The following are selected portions from an article that was written by Dr. Troyce Fisher, Director of the Wallace Leadership Grant for School Administrators of Iowa and appeared in the Des Moines Register. I hope you will take time to read and consider how you can help our schools in Mason City meet the challenges necessary for our students' futures.
The world is changing faster than Iowa's schools, and the evidence is pretty clear that Iowa's students are falling behind on some key measures that predict future success. We have an opportunity to change that trajectory, but it will take all of us working together to create opportunities for each student to be a successful learning, earner and citizen in this 21st century.
Currently our schools are designed to prepare learners for life in a 20th century environment, one in which we only need 20 percent of our students to successfully complete post-secondary education. With our traditional agricultural and manufacturing base, students who completed high school could see and find good-paying jobs that didn't require a community college or bachelor's degree.
That system is obsolete. The rapid pace of change brought about by technology, globalization, diversity and a much differently wired world economy demands new skills, new dispositions and new approaches to learning if our kids are to achieve success. In fact, most experts agree that the 80 percent of the class of 20111 will need to complete at least two years of post-secondary education to have a chance at the American dream. Education will need to look very different if we are to meet this challenge.
What if:
-Students were able to progress at their own rates and we moved from a seat time system to a system where each learner could progress by demonstrating competency in rigorous learning standards and receive specialized supports along the way?
-Schools weren't solely buildings but could also be virtual spaces where learning occurred online at any time, and where classmates could include kids from Helsinki, Beijing and New Delhi?
-Failure wasn't acceptable, each and every student was expected to learn rigorous and relevant content and skills, and we didn't let kids off the hook with incomplete or substandard work?
-Assessments were more "real world" demonstrations and fewer bubble tests?
-Kids were able to use every technology available to them to help navigate their learning?
. . . We need immediate improvements to the system if we are to remain economically competitive, preserve democratic principles in our civic life and continue to advance as a state. Iowa used to be at or near the top in traditional measures of educational achievement. We aren't there anymore. Do we have a sense of urgency that this reality is unacceptable? What will it take to support for change?
For one thing change of this magnitude must come from the grassroots, not from any edict in Des Moines. We need community-by-community conversations all across Iowa to generate support for and, yes, even a demand for, a new kind of learning experience. That will mean letting go of some traditional images of what it means to "do" school.
We in the educational community admit we've been slower to change than we should have been. But we need your input and backing to move to a different system design that keeps the best and improves the rest. Let your local school district leaders know if you are willing to be part of the conversation.
Let's collectively summon the courage to do this right. Our kids' future and Iowa's future are at stake. (October, 2010)