Column: Executive Director's Desk
"What's Good for the Goose, is ..."
Steve Pines
By: Steve Pines, EIA Executive Director
Published: March 18, 2011
Many years ago when I was with Sylvan Learning Systems, my boss would often say, ”Pines, we have to sing for our soup, every day, to keep our customers and to keep them happy.”
I’m sure each of you can relate to this, whether your customer is a parent or a school.
But what if we considered accountability to customers a bit more boldly – such as linking full payment for services to measures of success?
Having just attended a forum that examined the role of for-profits in K-16 education, I came away with a number of conclusions:
You can probably add your own musings to mine. So what is an education entrepreneur or company to do?
First, let’s agree that there is no pre-ordained right for companies to do business in schools. That said, we must make sure that public policy doesn’t specifically exclude us from approaching the opportunity. For that we must continue to be vigilant and assertively advocate that the school doors be literally and figuratively open to our companies. Once at the threshold, however, it is up to us to engage our partners, build trust, offer innovative solutions and commit to helping them solve their pain points over the long term. Our public partners need to hear that our interests for success are inextricably linked with theirs.
As for my other musings above, perhaps I could summarize by stating that providing assurances for quality and accountability may be the magic tonic that could (over time) change the negative perceptions of the for-profit motive. Part of this solution could lie in accreditation - a process of continuous quality improvement that is verified by credible third-parties. I explored this in my column last month and it will be a recurring theme for EIA in the years to come.
Another promising strategy that may be effective when offering services that creep closer to the classroom: performance contracting. I just read a working paper entitled “Shifting Risk to Create Opportunity - a role for performance guarantees in education” by Bryan Hassel and Daniela Doyle of the American Enterprise Institute. It outlines a host of performance measures that may be negotiated between providers and schools. The authors point out that well-balanced performance contracts can lower the risk to the school-buyer, especially when trying to accomplish something innovative, by structuring incentives to the supplier that are laser-focused on the buyer’s goals.
Every day, we hear the mantra of performance-pay for public school teachers. It seems reasonable that a similar standard may be held for service providers. Just a thought. What do you think?
Published: March 18, 2011
Many years ago when I was with Sylvan Learning Systems, my boss would often say, ”Pines, we have to sing for our soup, every day, to keep our customers and to keep them happy.”
I’m sure each of you can relate to this, whether your customer is a parent or a school.
But what if we considered accountability to customers a bit more boldly – such as linking full payment for services to measures of success?
Having just attended a forum that examined the role of for-profits in K-16 education, I came away with a number of conclusions:
- There is no presumption that for-profits have an entitlement to work with schools.
- The closer external providers get to the core mission/deliverables of the school, the higher the barriers to entry become.
- There is an almost knee-jerk assumption by public officials that companies, because they seek to earn a profit for their shareholders will “throw the kids under the school bus” for the sake of a buck.
- The federal government can and does create a market for new services but in this gold rush, we often get a mixed bag of providers that drag down the sector.
You can probably add your own musings to mine. So what is an education entrepreneur or company to do?
First, let’s agree that there is no pre-ordained right for companies to do business in schools. That said, we must make sure that public policy doesn’t specifically exclude us from approaching the opportunity. For that we must continue to be vigilant and assertively advocate that the school doors be literally and figuratively open to our companies. Once at the threshold, however, it is up to us to engage our partners, build trust, offer innovative solutions and commit to helping them solve their pain points over the long term. Our public partners need to hear that our interests for success are inextricably linked with theirs.
As for my other musings above, perhaps I could summarize by stating that providing assurances for quality and accountability may be the magic tonic that could (over time) change the negative perceptions of the for-profit motive. Part of this solution could lie in accreditation - a process of continuous quality improvement that is verified by credible third-parties. I explored this in my column last month and it will be a recurring theme for EIA in the years to come.
Another promising strategy that may be effective when offering services that creep closer to the classroom: performance contracting. I just read a working paper entitled “Shifting Risk to Create Opportunity - a role for performance guarantees in education” by Bryan Hassel and Daniela Doyle of the American Enterprise Institute. It outlines a host of performance measures that may be negotiated between providers and schools. The authors point out that well-balanced performance contracts can lower the risk to the school-buyer, especially when trying to accomplish something innovative, by structuring incentives to the supplier that are laser-focused on the buyer’s goals.
Every day, we hear the mantra of performance-pay for public school teachers. It seems reasonable that a similar standard may be held for service providers. Just a thought. What do you think?
About the Executive Director
Steve Pines has served as the Executive Director of the Education Industry Association since January 2004. Prior to joining EIA, Mr. Pines was a Vice-President for Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc. (1993-2003) managing workforce development services and education programs for at-risk youth. During this time, Mr. Pines also developed a new business channel with two and four-year colleges for developmental education services, as well as in the corporate training area. Mr. Pines worked for eight years as a Deputy Director at the Enterprise Foundation, working to revitalize low income neighborhoods nationwide. His initial work in education and employment policy spanned positions at the National Alliance of Business, the National Association of Counties, and the United States Department of Labor- Employment and Training Administration, where he worked during the Carter Administration. Pines has a MBA from Southern Illinois University, a MA in education psychology from the University of Connecticut, and a BA from Hobart College.