Wingspread Conference

On February 4, 2008 representatives of five NCTAF State Coalitions (Hawaii, Georgia, New Jersey, South Carolina, and West Virginia) came together for an intensive retreat where they developed proposals for changing education to respond to the demands of the knowledge era. Teams were given the opportunity to pull away from their day-to-day work in order to focus on the future of education in their state and produce plans for educational transformation. The retreat focused on expanding team thinking about educational trends, promoting cross-fertilization of ideas across state coalitions, and fostering a sense of community among participants in the initiative.

State teams were challenged to redefine the education system and the teaching profession for the 21st century, rather than simply tweaking the system as it already exists. Teams used the Map of Future Forces Affecting Education as a tool to think about how a changing world will affect education and to help them consider what actions would be appropriate in their states. Over the three days a great deal of camaraderie was built, both within teams and between teams, as they expanded one another’s thinking by examining intersections across their innovative ideas as well as among their challenges.

The end result was that teams returned home having developed clearly articulated state goals, five-year visions, and three year plans that respond to the rapidly changing education context as described in the Map of Future Forces Affecting Education. States are now working with NCTAF and KnowledgeWorks Foundation staff to develop funding proposals the will allow the goals, visions, and plans to become reality.

NCTAF's president, Dr. Thomas Carroll