Note to Readers:  As indicated below, this document has not been endorsed by the VSBA Board of Directors.  At the request of the Board, it is being distributed for discussion and comment only. No decision as to its ultimate approval or further distribution has been made by the VSBA Board of Directors or membership.

 

TO:                  Recipients

FROM:           Peter Herman, VSBA President

RE:                 Attached Draft Delivery Group Report

DATE:            September, 2008

 

Draft Report of the VSBA Delivery Group

 

A sub-group of the Vermont School Boards Association Board of Directors has been meeting for several months to discuss how Vermont might deliver education to our students in ways that maximize student learning.  This was a completely open-ended activity, with no givens or preconceptions – not K-12 structure, not curriculum, not standardized tests, not current regulations, not schools.  The meetings were open to any member of the VSBA board, and were attended regularly by 7-8 highly experienced school board members. No attempt was made to include school administrators or teachers, since the purpose was to think well beyond the existing system.  Parents were represented since almost all of the participants are parents of students who are currently in our public schools or who are graduates of Vermont school systems. This is a first draft of our work, and it will be vetted first by the VSBA board and the VSBA membership, and then by the superintendents, principals, teachers, and students.  We fully expect that there will be many suggestions for adjustments and additions, and that the final report will incorporate many of these. At the end however, the report will be the product of the Vermont School Boards Association leadership and will not necessarily represent the views of others in public education.

 

In our analysis, the group first enunciated basic premises and then translated these into objectives we believe the system should embrace.  From these objectives we posited an educational environment that we believe will best serve all Vermont students.  We did not formally adopt a mission for this educational environment, but one could be constructed from the discussions and would not differ markedly from the missions that many Vermont schools have adopted.  The components of such a mission could include:

 

1.            Students would complete this aspect of their education with knowledge, skills, and attitudes that would allow them to be engaged, responsible citizens, successful participants in the economy, contributing members of society, and thoughtful, caring human beings.

2.            Students would recognize that to achieve and maintain these goals they must “know things and always want to know more.”

3.            Society – parents, employers and citizens in general – would acknowledge that the education system is preparing the next generation to become contributing members of the community.

 

Our premises – what we believe:

 

1.            The primary objective of education is that students learn what they need to be successful in later life. We are unconcerned with how students reach the primary objective, only that they do.

2.            Students learn best when they are passionate about a topic or interest

3.            Every student must be challenged to continually improve, exceeding  her/his previous personal best

4.            Many students are capable of designing their own education programs and often of carrying these programs out. Students must share responsibility for their learning and for their ultimate success in school and beyond.

5.            Education occurs in many places besides schools. Educational programs should allow students to further their learning in many settings.

6.            Meaningful adult mentoring is essential as the environment for learning expands beyond the traditional environments and systems

7.            A core program with minimum curricular requirements that gives students what they need to function in society may be sufficient. This core education should emphasize skills that all adults should have in today’s and tomorrow’s societies.  Additional, specialized skills may be obtained as needed in many places, including the workplace and higher education.

8.            Business should be willing to provide employees with the specialized training they need to be successful in their jobs. Pre-employment education does not need to do this but should focus on the skills that will allow employees to take advantage of this training

9.            Distance learning is an effective tool and students can and should use it.

10.          Schools need to be creative about the use of technology, of which traditional computers are only one part. Teachers need to be highly skilled in this area, and students should use it responsibly.

11.          Assessment of student performance should be based firmly on demonstrated competency, irrespective of time in school or class, and inputs such as Carnegie units

12.          Most state-level regulations and recommendations governing how school districts educate their students, including suggestions about class size and space, should be eliminated, although local districts must continue to provide substantially equal opportunities for all students

13.          The use of students as teachers and mentors can be valuable, particularly in areas like technology where young people are better qualified than most adults.

14.          Districts should be able to hire and retain teachers that best suit the needs of the students, while ensuring that teachers are protected from capricious termination.

15.          Teachers need to be able to demonstrate both pedagogical skills and content knowledge.

16.          Barriers should be removed so that all students who want to take career center programs are able do so.

17.          Education must include life skills – social, financial, and mechanical. For some students these may be more important than academic training

18.          Learning takes place throughout life and some students will come to appreciate learning later than others. However, not all children or youth may be successful in their educational efforts – some portion may not get a solid foundation and may never invest in the effort to make up for that later - and we have to accept that

 

 

Our objectives - what we hope will happen:

 

1.            Increased the educational options for students, including the freedom to learn on their own

2.            Students will demonstrate competence in an area or subject at any stage in their lives

3.            The funding system wil change so that funds to schools are not based on the number of students registered or in attendance

 

A suggested educational program - to meet these objectives:

 

1.            Strengthen education in the formative years by increasing support for students at the elementary level.

a.    Focus education at this level on the foundational skills students will need to be successful later in their educational careers and in life

b.    Create a primary learning period for all students in Kindergarten through third grade , eliminating these grade levels. 

c.    Allow students younger than age 6 to enter school if they are ready to learn what is offered and have the social skills to participate – understand sharing, emotional readiness etc.

d.    Allow students to “test out” of this primary learning period early by demonstrating mastery of the materials offered and move on to the next level of learning.

2.            Provide students in the ages now considered late elementary and middle school (perhaps ages 10-13) with enhanced opportunities to become proficient in the foundational skills and to explore areas of particular interest to them. Some formal “teaching” would occur, but students would also have an opportunity to develop skills through self-selected projects. Adults involved in education would have skills as mentors and coaches as well as in formal pedagogy. Students would have much more freedom to direct their own learning than is now the case. Provide an introduction to life skills like finances, automobile mechanics, electricity, family relations, and a comprehensive science curriculum emphasizing the scientific method, creation and use of data, and introduction to the various branches of science.

 

3.            Provide flexibility to schools, teachers, and students with regard to

a.    School days or years

b.    Curricula by eliminating state requirements after the middle school age level.

                                  i.    Students truly interested  in these subjects will pursue that interest

                                 ii.    Higher education institutions will continue to require certain “courses” and students who wish to apply there can meet those requirements

c.    Progress requirements like Carnegie Units and other measures of “seat time”.

d.    Access to the Internet and other technology. Any controls now in place are easily circumvented, will be rendered impotent by multi-purpose handheld computers, cell phones, etc., and will not apply outside of school anyway.

e.    Mandatory attendance to a certain age.

f.     Teacher qualifications, allowing schools to hire teachers and mentors with appropriate skills in both content knowledge and pedagogy, whether or not they have an education degree or a teaching license.

g.    School funding, using a basis other than ADM or other measure of enrolled students.

 

4.            At the “high school level” (i.e. after age 14, or younger if students have “tested out” of required materials)

a.    Assign all students to a mentor/coach

b.    Allow students to design their own programs, including learning experiences that may mean they spend most of their time outside of school.

c.    Stress project based learning with students designing and defending their own projects under the supervision of their mentor

d.    Link students with higher education institutions to the maximum extent possible

 

5.            Technical education.

a.    Have basic technical skill programs (electronics, computer technology, pre-engineering, automotive, architecture, etc.) available in all comprehensive high schools, in addition to the introduction to practical arts at the middle school level

Limit technical centers to direct job-related programs designed to make students job-ready when they leave the program. These would be full day programs and should take advantage of apprenticeships whenever possible.