Policymakers across the U.S. are increasingly looking for ways to raise student achievement from kindergarten through high school, and improve college access and success. The goal of preparing all students for college, careers, and life has become the driving force behind many education reform strategies. This reflects the widespread understanding that being prepared for education and training after high school is critical to being successful in life: a high school diploma alone will not allow young people to keep pace in a global economy.
The Wyoming P-16 Education Council strongly believes that regardless of the educational paths students take after high school, they should be prepared to enroll in at least one year of higher education or job training to prepare themselves for the 21st century economy.
To help students accomplish this, states seek to create integrated systems of education in which all levels of education – pre-kindergarten through college – coordinate, communicate and educate as one holistic system instead of several. These efforts are commonly called K-16, P-16 and P-20 councils. These councils typically focus upon
- Expanding access to early learning for children ages 3 to 5 and improve their readiness for kindergarten
- Smoothing student transitions from one level of learning to the next
- Closing the achievement gap between white and minority students
- Upgrading teacher education and professional development
- Strengthening relationships between families and schools
- Creating a wider range of learning experiences and opportunities for students in the final two years of high school
- Improving college readiness and college success.
- Other activities including raising scholarships, creating promotional campaigns, and providing incentives or recognition awards for high academic performance.
Wyoming P-16 Education Council
Efforts to establish a P-16 Council in Wyoming were tentative until the University of Wyoming’s associate vice president for academic affairs, Rollin Abernethy, joined by Charlie Ware, head of the Wyoming Contractors Association, and Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction Joe Simpson in 2006 formed and served as executive officers for a nonprofit, non-governmental council. The council then received a two-year, $300,000 federal State Scholars Initiative grant issued through the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, or WICHE, to support the council’s work in developing a seamless statewide education system.
The grant stipulated that the money be used to partner with businesses. Regardless of grant requirements, the private sector is viewed as integral to the discussion of ways to improve education, and at least three business people have been appointed to an expanded version of the council. This is a partnership that the P-16 Council values and continues today.
The P-16 Council’s work priorities are to encourage students to take more rigorous courses, support the full implementation of the Wyoming Transcript Center, and facilitate common course taxonomy to ensure each school district is teaching the same material in classes that have the same name.
Governor Freudenthal announced the formation of the Wyoming P-16 Education Council on August 21, 2007 during a ceremony in the State Capitol rotunda.