> One of my personal frustrations with the current conversation around
> educational reform (at least the admittedly small parts of the
conversation
> that I hear) is that it seems so lacking in specifics.
> What other real, practical, concrete ideas can we begin pushing?
As some of you know, I am a fan of Tony Wagner and his recent book, and
among the virtues of his session Friday was his focus on answering exactly
this question. In keeping with this conversation, one of his strong
suggestions was to adopt and implement digital portfolios for assessment, a
practice adopted by both of the school networks I think are so fascinating, New
Tech Network <http://www.newtechfoundation.org/> and High Tech
High<http://www.hightechhigh.org/>.
Tony's slideshow presentation is available at his site
<http://www.schoolchange.org/>and on my
blog<http://21k12blog.net/2010/03/01/tony-wagners-prez-w-his-slideshow-at-naisac10/>,
and slides 12, 13, and 14 speak directly to the question of where to
start. Administering the CWRA
<http://www.cae.org/content/pro_collegework.htm>(College and Work Readiness
Assessment) is high on both Tony's list and my own, though it is only
available for high schools. (CWRA has also been recently adopted by New
Tech Network).
Others of Tony's suggestions, all of which we are working on, include:
- conducting and videotaping serious, intensive video focus group
discussion with alumni, and bringing the tapes back to the faculty;
- forming collaborative faculty teams for inquiry and reflection (we are
very excited about our new Critical Friends
Groups<http://www.nsrfharmony.org/faq.html>);
- and collaboratively identifying and publishing the critical learning
outcomes for all students.
Pat Bassett aligned himself nicely with this last bullet (above) in his
excellent Fall piece
<http://www.nais.org/publications/ismagazinearticle.cfm?ItemNumber=152280>in
Independent School on Demonstrations of Learning for 21st century schools; I
think his piece is also helpful for thinking about where to begin: begin at
the end, and work backwards, as Wiggins and Covey both teach us.
Looking forward to the continued conversation, and count me in for future
such discussions.
--
Jonathan E. Martin
Head of School
St. Gregory College Preparatory School
Tucson, Arizona
www.stgregoryschool.org
www.21k12blog.net
Twitter:@JonathanEMartin
520-327-6395
St. Gregory: Creating Leaders and Innovators for the 21st century
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