Tomorrow’s Education – The New Normal: Doing More with Less — Secretary Arne Duncan

I am here to talk today about what has been called the New Normal. For the next several years, preschool, K-12, and postsecondary educators are likely to face the challenge of doing more with less.

My message is that this challenge can, and should be, embraced as an opportunity to make dramatic improvements. I believe enormous opportunities for improving the productivity of our education system lie ahead if we are smart, innovative, and courageous in rethinking the status quo.

It’s time to stop treating the problem of educational productivity as a grinding, eat-your-broccoli exercise. It’s time to start treating it as an opportunity for innovation and accelerating progress.

Arne Duncan – Secretary of Education

Full Speech: http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/new-normal-doing-more-less-secretary-arne-duncans-remarks-american-enterprise-institut

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Missoula County Public Schools 21st Century Initiative

Missoula County Public Schools has launched the Forward Thinking, High Achieving: 21 Century Initiative, an exciting project that invites students, teachers, administrators, parents and Missoula’s community-at-large to be involved in re-shaping education by defining our "collective" expectation of the knowledge, skills, and behaviors that MCPS graduates require to thrive in the 21st Century, as well as identifying how schools and educational programs will evolve to meet these high expectations.

This initiative is rooted in a process of reflection on current educational practices and conditions. It invites the creativity and energy of District stakeholders to move beyond what is, and imagine what will be for the future of MCPS students and educators.

Join the District as it embarks on this highly collaborative process during the 2010-2011 school year. The goal is to identify the 21st Century teaching and learning model that will best serve students and educators, the facilities needed to support that model, and a plan for implementation.

http://www.mcps.k12.mt.us/portal/Home/21stCenturySchoolsInitiative/tabid/3037/Default.aspx