The Business Education Alliance of Alabama‘s new report, Forging Alabama’s Future: Improving Educational Attainment and Workforce Development, links the state’s workforce preparedness and post-secondary education attainment struggles to the number of students falling behind in reading, math, and college- and career-readiness. While Alabama was making some progress improving these areas before the pandemic, the report notes that the disruptions caused by COVID have slowed the state’s efforts. However, the BEA report also points out that the pandemic has created an opportunity to refocus the state’s educational and workforce preparedness efforts on strategies proven to build a better educated, more highly skilled workforce.
“Despite Alabama’s unemployment nearing historic lows, the state’s labor force participation and post-secondary attainment rates are lagging behind the rest of the country,” said Dr. Joe Morton, the chairman and president of the Business Education Alliance of Alabama. “Alabama must do more to help students prepare for success after high school graduation. If the state’s labor participation rates were on par with the national average, not only would more Alabamians be working, but wages would be increasing, poverty would be going down, and businesses currently struggling to find help would be more likely to have the support needed to thrive. But, to meet this target, Alabama must work harder and smarter than our neighboring states.”
The BEA report outlines eight proven strategies state policy leaders should invest in to successfully increase the number of students starting school ready to learn, proficient in reading and math, and graduating from high school prepared for college and career. The BEA roadmap encourages state leaders to:
- Achieve universal access to Pre-K by 2026, while maintaining highest in the nation quality standards.
- Ensure all children are reading on grade level by the end of the third grade by Spring 2023. Return Alabama to the national average in reading on NAEP by 2026.
- In 2022, develop and launch a research-based strategic initiative to bring math achievement to the national average on NAEP by 2026. Provide the resources to pay for the teacher education and support needed to implement.
- Eliminate the gap between high school graduation and college and career readiness. Every student should graduate with a valuable career-building credential or with demonstrated readiness for college success.
- Restore the college-going rate for high school graduates to 65 percent.
- Raise Alabama’s labor force participation rate to the national average by 2025. Working in partnership with business and industry, use community colleges, workforce investment programs, and nonprofit support services to target special populations currently underrepresented in the workforce.
- Complete the construction of a longitudinal data system that will allow education and workforce metrics to be tracked and the results analyzed. Data is fundamental to identifying successful or ineffective strategies, understanding outcomes, and weighing cost and benefit.
- Revise and accelerate the state’s Broadband Alabama Strategy to provide Alabamians access to high-speed internet on par with the national average. With an infusion of federal funds available, identify the barriers to bringing access and service to underserved communities, and invest in solutions.
“The abundance of new and one-time funds available to Alabama’s education and workforce development programs this year provides an incredible opportunity to raise educational attainment and workforce participation rates through wise and intentional investments,” said Jay Love, the Business Education Alliance of Alabama’s Finance Chairman. “The BEA report outlines a proven set of strategies our schools and communities can invest in to build the infrastructure and programs needed to help more students succeed.”
“The BEA is right. We cannot expect our students to be prepared for success after school if they are not proficient in reading and math or graduating without meeting any career readiness benchmarks,” said Alabama Governor Kay Ivey. “Alabama’s economy depends on supporting a highly-skilled and innovative workforce prepared for the demands of the modern workplace. No goal is beyond our reach when we work hard and align our efforts towards a common vision. BEA’s report identifies the commonalities between our state’s various efforts including Strong Start, Strong Finish, Success Plus, and Alabama Achieves, and helps all of the entities involved refocus our resources on what matters most.”
“I applaud BEA for its emphasis on using data to know where gaps in Alabama’s workforce preparedness system exist,” said Tim McCartney, the chair of the Alabama Workforce Council. “The establishment of BEA led to a much needed conversation on how our state could better align its nonprofit resources, government services, and educational attainment strategies to help the modern worker succeed. BEA’s research enables the Alabama Workforce Council to assess our progress better and adjust strategies when necessary. While we still have a long way to go to meet our goal of 500,000 newly credentialed Alabamians by the end of 2025, there is no question that BEA’s counsel is keeping us on track.”
The Public Affairs Research Council conducted research and reporting for this report. The A+ Education Partnership provided additional research support and consultation.
“PARCA believes that setting goals, implementing and sustaining research-based strategies, and assessing progress toward those goals is the pathway to improvement,” said Ryan Hankins, the executive director of the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama. “Our students and teachers succeed when we set high expectations and sustain the resources necessary to achieve them. The interdependent initiatives described in this report will require patience, commitment, and the courage to change. But we’ll all benefit from their success.”
Additional findings can be viewed at https://beaalabama.com/research/.
Longleaf Strategies advises on communications strategy and leads media outreach for the Business Education Alliance of Alabama.