."

So what's Schwarzenegger's solution? Shorten sentences of 28,000 prisoners, saving $1 billion by the next budget year -- but still go ahead with his program to build 53,000 new cells at a numbing cost of $15 billion for construction and debt service.

A sane California, Levy argues, would raise taxes $7 billion this year, (our italics) recession notwithstanding. The increase would be about one penny out of every $2 that Californians -- whose aggregate income is about $1.5 trillion -- actually earn. The collective family of California, he suggests, can take the one cent from eating out or buying a fancy car and put it into education -- a small enough sacrifice compared to the kinds of tough decisions our grandparents had to make during the Great Depression.

Dane Smith

MNSCU officials at the pulpit, state and church together in a good way

Top officials from the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system (MNSCU) will be going to 15 churches with predominantly African-American, Hispanic, or other racial minority congregations this weekend, to preach about the enormous value of higher education in achieving economic progress. This "Super Weekend" outreach, now in its second year, deserves enthusiastic applause.   

We think it's great because the Smart Investments in Minnesota's Students initiative at Growth & Justice has a goal of a 50 percent increase in higher-ed attainment. That can't be achieved without even more dramatic hikes, percentagewise, for students of color in the completion of  one-year, two-year or four-year degrees. And the current gap between whites and non-whites in high-school graduation is unacceptable. 

“Many parents find it challenging to guide their children through what can be a complicated process of preparing for and selecting a college,” said Whitney Harris, executive director of diversity and multiculturalism for the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, in the MNSCU statement announcing the outreach effort. “We can provide specific assistance for parents in helping their children to succeed in college.”   

MNSCU has more students of color on its state, community and technical college campuses than any other private or public system in Minnesota.

There's another interesting and positive angle here. The frequent claim from the right that progressives and government officials leaders are "irreligious'' or anti-religious is mostly false, or at least grossly exaggerated.   

Human rights and economic reforms throughout American history have been led by progressive women and men who were also strongly religious and observant.  And even today most mainstream church leaders — Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and otherwise — embrace progressive economic goals of tax fairness and ample and wise public investment for the common good.

But it's fair to say that concern about church-state separation has sometimes led to a reluctance by  government leaders to engage directly with the religious community, to simply talk, to visit.  Efforts like MNSCU's Super Weekend can help close this engagement gap. 

Here's the complete list of churches, times and speakers for Super Weekend.

— Dane Smith

 

Five voices of nonpartisan reason

Every time I've been moved to post here in the past week, a good op/ed has appeared to momentarily cool my jets. In case you've missed a few, may I recommend:

• Jay Kiedrowski, former state finance commissioner under Gov. Perpich says: Let's stop the state's fiscal roller coaster.

Reducing variability should not be a partisan issue. It is a good-government issue. Wouldn't it be better for public officials all across the state to focus on service and innovation rather than on how they will survive the latest cuts or how they can justify more money?

• Charlie Weaver, executive director of the Minnesota Business Partnership, in Funding isn't everything — nor is it the only thing, speaks in favor of looking more strategically at school funding and considering investing in cost-effective reforms. He also compliments Growth & Justice for highlighting research about effective practices.
• Chaska Superintendant David Jennings fires back at Michael Wigley of the Taxpayers League of Minnesota.

It is actually the word "public" that bothers him more than the word "schools." It seems he simply does not believe in any public expenditure of taxpayer dollars. He instead believes we will all be better off when our futures are left in the hands of corporate America and the enlightened few who share his views and his economic stature.

• John S. Adams contributes one of the best explanations I've seen about why a focus on current spending represents shortsighted financial stewardship. As much as I've written on the topic, I'm embarrassed to admit I never drew such a clear and convincing parallel between business finance and state budgets. If you only have time to read one link, click this one.
• Economist Edward Lotterman provides a clear run down of why forgiving some subprime mortgage interest hikes might be the best of some not very appetizing policies choices.

And we're pleased to note that two of those voices echoing Growth & Justice positions belong to former Republican legislators.

