My Visit to High Tech High in San Diego California -Wednesday

     Recently my supervisor asked me to accompany Mr. Mark Crady our Curriculum Director on a field trip to High Tech High in San Diego. Obviously, I wasn't going to say no to my boss, but truthfully, I have always wanted to go there. I have heard about High Tech High for a few years now and have been dying to get out there somehow. They, from all indications, have figured out how to design an educational system that promotes project-based learning, deeper learning and engages outside experts in the work that they do. All these efforts have produced a student body that is motivated to learn, excited about school and ready for the collegiate level. At least according to what I had heard. Now, I was going to be allowed into the inner sanctum. I wanted to see what made them tick. What really happened inside those walls? Was everything a project? Were the students perfect little angels that all ended up at MIT? Well, not exactly, but close.

   
     Going into the trip I had a lot of questions about what I perceived as High Tech High. I believe I came up with 14 on the plane ride alone. Once we landed things only got worse. We were met by representatives of the America Youth Policy Forum, the Hewlett Foundation, and Council of Chief State School Officers. These were some heavy hitters in the educational world, and there I was, Tech Director from a smaller district in Iowa. Needless to say I felt a little trepidation. Our first night was spent in a dinner meeting discussing the trip itinerary, schools we were to visit and the guiding philosophy behind the Hewlett Foundation's funding of the trip.
      The Hewlett Foundation believes in working with educators, state leaders and business leaders to encourage a change in the way students across our country receive their education. In short, they believe we could do better and want to help develop a new model of American Education. the CCSSO and AYPF were brought in to help facilitate trips like this one for districts and state-level teams from across the country, specifically schools in what is known as the Innovation Lab Network. The ILN's purpose, as reflected on the CCSSO website, is:
   
    The Innovation Lab Network (ILN) is a group of states brought together by CCSSO taking action to identify, test and implement student-centered approaches to learning that will transform our public education system. With a constant focus on student outcomes, the goal of the ILN is to spur system-level change, scaling from locally-led innovation to wider implementation, both within and across states.

     These innovations are grounded in agreed upon principles that emphasize attainment of world-class knowledge and skills through multiple pathways, based on not just acquiring knowledge, but also applying it. All states in the ILN - which currently includes Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oregon, West Virginia and Wisconsin - are committed to working collaboratively with key players at the local, district and state levels and from outside stakeholder groups, including the business and higher education communities. As the ILN states pressure test new student-centered policies and practices, they are continuously sharing their success stories and supporting the work of others in the network.

     Some of the topics presented by the Hewlett Foundation representative seemed to fit with what I thought HTH was all about. He talked about working with State leaders and business leaders to define what the next generation of American education could look like. His concept was Deeper Learning. Deeper Learning is defined as:

     Deeper learning is an umbrella term for the skills and knowledge that students must 
possess to succeed in 21st century jobs and civic life. At its heart is a set of competencies 
students must master in order to develop a keen understanding of academic content and 
apply their knowledge to problems in the classroom and on the job.
     The Deeper Learning framework includes seven competencies that are essential to    prepare students to achieve at high levels. 
Competencies
1. Master core academic content
2. Think critically and solve complex problems
3. Communicate effectively
4. Work collaboratively
5. Learn how to learn
6. Develop academic mindsets

The meat of the presentation for me was the outline of assessment systems they have seen working around the world as well as their information on what employers value in employees (new hires). 

     Assessments being used around the world are varied. They mentioned all the standard ones; PARCC, NAEP and other international tests we all know. They also mentioned that other countries are working on measuring things like collaboration skills and problem solving skills. There was not a bunch of information given on how, but it struck me as something to keep an eye out for in the coming years. It was interesting to hear that things we think are impossible to assess are being assessed in other countries. Assessing those skills is high up on the list of assessments for 21st century learning and deeper learning.

     Employer survey information followed the presentation on assessment systems. The employers surveyed indicated that they have already (or are in the process of) outsourced anything that can be mechanized or broken down into repeatable processes. Those skills are no longer valued in the workplace. We did watch the "Did You Know" video (the latest strain of it) which I think everyone in Iowa has seen by now. Then they told us that the skills employers value most these days are problem solving, analysis and effective communication. Writing and speaking well in a collaborative manner are keys to keeping a job in the 21st century workplace. Learning how to learn was also high on the list as most of the jobs employers advertise did not exist ten years ago. Being able to train your brain to adapt and then being able to communicate your learning in an effective way are what makes corporate America drool. Businesses are even developing tests to measure how well you can speak in front of an audience and via electronic means -- to weed out potential employees. The workplace of the future is synchronous and asynchronous collaboration with people across the globe, not just across town.

     The dinner meeting ended Thursday and everyone went to their rooms to try to sleep. Sleeping was an issue for everyone as we were all on different time zones physically, so we all ended up getting up at 4:30 each morning anyway, regardless of schedule. I went to bed that night with questions abounding in my head. Way too many things to even write down. I did not sleep much that night. Foremost on my mind was, am I going to be able to get the answers to my questions, or what this just going to be a dog and pony show. More to come in my next post...