Increase Educational Achievement

Goal: By 2018, the percentage of students in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, from pre-kindergarten through college who are on track to earn a degree after high school, increases by 50% and disparities among diverse student groups are eliminated.
Why We Chose This Goal
	Research shows that there is a direct connection between education and the vibrancy of communities. We cannot compete in the national or global economy by falling behind in educational achievement.
	Currently, only about 25 percent of students in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota earn a degree after high school,1 and the disparities in educational achievement among students in different ethnic groups and income levels are huge.2
	Research shows that effective teaching makes a bigger difference in educational success than any other variable. This is true at all stages of education, from pre-kindergarten through college.3
	Over the next 10 years, half or more of teachers in the three states will retire or leave and need to be replaced.4 Since the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers, who takes their places, how they are trained and what they do to help all students succeed are critically important.
For more information on why we chose this goal, refer to our Background Articles page.

Our Approach
Our approach to achieve this goal is to emphasize and support teacher effectiveness, especially in the next generation of teachers from pre-kindergarten through college. We have three preliminary strategies on which we will focus.
	Develop Effectiveness Measures
	All solutions start with building a good foundation of knowledge, gleaned from data and research. We will support the efforts of researchers who can work with us to convert currently available data into information that can be used to develop strong measures of teacher effectiveness.
	Recruit High-Caliber Teachers and Improve Teacher Preparation and Retention
	We plan to identify and invest in the most promising ideas for recruiting, training, coaching and retaining new teachers.
	Improve the Effectiveness of Existing Teachers at all Levels
	We will champion improved effectiveness as the core of professional development for both new and experienced teachers and other instructional staff.
Future Partnerships
We expect to reach out to:
	State agencies and education researchers to develop new tools to analyze existing data to measure effectiveness.
	School districts and higher education institutions to identify top-caliber candidates for future teaching roles.
	Existing early care providers, school districts and colleges to make improved effectiveness the core of professional development for our teachers.

 
Learn about our goals ...

Letter from the President
Develop Courageous Leaders and Engage Entire Communities in Solving Problems
Support the Self-Determination of Native Nations
Increase Educational Achievement

If you have a specific question, email us at newdirection@bushfoundation.org.