This is an Accessible Alternative Version of the Adobe Acrobat Portable Document, Preparing Future Citizens and Producers (PDF, 150KB, 11pp). The Adobe Acrobat Portable Document should be the preferred version for downloading.
Preparing Future Citizens and Producers
David Stern
California Department of Education Conference on
Re-Visioning School Facilities Planning and Design
October 15, 2008
Slides
1. What I'll Explain
- Two primary public purposes of education
- Evidence on preparation of informed citizens
- Evidence on preparation for college and careers
- Possible implications for school design
2. Public Purposes of Education
- Why is education compulsory for students, and why are taxpayers compelled to pay for it?
- Preparing informed citizens is first priority
- Jefferson, Madison, Adam Smith
- U.S. Supreme Court: Grutter 2003, Brown 1954
- Gallup poll
- Preparing students to be economically self-sufficient
- Gallup poll
3. Evidence on Preparation for Civic Life
- Preparation to read and analyze issues
- Only 35% of 12th graders proficient, e.g., "Making a critical judgment about a detailed document: like Voter Info Guide
- Knowledge of government institutions
- Only 27% of 12th graders proficient
- Voting and volunteering
- Only 8% of young high school graduates (not in college) engage in civic activity
4. Preparing Future Producers
- Predictions of future skill demands vary greatly
- BLS: no major shifts in next ten years
- Stuart Elliott: 60% of jobs could be done by computers in 2030 (National Academic Science 2008)
- Even current skill demands are not well understood
- Do earnings depend on skills or years of schooling? (Hanushek, Levin, Bowles, Murnane)
- Cognitive versus non-cognitive skills
- Emerging consensus? Prepare for unknown future by making college an option for all
5. Why College as an Option for All?
- About 80% of high school students expect to get at least a bachelor's degree
- College has been a consistently good investment, yielding about 10% annual return
- Since 1980s, earnings of college graduates have increased faster than non-college graduates
- Computers have replaced some routine jobs, while making non-routine work more productive
6. Preparing for College AND Careers
- 80% of high school students expect to earn bachelor's degrees, but only 30% do so
- Career-technical educational (CTE) in high schools now is intended to prepare for postsecondary education, unlike traditional 20th century vocational education
- Virtually all CTE concentrators now complete academic core courses
7. Career Academies as Examples
- Elements of career academies
- 30 to 60 students at each grade level take classes together
- Curriculum combines CTE theme (e.g., health, business, engineering) with college-prep courses
- Internships and other related experiences outside school
- California funds more than 300 "Partnership Academies"
- Evaluations have found positive impacts (MDRC)
8. Implications for High School Design: 1 (No more fortress)
Increase possibility for high school students to participate in settings outside school
- Internships and other forms of work-based learning (e.g. The Met schools)
- Civic engagement projects (e.g., What Kids Can Do, Y/PLAN project at Center for Cities & Schools)
- Students prepare for adult roles as citizens and producers by practicing those roles
9. Implications for High School Design: 2 (No more egg crate)
Make better use of the internet
- Increasingly available on-line courses make individualization more possible
- Accommodate students who move from place to place, which has been problematic for 20th century high school
- Recognize that classrooms are no longer the main source of information for students
