My daughter entered kindergarten at Fairview Elementary School in the fall of 2007. Upon entering the building she began her thirteen year journey toward graduation in 2020. In her thirteen years, the structure of educational institutions, the design of curriculum, the role of teachers, the implementation of instruction, and methods of assessment all dramatically changed.
Erie Goes Regional
In 2005, Erie County schools started the Regional Choice Initiative (RCI). Born in the crucible the potential of charter wars in 2003-04, RCI blossomed into a collaborative effort to maximize individual district resources, and minimize the potential destructive effects of individual charter schools. The result was a collaborative program designed to give Erie County and Erie City junior and senior students the opportunity to earn college credit before graduation. Partnering with area state and private universities, the students attending RCI received college level material from college professors at a central location within the county. School districts were responsible for transportation of students and charged a rate of $2800 per student. Parents and students were then charged tuition, but at a much reduced rate. By the spring of 2006, area students were leaving RCI with a high school diploma and as much as 15 college credits transferable to a majority of higher educational institutions.
Emboldened by the success of the collaboration, RCI began Phase III in the fall of 2008. Elected officials from the county and city used race track gaming revenue to establish the Erie Community College. Modeled after the Middle College concept employed in Lansing, MI and Buffalo, NY; RCI enrolled students who struggled in the “traditional” classroom setting. After their sophomore year, students left their home district and went to the Erie Community College to finish their junior and senior years. Designed for kids who “weren’t making it”, the Middle College concept was a mixture of high school requirements and anticipated career requirements. In this non-traditional structure, students found relevance to their learning. When they finished, this student clientele emerged with employable knowledge and skills.
In 2010, based on the strength and demand for highly skilled labor at General Electric and Erie Ship Building the Middle College concept was expanded to include technical and vocational education. Partnering with area advanced technical education institutions like CAMTech and Tri-angle Tech; area high school students enrolled in high demand career tracks. Welding, computer technology, health care careers, computer aided design, and many others became career paths high school students were working/ apprenticing in before graduation.
As the sophomore year became a determining year for many students, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and area schools collaborated to align the curriculum to reflect the standards and skills to be mastered by tenth grade. Modeled similar to a structure outlined in Tough Choices Or Tough Times (National Center on Education and the Economy, 2007), policy makers developed a state board qualifying exam and competencies to determine student progression beyond the tenth grade year.
The structural changes beyond the tenth grade year, effected the focus of home schools within the county. With students taking advanced and career courses at RCI, individual districts found they had the ability to specialize in certain areas and draw students to unique programs from the Erie region. Grades 7-9 became focused on individual goals and career planning. Each student developed an e-portfolio including: Art & Design, Community Involvement & Responsibility, Education & Career Planning, Employability Skills, Information Technology, and Personal Health (British Columbia Education, Ministry of Education, 2008)
Inside and Outside the Classroom
As schools in the area become specialized, student demand to attend unique classes increased. For instance, Millcreek’s Mandarin Chinese language class in the middle school opened seats to students in other districts via CMS Moodle. Junior High students throughout the county competed for the few seats available. School districts recognized the budgetary savings in offering on-line courses, rather than hiring more staff. Students were able to take advantage of specialization not available in their home district. A-synchronous learning became a widely used alternative to the structured 7am – 3pm bell schedule. The distances in the county were bridged by on-line collaborative classes established by the specialized schools and highly knowledgeable teachers. Courses were a blend of on-line content and teacher contact, as districts periodically transported students to course locations for teacher evaluation and student interaction. Enrollment across the county and city became more fluid, with students taking more focused and adaptable content courses. The 180 day school year gave way to a more collegial format from 8th to 12th grade.
Teacher instruction became focused on skill mastery and individual student interest. Wikis, podcasts, blogs, and web-based tools were widely used in instruction. Information and learning was non-linear in many content areas like social studies and language arts. Curriculum became centered on essential questions, and understanding was by design.
By 2015, manufacturing reduced the cost of laptops. Each student owned a computer. Laptops became a standard piece of school equipment.
Teacher professional development focused on core content specialization and web 2.0 strategies. As teachers and students became more adept at using the web within instruction, meaningful connections were made beyond our community.
- Science students in 6-8th grades conducted water quality studies with the Regional Science Consortium at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center. The data was analyzed by Mercyhurst College students and policy recommendations were made.
- Language Arts students joined the authors of two books “Perry” and “Don’t Give Up the Ship” to create a historical fiction on-line novel based on the famous Battle of Lake Erie for the two-hundredth anniversary in 2012. The children’s book was written and illustrated by students in a collaboration across several school districts. The book was self-published on Google. The on-line book could be downloaded, at a cost of $2.00 with the proceeds going to local historical societies for preservation and outreach programs.
- Social Studies students collaborated with six schools from around the world. Participating in the Peace Initiative, students worked to problem solve basic needs in third world countries.
A Student’s View
For my daughter, she witnessed the shift of educational focus. She began kindergarten moving through the elementary grades in a more traditional setting. As she grew in her math and reading skills, she began podcasting with digital storytelling. This experience not only improved her reading and writing skills, it also allowed her to experience the world beyond the classroom walls. Her elementary teachers used SMART boards to supplement the learning in the classroom and exhibit student digital work. By the fourth grade the Fairview School District received a grant to supply wireless hubs in the fourth through eighth classrooms. Through the OLPC program, her parents bought her first laptop for school.
As she entered the middle school she began her work on her e-portfolio. With a focus on the skills for the 21st Century, her e-portfolio contained serious self reflection and life goals. Understanding her own learning style and intelligences within the Multiple Intelligences framework, she assessed her own interests and goals. By the time she finished eighth grade she was confident in herself and her future. During her middle school years she was enrolled at Fairview, but began taking some creative writing classes with an innovative teacher in Harborcreek. This course was not offered in her home school, but was exactly what she wanted to learn. Through Moodle, she participated with the students in a school district forty miles away. Twice a month, she would be transported to meet with her teacher.
Her friends were taking classes in other districts too. Two were focusing on math and engineering, and were taking distance courses from Iroquois Junior High. Their close relationship with General Electric enabled students to actively access the engineering projects and technology used at the site. Another friend chose to focus on Art and Design, and was taking classes from Roosevelt Middle School. Their proximity to cultural centers downtown meant they could take advantage of the Erie Art Museum and various performance centers.
Her ninth and tenth grade years she began to focus more on her future as a writer. Knowing she wanted to participate in RCI, she prepared for the new state exam. Having successfully passed the exam, she began a combination of core courses and college level courses through RCI. She graduated in 2020 and had accumulated 15 credits of college courses, essentially saving the first year’s tuition at a state university.
The Class of 2020
The preceding vision for education in Northwest Pennsylvania was for the purpose of assignment 9-C-1 of the Building Online Collaborative Environments through Performance Learning Systems. The above vision for Erie Regional Education contains a combination of conjecture of current trends and prognostication. The potential for RCI in the region, and the combination of technology and collaboration would need to be explored further for this to be a reality. Erie is a wonderful place, and many obstacles exist to the vision described. I fully accept this, and say still ‘why not?’.
The format of the assignment mirrors a project called “2020 Vision” by Karl Fisch, Director of Technology for Arapahoe High School in Centennial, CO. On his blog, The Fischbowl, he shared a video called “2020 Vision” explaining possibility for what the world could be like in 2020. You can read Fisch’s explanation with the background for the presentation. You can watch the video in one of the formats below. (Note: the audio doesn’t start until the third slide.)
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