Gov. Jared Polis revealed the culmination of his work as both the state’s highest elected official and chairman of the National Governors Association in improving public education Friday during the association’s summer meeting.

Pulling from his own initiatives spearheaded in Colorado and innovations in education across the world, Polis presented a “road map” for fellow governors to follow and apply in their respective states.

“Let’s Get Ready: Educating All Americans for Success” details five areas of focus for future policies, performance monitoring and assessment and general governance to provide students the requisite skills needed to succeed in today’s world. These areas include redefining student readiness, eliminating government silos that impede progress and building systems and infrastructure to measure outcomes.

“For too long, our definition of success has been too narrow, focused on academic indicators,” Polis said at the meeting. “Two points on that. One: academic indicators are important. We do measure them and we certainly don’t do well enough. … But we also know that academic indicators just scratch the surface of what students need to know, to do and to be to be successful in life.”

In Colorado’s case, this has included rolling out universal preschool, full-day kindergarten, a series of legislation aimed at addressing youth mental health and an executive order signed earlier this year to direct other state agencies to work closely with the state Education Department in helping people out of high school earn workforce credentials.

Additionally, the state’s investments in analytical data and corresponding dashboards help these agencies and the public identify what is and isn’t working and where adjustments need to be made.

“Education is the best investment we can make in the future of our states. But, we also know that sometimes we make poor investments,” Polis said. “If I take in a close look at how we can maximize our return on investment in education, just like we do in any other area, we can achieve better outcomes.”

Among the guests at the summer meeting was U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who discussed potential improvements to education on a national level and how her department can support state efforts going forward.

She agreed with many of the solutions proposed in the road map, like implementing K-12 career pathways, public-private apprenticeships and dual credential partnerships with local community colleges.

“These are all of the new innovations that we need to embrace and make sure they’re successful” she said. “I’m 100% on board with that.”

McMahon especially pointed to the collaborative nature of existing departments to address current issues in public education.

Regarding the social, emotional and mental health aspects outlined in the road map, she often deferred to the state’s role in developing individual legislation to meet these needs. When it came to general student well-being in areas such as healthy, nutritious school meals, she referred to efforts by Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture to address this.

As for adjustments to her department, she suggested restructuring the current approaches to how data is gathered to include indicators like economic impacts from certifications or college degrees. She said, to date, that they have consolidated over 40 of their workforce development programs into the U.S. Department of Labor.

“This is, I believe, the most collaborative cabinet that I can recall in a long time,” she said.

Later in the meeting, Polis sat down with billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban to discuss the role of artificial intelligence in public education and broader contexts now and going forward. Cuban, who started a foundation to improve education in AI, said that it was “the most consequential technology we’ve ever seen.”

“I’ve been in the technology business for a long time, from the start of PCs, you name it. This blows it all away,” he said. “And it’s hard to predict.”

With that said, Cuban also drove home a message to public schools, along with businesses and governments, to embrace the technology for its innovative potential. While educators have already expressed fears and frustrations over students using various AI software like ChatGPT to circumvent their learning, he proposed that educators learn to use it as a way to adjust their own instruction and customize it to each student.