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Shaping public policy
Riley study on public education is groundbreaking for institute, state
With public schools frequently under fire for low test scores, some calling for school choice and a lawsuit that charges the state with under-funding low-income, rural school districts, public education in South Carolina is considered by many to be at a crossroads.
What are the problems? How do we fix them? Opinions abound.
With the winds of change swirling, the Richard W. Riley Institute of Government, Politics and Public Leadership will soon release the findings of a comprehensive study of public education in South Carolina . Funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the study could help shape future policy.
The project team is currently compiling and analyzing the data and hopes to complete its analysis by early spring. Initially, Institute staff will share their findings with key groups. A final draft, complete with recommendations, will then be distributed to legislators and many others involved in public education. The comprehensive report will also be posted online and shared with state news media.
From the outset, the project has focused on compiling the opinions of “stakeholders” in the state's K-12 public education system, including teachers, superintendents, business leaders, parents, students, principals, and school board members.
During 106 research sessions held over 15 months, Riley researchers interviewed close to 800 stakeholders representing each of the state's 86 school districts. They asked frank questions: What are the strengths of public education? What are its weaknesses? What would you do to fix the problems? Participants also completed a 160-question survey.
A typical session lasted three hours and included seven stakeholders, a facilitator and a note-taker, says A. Scott Henderson, an education professor who facilitated discussions in Greenville , Santee, Anderson , Columbia , Charleston and Aiken.
“Most of the people came to the sessions with some ideas already formed so it was not hard to generate conversation,” says Henderson .
Cathy Stevens (Riley Institute), Tobi Swartz (Continuing Education), Erik Ching (History), Ed Marshall (Business Affairs), George Lipscomb (Education) and Brooke Culclasure (Riley Institute) also served as facilitators. Culclasure, who holds a Ph.D. in public education policy from the University of Virginia , is the project's director .
Since its founding in 1999, the Riley Institute has hosted several high-profile conferences and workshops that have attracted renowned speakers to campus, including Tom Brokaw, Madeleine Albright, Newt Gingrich, Hillary Clinton and John Glenn. As the Institute's profile continues to grow , the Hewlett research project is representative of its evolution. For the first time, the Institute is playing a role in helping to shape public policy.
“This is the largest study ever conducted on public education in South Carolina ,” says Don Gordon, director of the Riley Institute. “Our perception is that some changes are in store for public education. And the people interested in making those changes will make use of this study. I think our work will have an impact over time, a big impact.”
Gordon and John Simpkins, the former associate director of Institute, sketched out a rough draft for the study at a Charleston Starbucks during the summer of 2004. At the time, public education in South Carolina had been thrust into the national limelight when eight rural school districts filed a lawsuit, arguing that the state was not meeting its constitutional obligation to provide all children with a “minimally adequate education.”
The study seemed a natural fit for the Institute, whose namesake is a former U.S. Secretary of Education. In February of 2005 the Institute received a $600,000 grant from the Hewlett Foundation that was used to create the Center for Education Policy and Leadership.
Culclasure, director of the Center, says that several broad themes are emerging from the study. They include the need to boost teacher salaries and retention, build strong leadership within schools, promote public support for public education, connect learning to the global economy, expand learning opportunities outside the classroom, and provide more individually tailored approaches to learning. Hot-button issues such as school choice and standardized tests were also discussed at the sessions.
“There was a surprising level of consensus on these issues,” says Culclasure. “Across all of the groups there was broad support for public education, and they appreciated having a forum for their thoughts and suggestions.”
Continuing to fine-tune the study, members of the Institute spent much of December and early January laying the groundwork for a spring release.
With the General Assembly convening January 9 and a new Superintendent of Education taking office, Gordon is hoping the Hewlett study will generate momentum for positive change.
To a lesser extent, Gordon says the project also represents a milestone for the Riley Institute, taking it a step closer to becoming the agent for change founders envisioned more than seven years ago when the Institute was launched.
“In a non-partisan way we are looking at policy that has a great impact on South Carolina citizens. And we are translating this information so it can be used to improve the lives of South Carolinians ,” says Gordon. “This is the type of grass roots research we should be doing. We'll be doing more of it in the future.”