Public Engagement In Action: Up To Date In Kansas City

By McKenna Morrigan

Today's students live in a world of rapid technological change where good jobs and promising careers increasingly require a solid background in Math, Engineering, Technology and Science (known as METS in the Kansas City area, and STEM in many other parts of the country).

Unfortunately, recent studies suggest that too few students are proficient in these subjects. There is growing consensus among the nation's business, government and higher education leaders that unless schools do more to train and nurture a whole new generation of young Americans with strong METS skills, U.S. leadership in the world economy is at risk.

In and around Kansas City, business, government and education leaders are particularly concerned about improving METS achievement to ensure that area students get the skills they'll need to succeed in the 21st century economy and to help build a workforce that is capable of supporting the region's METS-heavy growth industries such as life sciences, engineering and advanced manufacturing.

In 2006, Public Agenda conducted research in the Kansas City region on the attitudes of parents, students, educators and business leaders about the importance of METS education. Our findings, published in the report "Important, but Not for Me," suggest that parents and students in Kansas City do not share the concerns of the region's leaders and experts about the importance of improving METS achievement.

While this chasm in understanding poses a serious challenge for those who wish to communicate the importance of improving METS education, our research also revealed that this "urgency gap" can be bridged by speaking the language of "opportunity" and by articulating the opportunities created through strong METS education.

To help close the "urgency gap" and to communicate to parents and students the opportunities that are generated by improving METS education, Public Agenda is leading a three-year public engagement initiative in the Kansas City Region. The Regional METS Leadership Coalition, a group dedicated to improving METS achievement in the Kansas City region, has been formed to provide strategic guidance to the initiative and One KC Voice, a Kansas City-based community dialogue organization, is acting as the local liaison for the initiative.

This initiative, which is funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and part of the foundation's ten-year agenda to improve math, engineering, technology and science education in the Kansas City region, aims to involve a significant number of citizens communities and leaders in problem solving aimed at preparing students for success in the 21st century economy.

In addition, by working with coalitions of leaders to carry out a series of dialogues, Public Agenda seeks to build regional capacity to deepen and expand community engagement and collaborative work among stakeholders beyond Public Agenda's direct involvement in the region.

Through this initiative, ten communities across the Kansas City region will work with Public Agenda to host Community Conversations on improving METS education results for students in the region.

Community Conversations are carefully constructed problem-solving dialogues that bring diverse stakeholders together to discuss an important and pressing public issue. Instead of lectures by experts or gripe sessions by angry constituents, well-designed Community Conversations create a frank, productive process in which diverse ideas are put on the table, diverse participants sit at the table, and people work to find common ground and solutions. Trained moderators from the community help all participants contribute, while trained recorders capture the ideas and actions steps generated during the discussion.

Community Conversations can have concrete impacts in various ways, from informing district and government policies and practices to creating new citizen-led initiatives and programs, and such conversations are frequently a first step toward larger community dialogue and action. For more information about the impact and methods of Community Conversations, check out our reports on Public Engagement case studies from around the country.

On May 5, 2008 the first Community Conversation of the initiative was held in Wyandotte County. Approximately one hundred parents, teachers, school administrators, business leaders and community members attended the event. The Wyandotte County Community Conversation was sponsored and organized by a coalition of local organizations and leaders, including the Kansas City, Kansas, Public School District, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Kansas City, the KCK Area Chamber of Commerce and many others.

In their summary report to participants, the sponsoring coalition noted that the Community Conversation is a first step in the process of improving the opportunities for young people and for economic growth through better METS education. Organizers of the Community Conversation also identified three major areas of common ground shared by participants:

• Local businesses really need to be involved in the educational process to truly recognize what students need to learn or to study to accommodate employers' needs centered on the METS issues.

• Parents must be involved with their children's educational process for both the student and the school district to be successful.

• Teachers and educators need to be supported in new ways in order for them to be successful in giving our students the METS education they need for success in life.

Motivated to act on the issues identified through the Community Conversation, organizers of the Wyandotte County Community Conversation will be inviting participants to work together with them in the fall to further develop some of the ideas and recommendations generated during the dialogue process.

Public Agenda will be helping four additional communities organize Community Conversations in fall 2008.

McKenna Morrigan is a Public Engagement Associate for Public Agenda.