ABaselineUnderstandingofElPaso'sEducationalAttainmentasitRelatestothe60x30TXStrategicPlan

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IntroductionRecognizingthatTexasiscompetingwithneighboringstates,aswellasglobally,forjobsandinvestmentsinthe21stcenturyeconomy,theTexasHigherEducationCoordinatingBoard(THECB)launchedastrategicplantoincreaseeducationalattainmentacrossthestateknownas60x30TX.Attheheartofthisinitiativeisagoaltoensurethat60percentofallTexansages25-34willholdapost-secondarydegreeorcertificatebytheyear2030.ThestrategicplanwillhelpTexasbuildacompetitiveworkforcethatcanmeetfutureeconomicdemandsandcompetewithgloballychangingmarkets.

InanefforttounderstandwhereElPasoistodayinregardtothe60x30TXstrategicgoalsdelineatedbythestate,theCouncilonRegionalEconomicExpansionandEducationalDevelopment(CREEED)commissionedastudybytheNationalCenterforHigherEducationManagementSystems(NCHEMS)toidentifygapsinreachingthestatewide60percentattainmentgoalandcorrectivemeasuresneededtobeontherighttrack;theirfullanalysisisavailableuponrequest.NCHEMS’fullreporthighlightsthecurrentstateofeducationalattainmentintheregionandprovidesrecommendationsbasedonbestpracticesforhowtheregioncanmeetthestatewidegoals.

ThefindingsinthissummarymakethecasethatElPasoislosingitsabilitytocompetefor21stcenturyjobsandsimplydoesn’thavetheworkforcewiththeskillsnecessarytoperformthekindsofhighwagejobsthataredrivingthenewglobaleconomy.Thisreportsummarizesthekeydata,findingsandrecommendationsNCHEMSputtogetherintheiranalysis.

PercentCollegeDegreeAttainmentvsPerCapitaIncome,2014Source:U.S.CensusBureau,2014AmericanCommunitySurvey

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KeyFindings

ElPaso’sattainmentlevelshavestayedrelativelysteady,butinaglobaleconomy:stayingsteady=fallingbehind.

• IncomparisontomostothermajormetropolitanareasintheU.S.,ElPasohasbothlow

educationattainmentandlowpercapitaincome.• Highincomesarecorrelatedwitheconomiesthathaveahigherskilledworkforceandhigher

educationattainmentlevels,butElPasohaslowerincomeamongsimilarcitieshavingthesamelevelofeducationalattainment.

• Only30percentofworkingageadults,25-64,havecompletedeither2yearor4year

collegeprograms.ThisisthelowestofthefivemetroplexesinTexas,aswellasAlbuquerque,Denver,Phoenix,andSanDiego.

• $18,200istheaveragepercapitaincomeinElPasoforworkingageadults,25-64.Thisis

againthelowestamongthefivemetroplexesinTexas,aswellasAlbuquerque,Denver,Phoenix,andSanDiego.

• ElPaso’seconomyisnotcurrentlydevelopinginwaysthatattractmanyhighskilledworkers

tomoveintotheregion.

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• Untilthisimbalancechanges,ElPasowillhavetogrowitsownskilledworkforce.Theprimarysourcesforthisworkforceare:

§ ThenineindependentschooldistrictsinElPasoCountyforK-12.§ ElPasoCommunityCollege(EPCC)andtheUniversityofTexasatElPaso(UTEP)

forpost-secondaryeducation

MedianFamilyIncomeandEducationAttainment,1950to2014,ElPasoRelativetoTexas

Sources:ChristineThurlowBrenner(2001),EducationalTrendsandIncomeinElPaso:ALongitudinalPerspective,

UniversityofTexasatElPaso,InstituteforPolicyandEconomicDevelopment;AmericanCommunitySurvey

• TexasandElPasohavelostgroundtonationalandinternationalcompetitorsoverthepastdecade.Intheperiod1950-90,ElPasodroppedfrom20percentabovethestateaverageincollegeattainmenttomorethan30percentbelowtheTexasaverage,andsincehasmadegainsbutinsufficienttoclosetheattainmentgap.ElPasoneedsahigh-skilledandeducatedworkforceaswellasbetterjobsinwhichtheycanbeemployed.Botharemattersofconsiderableurgency;failuretoaddressthemwillcauseElPasotofallevenfurtherbehind.

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• ElPaso’seducationsystemisnotcurrentlydevelopinginwaystomeettheneedsoftheregioninordertocompeteinaglobaleconomy.

K-12LevelAttheK-12level,theprimaryissueisoneofqualityasthemajorityofstudentsreceiveinadequatepreparationforpost-secondaryeducation.

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• Aminimumof7percentofeighthgradestudentsinElPasoCountyarelostbeforeenteringninthgrade.

• Only85percentofElPasoninthgradersgraduatefromhighschool.Stateswiththebesthighschoolgraduationratesareatabout91percent.TheTexasstatewideaverageis89percent.

