Dr. Frank B. Withrow Ph.d.

Education for All
Frank B. Withrow, PhD.

The essence of all learning is to observe and organize our world and its people.

    We fall short of our mission if we fail to include all children in our universal learning systems. The United States of America pioneered the concept of universal education for all children. In the late 1800s and early 1900s we opened a new high school almost every day across this nation. Horace Mann established that public schools benefit all people within a society; therefore all people should share in the costs of public education. Not only has the USA created a great K-12 education system we developed under the federal land grant college program a network of outstanding higher education opportunities for all that can qualify. Too often we separate K-12 from higher education but in reality the system is one from preschool to graduate school.

    The struggle for universal education has not been easy. Each generation has had to fight for the right to enter the schoolhouse door. For years many children of color were provided separate and unequal educations. It was not until 1954 that the Supreme Court in its most important decision unanimously struck down segregated schools. Unfortunately, there are those who still fight this decision and send their children to charter, church and/or private schools.

    We do not like to admit our racial biases but they remain. Unfortunately sectional rivalries and the false priorities still resonate with some in this great country. Unfortunately, there are those today that would eliminate our great public school system and replace it with an elite private system. Such ideas are often based upon the belief that marketplace principles will force competition making all schools better. This is a flawed principle. The principles in NCLB are not new but just the latest effort in a long line of federal education programs designed to open the doors of public schools to all learners. While the principles of NCLB are worthy the administration of NCLB has unleashed a mad search for assessment practices. It assumes that the objective of education is the passing of factoid based achievement tests without understanding the limitations of such tests. Schools are unfortunately becoming testing factories that emphasize the ability to recall factoids rather than measuring authentic learning.

    Critics have challenged NCLB managers with respect to assessment to no avail. The political infrastructure is convinced that good scores on such tests are the only real measures of achievement. In a modern era of digital tools a much more accurate measure of achievement would be portfolios of student's work on project based educational activities. Quality assessment programs by their nature cost more than we are willing to invest. The Department of Defense has understood that real tests of proficiency mean that if you are training pilots to land on the deck of an aircraft carrier they must demonstrate landing and taking off from the deck of a carrier. They have simulators that allow practice until the trainee is proficient enough to actually land and take off from the deck of a real carrier. We have not as yet been able to design assessment of school children as effectively as we have Navy pilots. However, competing in science fairs, civics contests and art festivals are more meaningful examples of student achievement than test scores.

    Politicians and the general public are not interested in creating a totally modern year round digital education system, because it will (1) cost more and (2) tear down the myths of traditional education achievement. Consequently we reamin prisoners of time bound by a agrairain society's model of schools. In a modern system testing would be an integral part of the learning process. There are examples of virtual high schools where a learner might take a French literature class on line from France, an art class from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a Civics class from the US Congress and Advanced Placement Mathematics courses from NASA astronauts. The same student might also play the Oboe in his School's Symphony orchestra, be a player on his school's basketball team and be an actor in the schools drama club. The major barrier to such a system is Administrative management of such diverse learning resources and crediting the learner with achievement for his or her accomplishments from such multiple learning environments. We have the elements of such systems in place. So far we have lacked the will to implement them on a widespread basis. The federal Star School distance learning program has demonstrated the effectiveness of distance learning systems. The Virtual High School in Florida and other states have demonstrated the ability to provide high quality e-learning content both in schools and homes. Home schooling parents and children have demonstrated the effectiveness of digital based learning systems. Lemon Grove, California, Irving, Texas, the state of Maine and many others have demonstrated the viability of one on one laptop educational resources that provide 24/7 learning experiences year round. Achievement and productivity in these programs demonstrate their success. However, such programs require schools and communities to develop new and different models of education. No longer is learning controlled by the school, teacher or for that matter the School Board. Learning in the digital age requires a new organization within the community and within the professional ranks.

    The challenge is how to effectively bridge the gap between traditional schools and digital learning resources. We know that a learner can learn to play the oboe individually but without participating in a band or orchestra they never realize the full value of playing such an instrument. The challenge is how to take advantage of both worlds. Ultimately, the solution is in how to ensure credit for non-classroom learning experiences. If I learn to play the oboe and can participate in the school orchestra I will have demonstrated my competence in this area of learning. If in a Science Fair I can demonstrate the development of a solar-based car that actually works I can demonstrate my knowledge of physics and some mathematics.

    If we are to leave no child behind then we must provide every child with modern up to date school facilities and technology. The inequities of schools today are striking in that many learners are forced to attend antiquated school facilities with little or no modern equipment. Others learners attend modern schools that are marvelous places filled with modern digital equipment and environmentally sound green school buildings.   Other children go to schools without modern digital equipment and in 100-year-old buildings where their understanding of a waterfall is the water pouring into through the roof and cascading down the stairwell in thunderstorms.

    We must throw off the bondage of time and myths and redesign our schools to operate at least twelve hours daily and year round. This does not mean that children will attend twelve hours each day, but that schools will be open and different children will have different schedules based upon their personal and family needs. Schools will operate so that there are no longer latchkey kids. Vacations will be available year round and meet the individual needs of families. Every child will have an Individual Learning Plan that is designed around his or her learning needs. Progress reports that provide information on how a learner is meeting their plan will be made available to parents and learners. Built into e-learning lessons will be feedback to instantly allow the learner to understand how they are progressing in a learning situation. In addition, smart assessment information will be fed back to the learner. For example, if a learner is trying to solve mapping problem and does not understand latitude and longitude the program will refer them to lessons designed to teach about latitude and longitude. Once the learner has mastered the diagnosed problem they are returned to the original problem.

    In a modern digital world we need a new model for learning in a flexible education system. Learners will not be measured upon time sitting at a desk, but in actual demonstrated accomplishments

   "Let us think of education as the means for developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation."

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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