Joint Venture Silicon Valley is collecting data this month for publication in its January index that will show how students in Silicon Valley measure up in the classroom.
The collection of the school data comes after a yearlong study that put in place a framework of long-term goals and measures that organizers hope will benefit the economic development and quality of life in Silicon Valley as a region.
More than 2,000 community members and experts in various fields contributed to "Silicon Valley Vision 2010: A Regional Framework for Growing Together," a report released last October that outlines goals for regional issues such as education, housing, transportation, health and social well-being in the area.
In the vision, the educational goal for the region is, "all students gain knowledge and life skills required to succeed in a global economy and society."
Project manager Sharon Huntsman said the collected data will help community members measure where students stand and how the community can better achieve this educational goal.
She said assessments will be made in the following four areas: children's readiness for kindergarten; the percentage of students who can read at or above their grade level at the end of third grade; the percentage of students completing algebra by the 10th grade; and the percentage of high school seniors who have completed courses required for entrance to the University of California or the California State University systems.
Huntsman said the measures should be good indicators of where and how students need to get on track. For example, research shows that those who don't master reading by third grade are at risk of falling behind in later years, she said.
And algebra is an important gateway to higher education and the work force in this area, she said.
Huntsman said this is the first year Joint Venture Silicon Valley consulted with educational teams for input in the annual index. She said education topped the list of regional issues when putting together the vision report.
"We heard 'education' over and over again" during community forums, polls, focus group discussions, Huntsman said.
"In past years we have seen a lot of disparity among ethnic groups. That's been a concern," she said. "What we really want to do is to be able to take stock and ask ourselves, 'Where do we go from here?' We have a vision, we have goals, measures and data."
For more information about "Silicon Valley Vision 2010: A Regional Framework for Growing Together" or collected data, call (408) 271-7213.