On Consortia

Presentation to the U.S. Department of

Education

Marc Tucker

January 2010

Consortium

“An agreement, combination, or group (as of companies) formed to undertake an enterprise beyond the resources of any one member”

-- Merriam Webster’s Dictionary

The Background

My experience:• National Alliance for Restructuring

Education• New Standards• National Skill Standards Board• State Consortium for Board

Examination Systems

How Consortia Fail

• Lack of clear vision and goals to which

the members are committed up front

• Lack of capable leadership

• Inadequate business plan

• Lack of alignment among all

participants

The Vision Thing

• Is there a common vision, or just the opportunity to get some money?

• If no real common vision, participants will sit at the table only to protect their interests and will drift away quickly

• Lowest common denominator result

But Someone Must Lead

• Consortia are made up of institutions represented by busy people who have other full time jobs

• Nothing happens without full time leadership

• Capacity to make real progress depends on having effective leaders with strong staffs who know how to get things done

On Governance

• Decision-makers need to sit at table• But, so do major constituencies• Trick is to get a balanced group

committed to the vision• If the leadership is coming from outside

the circle of state decision-makers, then the leadership need to be represented in the governance structure, too

On Expert Advice

• Political leaders often want to get there quickly at the lowest possible cost

• Quality takes a back seat• Need access to sound, independent

technical judgment• Important that design of consortium

reflects sound balance between these imperatives

• Make sure the experts are diverse, first rate and heard

On Leadership and Staff

• Don’t expect the leadership to come from Consortium members (still have other full time jobs)

• Consortia that are debating societies will fail

• Consortia need strong leaders with strong political and substantive skills

• In this case, they will need staff with deep knowledge and proven track record—now in very short supply

• Which raises next issue…

On Institutional Arrangements

• Don’t count on state members to provide the staff resources the consortium will need

• No accident Achieve, NCEE at table• Neither is an organization of states; both are

mission-oriented organizations that attract and serve states

• Consider making such organizations eligible to apply on behalf of states

• Will the consortium be an incorporated entity?

• Who’s responsible at the end of the day?

On the Business Plan

• What will the costs be in the short, medium and long term? Will it cover just the assessments or all the associated costs?Where will the money come from to fund them?

• If the federal government pays for the initial costs, how will the costs be paid for when the federal funds are no longer available?

• What if some states have the money to continue to fund a quality system and others don’t and want to cut back?

To What Extent Will the Interests of the

Participants be Aligned?• May be the most important question• Who are the “participants”?

– States• Governors• Education agency and state board• Professional elementary and secondary educators• Business• Higher education

– Funders– Host organization(s)– Providers

Should There be Multiple Consortia in This Case?

• Almost every expert has testified in favor of multiple consortia

• Message that the states want only one is oversimplified

• They want to be sure that they cannot be accused of having varying standards

• IT IS POSSIBLE AND HIGHLY DESIRABLE TO HAVE MULTIPLE EXAMS ALL SET TO ONE STANDARD-Other countries do it!

Success Factors

• Clear and Compelling Vision

• Quality of Leadership• Staff Quality• Quality and

Independence of Technical Advice

• Representation of Decision-Makers and Constituencies in Governing Structure

and Commitment to Vision

• Soundness of Technical Plan

• Soundness of Business Plan

• Alignment of Interests of all participants

• Appropriateness of institutional arrangements

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