By Arizona State University President Michael Crow and Helios Education Foundation CEO Paul J. Luna:
Seven years ago, Arizona set 2030 as a goalpost for increasing state post-secondary education attainment to 60%. Progress toward that goal among Arizona residents between ages 25-64 has leveled off. For Arizona’s economy to continue to thrive, that must change.
Arizona is still nearly 10 percentage points behind the rest of the nation in high school graduation rates, and 15 percentage points behind on enrolling in college or pursuing other educational opportunities after high school.
Our state’s economy is well positioned to grow in resilience, but we can only reach our potential if we provide learners of all ages with the high-quality and equitable educational experiences they need for the jobs of the future.
To address this urgent need for improvement in Arizona’s educational outcomes, Arizona State University and Helios Education Foundation partnered in 2017 to create the ASU Helios Decision Center for Educational Excellence, dedicated to facilitating modern, data-based decision making that directly improves student outcomes.
The ASU Helios Decision Center is now launching the Arizona Education and Workforce Visualization, an interactive tool to help users better understand the current state and trajectory of Arizona’s economic and educational systems.
Educators, industry leaders and related stakeholders can explore the interaction between our state’s economy and educational systems in greater detail, and then consider how to better work together to support Arizona students’ success.
Read the rest of the article in the Phoenix Business Journal.