Common Standards, Open Content, and an Opportunity Library of Congress March 16 th, 2009 Marshall S. Smith

Common Standards, Open Education Content, a new Opportunity Common Standards with common Assessments and Curriculum: – Pros and Cons – A Different Solution Open Education Content: – Knowledge for all – Access to opportunity to explore, change, build, collaborate. – Enhancing and continuously improving curricula, instruction, learning using open strategies. A new Opportunity to dramatically improve U. S. education quality.

Part I Common Standards…. What are common standards? – Current system: State Content and Performance standards and Assessments – Presumably common means shared by states – Do common standards = national standards? – Would they replace existing standards….? – Should they be benchmarked against international examples? – Should the US have common national standards?

Common/National Standards: Assertions and observations(1) We need common/national standards because we have 50 states with very different proficiency levels. Very weak argument. A simple psychometric fix is possible. We need common standards because some states proficiency cutoff scores that are easier to achieve than other states and that is seen as bad. Very weak argument. The difficulty of achieving proficiency on a state test is uncorrelated with state NAEP scores. Even though we don’t know much about what constitutes “excellent standards or assessments” we know enough to have a single national system. Weak argument. We would be able to create common national standards without political or ideological influence. Weak argument. Our political forces expect to be part of the construction of standards. In most competitive countries the standards are designed by education professionals – in US it has been a much more of a political activity.

Common Standards: Assertions and Observations (2) National standards are a solution to a complex adaptive problem -- Weak argument. We know better than to rely on top-down solutions in this new day of bottom up knowledge and creativity. Common standards could be more efficient, make more resources and talent available for creating quality in the single system, simplify assessment, and provide greater transparency for parents and public. Strong argument. Common standards could allow us to build on what we have learned about how to create an effective standards based reform system, something which many states are unable to do. Strong argument.

Common Standards: (3) Common standards could foster common curricula built specifically for the standards, which could become the cornerstone for improving teaching and learning. Common curricula could be based on learning progressions, that enhance adaptive instruction and facilitate personalization. Very strong argument.

A Compromise: How do we get the positives without having the negatives? Instead of a single, possibly political, top down solution and instead of 50 states, many of whom are stuck in an old way of doing business, how about consortia of states? – Balance and the 10 th Amendment would be met. – Learn from diversity – different models and approaches. – Provides substantial efficiency and stimulates change in states. – Doesn’t solve the political problem but it could lead to variation in approach – again something to learn from.

Common Curricula The possibility of quality curricula to clearly align with the common standards and designed by professionals is the clincher for me. – We have learned a lot about teaching and learning over past decade. – From international comparisons about math. Mile high and inch deep. – From research on US curriculum learned about need for language development for many of our students including an oral language emphasis, vocabulary, academic language, if we aim to close the gap. – From England and US research in schools learned about adaptive instruction and formative assessment. – From cognitive science learned about need for a careful balance in skills and content in addressing areas requiring analysis and problem solving, areas such as reading comprehension and understanding science. – From cognitive science and experience have come the area of learning progressions which could well greatly enable effective teaching.

Part II: Our World has changed If you have knowledge let others light their candle with it. (Churchill) When I hear your idea, I gain knowledge from it without diminishing anything of yours. (Jefferson) Over the past decade billions of people have gained open access to great library collections, university courses and materials, millions of books, education games, simulations, lesson plans, from sources ranging from Harvard to universities, libraries, public TV, local NGOs, the private sector etc. from all over the world.

Goals for OER: Equalize access to knowledge Improve teaching and learning Foster innovation and creativity

Two great strengths of OER Both lead to improvement of teaching and learning Open (Free) for viewing on the web Open for downloading & modifying (use and reuse) Leads to equalized opportunity for access of knowledge for all Fosters personalization, cooperative work, cultural and linguistic appropriateness, innovation and creativity

“…give teachers and learners everywhere the ability to access and share teaching materials, scholarly publications, scientific works…thereby achieving economic efficiencies and raising the quality of education through a noble and global endeavor.” Chuck Vest

Teaching and Learning Innovation– Phase 1 Carnegie Mellon: Accelerating learning with 24/7 personalized cognitive tutors. “MIT OCW opens up knowledge across the world…and it allows universities like ours to benchmark our teaching assures the students that they are receiving high-quality instruction.” - François Viruly, South Africa

High quality educational content accessible… Also downloadable, reusable and remixable

Meanwhile, What is going on in our schools? Leads to: Emphasis on basic skills Few enrichment classes Little differentiated instruction Few cooperative activities Context of new challenges: Changing global economy requires more well educated workers Increasing percentages of students from low-income and poorly educated immigrant parents Increasingly rigid and narrow accountability system

New outlets of creativity Learn by doing Personalized experience Mix and remix Collaborative creativity

“Dedicated, serious leisure, passion-based informal learning” Individual documentaries Multimedia biographies Original works Adapted works Rise of the Pro-Amateur Class A Girl Like Me Short film produced by Kiri Davis From Listen Up!

“Players watch one another’s videos, record their own – multiplies the channels by which musical innovation circulates” – NY Times Iterate toward excellence

Teaching and Learning Innovation – Phase 2 Place exemplars into a “remixable” space to seed the creative process British Open University’s sandbox for educators and learners

WGBH’s sandbox for independent filmmakers

Sandbox for educators and learners?

Open textbooks Imagine textbooks constructed by professionals on line for free and open. Teachers could update, modify, amplify, embed original materials, embed challenging tasks, link to related subjects. Teachers could provide feedback to developers about strong and weak parts of the textbook generating a continuous improvement cycle.

Imagine cognitive tutor programs At some point on-line, open textbooks that are actively adapted become learning programs. Embed formative assessments and feedback loops creating the beginning of a cognitive tutor. Embed communication tools for connecting students working on same material and study groups emerge. Teachers focus on coaching, tutoring, challenging! Keep track of what works – modify to improve and create a powerful learning experience.

A new Challenge How do we obtain the resources and impetus to make some of these changes?

SAVING AND CREATING JOBS AND REFORMING EDUCATION The American Reinvestment and Recovery Act:

Historic, One-time Investment Over $100 billion investment Historic opportunity to stimulate economy and improve education Success depends on leadership, judgment, coordination, and communication

Guiding Principles Spend Quickly to Save and Create Jobs Ensure Transparency and Accountability Thoughtfully Invest One-time Funds Advance Effective Reforms

Advance Core Reforms College and Work Ready Standards Collection and Use of Data Teacher Effectiveness and Distribution Turnaround Schools Continuous Improvement Innovation Transparency Scale

ARRA Funds Potentially Available Over the Next Two Years for Early Learning- Grade 12 (in millions of dollars):

State Fiscal Stabilization Fund $53.6 billion Governors $48.6 billion Elementary, Secondary, and Institutions of Higher Education 81.8% ($39.8 billion) Education, School Modernization, Public Safety, or other social services 18.2% ($8.8 billion) The Secretary $5 billion Race to the Top ($4.35 billion) What Works and Innovation ($650 million) Formula Competitive

SFSF Incentive Fund: “Race to Top” and “Invest in What Works and Innovation” “Race to Top”: $4.35 billion competitive grants to states or clusters of states to drive significant improvement in student achievement and college-going through making progress toward the four assurances. “Investing in What Works and Innovation”: $650 million competitive grants to districts and non-profits that have made significant gains in closing achievement gaps to be models of best practices and innovate and scale reform. Awards for both competitions will be made during FY10.