The Education Economy: America's Next Big Thing

How integrating the country's educational system, employers, and job creators can reshape -- and reignite -- the American economy

by Brandon Busteed

Though the economy and education have long been topics of top concern to Americans, we haven't worked to create strong linkages between the two. They are more like two castles with a large moat between them. Yet there is nothing more important we can do as a country than to build the world's most effective educonomy -- that is, seamlessly integrate our educational system, our employers, and our job creators. Unless we get education and the economy working together more effectively, America will relinquish its role as leader of the free world.

Political consultant James Carville's famous quip "It's the economy, stupid" changed a presidential election. It's quite possible that "It's the educonomy, stupid" will change and shape not just politics but all leadership for the next decade to come. Here's why.

Over the past year, Gallup has conducted various studies looking at the linkages between education and long-term success in life and work. We've polled representative samples of the general population in America, parents of fifth- through 12th-graders, and business leaders. And we've interviewed teachers, superintendents, college presidents, principals, college graduates, young Americans aged 18-34, and students in grades five through 12. All told, we collected the voices of close to 1 million Americans on this subject in the past year alone. And what we've learned is alarming.

Engagement is on the decline

• Student engagement in school drops precipitously from fifth grade through 12th grade. About three quarters of elementary school kids (76%) are engaged in school, while only 44% of high school kids are engaged. The longer students stay in school, the less engaged they become. If we were doing this right, the trend would be going in the opposite direction.
• About seven in 10 K-12 teachers are not engaged in their work (69%). And teachers are dead last among all professions Gallup studied in saying their opinions count at work and their supervisors create an open and trusting environment. We also found that teacher engagement is the most important driver of student engagement. We'll never improve student engagement until we boost teachers' workplace engagement first.

Job preparedness is questionable

• About four in 10 students in grades five through 12 (43%) say they plan to start their own business, yet only 7% currently have an internship or job in a real organization where they can apply that energy. News flash: Schools and colleges don't have jobs and internships -- employers do. If we don't get schools and businesses working together to give students these opportunities, everyone will lose.
• Only 14% of Americans say they are confident that college graduates are well-prepared for success in the workplace. And business leaders are even more skeptical, with only 11% saying that college graduates are well-prepared for success at work. Yet despite this, 96% of chief academic officers of colleges and universities are either somewhat or very confident that they are preparing college students for success in the workplace. It's hard to imagine a gap -- or moat -- bigger than that.
• Among young Americans, we found that those who worked on a long-term project that took several classes to complete and used what [they] were learning about to develop solutions to real problems in [their] community or the world in their last year of school were twice as likely to have higher work quality compared with those lacking these experiences. Yet only 17% said they had these experiences.

It's about getting a job, not a degree

• Among college graduates, those who had an internship or job where they applied what they were learning in the classroom, worked on projects that took a semester or more to complete, and were actively involved in The Education Economy: America's Next Big Thing: