Education Discussion Group with YIP

A City That Works - May 29, 2008

Report by moderator Ellen Petersen

What does this goal mean to you?

• I work with an nonprofit devoted to illiteracy and am concerned that 50 percent of our population is functionally illiterate.

• I am a teacher who has worked in Teach for America.

• I teach  and work for  education foundation.

• I am a teacher who is interested in after-school programs that focus on life skills and hobbies, not academics.

• I have worked in three Philadelphia universities and am interested in how to retain the young educated population.

• I am interested in sending my kids to public school and want to ensure the quality of that experience.

Performance measures (What success would look like)

• The number of companies that relocate to Philadelphia and cite a trained and educated workforce as a factor in their decision.  We should also measure the number of employees who work in those companies

• Change the focus and create/maintain and publish standards for after-school programs.  The new focus should be on the value of non-academic, enrichment-community organizing and participation, hobbies, life skills, etc. Measure the number of programs and the performance of the kids within.

• Ensure all after-school programs have goals and standards and measure outcomes.

• Increase and measure the number of local high school graduates who attend elite universities.

• Increase funding and measure success for the local high school grads to attend Philadelphia universities

• Measure the income trends for working parents with children in public schools as a way to determine whether the suburban flight is ceasing for that demographic

• Measure literacy at gateways of human development (school age, high school, elderly, etc.).

• Increase the number of literate parents.  This can be done through school engagement and targeted programs wherever their children attend.

• Expand the definition of literacy to include critical thinking skills, ability to use resources (library, computer, public transportation) and advocate for oneself.

• Measure parental involvement in schools (attendance at meetings, events, committees, touch points with teachers) and determine correlation between high touch point schools and performance.  Can be springboard for programs and incentives to teach and involve parents (e.g. literacy).

• Citizen-mentoring programs to teach voting, literacy, other skills.  Measure increase in voter participation, library use or whatever else is targeted

• Create civic metric and measure citizen involvement (Great Expectations, voting, community clean up).

Customer-service standards

• Sensitivity and civility index.

• Availability. (Live person also answers within X rings.)

• Have a clarity index check on any forms or procedures to ensure all people can understand and navigate forms and instructions.