by Gary Griffin
These special interest groups have developed into important social, political institutions, or social movements. Some powerful lobby groups have been accused of manipulating the democratic system for narrow commercial gain and in some instances have been found guilty of corruption, fraud, bribery, and other serious crimes. This has become the mode of operation in Washington. In this scenario, the interests of the population go unheard by our political leaders. The type of structural changes we need to make requires power to implement. This power can only come from individual freedom of choice.159 However, if that freedom is granted through the use of social policies, then those special interests lose their stronghold. In short, the interests of the special interests group become threatened and protectionism begins.160
It is clear that we need a course correction in this country to move forward as a nation at this crossroads in U.S. history. That course correction doesn’t involve a move to the left or a right turn. It is also clear that our current government, and the two political parties of Democrat and Republican, have no real intentions of accomplishing this feat. We must move forward by aligning the major social structures with the macro-level trends of an information society and a knowledge-based economy. To do so requires that we focus very heavily on three key areas—education, energy, and the economy (3E). In realigning the philosophical, social, political, and economic social structures, we must create social policies that drive efficiency and effectiveness (2E) in these three areas. Thus, we must follow the formula of 2E x 3E or 6E = Productivity, which is a function of work.
If we build efficiencies and effectiveness in education that supports a knowledge-based economy, energy policies that transform people and the United States into energy producers and not just energy consumers, and a growth economy that is based on the knowledge theory of value that rests on the infinite resources of the human mind, then we will see the end of poverty and the beginning of the age of prosperity in America in the twenty-first century. This will require a change in our style of living, but these changes will drastically affect our standard of living. This is the reason that individuals must have complete freedom of choice because it is through our choices that we create our style of living. The power to make the changes we need to make rests in the individual choices of each and every person within the United States. It is “we the people” who have to make the course adjustment.
TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY EDUCATION STRATEGY
Public education is in crisis, and the crisis seems to be worsening with each passing year. The crisis stems from the social, economic, and political forces that are demanding change from an institution inherently designed to resist change. Public education plays a specific role within American society by providing a foundational pillar that transmits culture, norms, and values from one generation to the next. Unfortunately, K-12 public education is not fulfilling this function in its current form. A massive overhaul of the entire structure is required, but best efforts to date are only providing a piecemeal approach that entails little more than band-aids, and it’s not enough. Like a child with arms crossed refusing to take the medicine that will make him better, public education is resistant to change in spite of all the evidence insisting that change is a must; America’s future depends on it.161
In 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was passed as a major renovation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The act has received mixed reviews across the board. Some say the act places undue burdens on teachers and schools, and should be repealed. Others simply argue the act needs major changes before it can really accomplish its goals. All seem to agree that more money must be spent, although America already spends more than any other first world nation and gets results that are nowhere near number one. Will more money really provide the solution?
Certainly there are problems with the NCLB legislation. As written, it places heavy emphasis on test results and this has lead many teachers to simply teach to the test; this does not provide an education for America’s children. On the other hand, teachers and schools are threatened with heavy penalties when student performance is not demonstrated on state-mandated summative tests. What should teachers do when they are given the burdens, but they’re not provided with the necessary tools and training required to meet the demands of NCLB? How can teachers deliver education services in the classroom without the resources to do so?
While NCLB is many things, some good and some bad, it certainly is an attempt by society through a legislative process to induce change within public education. Clearly, test results from the children in the education system before the passage of NCLB were unacceptable as a measure of preparedness for living and working in a twenty-first-century information society. Whereas the intent of the legislation may have been to improve student achievement in this regard, the actual implementation and realization of the intent has proven to be difficult and elusive.
