editorially speaking Heightening Educational Achievement: Higher Education's Role The sting of increased international competition has focused many Americans' attention on this nation's perceptibly diminished standing in the world economy. Over the years the United States has become a net importer of automobiles, machine tools, steel, textiles, and consumer electronics. The latest manifestation of the intensitv of the worldwide economic competition that currently exists is the observation that the U.S. share of the world's microelectronics market has fallen fmm 60% to 40% in the last 10 years. Indeed, even in the service sector, which is essentially a n American creation, U S . firms are losing their once dominant places in banking, telecommunications, and advertising. The decline in American competitiveness appears to correlate with the increasing number of young pwple who are educationally (and economically) at risk. This is a population that often does not graduate from high school, seldom attends college, and consequently is frequently ill-prepared for the demands of today's workplace. Candidates on which to blame this decline are abundant, one of the chief being the belief by Americans that a growing disparity exists between their education and skills and those of their principal competitors in the world. In spite of this common perception, practically all of the sectors in this nation's educational system, a s well a s individual schools and institutions, remain convinced that they are doing their part in responding to this challenge. While this of view may have been true for past achievenarrow ments, the educational system has failed to rewgnize the current widening gap between the education and skills of American workers and those of other nations. Perceptions commonly trail reality by several years when someone is trying to get up to speed. Manv shapers of the American svstem of hieher education g&eraliy do not understand the importance of K-12 institutions as higher education's ~ r i n c i su~olier d of students, a s well l s being cons;mers'of o n e o f higher education's more important products--teachers. Recognition of this dual role-supplier and consumer-should heighten the colleeiate facultv's interest in and underthat: students face. Indeed, i t staiding of the should also make i t obvious that vigorous and effective K12 institutions are critical to higher education's continued health. The recomition of this dual role should help emphasize the cyclicnature of the collegiate educational system rather than the currently perceived linearity where the quality of the students that enter college bearxno relationship to the students who leave this system. ~ o s t c o l l e g i a t efaculties have confined themselves to highly specialized academic pursuits without any real understanding of their students' scholastic preparation or of the precollege schoolsthat teach them. Too few institutions or their facaties have investigated alternate instructional methodolofiies specifically designed to meet the varied
learning needs of their students. If colleges are to improve on the aualitv and auantitv of students. who will ultimately ;mprive the competkiveness of the future work force. they must be Dre~aredto work with the suppliers of their' students, mu& as successful businesses invest substantial resources in helpim their suppliers understand the specifications of theAse&ces and products they require. Thus the interaction of wllege faculties with the system of precollege education is an important component in the revitalization of the educational process in this country. We need not look far for the shape of ~ossiblesolutions. Successful programs of interactive colliboration between schools and institutions of higher education have a number of common qualities. he$ are targeted ta improving the preparation, access, retention, and achievement of at-risk students, frequently by processes that commit substantial fmancial aid to suooort .. their future college education. 'apply techniques proven to he effective in disrupting the cycle of low motivation and low achievement. involve full-time faculty in an ongoing way. increase the teaching effectiveness of those K-16 faculty who participate in the programs. reeeive sufficientfunding from an institution's core financial support to have significant effect. .. employ a long-rangr npprnach to helpmg students establish college as a goal and perm1 to achieve that god. Interactive collaborations that induce shared responsibilities produce a number of benefits. Faculty from higher education institutions come to know first-hand the atmosphere of a middle or high school that enrolls at-risk students; currently, the details of the challenges K-12 institutions encounter in teaching are left to the education school facultv. Colleeiate science facultv need to zain a fuller und&st&ding i f the growing pool i f youth &m settings that ~ m v i d etoo little of the educational meoaration and instill too little of the motivation and w k d c k c e needed to succeed in college and in the workplace. Perhaps a better understanding of this ambiance could promote a greater willingness to experiment with curricula or teaching methods a t K-12 as well as in wllegiate institutions, leading to programs that would enable more students to succeed. Collaboration across the K-12 continuum is essential if students' level of educational achievement is to be heightened. One of the most important reasons for schools and colleees to collaborate is the fact that hieher education is the major supplier of teachers to primary and secondary schools. Another i m ~ o r t a nreason t is that higher education is a big consumer of students from primary and secondary schools.
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JJL
Volume 70 Number 2 February 1993
89
