Some form of postsecondary education after high school—ranging from job training to a bachelor’s degree—is becoming a prerequisite in today’s economy.

This is of particular importance if low-income students are to be able to enter the middle class. The new Obama administration is among many calling for an increase in the number of students who are prepared for a rigorous high school curriculum, can enter a two- or four-year college without the need for remediation, and can persist through the transition into college.

EdSource has been researching and writing about these issues for several years, but has decided it is time for a more explicit acknowledgement of that part of our work in our mission. As a result, at its quarterly meeting on May 29, 2009 the EdSource Board of Directors took action to amend the EdSource mission statement from “K–12” to “K–14” as follows:

Independent and impartial, EdSource strives to advance the common good by developing and widely distributing trustworthy, useful information that clarifies complex K–14 issues and promotes thoughtful decisions about California’s public education system.

EdSource’s core work stays the same

This change in EdSource’s mission will not change our decades-long focus on K–12 as the core of our work. We will continue to address a range of important and timely topics that pertain to both the achievement of students and the policies and programs that affect the system’s ability to deliver a quality education for all of them. In the next few years, that might include such broad areas as teacher effectiveness, including alternative compensation, preparation, and credentialing; district leadership and its impact on school performance; school funding, including how districts in California are responding to the cuts; and other topics as they arise.

Our work on student transitions will expand

EdSource’s work on secondary education issues will grow as we address student transitions into and out of the middle grades, middle grades preparation of students for a rigorous high school curriculum, middle grades and high school strategies that improve the student graduation rate, new pathways through high school, and other strategies to increase the number of students that are academically college-ready upon graduating from high school and making successful transitions into some form of postsecondary education or raining. Our initial emphasis for expanded work will be on students’ successful entry into community college and persistence to a certificate, AA degree, or transfer.

“Community colleges play a vital role in providing higher education opportunities for our California students,” says Davis Campbell, president of the EdSource Board of Directors. “At this time of great crisis, EdSource has responded by expanding its mission to provide the same high quality of study and reporting on community colleges as it does on elementary and secondary education.”

We will seek feedback during the next few years to determine where in the postsecondary success arena EdSource can add the most value, given our assets as an organization. And we will look for win-win opportunities to partner with other organizations in some of this work.