21st Century Education
•Ten Educational Trends Shaping School Planning and Design
–The Lines of Prescribed Attendance Areas Will Blur
–Schools Will Be Smaller and More Neighborhood Oriented
–There Will Be Fewer Students Per Class
–Technology Will Dominate Instructional Delivery
–The Typical Spaces Thought to Constitute a School May Change
–Students and Teachers Will Be Organized Differently
–Students Will Spend More Time in School
–Instructional Materials Will Evolve
–Grade Configurations Will Change
–Schools Will Disappear Before the End of the 21st Century
– (Or Will They?)
21st Century Education
Kenneth R. Stevenson, Ed.D.
Department of Educational Leadership and Policies
College of Education
University of South Carolina
September 2002
•Intense research and study have helped us to see a way out of this dilemma. Spectrum Academy is just one of the opportunities that address holistic education inclusion in developing new schools. Removing children from harmful environments, such as the current juvenile justice system does, is only a temporary adjustment or Band-Aid to the problem. It is like taking a fish out of a dirty fish tank, wiping it off, and throwing it back in with expectations of survival. The fish tank just needs cleaning. How do we do that? We believe Spectrum Academy is the answer.
•It is possible to integrate residential treatment centers, charter schools, community technology centers, and peer community concepts to work synchronistically. We can adapt what we know about peer mediation and alternative dispute resolution to empower choice and decision models that inspire our youth to live responsibly. Spectrum Academy is built on transformational leadership, creating a vision and leading everyone toward its fruition.
•How much would you like to offer toward this process? Will you help to develop Spectrum Academy? $100,000 gives us the opportunity to garner the management team to fill the current gaps and begin work on the exploded plan, putting all the pieces together to fulfill the vision.