SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Once implemented, the recently unveiled Yes We Can Baldwin Strategic Plan would ensure every high-school graduate is prepared to enter college, but ultimately the decision would lie with the individual.

Terry Burkle, who leads the South Baldwin Chamber Foundation, said personal beliefs regarding whether every student should progress to college or immediately enter the work force are irrelevant because the role of Baldwin County Public Schools should be to ensure all students are college ready.

“That’s our objective here, to dispel those thoughts.

“Every child, should they want to go to college, should have that opportunity and be prepared. What they choose is entirely up to them,” she said.

Burkle’s comments specifically reference Target 4 of the recently Baldwin County Board of Education-approved co-owned strategic plan to transform education countywide, building stronger communities in the process.

To that end, Target 4 is carefully worded to ensure all students are ready to succeed in college, work and life via six goals:

• Strengthening curriculum to improve access, rigor and relevance for all students.
• Creating a culture in which all teachers use a variety of instructional strategies to increase student learning and academic press.
• Developing and implementing a comprehensive assessment plan aligned to the revised curriculum.
• Establishing a comprehensive support system to provide targeted intervention for students while building strong student-adult relationships.
• Increasing number of graduates with credentials that meet entry-level requirements for college and work.
• Engaging parents to assume shared responsibility for student preparation for college and the work force.

“There was actually quite a bit of debate on whether this should read ‘college-and-work force ready’ or ‘college-or-work force ready.’ It came down to some people’s beliefs that not every student is college material, but the debate became, ‘Should that really matter?” Burkle said. “What we should be doing is preparing them (for college) regardless, so if they decide it’s the right choice for them, they’re ready.”

A close examination of Target 4 also reveals that community participation increases dramatically at this stage compared to the plan’s first three tenets.

As a result, Burkle said community and business leaders played a key role in drafting this portion of the plan because educators needed to understand that insight to better define the learning environments that will best serve the students.

“These community and business leaders were able to share with educators the simple fact that there are kids graduating who simply are not prepared for the work force, and they really pointed out how important teaching soft skills — like work ethic — could make a huge difference,” she said. “Being able to involve the community in being part of defining this target is exactly what we needed to help us better prepare our students for the work force.”

Specifically, the following are only a few of the core directives driving Target 4:

• Conduct a curriculum audit to identify strengths and areas for improvement.
• Implement career pathways from the state-approved career clusters that meet the needs of the community.
• Engage community industry experts in curriculum planning and development through advisory councils.
• Implement best practices to introduce and optimize use of differentiated instruction, inquiry-based (hands-on) learning, high-order thinking skills and 21st-century learning skills.
• Develop a targeted professional development plan focused on improving instructional delivery.
• Develop a local school intervention plan of action that includes community collaboration.
• Develop and implement an electronic K-12 early-warning system for identifying at-risk youth with attendance, behavior or academic concerns.
• Administer student and parent surveys to assess motivation and engagement as well as plan for improvement.

“Regular reporting to our citizens and the community the progress we’re making will be key to maintaining widespread awareness of the initiative, making sure we’re not only doing what we said we’d do but (also) meeting their expectations,” Burkle said.

Yes We Can Baldwin is a grassroots educational improvement consortium that combines the efforts of the Baldwin County Education Coalition with both the school district and stakeholders in the community, from business leaders and nonprofits to churches and civic organizations. The coalition, meanwhile, represents each of the school system’s seven feeder patterns, giving all parties involved a voice.

The complete strategic plan is available for review online at www.bcbe.org, and a 30-day public comment period began May 17 when organizers unveiled the document.