Education Reform: Big Washington Meeting Heralds New Initiatives

A big meeting in Washington DC at the Brookings Institution, and sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, kicks off a decade of new initiatives to reform education.

LERN and Nine Shift had the honor of being invited to this meeting of just 20 major players in education.

Here's our post-meeting recommendations to the meeting's leaders.

1.Clarify your intended outcomes.
The meeting had three themes, and many sub-themes. The three themes were the need to:
A. Create new outcomes based standards for learning and education.
B. Boost achievement for low income children and youth.
C. Foster the expansion and value of certificates and certifications.

Every aspect in education needs to be addressed. Because our factory-model educational system of the last system needs to be entirely transformed, it's very hard to isolate one issue without intersecting with several others.  Nevertheless, one can't do everything at once. The first step for the effort is to clarify its intended outcomes. 

2. Understand that a four year degree and knowledge work is primary.
There was a submerged but clearly contested division of opinion whether the majority of our nation's youth can maintain a prosperous society and have a good standard of living with less than a four year college degree, the so-called "sub-baccalaureate" education. While the government pushes for this cheap fix, the U.K. is working towards getting 50% of its youth a four year degree, preparing them for knowledge work.  In the U.S. every child should have an equal shot at a four year degree, and 50% of our youth must have a four year degree.  The second step is for the group to make knowledge work and a four year degree the highest societal priority for 50% of our youth.

3. Involve Generation Y.
We have the biggest generation gap in history. No one in the meeting was under 40. We also only have measurements, standards and even language for the Industrial Age of the last century, not the Internet Age of this century. 

Here's an example. During a break I asked one participant: "What if we did a study and showed that certificates and certifications had no impact on one's career, would Generation Y stop getting them?"  He said yes. I say no. Gen Y knows certificates are valuable. They would not believe some study.  The third step is for the group to integrate user surveys of Gen Y in all their studies, surveys and analysis.

4. Raise the issue of gender, neurology and behavior in learning and education.
The interrelated issues of gender, neurology and behavior permeates every educational issue today, whether the issue is STEM, low income achievement levels, worker shortages, or degrees. Schools and colleges measure learning based on behavior, not on learning and knowledge.  Until this issue is raised and resolved, no educational reforms or positive outcomes are possible.

Comments

[NJ defensive driving]

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[Georgia Drivers Ed]

Now every industry changing very rapidly as per that if we need to educate our children with those standers we need an perfect professional education system which works every day to pin point the developments of different sectors and club them as an package to teach and train the students to catch up the future tech. else those professional certificates no way to work.

[New York Defensive Driving]

I can see that you put a lot of hard work on your blog, I’m sure I’d visit here more often.Great job, keep posting interesting articles here. All The Best

[Thom]

It is time to move professional development away from time based certifcates toward competency based. How? Erge lawmakers to change the laws that govern the policies.

[Cheryl Green-Pozner]

WoW!: LERN is on the forefront of all of the major issues facing education today. Next step :Implementation of education reform in our lifetime!

[Terry Newman]

Congratulations LERN on being invited and thanks for keeping lifelong learning in the forefront.