Strive is increasing student success ‘from cradle to
career’ in 27 US states
New
York -- Malaysia is preparing national level
education reforms based on tactics pioneered in the US that are successfully
raising student success throughout the school system, from very early childhood
through completion of university or college. The country’s senior-most leaders
met with State University of New York and New York Academy of Sciences
officials in New York City today to discuss bringing Strive to Malaysia.
The “cradle to
career” approach of the Strive framework involves, among many measures,
identifying specific interventions such as daycare or home visits by social
service workers that best prepare a child to start kindergarten on the right
foot ("Success by Six"). The students are then helped to meet
carefully tracked indicators of critical progress in, for example, math and
reading proficiency along their educational journey.
US experience with
Strive shows a given approach is not necessarily best in all circumstances;
preliminary studies would be required in Malaysia.
But, armed with these
important insights, community talent, time and resources would be narrowly
concentrated on tactics that produce proven, winning results.
SUNY and the New York
Academy of Sciences signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the initiative with
the Malaysia’s Ministry of Higher Education, headed by Dato’ Seri Mohamed
Khaled Nordin.
Malaysia is the first
country looking to institute Strive at a nationwide level. SUNY Chancellor
Nancy L. Zimpher, who co-founded Strive in Ohio and is a member of Malaysia’s
Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council (GSIAC) and Chair of the New
York Academy of Sciences, recently met with Malaysia’s senior-most leaders and
outlined the Strive approach to cradle-to-career education reform.
Chaired by Malaysian
Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Abdul Razak, the year-old GSIAC is
today comprised of international experts in education, economics, business,
science and technology, each volunteering to help the Asian country achieve an
environmentally-sustainable, high-income economy driven by knowledge and
innovation.
Host of the meeting
in Manhattan is the New York Academy of Sciences, which co-chairs the GSIAC
Secretariat with Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology
(MIGHT) of the Prime Minister’s Department and last year helped assemble
international Council members from China, India, Russia, Japan, Korea, The
Netherlands, the UK and the USA, including two Nobel laureates.
Chancellor Zimpher
notes that positive results are being documented in many education systems
where Strive is being deployed, now including 27 US states and the District of
Columbia.
Since Strive began in
Cincinnati in 2006, that city, for example, has experienced a sharp 9% increase
in kindergarten readiness, setting the stage for later success. The use
of certified teachers, small class sizes, and summer learning enrichment programs,
are part of the early education strategy chosen there.
Cincinnati public
school student math proficiency in Grade 4 is up 7%, Grade 8 math up 15% and
college enrolment has jumped 10%.
At the end of high
school, one-on-one advice and simply helping students complete financial aid
forms and scholarship applications, led to a profound 40% increase in college
enrolment by graduates from one low-performing Cincinnati school compared to
the year before.
An essential Strive
pre-requisite, says Chancellor Zimpher, is strategic buy-in from hundreds of
partners throughout the community -- city government officials, school district
superintendents, presidents of universities and community colleges, corporate
leaders, philanthropists, and the executive directors of hundreds of
education-related non-profit and advocacy groups.
“There must be a
commitment to collaboration among pre-kindergarten, kindergarten to Grade 12,
higher education, and workforce development for this approach to be
successful,” said Chancellor Zimpher. “Kids may do well in pre-school, for
example, but unless that pre-school is working with the local school district
to align expectations, most of them won’t be ready for kindergarten. The same
holds true for the transitions to high school, college, and career. These
absences of collaboration cause what we call ‘leaks’ in the education
pipeline,” youths leaving the educational system before completion.
“The alignment of
efforts involving all players throughout a community is a major enterprise but
offers high rewards for students and educators alike,” Chancellor Zimpher
added. “We are proud that Malaysia is taking up this challenge at a national
level and look forward to working with the country in making this program
succeed in an emerging economy context.”
Prime Minister Najib
notes that the proposed reforms would help ensure every child enters school
well prepared, eliminate disparities in academic success, and link the
community and family supports available to students -- all important steps in
the transformation of Malaysia’s economy with greater human capital in science,
technology and innovation.
“This initiative will
also address the lack of student interest in science, technology, engineering
and mathematics due to poor teaching of the subject matter, insufficient
professional support and supervision, a lack of priority given to the subjects
by schools, a lack of information on career prospects in science-related
fields, and unattractive prospects for science-qualified graduates.”
The Prime Minister
said he was struck by a comment Chancellor Zimpher made on a recent trip to
Kuala Lumpur that the challenges SUNY faces are similar in kind and in scale to
those faced in his nation.
“A truly remarkable
alliance has been initiated between the State University of New York and its
Cradle to Career program, the New York Academy of Sciences and its STEM
(Science, technology, Engineering, Math) Education Initiative, and our
education-related ministries and three of our leading universities.
“The notion that
Malaysia and New York State would benefit by attacking many of the same
problems in tandem, learning from each other’s experiences, and leveraging the
investments of the best practices going on throughout the world, as conveyed by
Chancellor Zimpher’s team in the sphere of education and the New York Academy
of Science’s team in the sphere of science, technology, engineering and math,
is truly inspirational.”
*
* * * *
Members,
Global Science and Innovation Advisory Council (GSIAC) for Malaysia:
http://bit.ly/LJqkc7
* * * * *
About
the New York Academy of Sciences
The
New York Academy of Sciences is an independent, not-for-profit organization that
since 1817 has been committed to advancing science, technology, and society
worldwide. With 25,000 members in 140 countries, the Academy is creating a
global community of science for the benefit of humanity. The Academy's core
mission is to advance scientific knowledge, positively impact the major global
challenges of society with science-based solutions, and increase the number of
scientifically informed individuals in society at large. Please visit us online
at www.nyas.org.
About
the State University of New York
The
State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in
the United States, educating nearly 468,000 students in more than 7,500 degree
and certificate programs on 64 campuses with more than 3 million alumni around
the globe. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu
About
the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology
The
Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) is a
not-for-profit company limited by guarantee under the purview of the Prime
Minister of Malaysia. MIGHT is an organization built on the strength of
public-private partnership with more than 100 members, both local and
international, from industry, government and academia. As an organization MIGHT
is dedicated to providing a platform for industry-government consensus building
in the drive to advance high technology competency in Malaysia. Please visit us
online at www.might.org.my
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