Fayetteville Public Schools enjoys high regard from other districts throughout the state; however, we feel we are falling short in preparing our students for life and work in the 21st century. To take advantage of our unique opportunity in Fayetteville to build a new high school, we intend to construct a learning environment that is reflective of the work students will be called upon to do in the 21st century workplace. We propose to also build a Pre-K through 12th grade 21st Century Learning Plan that will:

Provide a rigorous curriculum that encompasses 21st Century core competencies
Close the achievement gap between school-dependent learners and school-independent learners through quality and equity
Meet the needs of today's students rather than one that requires students to fit into the system as it exists today (and as it has for around 100 years)

Rationale

The instructional model we currently use works for a segment of our student population, and our teachers are adept in its use. Fayetteville High School's average test scores are some of the highest in the state.

However, the current model often results in passive learners who do not take ownership of their education. When faced with the rigor of college or the demands of the workplace, too many of our students do not measure up.

The college remediation rate for FHS Class of 2007 was 26%, which was one of the lowest in Arkansas. The grade inflation rate for FHS was 9%, which was also one of the lowest in Arkansas. However, our graduation rate was 80.3, which was lower than Bentonville and Rogers. It was slightly higher than Springdale, even though Springdale has twice the number of economically disadvantaged students.

While most of our students graduate with content knowledge, not enough graduate with the competencies necessary for success in the 21st century, such as those "survival skills" articulated by Tony Wagner in The Global Achievement Gap:

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Collaboration across Networks and Leading by Influence
Agility and Adaptability
Initiatives and Entrepreneurialism
Effective Oral and Written Communication
Accessing and Analyzing Information
Curiosity and Imagination

Our challenge is to create new knowledge to inform the instructional design as well as the physical design of a new educational system for 21st century learning. We will start with an effort to gather the data that matters the most, develop a sense of urgency by tapping our business community partners, identify instructional strategies that work in schools nation-wide, and develop the competencies required to close the achievement gap.

Premise

True "revolution" of K-12 schooling has never been achieved; we have found no secondary school "initiative" that has been successful over time in a comprehensive high school. The following initiatives had little impact on secondary classroom experiences:

Coalition of Essential Schools
High Schools that Work
Breaking Ranks (I, II, III)
Vocational Education
Bill Gates' Small Schools Initiative (whose new initiative now is to focus on classroom instruction)
No Child Left Behind

It's going to take true systemic change with all the personal and political power that can be mustered.

It's all about student work. Our goal is to develop the expertise to develop a challenging curriculum that results in relevant and rigorous student work in a climate where outcomes outweigh time.

Our state needs a curricular approach to meet economic development goals for a knowledge-based economy in Arkansas, as well as to prepare our students to compete in a global economy.

Barriers

The current high school model
- The Carnegie Unit - seat time precludes competency
- The instructional norm - passive learning
- A culture of entitlement that creates dependence, helplessness, and a lack of disciplined work ethic
State regulations
Proficient is not proficient
- Disconnect between being college/career ready and "proficiency" on state tests
Lack of understanding of what is required for success in a global economy
No provision, incentives, or accountability for high performing staff

Solutions

Drawing upon the work that Arkansas has already done through economic development efforts with business groups such as Accelerate Arkansas and collaboration through public/private partnerships, our goals would be to:

Coordinate and leverage all resources, including teacher preparation for Arkansas licensure
Draw on research of educators such as Tony Wagner to design a rigorous curriculum
Create a 21st Century Learning Plan for pk-12 education that includes the tenets of STEM and the 7 survival skills, with emphasis on effective communication skills
Grow a new generation of entrepreneurs in Arkansas
Design a high school model that includes elements of small learning communities , innovative technologies, and virtual schooling that partners with higher education for acceleration

Sense of Urgency

The Arkansas STEM Coalition co-sponsored an educational summit that was inspired by a 2007 report published by the National Academies, "Rising Above the Gathering Storm." During the summit, participants from all stakeholder groups developed the following recommendations:

Increase America's talent pool by vastly improving K-12 mathematics and science education
Sustain and strengthen the nation's commitment to long-term basic research
Develop, recruit, and retain top students, scientists, and engineers from both the United States and abroad.
Ensure that the United States is the premier place in the world for innovation

The 1983 "Nation at Risk" report identified the lack of rigor in public education:

Secondary school curricula have been homogenized, diluted, and diffused to the point that they no longer have a central purpose. In effect, we have a cafeteria style curriculum in which the appetizers and desserts can easily be mistaken for the main courses.
This curricular smorgasbord, combined with extensive student choice, explains a great deal about where we find ourselves today. We offer intermediate algebra, but only 31 percent of our recent high school graduates complete it; we offer French I, but only 13 percent complete it; and we offer geography, but only 16 percent complete it. Calculus is available in schools enrolling about 60 percent of all students, but only 6 percent of all students complete it.
Twenty-five percent of the credits earned by general track high school students are in physical and health education, work experience outside the school, remedial English and mathematics, and personal service and development courses, such as training for adulthood and marriage.

The U.S. Department of Labor issued the SCANS report in 1991 provided three major conclusions:

All American high school students must develop a new set of competencies and foundation skills if they are to enjoy a productive, full, and satisfying life.
The qualities of high performance that today characterize our most competitive companies must become the standard for the vast majority of our companies, large and small, local and global.
The nation's schools must be transformed into high-performance organizations in their own right.

