“Texas is blessed with an abundance of natural resources. We have plenty of land, more cattle than any other state, and – of course – we have oil. But the greatest natural resource in this state is our young people.   Can you imagine what this state would be like if nobody had done anything after Spindletop? I certainly can’t – and I don’t want to!
Make no mistake: the young people sitting in Texas classrooms today are the “new Spindletop,” and they represent the key to our economic success.”
~ Chancellor John Sharp, The Texas A&M University System
Thank you all who joined us for the 2016 Central Texas Education Profile on Tuesday, June 14 at IBC Bank!  We had a great turnout, wonderful presentations, highly engaging and insightful table discussions, and a very robust media response to the 2016 Central Texas education data!
The program included the following:

  • Simon Tidd, the Director of Research and Analytics Systems Development at E3 Alliance delivered an engaging big idea “TED Talk” on data – what is data, how do humans use data, how can it be used for greater understanding of the issues we are exploring in education.
  • Khotan Shahbazi-Harmon, Director of Communications and Community Accountability at E3 Alliance presented demographics of our region.  Together we reviewed: the growth in student population by 34% since 2005;  how although we speak over 100 languages, 90% of our English Language Learners speak Spanish;  an increase in the percent of students designated as low income and how that affects income distribution by school districts; the fact that 47% of students are from low-income homes; and the challenges that our students face such as poverty, mobility, homelessness, food insecurity, language barriers and trauma.
  • Laura Koenig, the E3 Alliance Director of School Readiness, and Jacquie Porter, Director of Early Childhood Services at AISD, sounded the alarm on the drop in kindergarten readiness rates from about 53-54% for the past few years to the current 41% in 2015-2016 and spoke about next steps in ensuring students are school ready!
  • Nichole Prescott, E3 Alliance Director of Student Success, and Kimberly McNeeley, Assistant Director of Parks & Recreation Department at City of Austin, and Melanie Moore, Executive Director of KDK-Harman Foundation shared data on how to eliminate achievement gaps through Out of School Time (OST).
  • Christine Bailie, E3 Alliance Director of High School, College & Career Success, Sonia Dominguez, Administrative Supervisor for Teaching and Learning Community at Austin ISD, and David Surdovel, Director of Curriculum and Instruction at Manor ISD, shared data around why math matters for student success, and the work being done regionally around My Brother’s Keeper initiative to close the achievement gaps in student performance for boys and young men of color.

You can access the 2016 Central Texas Education Profile and the power point presentation from the event here:

Here are some photos from the event:
2016 CTX Profile
2016 CTX Profile 2
Our thanks to the following media partners for their coverage of the 2016 Central Texas Profile data:

  • KLBJ
    • Pre-event interview Pre-K readiness – broadcast on 6/14/2016
    • Pre-event interview Out of School Time – broadcast on 6/14/2016