P-16 is a term for a systematic approach to integrating the separate systems of preschool to postsecondary education, or grade 16 as it would be called. Part of a growing national movement, P-16 seeks to reform our educational “pipeline”--- to eliminate the gaps between high school, postsecondary education and workplace expectations. To fix the leaks, the bumps, and the clogs along the way, ensuring students can advance smoothly to the next level. This approach, for example, seeks to align the state’s core curricula with entry-level expectations of the workplace. This way, students will have a clear understanding of the education and skills required a career. P-16 is guided by the belief that success in college and in a career begins in pre- Kindergarten. Reforms such as P-16 support a new way of thinking collaboratively at the local level while encouraging action at the policy level.

Aligned systems and smooth transitions at the state and local levels can result in better prepared kindergarteners, higher achieving students, and more college graduates—all with the goal of restoring economic competitiveness to our citizens, our communities, and our state.

By bringing together education, business, and community members to work on a shared goal, P-16 Councils take ownership of the approaches and the community issues they address. By working to align local educational systems as well as inform state-level policy, P-16 Councils can ultimately fix the leaks in our current disconnected educational system.

Stephen Portch, P-16 architect and former chancellor of Georgia postsecondary system, notes that Ohio is rich in its diversity of educational providers, but lacks the formal structures to link them together. Instead of expending time and money on restructuring institutions or reseating elected officials, Portch believes we need to bring existing providers together to address our educational issues collectively, not competitively. The remaking of our economy and our educational system has to happen together: from preschool to postsecondary to workforce. A P-16 approach creates a smooth pipeline.

A P-16 approach sounds great in theory. But how does it work in practice? Stark County, Ohio provides a shinning example of the possibilities.

Stark County, like most of Ohio’s counties, thrived in the times of factories and steel mills, with a job market that didn’t require a high school diploma. But by the turn of the 21st century, it found itself in a much different economic position – ranking seventh in the state in size, but 27th in income level.

In 2001, the Stark Education Partnership and the Stark County Educational Service Center came up with a plan. They brought together decision makers from public education, private industry, local government, and nonprofit organizations to examine the economic and educational issues faced by the county. Their two key goals were simply stated: to increase the high school graduation rate to 100 percent, and improve the college-going rate.

In an effort to educate the community about the correlation between a population’s higher education and income level, the group produced a white paper, “The Class of 2021.”
The report was distributed to 200 other decision-makers, along with a request they attend a daylong meeting. The result: the formation of a P-16 Compact Committee consisting of over 30 members from a cross-section of the community.

So far, the Compact has received a $7 million grant from the National Science Foundation for local high school and college faculty to work together on math and science curriculum. And they also created Starkscholarships.org, a web-based clearinghouse that lists scholarship money available to Stark County students.

“The greatest thing of all that happens,” says Joe Rochford, vice president of the Stark County Education Partnership, “is that people get together for P-16 then go back into their respective sectors, and there is a greater degree of coordination.” An unexpected benefit from this P-16 approach, he says, has been the raised awareness of the relationship between education and the economy.

Today, the community of Stark County, Ohio is determined to meet, in less than two years, standards that the state has set for education a decade from now. Moreover, they are striving to surpass Montgomery County, Maryland as the most educated in the country.

This report profiles five P-16 Councils in Ohio through each site’s start-up and launching phase, detailing what it takes to move a local/regional P-16 council from the drawing board into the world of local practice.