The Base Case Model; In this case study you have been hired to advise the Department of Education on a pilot project. Across the country getting young people between the ages of 16 and 18 to remain interested in attending school and preparing for college is a big challenge. The department is concerned that this limited interest in schooling on the part of 16- to 18-year-old youths will have a negative impact on the country’s long-term development prospects including a shortage of the skills needed by industry that will lead to reduced economic growth and increased poverty. In an attempt to encourage learning among people in this age group the department has developed a new business model for learning that is specifically targeted to these youngsters. The new model of learning is designed to entice 16-to 18-year-olds to remain in school and has been advertised extensively in the media. It has also been branded and is called Cool Learning (this is a fictitious name). However, before rolling out Cool Learning across the country, the department would like to pilot it in two areas. The pilot will start in the coming academic year and will cover the selected two areas, whereas in all other areas, the current format (the Base Case model) of teaching will continue to be used.
In this chapter, we will focus on an options appraisal case study. In this case study, you have been hired to advise the Department of Education on a pilot project. Across the country, getting young people between the ages of 16 and 18 to remain interested in attending school and preparing for college is a big challenge. The department is concerned that this limited interest in schooling on the part of 16- to 18-year-old youths will have a negative impact on the country’s long-term development prospects, including a shortage of the skills needed by industry that will lead to reduced economic growth and increased poverty. In an attempt to encourage learning among people in this age group, the department has developed a new business model for learning that is specifically targeted to these youngsters. The new model of learning is designed to entice 16-to 18-year-olds to remain in school and has been advertised extensively in the media. It has also been branded and is called Cool Learning (this is a fictitious name). However, before rolling out Cool Learning across the country, the department would like to pilot it in two areas. The pilot will start in the coming academic year and will cover the selected two areas, whereas in all other areas, the current format (the Base Case model) of teaching will continue to be used.
7.1 BASE CASE
The Base Case model is the current approach to learning, in which students attend high school for three or four years. We are specifically interested in what happens during the last two years of high school (the 16 to 18 year olds); at the end of which students who pass their final exams graduate and go on to college. The Base Case model has been used for years, and we know both average pass rates and the cost (to the government) per student. The cost is measured in terms of the amount of money spent by the government on providing learning. The benefit is measured in terms of the number of students and the pass rate (defined as the number of students who qualify to go on to college divided by the number of students).