Redefining traditional concepts of high school and college
Keep your eye on the North Carolina Joining Our Businesses and Schools (JOBS) Commission that was established about a year ago. The lieutenant governor Walter Dalton heads up the Commission. Dalton was instrumental in establishing North Carolina's early college program which is nationally recognized.
The Commission is exploring the following issues:
1. A replicable and perpetual model for aligning the efforts of local business, industry, policy and education stakeholders in community engagement for student centered learning;
2. The the documentation and analysis of innovative education programs critical for communities to be competitive in the STEM environment in the 21st century;
3. A framework to network these economic regions, aligning state, regional and external investment in replicable innovation;
4. Opportunities to leverage existing research and other resources to achieve greater economies of scale.
This Commission will have a role in redefining traditional concepts of high school and college. We can catch a glimmer of these new ideas in the Commission's interim report, issued a few weeks ago.
The Commission is recommending a pilot five year early college program geared toward regional clusters. Further, the Commission makes the following recommendation on STEM:
Develop instructional programs in the career cluster of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), with a special focus on the U.S. National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges. The Commission finds that the National Academy of Engineering has identified 14 Grand Challenges for the 21st century and how they may be solved by the STEM disciplines of science, technology, mathematics, and engineering. These challenges are as follows:
o Make solar energy economical
o Provide energy from fusion
o Develop carbon sequestration methods
o Manage the nitrogen cycle
o Provide access to clean water
o Restore and improve urban infrastructure
o Advance health informatics
o Engineer better medicines
o Reverse-engineer the brain
o Prevent nuclear terror
o Secure cyberspace
o Enhance virtual reality
o Advance personalized learning
o Engineer the tools of scientific discovery
The Commission underscored that "representatives of the business community consistently identified essential skills for success in the workplace as an area of needed improvement for graduates. The Commission recommends that the State Board of Education incorporate 21st Century essential competencies and skills for business, life and career, such as communication, critical thinking, problem solving, team-building, and leadership into curriculum and instruction to better prepare students for successful career pathways. The Commission recommends that the State Board of Education develop a set of measures that would allow students to demonstrate mastery of these competencies and skills."
Finally, the Commission recommends that innovative high schools be given maximum flexibility in implementing their programs.
