Nine Shift

New Transit Expansion Projects Abound

"Virtually every metropolitan region in the United States and Canada is investing millions of dollars in new transit expansion projects."

That's what Yonah Freemark, a leading transportation analyst, says on his blog The Transport Politic. He continues, "This year, dozens of new lines will open to the public, including light rail lines in Houston, Minneapolis, Edmonton, Dallas, Calgary; heavy rail lines in New York City and outside Washington; and streetcars in Tucson, Atlanta, Seattle, and Washington, among many others. Bus rapid transit — or some variety of it — will see its coming out, with new lines opening in Chicago, Fort Collins, San Diego, Orlando, Los Angeles, and outside Toronto.

"In addition, dozens of projects will enter the construction phase, including three rail lines in Los Angeles; bus rapid transit projects in New York City, Oakland, Fresno, and El Paso; streetcars in Fort Lauderdale and Tempe, and more. Other regions, from Honolulu to Portland, will continue work on projects that have already started but won’t be ready for completion this year. It’s a veritable circus of construction activity, almost everywhere. In total, 737 miles of new lines or line extensions, in addition to 10 new stations or major station renovations, will be either complete or under construction in 2014, accounting for a total of $80.7 billion in programmed funding.

New Education Model Introduced

For the first time, the Nine Shift seminar introduced an example of a new model for higher education. Highlighting the new model are customized learning plans, laptops, and a change of resource allocation.

   The new model comes from the work at Pewaukee, Wisconsin, public schools, which earned the school district a Malcolm Baldridge quality award.  The districted boosted the percentage of students it sends to college to 92% from 79% and the percentage graduating from high school to 98%. 

   This is the first example of an educational institution implementing customized learning plans for each of its students. Nine Shift predicts customized learning plans will be at the core of the new model for higher education.

"Brilliant seminar."  Jennifer Luddy, Middlesex Community College, Lowell, MA

Resistance to learning styles a sign of resistance to change

The resistance to the reality of learning styles is a sign of some faculty resisting change, said Julie Coates, one of education’s leading learning style researchers.  Coates was interviewed by Psychology Today last month on generational differences.

   Coates says that faculty have to learn how to recognize learning style differences, and then respond appropriately to individual learning styles of students.  She says the research clearly confirms the existence of generational learning styles, gender learning styles, and different learning styles for students with Asperger’s and other students on the autism spectrum.

   A major shift for faculty is moving from the sage-on-the-stage to the guide-on-the-side, a shift that will boost completion and retention rates.

Top Retention Strategy Stunning

Participants in our Nine Shift seminar were asked to vote on their top three choices of the NineShift recommended eleven most important strategies to boost retention and completion.

   The top vote getter stunned your NineShift presenters: “No teacher is to express verbally, or in writing, a negative comment about students.”

   The votes seemed to be an awareness by senior administrators that this is an issue on campuses, and that negative comments by teachers about students does indeed impede retention and completion.

 

What They Said

“I hoped for a good prelude to our college’s
strategic planning development.  LERN delivered.”

Stephen Pannill, President, Cecil College, North East, MD

About our two day NineShift seminar this month.

Coming: No cars in Los Angeles

Can you believe it? Believe it.  Eric Garcetti, the mayor of Los Angeles, says "What I would like to see is a Los Angeles where you don't need a car." 

He was interviewed for the January 2014 issue of Delta Sky Magazine.  Continued Garcetti, "....where you can get to a neighborhood via various modes of transport, but then you can walk around that neighborhood, shopping, eating, going to farmers markets."

"In the car capital of America, if we can show a reduction in pollution and a reduction in traffic by a combination of technology and other disruptive forces like new car-share enterprises, I think people will say: If LA can do it, we can do it, too."   What do you say? 

 

Even Smart Males Believe the Myth

Even smart males believe the myth that they have a poor academic work ethic.

Last month I was consulting with faculty at the Brock School of Business at Samford University on how to teach online. The online technologist for the university, Charles Read, showed them how to use Moodle.

He began by saying he himself was a Samford University graduate, then noting, "I hope you don't remember my grades. I promise my work ethic has improved since then." 

Of course, this is a big myth.  First, if the faculty would read their own textbooks, they would know that values are formed by age 11, well before any student gets to university. And second, the data shows that with over 50% of students having part time jobs, that male students are quite responsible in their work even before graduation.

What Charles Read apologized for was essentially being male, for our hard wired male neurology, our gender characteristics.

Big News from Nine Shift Seminar this Month

The big news out of this month’s 2014 annual Nine Shift seminar for senior decision makers in community colleges is that attendees are reporting the predicted Nine Shift changes are now happening.
   As a result, our NineShift work will begin to transition from explaining ‘why’ the shifts should happen to ‘how’ to make the shifts happen.
   Here’s some of the historic firsts reported by participants at this month’s Nine Shift seminar.
-College recognizes changing suburban demographics.
-Gen Y ‘assumes’ telework
-College seeks light rail stop for campus
-First Gen X college leadership
-Too many buildings

President Ryan Purdy of Mid-Plains Community College in North Platte, Nebraska, noted that virtually his entire cabinet is now Gen X.

Nine Shift

Celebrating ten years of accurately predicting the future with NineShift.
Here's our 14 minute TED talk on Nine Shift.

 
 Bring Nine Shift to your organization. Just email Tammy at info@lern.org  Do it today!

Facing Decline, U.S. Tries to Kill the Test

Facing test results showing the United States falling behind other countries in education, the U.S. did what a declining superpower tries to do - - it tried to kill the test.

From a fascinating BBC story on the rise of probably THE world test in education:

"Among the starkest revelations has been the decline of the US school system. This former education superpower has been caught up and left behind by many other countries, particularly in Asia.

This was distasteful medicine and Mr Schleicher says that the US administration was deeply unhappy with the 2006 results and was trying to apply pressure on the OECD.

The US politician who intervened to defend the importance of publishing the results was Ted Kennedy, says Mr Schleicher (OECD administrator of the Pisa Test). Kennedy, who had chaired the senate committee on education, had become very supportive of the Pisa project.

'It was Senator Kennedy who saved my life at the OECD,' he says."