I gave this presentation at a West Coast regional meeting for a national NGO, Women Graduates in fall 2018. It covers case studies, ideas from current education best practices, and ways to make the future of education better for all students.

1. EDUCATION
ACCESS & QUALITY… HOW DO THESE FIT TOGETHER?
WG-USA, Fall 2018
Sara Murdock, PhD
MANY THANKS to Elise Russo

2. REFLECT
Based on our presenters
What connections do
you see to education?
 No “right” / “wrong”
– a chance to reflect
on how themes relate
 2 min to reflect
 Share w/ your table
 Groups share

3. FOCUS: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL #4
“Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning
opportunities for all.”
 4.1 Primary and secondary education
 4.2 Early Childhood
 4.3Technical, vocational, tertiary and adult education
 4.4 Skills for work
 4.5 Equity
 4.6 Literacy and numeracy
 4.7 Sustainable development and global citizenship

4. THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS REPORT 2018
 Minimum proficiency standards in reading and math not met
 Quality education must improve
 Disparities along gender lines, urban-rural locations, infrastructure lacking
 Increases in early childhood and primary education (70% in 2016 up from 63% in 2010)
 Estimated 617 million children and adolescents in primary and lower secondary worldwide (58% of age
group)
 In 2016 85% of primary school teachers were trained (71% for Southern Asia, 61% for sub-Saharan
Africa)
 In 2016 34% of primary schools had electricity, less than 40% basic handwashing facilities

5. SDG 4: “INCLUSIVE AND EQUITABLE”
FOR HIGHER ED (“COLLEGE”)
Dollars and cents (in the US)
 $50,000 = average student loans for today’s graduates
 3x = how much more expensive college is now than 30 years ago, in adjusted dollars
Human dynamics (in the US)
 30% of today’s entering freshmen never make it past their 2nd year
 50% of today’s entering students don’t complete through graduation
 74% of parents with adult children give financial support
 Millennials are ½ as wealthy (2x poorer) than Generation X, in adjusted dollars

6. SDG 4: “INCLUSIVE AND EQUITABLE”
FOR HIGHER ED (“COLLEGE”)
 “Literacy and numeracy” is a good start… but what about job preparedness?
 1/3 current jobs will not exist by 2030
 65% of children entering school now will have jobs that don’t even exist yet
 79% of executives agree the future of work will be based on specific projects, not individual skills, roles, or jobs

7. WHAT IS “QUALITY” ANYWAYS?
Consider: What might SDG 4 look like?
Rapid fire: what comes mind? Share 2 key phrases with your table. For now, we’re focusing on
college.
Unusual case studies for inspiration:
All based in the same geographic region – Greater San Francisco – for the sake of comparative
brevity.
 “42” – the school with no classes or teachers
 Minerva – the school with no campus… or is it 7 campuses?!
 Concourse – school in ½ time and 2x the teachers

8. 42 – SCHOOL WITH NO CLASSES OR TEACHERS (OR TUITION!)
WWW.42.US.ORG/

9. 42 – SCHOOL WITH NO CLASSES OR TEACHERS (OR TUITION!)

10. CONCOURSE – SCHOOL IN ½ TIME WITH 2X THE TEACHERS
MYCONCOURSE.ORG/
 Academics online, coaching, and cohort meetups in person
 Flexible schedule, complete in 2-3 years while working
 Under the amount of tuition of most colleges (<$6,000)

11. CONCOURSE – SCHOOL IN ½ TIME WITH 2X THE TEACHERS
 Earn degree in 2-3 years while working
 Designed with low-income students in mind
 Project-based – prepare for actual jobs

12. MINERVA – THE SCHOOL WITH 7 CAMPUSES
WWW.MINERVA.KGI.EDU/
 Inherently cross cultural
 Seminars online, max 18 students
 Residence halls and site-specific projects

13. MINERVA – THE SCHOOL WITH 7 CAMPUSES
 Project-based for practical skills
 Professional experience with emphasis on internships
 Career readiness matching “future of work” reports

14. DESIGN PRINCIPLES &
SYSTEMS THINKING
Design Principles for a Student-Centered
Higher Education Ecosystem
“It is impossible to redesign students to fit into
a system, but we can re-design a system for
students. This can be the difference between
success or failure for our students that need
the promise of higher education the most.”
- Joseph South, Dir. Office of Ed Tech
[Note: this is just one model. Choose whatever systems model
you’d like. These tenets are provided for reference.]

16. WHAT IS QUALITY?
 Systems perspective: how does SDG 4
fit into the other SDGs?
 With your table, discuss how ”quality”
ed is related to at least 1 other SDG.
 Extra credit:
include 1 that WG is focused on
and 1 that WG isn’t focused on!

17. FOCUS: SDG #4 “ENSURE INCLUSIVEAND EQUITABLE QUALITY ED AND
PROMOTE LIFELONG LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL.”
 4.1 Primary & secondary
 4.2 Early Childhood
 4.3Technical, vocational, tertiary, adult
 4.4 Skills for work
 4.5 Equity
 4.6 Literacy & numeracy
 4.7 Sustainable dev & global citizenship

18. THANK YOU!
 sara.murdock@gmail.com
 Search Sara Murdock on LinkedIn
Or: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saraevamurdock/