• Thecompositehighschoolgraduationrate,whichincludeseighthgraderslostbeforeenteringninthgrade,is79percent.

• ThecollegegoingrateforElPasohighschoolstudentsgraduatingin2012(mostrecentdataavailable)was61.5percent,withabout55percentattendingatwo-yearinstitutionand45percentattendingafour-yearinstitution.

• OftheElPasoCountyhighschoolgraduateswhoenrollinapost-secondaryprogram,mostarenotfullypreparedforcollege-levelacademicwork.DataavailablefromTexasEducationAgency(TEA)revealsthatin2012(thelastyearforwhichdataareavailable)only6percentofElPasotenthandeleventhgradestudentstestedatthe“commendedperformance”levelinallsubjects.

• In2011,theaveragescoreontheSATforElPasostudentswas862.ThestatewideaverageforTexaswas976.BothElPasoandTexasarebelowtheTexasStateInitiative(TSI)establishedscoreof1020indicatingcollegereadiness.

• Additionally,theTexasstatewideaverageontheACTwas20.5.ElPaso’saveragescorewas18.2and17.8forHispanicsstudents.Again,bothElPasoandTexasarebelowthecompositescoreof23,whichtheTSIidentifiesasindicativeofcollegereadiness.

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Post-SecondaryLevelAtthepost-secondarylevel,theprimaryissueisoneofcompletion.

Only17%ofElPaso8thGradersReceiveaPost-SecondaryCredential11YearsLater

–Lowest%ofAnyRegioninTexas

• Only17percentofElPasoeighthgradersobtainapost-secondarycredentialin11years.

Thisisthelowestofanyregioninthestate,andbelowtheTexasaverageof20percent.

• BecauseofElPaso’sgeographicisolationalmostallElPasocollege-goingstudentsattendeitherElPasoCommunityCollegeortheUniversityofTexasatElPaso—theonlypublicinstitutionsofhigherlearningintheregion.

• However,completionratesatEPCCandUTEParenotsufficienttomeetthegoalsoftheTHECB’s60x30TXstrategy,andremediationlevelsatbothinstitutionsareabovethenorm.

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• Only70percentofstudentswhoenterUTEPand34percentwhoenterEPCCarefullypreparedforcollege-levelwork.

• Only38percentofUTEP’sfulltimeentrantscompleteaprogramin6

yearsandonly13percentofEPCC’sentrantscompleteaprogramin3years.

• ThecircularityofElPaso’seducationsystemfurtherexacerbatesthe

challengesfacingtheregion.

RecommendationsWhileimprovementsarebeingmade,progresshasbeentoolittle,tooslowandajolttoElPaso’seducationsystemisrequired.Inadditiontobusinessandeconomicdevelopmentinflectionpoints,NCHEMSidentifiedtwopointsalongtheeducationalpipelinethatrequireparticularattention,oneattheK-12levelandoneatthepost-secondarylevel.

EducationalPipelineInflectionPoint#1

1. AttheK-12level,ElPasoshouldincreaseitsrateofcollege-readystudentsatthetimeofhighschoolgraduationtoatleast60percent.

2. Quantumimprovementsinbuildingacademic,collegetransition,career,andlifereadiness

skillsarerequiredwithintheK-12educationsystem.

3. AttheK-12level,aportfolioofhighperformingschoolsisnecessarytoradicallyexpandthenumberof“highqualityeducationseats”inthesystem;bethosewithinthepublicschoolsystem(i.e.specializedacademies,in-districtcharterschools,magnets,andearlycollegehighschools)orintheformofstand-aloneprovenpubliccharterschools.

4. Theportfolioofhighperformingschoolsmustbevariedandexpandedtoincludenewprovidersthatcancreatethescale,impact,andinnovationneededtopenetrateintothepreparationnecessaryforcompetitivecapabilities.

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EducationalPipelineInflectionPoint#2

1. Withprimarilyonlytwopublicpost-secondaryinstitutionsintheregion,thereislargelyaself-containededucationalsystemthatallowsforusingamoresystemicapproachtosolutionsthatwilleliminateleakageintheeducationalpipeline.

2. Thisself-containededucationalsystemcreatesopportunitiestoaddnuancetothedefinitionof“college-readiness”andaffordsopportunitiestoalignhighschooleducationwithreadinessassessmentsandrequirementsatthelocalcolleges.

3. Areviewofhighschoolcurricula,vis-à-visplacementexamsatthetworegionalpost-secondaryinstitutions,shouldbeusedto:a. Strengthenstudentpreparationinhighschoolandreducethenumberofstudentsbeing

assignedtodevelopmentaleducationorremediationcourses.

b. Alignhighschoolcurriculawithrequirementsofthemoreattractivemajorsatthoseinstitutionsandhigh-growthindustriesintheregion.

c. Identifypossiblesecondaryproviderstobedesignedasspecialized“academies”that

providedual-creditopportunitiesinvocationalaswellasacademicsubjectmatterareas.