Page 18 - 2015 Compass Now

RATIONALE | EDUCATION AREAS OF NEED EDUCATION

Academic Readiness and Success • Academic Readiness and Success
• K-12

Participation in pre-kindergarten has been shown to strongly • Post-Secondary Education

influence lifetime academic success. Because children have • Youth Resilience

varying pre-kindergarten education experiences, they all enter • Workforce Readiness

school at different levels of preparedness. Approximately 38%

of three- and four-year-olds were enrolled in pre-kindergarten

in the Great Rivers Region in 2012, which is much lower than the Wisconsin average of 44.6% and the

Minnesota average of 46.3%.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY College readiness refers to being prepared for postsecondary education or training experiences, including
the ability to succeed at either two- or four-year institutions without the need for remedial coursework.
Individuals who earn a postsecondary degree are less likely to endure poverty, are more likely to have
an increased earning potential, have a higher likelihood that their children will attend a postsecondary
institution, and are more likely to live longer and happier lives overall. Based on the data available and the
professional insights of the Education Council, academic readiness was seen as a high priority Education
issue for our community.

Youth Resilience

Research has determined that how youth respond to stressors (resilience) matters more than the stressor
itself. Resilience is the ability to manage stress and function well even when faced with adversity and
trauma. There is increasing evidence that the effects of toxic stress can be mitigated by experiences that
help to build youths’ resilience. These are experiences that:

• Foster a consistent relationship with at least one safe, caring, reliable, and competent adult who
promotes high expectations and encourages self-improvement

• Encourage adolescent voice, choice, and personal responsibility
• Promote the development of self-regulation, -reflection, -confidence, -compassion, and character

Because many youth in the Great Rivers Region are experiencing stressors that challenge their resilience
(e.g., family poverty, drug use/abuse, physical abuse, mental health issues, etc.), the Education Council
determined youth resilience to be a priority area of need.

Workforce Readiness

A career provides a family-sustaining wage and pathways to advancement, and often requires postsecondary
training or education. Workforce readiness means that a high school graduate has the knowledge and skills
needed to qualify for and succeed in postsecondary job training and/or education (e.g., technical/vocational
program, community college, apprenticeship, or significant on-the-job training) necessary for their chosen
career. The Education Council felt this was a priority area of need for our community because, although post-
secondary graduation rates for the Great Rivers Region are similar to state and national averages, there is
concern that students are not always leaving these institutions prepared to be successful in the workforce.

EDUCATION HIGHLIGHTS | COMPASS NOW 2015 RANDOM HOUSEHOLD SURVEY

• The quality of early education opportunities was rated significantly lower in the COMPASS NOW 2015
Random Household Survey than it was in the 2011 survey.

• 27.5% of respondents rated the availability of birth-to-three education as “fair or poor.”
• 22.3% of respondents rated the quality of schools grades 4K-12 as “fair or poor.”
• 11.4% of respondents rated the quality of higher education as “fair or poor.”

10 COMPASS NOW 2015