Elkhart Area Career Center (EACC) www.elkhart.k12.in.us/eacc Not your daddy’s voc ed school! EACC offers about 1200 11th and 12th grade students from 10 Indiana and two Michigan school districts exemplary education and training, preparing them for either higher education or careers in specialized fields. Its structure should be a model not only for technical schools but for traditional academic schools as well. More details in subsequent editions.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation www.gatesfoundation.org/education Re-structuring the American high school is a top priority for the Gates Foundation. Other top programs also further educational outreach throughout the world. See examples of exemplary programs cited in its web site.
Kaiser Family Foundation: “Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8 – 18 Year Olds” www.kff.org KFF conducted a massive survey on the media habits of those 8 – 18. “Generation M” confirmed what thousands of parents and teachers have been concerned about. Young people are fundamentally changing their thinking spans and doing several tasks at the same time, “multi tasking”! Read the report, or better yet, listen to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s keynote address and the forum comments when KFF announced the results of its survey at a special conference. Perhaps educators need to look in the mirror regarding their own teaching strategies! After bringing up the KFF home page, scroll down to find the Report.
National Educational Technology Plan, 2005, U. S. Department of Education www.nationaledtechplan.org With budget deficits and many other problems facing public schools today, its easy for educators to become cynical when USDOE offers a report urging schools to invest much greater resources in technology. However, this is one area of NCLB that should receive kudos from just about everyone for pointing schools in the direction that they must go if we are to compete in the new global society.
Newsweek, February 16, 2005, “100 Best High Schools” www.msnbc/id/7761678/site/newsweek
While some may question the narrow criteria Newsweek used to determine its list of “Top 100”, there are other more exciting pages related to innovations going on in several schools around the country. Check these out. Many may point to desirable paths for the future. See the article “Other Winning Equations”, pp. 58-59.