Arkansas Public Higher Education
Coordination of Education Efforts Report
Academic Year 2016-17

Academic Affairs

December 2017

Arkansas Department of Higher Education
423 Main Street, Suite 400 Little Rock, AR 72201

ARKANSAS COMMISSION FOR COORDINATIONOF EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS
2016 ANNUAL REPORTThe Commission for the Coordination of Educational Efforts was created by Act
109 of the Second Extraordinary Session of 2003. Act 109 required theCommission to recommend policies related to the improvement of coordination
among and between the levels of education from pre-kindergarten to the graduatelevel, and included a specific list of topics for consideration. Subsequent legislation
has adjusted the size and composition of the board but retained the initial purpose.
The original topics and legislative history are provided for reference in Appendix
A to this report.
For over a decade, the Commission for Coordination has met quarterly, listened tomany distinguished speakers from government, education, and the private sector
and annually provided a report with recommendations for change and attention. A
partial list of past presentations is also provided for reference in Appendix A.
In the past ten years, many things have changed that affect education and jobs inArkansas and the efforts that coordinate and link them. Some of these are
executive acts, such as the STEM Works effort that promotes STEM (Science,Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education leading to a workforce
empowered for the knowledge-based jobs of the 21st Century. STEM Works
includes UTeach programs at three universities that will improve the availability ofteachers skilled in STEM disciplines and three project-based learning initiatives –Project Lead the Way, New Tech, EAST Core. The Arkansas EconomicDevelopment Commission has emphasized growth in skilled, higher paying jobs
and the infrastructure to support technology based startups and increase venture
capital.
There are also large efforts driven primarily by other state agencies, such as theadvent of the Common Core Curriculum and Arkansas’ role in developing theNext Generation Science Standards and expanding access to high quality pre-kprograms. These efforts affect the entire educational enterprise.
New organizations have also emerged focused on the vision of Arkansas in the 21stCentury. Accelerate Arkansas focuses on the broad changes in education and theeconomy required to get the average income in Arkansas to equal the US average.
The Arkansas STEM Coalition focuses on engaging the educational enterprise,1

state agencies, businesses and citizens to remake Arkansas STEM policies,strategies and programs in order to expand the economy of Arkansas and produce
higher paying jobs. There are programs to remediate, reduce the need forremediation, increase the success, extent and diversity of Advanced Placement
courses, and other programs for concurrent enrollment and distance education.
Other programs encourage students to visit college campuses and employers inorder to gain information for planning their lives.
In 2016, the Commission heard from the Arkansas Department of Education andthe Arkansas Department of Higher Education. Presentations were made to update
the Commission on the work of the Arkansas Research Alliance and Arkansas
Learns.
Recommendations of the Commission are:
1. To promote uniform accounting and reporting procedures for scholarships
for students in concurrent enrollment courses.
2. To research what other states are doing with Advanced Placement (AP)courses regarding college credit, and to implement best practices as we workto improve the way we deliver and assign credit for AP courses in Arkansas.
3. To encourage funding for the Positive Youth Development Act at theArkansas Department of Education.
4. To establish new goals, or rethink the purpose of this Commission so that it
might contribute to the overall advancement of the P-16 system in a moremeaningful and relevant way. The current goals of this Commission havebeen met and revisited on many occasions.

2

ARKANSAS COMMISSION FOR COORDINATIONOF EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS
2016 ANNUAL REPORTAppendix A: Background and History
The Commission for the Coordination of Educational Efforts was created by Act 109 of theSecond Extraordinary Session of 2003 in response to a perceived need for coordinated efforts toaddress problems with the flow of students from preK-12 educational institutions to institutionsof higher education and ultimately to the workforce. One major example of an issue requiring
coordinated attention was the high rate of remediation required in students entering theinstitutions of higher education.
The Act required the appointment of members by the Governor, President Pro Tempore, Speakerof the House, the Presidents Council of Colleges and Universities, and by virtue of positions.
Act 109 required the Commission to recommend policies related to the improvement ofcoordination among and between the levels of education from pre-kindergarten to the graduatelevel as well as:Recommend policies on concurrent enrollment of high school students in college
courses.



Make recommendations related to a common calendar for all public schools andinstitutions of higher education.

Study the various delivery systems of distance learning and recommend ways toimprove and make more efficient a delivery system for Arkansas.

Recommend ways that the public schools, the Department of Education, theDepartment of Higher Education, and the institutions of higher education can improve
working relationships in order to improve the effectiveness of teaching for the publicschools.

Recommend ways of improving the transfer of credit from institution toinstitution for the benefit of the student. This includes recommendations for
improving the transfer from two-year to four-year institutions as well as the transfer
among two-year institutions and four-year institutions.

Make recommendations related to aligning the curriculum from kindergarten throughthe bachelor’s level in colleges and universities.

Recommend ways of improving the link between educational efforts and economic
development for Arkansas.

Recommend priorities for the funding of education.
3



Review all current scholarship programs of the state and institutions of higher
education and make recommendations for improving future scholarship programs.

Make recommendations related to the future need for remediation of first-timecollege students.



