September 2008: Fueling Change Anyone who has filled up at the gas station the past few months knows the price of fuel has increased significantly. Most people who have emptied their wallets for a tank of gas have also had to make decisions about where that gas money will not go. Schools and universities across the country are faced with similar decisions as they struggle to pay increased fuel costs. The entire education system is dependent on fuel to accomplish its fundamental activities of transporting students to school and temporarily housing them while they are taught. How will the system respond to the price pressures that may make these fundamental activities untenable?
August 2008: How Chronic Illness Threatens Education August’s Trend of the Month describes the challenges faced in the future as it becomes harder to be healthy. Pollution, population densities, and the quantity and type of available food supplies are among the factors that could lead to a future where chronic illness is more prevalent ― and this prevalence may very well jeopardize our students’ ability to learn, change how they learn or in what kind of environments.
July 2008: Wagging the Dog: Leaning into the Future of State Assessment and Accountability As leaders consider the new demands for 21st century learners—post-secondary readiness, workforce preparation, and skills such as creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving, — new conversations concerning the role of state assessment and accountability systems are popping up. State leaders, mindful of the ways in which current standards and assessments may not adequately measure mastery of these thinking and learning skills, are looking at new possibilities for assessment. Should this conversation be about improving upon the current approach or completely transforming the approach all together?
June 2008: Post-secondary Preparation - Finding Common Ground. Two different sides have emerged in the rhetorical slash-and-parry about preparing students for life after high school. Side A: All students should be prepared, encouraged, and expected to enter college; Side B: Students must have the skills to be successful in the workforce when they graduate from high school. Side A argues that a college education is essential to compete in the increasingly global and competitive economy, and that to not prepare every student for college will perpetuate poverty among those without college degrees. Side B argues that college is not for everyone and that the national and global economy will always need workers that do not need a college degree, such as mechanics and construction workers. On the face of it, these two sides appear to advocate for different approaches to post-secondary preparation. How far apart are they really?
May 2008: Take Your Pick: FaceBook, Pownce, Twitter, Bebo, Vox... Choice is ubiquitous in our lives. From on-demand TV programs to music downloads to "fast” gourmet restaurant chains that let customers build their ideal burrito, we like “having it our way.” Technology supports individualization and customization and, some worry, isolates us from one another. Now, however, through the rise of dozens of new voluntary communities, or social networks, technology is bringing us together in unique ways.
July 2007: A Mighty Goal: Expanding the Pipeline to 21st Century Opportunity for All Students. Business and policy leaders are driving the agenda to widen the pipeline to 21st century opportunity for all students. Spurred on by concerns about America's long term ability to compete in the global economy and a fear that future generations may be unable to sustain our current standard of living, a new sense of urgency appears to be present.
June 2007: A Willingness to Invest in the Future? Pre-K Now, Payoff Later. As leaders across the nation make preschool investment a priority, is this a sign that state policy makers are taking the "long view" as Peter Schwartz advises in The Art of the Long View? Or, perhaps this is an indicator that research really can make a difference?
May 2007: Trend Tracker Catalog. This is a Quarterly Report of information collected relative to the scenarios for an R&D organization.
April 2007: Teaching the Next Generation. April's Trend of the Month addresses the compelling need in education to address different generational characteristics in our parents, teachers, administrators and students.
March 2007: Trend Tracker Catalog In The Future of Schooling: Educating America in 2014. McREL has written sixteen scenarios for various education entities. McREL is systematically collecting and analyzing information relating to these scenarios. This is a Quarterly Report of information collected relative to the scenarios for an R&D organization.
February 2007: Knowledge and Skills for the Early 21st Century. This article, published in the Fall 2006 issue of PRISM magazine, is written by John Kendall, Senior Director of Research at McREL. We present it here as a link to a PDF document to preserve table formatting. This article maintains that state content standards must reflect the expectations of the 21st century.
January 2007: Getting Ahead of the Curve. From McREL's publication Changing Schools, this article discusses the value of thinking about the future when making decisions today.
December 2006: Preparing for an Uncertain Future. This policy brief describes the scenario-buliding process and McREL's own efforts to incorporate structured, systematic scenario-based planning into strategic decision-making.