Ted Kraver
Reformers have driven major changes in the governance structure of education over the past 40 years. School and student equity have increased, especially in the special education arena. Funding has increased 50 percent when adjusted for inflation. But overall academic achievement and graduation rates have failed to increase.
Governance focuses on the needs of the state, districts, and schools for data-driven decisions. Support for the teacher-student, minute-to-minute instructional decision-making process has been minimal. The focus on standards and high-stakes testing keep upping the state’s need for summative data and reports. Real-time formative assessment needs in the classroom are ignored. In short, Arizona needs a radical shift in focus from the needs of the state to the needs of the teacher and student.
eSATS has finalized its 173-page draft “Grand Challenge – 10 Year Roadmap,” subtitled “Transforming Arizona’s K-12 Education via eLearning Based Systems Design with Strategic Plan and Financials.” It is on our website, eSATS.org. Just click on the big white page in the upper-right corner.
The implementation of statewide K-12 transformation starts at the state governance level. For 2,100 Arizona schools to transform successfully to eLearning, state levels of support must first be in place. Two issues need to be initially addressed in legislation that refocuses on serving the needs of the teacher and student. One is removal of barriers and realignment of state statutes. The effect would be a shift from a preponderance of top-down control to addressing the support of the individual teacher-student learning process. The second legislative issue is a leadership center that can drive the 10-year innovation transformation throughout the multilevel Arizona education system. The goal is a major increase in student academic performance while minimizing unintended consequences and incremental reforms that go nowhere.
Removal of Barriers and Realignment of State Statutes
Under the auspices of the State Board of Education a review will be made of all Arizona statutes that have an effect on public education. A taxonomy will be created and an index of the statutes developed to support the study phase. Statutes will be studied to discover contradictions, barriers to innovation, and places where gaps need to be filled to support individualized teacher-student learning using 21st-century means. The final task will be to provide recommendations for statute changes that would transform Arizona’s laws to support our next century of K-12 education. (Note: The last time this process was accomplished was in the 1970s and only in school finance. Major improvements in funding equity were made under the leadership of Senator David Kret.)
A Leadership Center to Drive Transformation
This legislation bucks the propensity for incrementalism and follows the breakout pathways of 1970s special education and 1990s charter schools. An office of minister of education would be formed under the auspices of the State Board of Education. The authority and responsibility of this office would be both unique and limited: unique in that the minister of education will be charged with the leadership of planning, advocating, and coordinating the innovative transformation of the multilevel public education system of Arizona. It will be limited in that, while the office will have responsibility and authority to lead this transformation, the power will be primarily expert and persuasive. We believe that the Arizona public education culture, rooted in local control, has long awaited an expert and persuasive leader. Those in public education await this leader to integrate dormant talent and resources within the state to classroom “silos” into a highly effective system for educating our students. Finland, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Ontario, Canada all have a minister of education, and they outperform both the U.S. and Arizona by a significant margin.
Ted Kraver, Ph.D., is president of eLearning System for AZ Teachers & Students, Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)3 volunteer systems design and advocacy task team. eSATS is a volunteer nonprofit advocacy organization that was formed in 2003 to transform Arizona’s K-12 education system from legacy education to eLearning. You can reach Ted at ted@kraver.cc.
