K-12 Education Issue Work Group Explores Recommendations to Improve Local Systems

          Earlier this year, the K-12 Issue Work Group identified the following four weaknesses as the top issues facing our local school systems:

(1)        We have an outdated mental model of “how we do school.”  The way that we have done school over the past several generations is no longer the best/most relevant way in this “digital age.”  We need to reconsider the role of administrators, teachers, and students.  Is there a new mental model that we need to be creating?

           

(2)        We have outdated curriculum.  To address this weakness, we need to know what knowledge has value in today’s society and, better yet, what knowledge will have value in tomorrow’s society. 

           

(3)        We are underutilizing technology.  For the most part, we are using technology in our education system to do “the same old thing.”  Primarily, it is a teaching tool and not a learning tool.  How can we better utilize the technology that we have? 

                       

(4)        We have disconnected families.  As education evolves and family make-ups change, we need to reconsider the role of the family in education.  It is no longer appropriate for the family to simply drop their child off at the school house door. 

            Over the past two months, the K-12 Issue Work Group has been reviewing recently released recommendations from the Georgia School Board Association and Georgia School Superintendents Association (http://www.visionforpubliced.org/) to determine whether any of the recommendations are applicable to address the top 4 weaknesses in our K-12 system.  At the March meeting, participants debated relevant questions: such as whether we should use traditional textbooks or e-books, whether students should be separated by age or ability, and how we provide personalized but equal opportunities for all students.  At the April meeting, participants took these conversations a step further and began to make specific recommendations for further study based on the review of the Vision for Public Education report.  The group’s goal is to develop community-sanctioned recommendations that can inform the way our school systems operate, the way we approach legislation, and guide the future direction of our local school systems.

            At its next meeting, the work group is going to discuss the conflicting views presented by the movies “Waiting for Superman” and “Race to Nowhere.”  The following trailers provide a good overview of the movies. 

Waiting for Superman:  http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/waiting-for-superman-trailer-1/17wecgr73?q=waiting+for+superman+trailer&FORM=VIRE2

Race to Nowhere:  http://www.racetonowhere.com/trailers-clips.

            The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at DSC’s Brown Center, Room 105, from 6:00 – 7:30 PM.   All who are interested in local school reform and innovation are invited to attend.