How to Use Educational Policy to Build the Pipeline

Building on last week’s posting about the “leaking educational pipeline” (Zimpher, 2013, p. 40), it is easy to observe the leaking pipeline starts a lot earlier than higher education. When one considers the fact that the American educational system is broken into distinct sectors--including early childhood education, K-12, and higher education--and that the sectors are often disconnected from each other, it is easy to understand the challenges this segmentation presents to policymakers who are working to create policy to improve the system. Part of the problem is that when referring to public education most people aren’t thinking of ECE or college, but of kindergarten through 12th grade education, albeit there is good reason for this way of thinking.  “Unlike ECE or college, state laws make K-12 schooling mandatory for all children in the U.S. and forms the core of the educational pipeline (National Center for Education Statistics, 2014). 

The reality is that the American educational system is complex and serves diverse student needs across diverse states. The problems facing system are not simple or as easily solved as some politicians lead the general public to believe. There are many illustrations of the diverse needs creating challenges within the system. For example, although early childhood education (ECE) “became a part of the nation’s education agenda through President Lyndon B. Johnson’s war on poverty” (Rippner, 2016, p. 52) in the 1960s, “it is still considered a relatively new field when compared to K-12 and higher education” (Rippner, 2016, p. 64). Another example includes the support for English language learners. In California schools about 23 percent of students require such services while less than 1 percent of West Virginia students need similar services (National Center for Education Statistics, 2015).  The same can be said for higher education. “which has seen a dramatic growth over the last several decades” (Rippner, 2016, p. 113). Higher education is “no longer a system just for the elite or the wealthy; it is theoretically open to all who are interested and qualified” (Rippner, 2016, p. 113).

While there are many key factors affecting the educational pipeline, the primary issues include access, governance, funding and policy making. Access issues begin with ECE due in part to a political divide on how best to deliver these services: universal or targeted access. For K-12 improving access has been challenging for rural students, women, immigrants and minority students. Higher education faces issues of equal access due to rising costs and qualifications (Rippner, 2016, p. 113).  “Governance of ECE is complex and fragmented” (Rippner, 2016, p. 53). In K-12 education is “the sole province of states, as it is not covered in the U.S. Constitution” (Rippner, 2016, p. 82). And in higher education “the variety of higher education institutions necessitates a variety of governance structures” (Rippner, 2016, p. 118). Funding for all three educational sectors are complex and require a mixture of federal, state, local and private funding (Rippner, 2016). The real key to improving the educational system is policy. Many policymakers understand the importance of getting students into the educational pipeline early enough and keeping them in the pipeline long enough for to obtain the education necessary for a sustainable career. A well-known policy approach, which began in 2006, is the Cradle to Career approach. This approach is based on improving education through a shared agenda with measurable and specific outcomes (StriveTogether, n/d). This approach can assist policymakers in their quest to create policy to strengthen and improve the system.

 References:

National Center for Educational Statistics. (2014). Digest of education statistics. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov

National Center for Education Statistics. (2015). Digest of education statistics. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov

Rippner, J. A. (2016).  The American policy landscape.  New York: Routledge.

StriveTogether.com (2018). Retrieved from https://www.strivetogether.org/about/

Zimpher, N. (2013). Systemness: Unpacking the value of higher education systems. In J. Lane & B. Johnston (Eds), Higher educational systems 3.0 – Harnessing systemness, delivery performance (pp. 247-44). New York, NY: SUNY Press.