Maintaining America's Egalitarian Edge in the 21st Century: Unifying K-12 and Postsecondary Education for the Success of All Students

Overview & Synopsis

Futurists, policy makers, and other stakeholders propose sweeping reforms of the American education system. However, there is little evidence that the current add-on, underfunded system will reverse the failure pattern among children of color and those living in poverty. This article presents a dramatic and feasible proposal to establish a collaborative learning community to improve all levels of education by combining the public schools and higher education. A unified education system would blend ongoing efforts in the PK-16 movement with International Baccalaureate, Advance Placement, and other public school-higher education links into a new seamless system with instruction, curriculum, and technology that would produce independent, productive learners in all racial and ethic groups beginning at age 3 and continuing though graduate education. The article reviews research efforts to build partnerships between public schools and higher education and ends with a futuristic scenario of a successful unified system in 2035.