Westover is in the dark about our education project

In a column paired with Angela Eilers' op/ed piece, St. Paul Pioneer Press editorialist Craig Westover writes: "when think tanks use research the way a drunk uses a lamppost, for support rather than illumination, the public is ill served, misinformation becomes widely distributed, policymakers are misled and bad policy follows."

Westover himself careens around a single research lamppost, apparently without noticing it is only one point in a constellation of lights that can lead policymakers in many directions.

He criticizes how Minnesota 2020 distilled a few bullets from hundreds of pages of findings by researchers contributing to the "Smart Investments in Minnesota's Students" summit — and then proceeds to explain implications "that Growth & Justice and Minnesota 20/20 [sic] miss and policy-makers ought to consider."

In fact, the presentation of research findings earlier this month was only one step in a more than year-long process of engaging economists, educators, citizens and policymakers in evaluating the cost-effectiveness and inter-relationship of interventions that can improve educational attainment. There's still more work to be done — including seeking broad community response — before Growth & Justice makes any recommendations to policymakers.

We do not cherrypick research findings to support a political agenda. Instead, our approach is to identify an issue of strategic importance to the state and examine it comprehensively, taking into account the implications for the economy as a whole as well as for individual Minnesotans. Then we present the complex and sometimes ideology-challenging insights in a series of discussions with community leaders.

The policymakers we know on both sides of the aisle are hardly misled by this process.

Columnists, of course, are free to jump to conclusions.

— Charlie Quimby

Turning the "Dropout Deficit" into a "Graduation Gain"

In November, the fate of school levy proposals often came down to what voters believed about one question: Does more money equal better results?

Levy supporters would say districts needed more money to maintain or produce better outcomes. Opponents of increased funding responded that schools aren’t doing the job and more money hasn’t made them any better.

It’s understandable in a time of limited resources that some voters would oppose more public school spending. But most would probably also be appalled at what school failures cost Minnesota in human and economic terms.

Assessing the costs

Currently, about 10,000 students a year do not graduate from high school on time. There's a wide achievement gap between white students and students of color. By 2020 few in Minnesota will be making a living wage with less than a one-, two- or four-year post-secondary degree. For those who fail to go on to college, it means greater stress on families, inability to afford health care and more demand for government services.

Over the lifetime of every new class of non-grads, this "Dropout Deficit" will cost the Minnesota economy $10.6 billion in reduced wages and taxes, plus increased costs for social and corrections programs.

Without improvement, that's a nearly $140-billion drag dropped on the state economy between now and 2020.

On the positive side, Minnesota taxpayers enjoy a "Graduation Gain" equivalent to more than a quarter million dollars over the lifetime of each person who graduates — through increased tax revenues and lower expenditures for health, crime and welfare. The individual graduate will enjoy almost half a million dollars in increased earnings potential.

Meanwhile, Minnesota’s population growth is lagging. If our education system can’t supply the productive workforce that’s been the foundation of our competitiveness and economic growth, the whole state’s prosperity is at risk.

Getting better returns on the education dollar

That brings us back to resources. Taxpayers want schools to produce results. It’s not politically acceptable to simply spend more money — or to spend it differently — without knowing the impact. But getting reliable answers about educational payback is complex. It involves bringing together educators to evaluate effectiveness; economists to analyze costs; and employers, parents and policymakers to judge value.

At our recent “Smart Investments in Minnesota’s Students” summit, we heard a number of findings to inform a policy discussion about cost-effective investment.

We know from a growing body of evidence that early childhood programs help kids make great academic progress, with high rates of return on the investment. And, as G&J policy director Angie Eilers points out in this op/ed piece, early childhood programs are especially attractive to those who favor market solutions, since parents can choose from a variety of options. But research also tells us that investment in early learning alone is not enough.

Key Gates on the Education Pathway 

Other important gates along the education pathway also deserve attention. What types of interventions at these other key gates will be most cost-effective in keeping kids on track and moving them toward graduation?

You can download a summary of the conference reports here.

I'm no education authority and am not familiar with most of the programs cited by the experts, so I'll just mention a couple general findings.