Make recommendations to improve science, technology, engineering, andmathematics education from kindergarten through the bachelor's level in highereducation.

Make recommendations to improve the use of educational technology.

Recommend any other improvements in education at any level to benefit students andthe state.

Act 1936 of 2005 amended Act 109 by adding the President of the Arkansas Science &Technology Authority and the Executive Chief Information Officer as members. Act 1936 also
added duties concerning science and technology, as listed above.
Act 751 of 2007 dissolved and transferred the duties of the Executive Chief Information Officerto the Department of Information Systems. Therefore, the Director of the Department ofInformation Systems replaced the Chief Information Officer as a member of the Commission.
The first meeting of the Arkansas Commission for Coordination of Educational Efforts was heldon August 12, 2004 where Dr. Ken James, then Commissioner of the Department of Education,and Dr. Linda Beene, then Director of the Department of Higher Education, presented anexplanation of the commission, the reason for its creation and desired outcomes. Florine
Milligan, Arkansas State University Trustee member, was elected Chair of the Commission at its
November 2005 meeting, a position she diligently continued to fill through 2013.
Each year the recommendations of the Commission were provided to the Governor, the Senateand House Committees on Education, the State Board of Education, the Arkansas HigherEducation Coordinating Board, the boards of trustees of public institutions of higher education,and superintendents of Arkansas public schools in the December Annual Report as required by
Act 109 of the Second Extraordinary Session of 2003.
Amy Braswell, representing public school teachers, was elected chair of the Commission at its
March 2015 meeting and re-elected in March 2016.
The Commission has met quarterly since August 2004 to gather information. Presentations andinformation presented to the Commission include:4

Dr. Neal Gibson from the Arkansas Research Center and the Department of Education
spoke to the Commission about student growth and data visualization. The Departmentof Education received a grant to develop a statewide longitudinal data system;

Tonya Russell, director of the Division of Child Care and Early Childhood Education at
the Department of Human Services, reported activities by the Department of HumanServices that encourage parental involvement, especially at the early childhood level;

Dr. Jim Purcell presented information about Complete College America, a new initiativedesigned to identify and target college graduation goals. He also described thescholarships available and reported on the Department of Higher Education’s process ofawarding those scholarships;

Jim Boardman presented the Commission with information about the data grant of $9.8
million from the U.S. Department of Education to the Department of Education;

Dr. Tom Kimbrell, commissioner of the Department of Education, updated theCommission on the Common Core State Standards for Readiness for College and Career.
This is an effort of most states to adopt common standards in English, language arts, andmathematics education;

William Walker, director of the Department of Career Education, spoke to theCommission on the duties of that department;

Dr. Ed Franklin, executive director of the Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges,
spoke to the Commission about the Center for Student Success;Shane Broadway, interim director of the Department of Higher Education, gave alegislative update;Dr. John Ahlen from the Arkansas Science and Technology Authority and Susan
Harriman from the Department of Education updated the Commission on STEM
education and the U-Teach program;

Dr. Kimbrell spoke to the group about the Common Core standards and STEM works;

Melinda Faubel from AT&T described some ways Arkansas businesses are promoting
education through grants and other incentives;

Dr. Bob Gunter from the Arkansas Department of Career Education updated theCommission on the activities of the department;5Melissa Jacks from the educator licensure division at the Department of Education spoke
about possible changes to teacher licensure regulations;Luke Gordy, executive director of the Arkansans for Education Reform Foundation,
described the Foundation’s work;Herschel Cleveland, a former state representative and sponsor of legislation creating theCommission, described the origin and history of the Commission; andMegan Witonski, assistant commissioner in the Division of Learning Services at theArkansas Department of Education, spoke about the Common Core Standards being
implemented;

Stephen Addison, dean of UCA’s College of Natural Science and Mathematics, described
efforts to promote technology and computer science in education;

Carman McBride, EAST Facilitator, and students, presented to the Commission various
projects in the EAST program at Don Roberts Elementary School;

Amanda Tucker, Instructional Technology Facilitator at Don Roberts Elementary Schooldescribed ways the school was providing technology to the teachers and the students;

Warwick Sabin, executive director of the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub, spoke tothe Commission about the organization;

Jordan Carlisle, from the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, described Little RockStartup Weekend;Jeff Stinson, director of UALR TechLaunch, gave the Commissions details aboutTechLaunch’s promotion of entrepreneurship;Debbie Jones, assistant commissioner for Learning Services at the Arkansas Departmentof Education updated the Commission on the Common Core State Standards;

Sarah Argue and Greg Holland from the Arkansas Research Center reported on theprogress of the Center;

James Hendren, chair of the Governor’s Computer Science Task Force, provided anupdate on the group’s activities to the Commission;Cory Anderson, vice president of ForwARd Arkansas, described the efforts of theinitiative to promote education in Arkansas;6

Jerry Adams, president of the Arkansas Research Alliance, spoke about the mission ofthe organization to promote research partnerships in Arkansas; and

Gary Newton, president of Arkansas Learns, addressed the commission on the non-profitgroup’s goals regarding education in the state.

7