Learn more about how your state performs in science education
Sunday, February 23, 2003
As EDPros, we need to become more comfortable understanding and discussing educational performance. Last week, I was in South Carolina starting an economic development project. One of the state's recruiters put it to me bluntly: "We are in the business of selling skills."
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) provides a good window for EDPros. Also called the Nation's Report Card, it is a national assessment in reading, science and math that enables us to make state-by-state comparisons.
Just last week, the Department of Education released the 2000 NAEP for science. (The last NAEP for science covered 1996.) The findings in brief: Progress in 4th and 8th grade scores remained stable, while 12th grade scores declined.
In sum, despite all the back and forth on education reform, we are not progressing much. Check out your state results.
Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site:
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Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
Learn more about how your state performs in science education
