The document discusses several impending and potential changes in education including increased accountability and standardized testing, adoption of common core standards, changes to special education with RTI replacing discrepancy models, a shift towards Asia as an educational focus, increased technology and virtual learning, performance based pay and reduced tenure for teachers, and the need for schools to take on additional social services roles. Facilities will need to become more flexible to accommodate changing needs. Overall the education system will need to embrace reform and differentiation to ensure all students can meet higher standards.

1. Impending and Potential
Changes in Education
Steven M. Baule, ED.D., PH.D.
Superintendent, CUSD 201
Westmont, IL
sbaule@cusd201.org

2. My Background
Classroom teacher: rural Iowa
SLMS: far west suburban Chicago
Administrator: high performing suburban
Chicago high school districts
HS Principal: urban high school
Superintendent: suburban DuPage County

3. My perspective
 Suburban Chicago (DuPage County Illinois)
 Small district 1600 students PK-12
 25% minority population ~ 27% low income ~
10% mobility rate
 Barely balanced budget ~ state rates us as
deficit spending

4. NCLB & Federal (US) Accountability
 The elephant sitting on our collective chest
 Without grassroots outrage, NCLB will
become more punitive in the next iteration
 Evaluation of teachers based at least partially
upon standardized testing will almost certainly
be a reality
 Most programs which enrich but do not boost
standardized achievement will have little hope
of support in the NCLB environment
 All new program growth will need to be data
driven
NCLB=No Child Left Behind (US Federal Accountability legislation)

5. Charter Schools
 Schools with less focus on state or labor union
regulations
 As long as they produce, they will be allowed to
bend or ignore the state/labor rules
 They will pull talent away from other schools
who need role models and producers
 Charter schools seem to be more urban in focus,
but that will continue to change

6. Common Core Curriculum
A national US curriculum is almost
certainly in the future
In almost all states, this will drive up
standards and accountability
Based upon ensuring ALL high school
graduates can have success in an entry
level “for credit” college course
Visit http://www.corestandards.org/

7. What will the common core
standards look like?
 Fewer, clearer, and higher
 Articulate to parents, teachers, and the general
public expectations for what students will know
and be able to do when they graduate from high
school
 Internationally benchmarked
 Research and evidence based
 Ready for states to adopt – 48 are in support
From Council of Chief School Officer’s website, 2009

8. IDEA & RTI
 Huge changes to special education
Special Education has done a good job of identifying those who
need help, but hasn’t closed the achievement gap, it has created
a greater gap, so future remediation will need to also accelerate
these students so they can catch up
 “Scientifically based research” used 110 times in the
legislation (David Prasse) (EdWeek 10/17/2007, 100+ times +
evidence-based, etc.)
 Specifics are outlined for reading programs
 Specifics for math are on the way
 RTI will replace the discrepancy model for learning
disability (LD) identification
IDEA = Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act
RTI = Response to Intervention

9. Focus Shift from West to East
 Look to Asia particularly China and India
 Asian languages ~ China is pushing Mandarin
 China will soon be the largest English speaking
country in the world
 All Indian college graduates are fluent in English
 There are more honor students in China than
North America has students
Look to the Asia Society’s profile of global learners
(www.asiasociety.org)
Look at Karl Fisch’s Did you know video series
Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind
A recent IBM employee orientation included only 3 US
citizens in a class of more than 100

10. Continued: Rise of the East
International searches for bilingual
teachers in some large urban districts
Significant concern the dollar may not
continue as the de facto international
monetary standard
Other nations are already turning away
from the dollar
What will replace it?

11. Technology Infusion
 SmartBoards, etc., via stimulus funding
 More handheld devices
 Can those devices be harnessed effectively
• Extend the school day and year without huge costs
 Virtual enrollments continue to rise; some
homeschool/private school students may return to public
schools for online content
 Hybrid schools will become much more common
 Read Disrupting Class by Clayton Christensen

12. Job Security v. Vouchers
We should stop being so nice. After all, we've got
our qualifications and jobs, and we don't have the
moral right to sit placidly on the sidelines whilst
some educators are potentially jeopardizing the
chances of our youngsters
~ Karl Fisch (fischbowl blog 9/11/2007)

13. Teacher Job Security
 If schools are going to make significant changes, tenure
rights are going to have to be severely curtailed in order
for administrators to motivate, retrain or replace
ineffective teachers
 Pay tied to performance is almost a certainty
 Pay tied to degrees/credit hours held may disappear
 This should increase real collaboration between
professionals, expand PLCs, and similar efforts to work
towards best practice

14. Teacher Leaders
 For systemic change to be successful,
teacher leaders will need to be developed and
encouraged to lead in both formal and
informal ways
 Administrators and professors must provide
the tools for these emerging leaders
 Some states are considering new levels of
certification for teacher - leaders

15. Health Care & Safety
Schools will continue to expand their
social services responsibilities
Public health staffs see schools as one of
the best ways to communicate with the
public at large
Safety and violence is a continuing
concern

16. Critical Skills for the Educator in 2020
Routine data analysis and reporting
• Dashboard reporting
Differentiation for ALL students
• Second language students, the disabled, etc. will
all be expected to meet the same higher standard
Communication with all stakeholders
Fiscal responsibility
• Additional fiscal resources just don’t seem to be in
the picture

17. What Can We Do?
 Provide practitioners with real data on program
effectiveness tied to direct impact on standardized tests
& other performance indicators
 Contact your legislators and demand a more holistic
approach to monitoring school success
 Stress the importance of lifelong learning for staff as well
as students
 Strive to create better accountability
 Look to the Internet 2.0 while facing east (actually west)
 Embrace programs for ELL, IEP, minority, poor and
migrant students
ELL = English Language Learning ; IEP = Individual Education Plan
(special education students)

18. Implications for Facilities
 Buildings will be used more flexibly
 Smaller groups, hybrid schools, wider age ranges (parenting
classes/job retraining, etc.)
 Longer hours, evening hours, weekend and summer uses?
 Security will continue to be a major concern
 Classroom instruction will continue to differentiate and
therefore need a winder range of “spaces” in each classroom
 Fewer “traditional classrooms” more flexible large and small
group spaces
 Specific areas to accommodate the needs of parents will be
needed in hybrid schools
 Media centers will need more flexible group areas
 Power outlets for hand/palm devices will be essential similar to
what you are currently seeing emerge at airports

19. Next?
 NCLB will designate ALL public schools as failing in its current
configuration
 Common Core Standards should ensure even the highest
performing elementary schools will be failing by 2014
 IDEA and NCLB will merge requiring all students to meet
expectations
 Either public vouchers or substantive tenure reform
 Look at the FVS model of funding only for success
 Western Europe will not be our sole focus in the social sciences
 Students will bring their own information to school
 Teachers may actually get that career ladder they were looking for in
the 1980s
 At some point some type of longer school day or year will have to be
considered