Since the first "urgent" report in 1983, there has been virtually no change in schooling. It's time we got started! How can we tackle this enormous challenge?

Understand the data: gap analysis
- Gap between economically disadvantaged/non-disadvantaged students
- Gap between what the current curriculum requires and what is needed for students in a global economy
- Gap between our students' potential and what they're required to do in school
Bring business pressure to change curriculum and classroom practice
Bring business and political pressure to change Teacher Education
Develop a rigorous curriculum driven by science, technology, math, communication, collaboration, leadership, adaptability, design, accessing and analyzing information
Follow the lead of the Arkansas Task Force on Knowledge-Base Technology Curriculum (Act 2266) and recommended approach for a vision to meet economic development goals for a knowledge-base economy in Arkansas
Connect to the global community through technology
Introduce new technologies for hands-on experience with Computational Science and Engineering that provides more authentic work for students through simulation and modeling for all disciplines
In partnership with the University of Arkansas, create an Internet2 demonstration center as a national and state model

Excellence cannot be mandated nor legislated. The current education bureaucracy with accompanying rules and regulations has resulted in a system of compliance and mediocrity. We propose to work with our community partners, parents, faculty, higher education, and the business community to create the appropriate environment that will allow us to:

Be a model of true partnership between a district, higher education, and businesses that are a part of a global economy
Be the first example of a comprehensive high school that urgently responds to the ongoing call for secondary reform by changing the way we think about teaching and learning
Accelerate the change process by removing the barriers of time imposed by the Carnegie Unit
Accelerate the new model through teacher preparedness and licensure
Provide the groundwork for state agencies involved in education to retool their organizations as collaborative partners of public schools
Demonstrate that all students can be prepared for competition in the global economy
Bring all the pieces together in one place that are needed to regain the confidence that the public and businesses have had in public schools as the basis of our democracy and economy

Summary

We believe in the theories developed by Tony Wagner and others such as the Partnership for 21st Century Skills chaired by Ken Kay, and all of the research and literature since "Nation at Risk" was published that point to the need for sweeping educational transformation. Edutopia's George Lucas, in testimony before the House Energy Committee on broadband in June of this year, hits the nail on the head, saying we need:

A student-centered approach where students' individual curiosity and motivation is supported and personalized educational opportunities meet the needs of each student
The family as an integral part of learning and the importance of schools reaching out to include parents as a positive force for children's learning
The teacher changing from authoritarian subject-matter expert to facilitator of the learning process. Though teachers still need to be knowledgeable in their subject areas, their real gift is to help students find and interpret information and to learn the skills of communication and cooperation.
Communities--including local governments, nonprofit organizations, and businesses--as co-facilitators of learning for their young citizens. More learning is taking place outside of the classroom. Community members need to get more involved and share their expertise with students and teachers.
Schools as the gathering place for learning, with more flexible schedules and group work areas, rather than only large classrooms. Community members could also use the school facilities for their lifelong-learning activities.
The essential role of technology for students to locate and assess information, communicate with others, and create works expressing their knowledge.

Our sense of urgency will not allow us to wait for the wheels of the bureaucratic process to turn while yet another generation of young Arkansans is under-prepared for work and citizenry in a global economy. Internally, within the Fayetteville School District, we have the personal and professional will it takes to see this through. What we need is a convergence of business, industry, community, parents and higher education to partner with us to create a new system of teaching and learning.

What If?

students left 4th grade speaking another language
there was no 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade; students were organized by interest
there was no Carnegie unit
there was a continuum of learning instead of separate courses (Algebra, Geometry, etc.)
every student had ubiquitous access to technology
technology was integrated to the point of invisibility
student success was not defined by grades
the school culture was one of participation, collaboration, innovation, and experimentation
every student was reading at or above grade level by the end of the third grade
students' digital intuitiveness was capitalized on rather than feared
students were encouraged to be creative and collaborative problem solvers
every student was connected with one adult who was purposefully in tune with the student's learning preferences and interests
curriculum was designed down from what is required in 21st century work, through college, through 12-K
content was integrated
there were no worksheets...just engaging work
there were no information dumps by lecture
our school district partnered with the U of A in the development of a 21st Century teacher preparation program
our school district partnered with the community to share expensive spaces - library, fine arts facilities, fitness/recreation facilities, technology center
all of our graduates acquired a sensitivity, understanding and respect for different cultures
all of our graduates acquired an appreciation of the arts
the school day didn't start at 8:00am and end at 3:30
learning didn't have to happen at school
the school year wasn't from August - May
teachers were facilitators of learning
mastery, rather than proficiency, mattered
students didn't have to sit through subjects they already knew
there was no English Department, Science Department, Math Department, or Social Studies Department
students understood how the learning all connected
we had a "gap year" or "grade 13"
we had pre-school for all who were behind before they started
every student completed significant community service
answers to test questions couldn't be googled
answers to test questions required critical thinking and problem-solving
kindergarteners who can already read didn't have to start with "letter of the week"
what and how students learn was more important than where they learn
every student graduated with at least one marketable skill
every student demonstrated personal responsibility...every day
community service became a habit
a high school diploma really meant something.

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