Couldn't agree more.....

Guest column from Dan Woodin
Local board member for Ames Community Schools
Member of the IASB Board of Directors representing District #5a

An open letter to the leadership of the Iowa Legislature. . .

I recently attended an ABLE II (Academy of Board Learning Experiences) training session led by the Iowa Association of School Boards for local school board members. It was entitled Reaching High: Raising the Bar (Helping your board set and fulfill high expectations for student learning).” The session began by the facilitators’ asking participants to “. . . think of a child under the age of 10, whom you know and want the very best for. When this child graduates from high school, what are your expectations for that child to know and be able to do?” Each participant identified three general expectations and we discussed them at our tables.
 
The items our table listed were far different from the expectations when we each graduated from high school. Monumental change has occurred since then, and employers today expect applicants to come into the job with specific skill sets. Twenty-first century skills are important, but rigid legislative requirements keep school districts from creating their own expectations and experimenting with new methods, because funding will only stretch to meet basic state requirements.  
 
Tony Wagner, keynote speaker at last year's IASB Convention, suggests that schools must focus today on five essential practices: collaboration, multidisciplinary learning, trial and error, creating and intrinsic motivation. One ABLE participant suggested we should think about that change in focus and how difficult it is going to be to shift the thinking of schools, parents, legislators and society.
 
It wasn't so long ago that "collaboration" would have been discouraged because we wanted students to "do their own work" and it might have been thought of as "cheating.” We are still pretty much stuck in disciplinary silos where we teach English in English class and algebra in algebra class. "Trial" (experimentation, innovation) is seen as risky and "error" tends to get punished. Conformity seems to be valued (at least it gets rewarded) more than creativity, which discourages creative impulses and innovative thinking. Motivation in our schools still seems to be largely yoked to extrinsic forms such as letter grades or class rank, rather than the intrinsic motivation that comes from learning as its own reward.
 
School districts need to "teach the basics,” but should also equally focus on the Wagner essentials. In the end, I believe we all have the high expectation that "ALL students reach their potential" upon graduation from our public schools. Please work to ensure that our local school districts have the flexibility to accomplish that high expectation.
 
Thanks for listening  . . .
Dan Woodin