Those of you who have been faithfully reading these entries may remember a reference to "21st Century skills" in education. I just finished reading an article that referred to a recent poll conducted by a group called "Partnership for 21st Century Skills". That poll suggests that public opinion not only supports the teaching of "21st Century skills" but also feel schools aren't currently doing a good job teaching those skills. This begs the question, "What are 21st Century skills?"

During the last school board meeting, each school presented its building goals. The middle school, as one of its goals, is looking to define 21st Century skills. I expect similar discussions to take place at the high school. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) talks about skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, communication and self-direction, as well as computer and technology skills. To me, we, in education, should be incorporating technology into our instruction as well as expecting students to utilize technology in demonstrating knowledge and skills associated with our course content. Not just showing students how to use technology, but expecting them to be using that technology in the projects they complete for us.

The difficulty, for schools, in successfully teaching 21st century technology skills is that the technology is new for most instructors also and the advancements come so rapidly that it's tough, financially, to purchase the technology and keep it updated. At a recent school board meeting a representative from the company hired to do a technology audit in the district described some issues we have with our existing technology. He mentioned some of our "old" equipment. That equipment is seven years old. Technology is advancing so rapidly that seven years represents the lifetime of some equipment. In an environment where curriculum is updated on a seven-year cycle, we may not be able to keep pace with technological advancements.

I guess what I'm saying is, we all need to evaluate our situation. People want schools to use technology to help prepare students for success in the 21st century. Schools, in my opinion, want the same thing. I'm not sure people are ready to "put their money where their mouths are" by supporting the necessary funding to allow schools to do so. It takes money to provide time for training teachers to effectively utilize technology in their curriculum. It takes money to purchase equipment and keep it updated so students can effectively use technology in demonstrating knowledge and skills associated with course content. Collectively, we need to decide we are willing to fund schools appropriately to provide those opportunities. I don't think one can have a 21st century school with 20th century funding.

Motivation

As a member of the Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principals (MASSP), I receive weekly updates regarding education news. This past Friday I received an update that contained a link to an article regarding students' college readiness. The Alliance for Excellent Education (AEE) issued a brief, using ACT information, that stated high school students are too often not prepared for college. They feel,
"high school standards, assessments, and course requirements are not aligned with those of colleges." Another quote from the article said,

"To prepare students for success in college, panelists said, teachers must
believe that all--and not just a few--students can succeed; make honors courses
available as electives for all students; create rigorous work assignments using
collaboration and problem-solving; teach reading comprehension and writing
skills; and, most of all, motivate students to achieve."

It's been my observation that motivating students to achieve may be the most difficult of those ideas for teachers. I also believe it's unfair to suggest that is the responsibility solely of the teachers.

Successful education of a child is the result of a partnership that is supported equally by the school, parent(s), and individual student. Without one of those participants, success is dramatically reduced. Teachers will have difficulty motivating students without the students and parents placing value on education and always doing one's best. We must all assume responsibility for our part in the educational process.

It appears that success in the 21st century workplace is going to require post-secondary education. To be prepared for post-secondary education, one needs to develop the tools for success while in the K-12 realm. So, I urge you, if you have a school-age child, make sure your child understands how much you value education and that, when it comes to school, you'll accept nothing less than your child's best efforts. More than likely that will go a long way to helping "motivate students to achieve."

Off and Running

We're midway through the second week of school and already I am two weeks behind in updating my blog. I apologize to the many of you who have visited and been disappointed to find this has not been updated. My goal is to blog weekly and I am committed to trying to achieve that goal.

We had a fantastic start to the school year. Our first day began with the LINK program providing an orientation to our incoming freshmen. That went very well and we are hoping to continue that positive beginning as we go throughout the year. We ended the week with a pep fest last Friday. I was very pleased with the response from students and staff and feel we are continuing the tradition of ROCKET PRIDE. The staff and students deserve a hand for getting us off on the right foot toward the best year ever!

I was reading the StarTribune on Sunday and was disappointed to see the headline on the front page regarding a story about school districts proposing levies to their voters this fall. The headline suggested that "many voters" feel school districts are "crying wolf" when they are suggesting massive cuts if voters don't approve districts' requests for excess levies. In reading the article I found one person quoted who felt this way. To me, one person is not "many". Not only was there only one person, but that person was David Strom. David Strom is the former director of the Minnesota Taxpayers League, a group opposed to most taxes, and is currently a radio talk show host. David Strom is not an education finance expert. David Strom does not know the specific needs of the districts highlighted in this article. David Strom, in my opinion, is not relevant to this discussion and I was disappointed that his opinion was used to suggest that these districts might not have the needs they claim.

All the voters in those districts need to do to find out for themselves whether or not the need is real is to take a look at the information available to them. Each year school districts have financial audits. The results of those audits are public information. Take a look at how the district spent its money and decide for yourselves whether or not the district is "crying wolf". Don't let some radio talk show host with no knowledge of the situation decide for you.

If education finance is of interest to you, I would suggest you visit the website of a group called P.S. Minnesota. This group would like to see a change in the framework for the way education is funded. The website is: www.psminnesota.org

Rockford does not have plans to ask voters for a levy increase this fall. It is my understanding that the board is considering that option for 2008. I urge you to use this year to educate yourselves on the needs of the Rockford district so you can make an informed choice next fall.

Thoughts as we begin the year

It's State Fair time and, for schools, that means report cards will be out. The Minnesota Department of Education releases report cards for Minnesota schools during the State Fair. Much of the "grade" a school receives is based on the results of the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments(MCA's). The results of those tests were released a couple of weeks ago. Already there has been much discussion by administrators about our results in Rockford. As is the case with most schools in Minnesota, we would like to improve our scores.

Sometimes it feels like testing is consuming larger and larger chunks of our time in education at the expense of delving deeper into the content. My personal belief is that, in education, our purpose is to help students to delve deeper into the content and enhance their critical thinking and problem solving abilities. However, we are required, by law, to be accountable through the use of the MCA's. So, we must work to accomplish both tasks. I believe this is not only possible, but our responsibility.

If you've read The World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman, you are well aware of the changes that have occurred to make the economic playing field more level for people throughout the world. This means the competition for those entering the workforce is going to be much greater than it may have been as short as ten years ago. I believe this means we need to change the way we do business in school. One piece of that is to improve both the technology available to students as well as our ability to help students utilize technology to demonstrate content knowledge and skills. To do so will require resources that are limited in supply: time and money.

As we begin this school year, we will be working to integrate a more "21st Century" approach to education as well as improving our students' ability to do well on the MCA's. Given that, in life, we all deal with limited resources our challenge is great. We are, however, committed to reaching our goal. We appreciate your support!

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