Evaluating payback

We often hear the claim we should pay teachers better. Sure enough, analysis  showed that paying more for quality teachers resulted in a 4/1 payback in terms of more graduates produced.

Reduced class sizes is another popular solution. Making classes smaller for all students delivered a nearly 2/1 payback, while payback on reducing class sizes for students who have greater academic challenges was better than 3/1. Other programs demonstrated even higher rates of return.

Targeting funds to certain groups may be far more cost-effective than spending a little on every student. But that can be controversial in a climate where taxpayers view their tax dollars like an individual investment account they should be able to direct for their greatest personal benefit.

For example, we know teens who avoid substance abuse, pregnancy and involvement in the juvenile justice system are more likely to graduate. Relatively low-cost after-school programs aimed at all youth may make parents feel better, but they don’t appear to be a good investment in terms of improving graduation rates. However, some more expensive out-of-school programs focusing on at-risk youth do show good results.

We know education drives individual and community prosperity. We know our state will decline unless we educate all our kids, so that more of them achieve some level of post-secondary degree. And we know that, without adequate budgets, policymakers still face tough choices that amount to picking winners and losers.

Instead of slugging it out in battles over spending and ideology, perhaps some divided communities can start a different conversation, drawing on our ongoing Smart Investments work.

— Charlie Quimby

Funding Pre-K: When 36th place is close to 50th.

A Star Tribune editorial about findings presented at our education summit focused — as did much of the media coverage — on early childhood programs as a worthy investment. Though it's critical to keep kids from running off the education pathway later, there's a compelling case for getting kids ready to succeed in school from the start. And Minnesota does not invest much in school readiness programs.

A key priority is improving support for kids from birth to age 5. Only 1.9 percent of Minnesota 4-year-olds had access to prekindergarten classes in 2005, placing the state 36th in the nation on that measure. During the same year, Minnesota spent an average of slightly more than $283 per child for school readiness and $270 per child for Early Childhood and Family Education (ECFE) programs. Those expenditures don't measure up to Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois -- all states that spend an average of $2,980 or more per child for prekindergarten programs.

That's from the research by the U of M's Arthur J. Reynolds. Minnesota ranks even worse than it appears, because the editorial chose the year for which funding data was available. Reynolds also reported Minnesota's percentage of participation dropped in 2006, putting us in 37th place — out of the 38 states that fund any such programs.

Being in 37th place sounds bad enough. But in fact, we're a whisker from being last.

— Charlie Quimby

 

Affecting Achievement Gap Will Take Political Will

Star Tribune columnist Lori Sturdevant writes about the determination of DFL education committee chair and Minnesota Minority Education Partnership executive director Rep. Carlos Mariani-Rosa to make a dent in the achievement gap between white and non-white students:

Mariani-Rosa thinks Pawlenty is right to call for a radical redesign of Minnesota high schools. He likes the governor's willingness to put $75 million on the table for high schools that agree in the next two years to develop courses with more academic rigor, workplace relevance or both. He'll also be the chief House sponsor of a bill that would reward low-income high school students who successfully complete college-prep classes with scholarships, to be redeemed at any Minnesota college or university, public or private. That's the Minnesota Private College Council's variation on a Pawlenty proposal to reward with scholarships the high school students who take college-level classes.

Sturdevant suggests that Mariani-Rosa might be engaging in risky behavior by supporting a Pawlenty proposal. That's not nearly as politically courageous as facing the bigger issue Mariani-Rosa also raises:

“The tragedy of this session is that the good, innovative stuff won't get the level of vetting it should, because we have such anxiety about base funding," said Mariani-Rosa. "It's hard to focus on exciting new possibilities when we're still not adequately funding special ed," the exciting new idea of the 1957 session. It doesn't have to be that way. Mariani-Rosa says he'll be one member of the new House majority who will insist that Minnesota can have it all -- enough teachers and guidance counselors, faculty salary increases, new high school curricula and new scholarships for low-income kids. "This state has the resources to develop a world-class education system," he said. "All we lack is the political will."

If you agree, letting your legislators know will help create that political will.