My district is going to be going through a new planning process to develop a strategic plan for our schools for the next 5 years. Staff were asked to share several things the district was doing well – and several things we needed more attention. Here is my “this needs attention” response;
The traditional idea of school needs to be thrown out and rebuilt from scratch based on today’s global economy. We focus TOO much on testing and not enough on cultivating our kid’s passions and talents. Our kids need real world problem-based interdisciplinary experiences vs. the Sit & Get and memorize what you have learned education. This would require a PD overhaul and time built into the system for our staff. Learning for our students and staff should be to be personalized and individualized based on their skill-set/goals. I would love to see a model that brings Google’s 80/20 into education where teachers have more freedom to explore new teaching strategies/innovation and students explore their passions. We should focus more on the mastery of competencies and less on grades. Our system of grade levels, summer’s off, and bells and schedules is not conducive to the real world! And finally we need to do more to ensure every child and BPS is not only healthy but happy.
What do you think? What else should I have added?
You nailed it, Jen. I think a big part of a change like this would be an accountability system that is accepted by the community (and I suppose state.) I think what you describe is what some charter schools set out to do. Keep up posted on how it goes. You’re a leader!
Doug