About P-16
Mission and Strategic Objectives:
The P-16 Department serves as the outreach arm of the University System Office to other state education agencies, the Governor's Office, P-12 schools, University System of Georgia institutions, and business partners in collaborative efforts to influence improvements in education for Georgia's students, pre-school through college. The P-16 Department has two strategic objectives:
- To promote high school graduation, college readiness, college transition, and college success.
- To promote continuous improvement in P-12 teacher, leader, and counselor recruitment, preparation, transition, development, and success.
P-16 Strategies:
The P-16 Department does its work through generating and capitalizing on opportunities to respond to needs; conducting research and development and demonstration projects to test new ideas; identifying and sharing lessons learned from P-16 initiatives; using lessons learned to influence state and national policies and practices; and coordinating the implementation of Board of Regents P-16 policies within the University System of Georgia. All work of the P-16 Department is accomplished through some combination of school-college-business-state government partnerships and it is part of regional and national networks. The P-16 Department uses a Balanced Scorecard to strategically manage and communicate progress toward its goals.
Current Initiatives in which the P-16 Department Participates:
- American Diploma Project: A state effort to raise expectations for high schools toward the goal of virtually all high school graduates being both college and work ready, by redesigning high schools "up" to meet college and workforce entrance requirements.
- Early College: A blended model of high school and the first two years of college for students not well served in traditional high schools, implemented in six sites and studied for possible statewide replication.
- Gateway to College: A form of Early College for high school dropouts that have the potential to succeed.
- Georgia's Leadership Institute for School Improvement: Leadership development programs, research and analysis, and policy influence focused on leadership for school improvement for both incumbent and aspiring district and school leaders.
- Science and Mathematics: A comprehensive research and development initiative (Partnership for Reform In Science and Mathematics (PRISM) to increase and deepen student achievement and understanding in science and mathematics in the public schools and in college; and to increase the pipeline of students pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (Mathematics-Science Data Initiative).
- P-16 Data Marts: A series of "bridges" between Georgia Department of Education and University System of Georgia student informational systems to enable longitudinal reporting.
- Teacher Quality: Strengthening preparation program quality in the University System of Georgia through the Regents' Principles for the Preparation of Teachers, Leaders, and Counselors for the Schools; helping teachers improve their teaching of reading; raising expectations for teachers of children, birth-age 5;
- Teacher Quantity and Diversity: Designing and testing multiple pathways for becoming a teacher; hosting the University System Teacher Career Center; coordinating the initiative to set institutional teacher production targets (over-all and for ethnic minorities) and strategies for reaching them (Double the Number, Double the Diversity of Teachers Prepared in the University System of Georgia); and testing a teacher working conditions survey toward a goal of reducing teacher attrition.
The P-16 Department works primarily at the intersection between the educational systems; it generates and connnects opportunities and resources with state need; and it collaborates in structures created to sustain effective practices.
Partners
The P-16 Department collaborates with the following partners:
State - Governor's Office, Georgia Department of Education, State Board of Education, Technical College System of Georgia, Georgia Professional Standards Commission, Department of Early Care and Learning, Governor's Office of Student Achievement, Georgia Student Finance Commission, Georgia Department of Labor, Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, business community, Georgia Public Policy Foundation, local school districts, and local colleges and universities.
Regional/National - National Commission on Teaching for America's Future, Jobs for the Future, GO Alliance, NASA Mathematics - Science Data Initiative, Southern Regional Education Board, American Diploma Project Network (Achieve), Education Trust, Mathematics and Science Partnership Learning Network (National Science Foundation), Education Commission of the States, National Governors Association Center of Best Practices, and National Association of University System Heads K-16 Network.
History
In 1995 the Board of Regents adopted a Pre-School-College (P-16) policy directive to formally recognize the interlocking nature of the public schools and the University System of Georgia:
- The University System can only be as strong as the students it receives from the schools;
- The schools can only be as strong as the teachers and other educators they receive from the colleges and universities.
As part of this P-16 policy directive, a P-16 Department was formed within the Office of the University System of Georgia to collaborate with other state education agencies, the P-12 schools, and other public and private partners to work toward resolution of systemic problems that show up most notibly at the transition points between the P-12 and higher education systems.
Why the Work of P-16 Department is a Priority of the University System of Georgia
Continuum
- Department of Education: Responsible for high school graduation and college and work readiness
- Department of Technical and Adult Education and University System of Georgia: Responsible for college progression and college success
- Successful college transition requires a partnership between the Department of Education and higher education
A P-16 Approach Required
Continuum
- University System of Georgia: Responsible for educator recruitment and preparation
- Department of Education: Responsible for educator success
- Successful transition of teachers, school administrators, and counselors requires a partnership between the University System of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Education
A P-16 Approach Required