Three major problems seem to obstruct the fulfillment of the intent of NCLB. First, NCLB requires major systemic changes within the social fabric of public education. Industrial society’s education delivery models do not support this type of change. An information society education delivery model is now required, and that model of delivery must be reflected in the classroom through the learning transaction between the teacher and each student. Second, teachers are now required to be not only teachers but also lawyers and doctors. Unfortunately, the diversity in teacher skill sets required for twenty-first century education is increasing, and to make matters worse, teachers have not been given the tools and the training that will make them successful in the classroom in the delivery of education under a twenty-first century information society education model. This would be a complete paradigm shift for education. Third, and perhaps most importantly, the systemic changes required within public education can only occur with changes in attitudes and behaviors of those people within public education. That is to say, the problems within public education can only be solved from within public education. Accordingly, this can only be accomplished through the use of technological systems that provide for the free flow of information as reflected by an information society paradigm. In their current state, most education systems are riddled with design flaws that create major information and data challenges and prevent the free flow of information within the classroom as well as up and down the education enterprise. In short, these technological systems do not align with the needs and problems of a public education social system reflective of an information society paradigm. Education is also not in alignment with the three macro-level trends of an information society and knowledge-based economy.
In the information society with a knowledge-based economy, intellectual ability must become more highly valued commodity. This type of economy can only function if the knowledge base of the people supports it. Knowledge itself stems from intellect and accumulated information stored within a person’s brain. As such the process of accumulating knowledge must become more refined and defined.
The scientific method is but one means of accumulating knowledge in the education process. The five senses of sight, taste, smell, hearing, and touch can no longer be the basis of accumulated knowledge. Knowledge, then, in the context of a knowledge-based economy must become rationalized, and this will require people to develop abstract-thinking skills. The philosophy of science and knowledge must become something entirely different. This is the task of the American education system in the twenty-first century. A shift away from pure empiricism to one of rationalization will not be easy, but it is necessary.
This idea is further extended by the decentralization of production processes. Basically a production process such as this no longer requires a face-to-face interaction with individuals. You don’t have to know the person who is getting the work done. With this type of decentralized model, it simply is not possible. Therefore, we can no longer rely solely on our senses to complete the tasks of production. From this perspective, work becomes a totally intellectual exercise of t
he mind. Napoleon Hill wrote in Think and Grow Rich, “Thinking is some of the hardest work there is and that’s why so few people do it.” I wouldn’t pretend to judge what is on everyone’s mind, but thinking is hard work. A knowledge-based economy requires a lot of hard work.
Given the unique role education plays within society—transmitter of culture, values, and norms from one generation to the next—it’s not surprising that public education would be the last place to embrace changes that are already reflected by the society at large. For the most part, American society has been transformed into an information society that is connected to a global economy. While a history lesson is not necessary, this transformation has been ongoing since World War II, and some of the greatest and most significant advances came in the last twenty years of the twentieth century. In order for America’s citizens to live, work, and play in the twenty-first century information society, American public education must now play catch-up.
Although all is not known and understood about the information society and the global economy of the twenty-first century, there are some unique attributes that can be identified to aid in understanding what an information society paradigm means. An information society can be defined as a “society whose infrastructure is closely defined by information technology and characterized by the development of a large service sector that is heavily dependent upon professional and technical occupations denoted by the increasing intellectualized nature of work which can only be performed through ongoing educational endeavors where the knowledge theory of value gets translated into information and treated as commodity.”162 Moreover, the American lifestyle within the information society is driven by choices that are available only through economics that are driven by a global economy model. These choices are made based on consumption that is dependent upon an individual’s abilities, skills, education level, and personal preferences. It all boils down to a simple question: How do Americans in the twenty-first century make money in an information society that is driven by a highly competitive global economy?” Public education is the answer.
In order for public education to fulfill its mission and obligations to American taxpayers, these same attributes must be infused into education delivery in the classroom. Holdovers from bygone eras can still be found throughout public education. Most notably, summers are still in recess in order to help on family farms that no longer exist as they did in the agricultural society, and bells are still ringing to instill time-management skills required in the industrial society. While others may be apparent, the most obvious and perhaps most difficult to change, holdout from the industrial society paradigm is that of specialization. Public education is stuck in the industrial society paradigm of teaching because teachers and administrators are still plagued by the idea of specialization of skills in a division of work that no longer exists. Public education is still operating as if twenty-first century living requires industrialization skills, when it does not. The problem is not only reflected through the teaching and learning occurring in the classrooms, but it’s also evident in the construction of technological systems designed to support teaching and learning. This condition has been aptly described as analog teaching to children that are living in a digital age.163
Clearly, new and different skills are required for the next generation of Americans to live and thrive in a twenty-first century information society. These skills must come through public education, but before that can happen, teachers, administrators, and others involved in the education process must also embrace and utilize these same skills. In short, you can’t pass along what you don’t possess.
