The Year in Review and The Year Ahead

It was a great year for NCTAF - steps were taken towards moving our nation's education system into the 21st century...

-NCTAF and Bob Wehling released the book Building a 21st Century Education System, which provided policymakers and practitioners with recommendations towards changing the factory-era education model.
-We challenged our state partners to go deeper with the KnowledgeWorks "Map of Future Forces," resulting in cutting-edge initiatives in with our state partners like South Carolina and West Virginia.
-NCTAF addressed "The Future of Teaching" in four MetLife Foundation forums that called attention to the most pressing issues in teaching quality in Georgia, Colorado, Massachusetts and Oregon.
-We held our largest symposium to date, which opened with a challenge and call to action from Education & Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (D-CA) and former Secretary of Education Richard Riley.
-NCTAF partnered with Georgia State University and Wachovia Foundation to develop a model for induction of new teachers with outcomes that included higher retention rates and increased student achievement.
-We continued to raise awareness by placing op-eds and opinion pieces in Education Week and USA Today.

...there is so much more to highlight from 2008. But there is even more work to be done in 2009. We must urge our nation's education leaders and stakeholders to come together to work to ensure that every child has a caring, qualified teacher in the classroom. We must work together to create schools that are genuine learning organizations, close the gap between teacher preparation and practice, provide teachers with careers that reward collaboration & expertise, and develop assessments where educators are held collectively accountable for improving student achievement.

We hope you will join us in our pledge on what matters most for student learning: quality teaching in schools organized for success.

From Teaching Organizations to Learning Organizations: How the Structure of School Must Change

This week, NCTAF Co-Chair Richard Riley and his longtime adviser, Terry Peterson published an editorial in Education Week, calling for a bipartisanship approach to fixing our nation’s education system. Twenty-five years since the release of A Nation at Risk, Riley and Peterson stress we must reflect on what we have learned and where we must go.

Riley and Peterson emphasize that the structure of schools must change in order to meet the needs of 21st century learners. NCTAF is currently working with education leaders in South Carolina to develop “Inside Out Learning Centers.” These 21st century schools will provide a new vision for learning by extending the school day/year; flexible schedules for students and teachers; cross-generational teaching teams; student achievement based on mastery; and virtual programs. These efforts will be combined with community services that address conditions that often prevent children from learning, such as inadequate medical, mental-health, and dental care.

In addition to the work being done in South Carolina, this week The Community Agenda for America’s Public Schools was launched. The Agenda stands upon the core belief that communities and schools are fundamentally and positively connected. It is important to realize that bridging school and community resources helps students broaden their skills, and addressing the needs of the whole child are critical for achievement.

Do schools have to have community partners to be effective? What role do community organizations play in your local schools?

Watch Richard Riley and South Carolina State Superintendent Jim Rex comment on 21st century education!