Continuing to follow along Susan Patrick's blog article form December 31st, 2015, we now go into Data Informed Decision + World Class Standards. Patrick describes the data poverty from the 1990s and early 2000s as a reason for the educational reform movement. However, now in the data-rich environment of the 2010s, we can make more informed decisions through "data based on student work, college and career readiness and navigating life toward leadership and active citizenship."
As I stood at the school board meeting on Monday night, I said that there needs to be a shift to using real-time data to make educational decisions. Among the parents, I was popular. From the district's standpoint, not so much. They want to shift to a late-start every Monday to have Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). Those are important, but I can't see how waiting a whole week to discuss a student's educational needs benefits students. I asked the school board to consider a more creative approach and would have liked to say that the most progressive districts have PLCs on a daily basis, not weekly.
As discussed in the fifth point, schools are designed for slow reaction to change not for real-time change and in today's world if we wait until the policy catches up, our students aren't going to be held at the same world-class standards as students are around the globe. Patrick reiterates that in order to be equitable all students should have world-class standards to meet.
It is time for education programs to focus on educating the whole student, not just having the mentality that "D's get diplomas." As one of the panelist at the iNACOL Online and Blended Learning Symposium stated, "traditional grading doesn't allow for students to achieve exceeds mastery."
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