Which skills are required for life in the twenty-first century? Although there may be some disagreement about which skills, the Partnership for Twenty-First Century Skills identifies these as including:
Creativity and Innovation
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Communications and Collaboration
Information Literacy
Media Literacy
Information, Communication, and Technology Literacy
Flexibility and Adaptability
Initiative and Self-Direction
Social and Cross-Cultural Skills
Productivity and Accountability
Leadership and Responsibility164
Moreover, new technological systems must be put into place to support an education structure to teach these skills. According to the Partnership for Twenty-First Century Skills, these systems must include a comprehensive framework of:
Twenty-first Century Standards
Assessment of Twenty-First Century Skills
Twenty-first Century Curriculum and Instruction
Twenty-first Century Professional Development
Twenty-first Century Learning Environments165
Attitudes have changed somewhat in public education, but behaviors are still lagging. Most educators agree that there is a problem in public education, but they lack the knowledge, skills, and tools to change it. The key to aligning attitudes with behaviors is access to information that confirms the facts. The key to change in public education is changing the attitudes and behaviors of people within the institution. Over the past few years, attitudes appear to be changing. Most educators realize there’s a problem within education, but they don’t know how to fix it; instead, they continue on the same road. Going down the same road and driving the same car will get you to the same destination every time. Public education needs to take a different road and drive a different car in order to reach a different destination with different results.
The important word in information society is information. This is no different for public education, and especially teachers in the classrooms. In order for teachers to effectively deliver education to each student within the class, they must have information at their fingertips that confirms the facts. This information is derived from data. Data may be appropriately described as the digital representation of facts about people, places, and processes. In order for this process to function properly, the facts represented in the data must be high quality, and nowhere is this more critical than in the accountability requirements of NCLB.166
Another important attribute of the information society is advanced technology, and thus the term information technology. However, advanced technology does not guarantee access to the information needed to support decision-making. Technology is a tool, and no matter how good the tool, it still requires someone who knows how to use it. Just purchasing technology will not provide teachers and administrators with the information they need to better deliver education services under NCLB.
With the passage of NCLB in 2002, a number of critical issues became obvious as public education began compliance with the legislation. These issues have proven to be major obstacles in solving the problems within education under NCLB, and they are tied directly to data, information, and systems. While there may be others, the major data and information challenges for public education are:
A lack of systems integration both vertically and horizontally.
No data standardization across systems.
Multiple sources of data that result in islands of disconnected and duplicated data.
Poor data quality resulting from a lack of quality control in the data collection process.
Inappropriate use of systems not designed to provide information— operational versus analytical questions.
Limited information availability and sharing of information, especially cross-functional information.
Given these problems, efforts have to be made to design a comprehensive system to provide public education the means to overcome the obstacles, and thereby solve the problems within public education under NCLB. America must do better with public education; America can do better with public education. The systems must include a broad-based framework that provides a platform to encompass all essential educational functions, so that educators and administrators can do all that is required to deliver educatio
n services to students under NCLB.
The education mission must take the best technologies and build systems that provide solutions to solve K-12 education’s data and information challenges, and positively affect the learning experience of all children in the twenty-first century through assessment, achievement, and accountability. The mission is accomplished by doing the following:
Establish the processes and procedures that facilitate the creation, presentation, and interpretation of information in education.
Create, standardize, and maintain the vehicle that provides access to and use of information.
Provide everyone (teachers, parents, administrators, and community leaders) involved in the education of a child with the skills and knowledge that will empower them to effectively utilize information in education.
Information is critical to changing public education in America under NCLB. Teachers in the classroom must deliver education services that will prepare students for life in the twenty-first century information society. For this to happen, educators must not only teach skills, but they must also use those same skills in the classroom.