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Stories - A New Kind of Workforce Model Drives a New Kind of Education
by NT Community Manager.
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At first glance, the scene at Rochester's New Tech High looks like a
typical American classroom. But something is different. There are no
rows of desks facing forward. No glazed-eyed students sitting behind
them stifling yawns. There is no teacher at the front of the classroom
droning on at the 
chalkboard.
The desks are all pushed up against the wall or have been formed into work stations in the middle of the room. Each has a dedicated computer or laptop, some sixty computers in all, around which a group of students cluster. And they're talking - a lot - then typing at their computers and talking some more. There are in fact two teachers, circulating among the groups, bending down to converse with the students. There's laughter, movement, and something else: intense concentration. No one seems bored.
We're watching an experiment unfold. It's first of all an experiment in education that seeks to answer the question: can a more or less typical high school in rural Indiana that graduates only about 79% of its students be transformed into training ground for America's 21st century workforce?
Based on the successful New Tech High in Napa, California, Rochester this year refashioned its entire freshman class curriculum into a New Tech model that is projects-oriented and technologically enabled, with an emphasis on the STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and math. It's a new kind of education designed to promote the kind of "soft skills" today's employers are demanding, such as collaboration, teamwork, independent thinking, listening and knowing how to analyze and communicate complex issues.
It's another kind of experiment as well: a rethinking by the federal government about how to promote workforce development, which has produced the U.S. Department of Labor's now two year-old WIRED program. WIRED is just as revolutionary as the New Tech Project it is helping start up here in the north-west-central Indiana region. It is, to quote the Indiana WIRED website, "A grand experiment to re-invent the way we do economic development and workforce development, and basically transform regional economies."
The genesis of
Rochester's New Tech High could be called a "text-book example" of the
new thinking that characterizes WIRED. Confronted by an economically
hurting community and high drop out rates, Rochester Superintendent
Debra Howe had seized on the New Tech model as the way to revitalize
her school system.
"We conducted a needs assessment within the school district asking what the constituents wanted for their children, workforce, and schools. Based on that information we investigated various models. New Tech High met the needs of the school system and community," Howe said.
But Howe lacked the necessary funding within her community. Then she learned of WIRED, and was introduced to Ed Morrison, an advisor for the initiative.
"We told her we could help," says Morrison, "but we couldn't just help one school." WIRED is about promoting development across entire regions. Morrison immediately understood the potential of the New Tech program and together with others at WIRED helped Howe turn her school into a pilot project/demonstration lab that will enable other teachers in the region to come and learn about the New Tech model.
As Ed Morrison explains, each potential grant is required to meet four basic criteria: 1) Is the project innovative? 2) Is it regional in its potential impact? 3) Can it be replicated, or is it too dependent on the personality of one individual or organization? 4) Is it sustainable, and will others invest time and money in the project when WIRED funding leaves?
The Rochester pilot project is clearly fulfilling all four requirements. It is only in its first semester of operation, but Craig Lamb, with Ivy Tech and who is on the core team of Indiana WIRED, expects that other schools in the region will start planning similar curriculum changes soon so they can implement them next school year.
"This is tremendously challenging for everyone involved," says Rochester principal Daniel Ronk. "It's challenging for the students and it's challenging for the teachers, who are having to teach in a completely different way for the first time in their careers. But I've had parents come up to me and say, ‘This is the best thing to ever happen to my child.'"
Lamb concurs. "We need this badly," he says. "Indiana today ranks 7th in higher-education spending, but ranks 47th in the percentage of people who hold a college degrees, and our region has one of the lowest levels of degree holders in the state.
"Nobody will think differently unless someone asks them to. That's what New Tech and WIRED does. It challenges paradigms, breaks down walls, and says, ‘Why Not?'"
chalkboard.The desks are all pushed up against the wall or have been formed into work stations in the middle of the room. Each has a dedicated computer or laptop, some sixty computers in all, around which a group of students cluster. And they're talking - a lot - then typing at their computers and talking some more. There are in fact two teachers, circulating among the groups, bending down to converse with the students. There's laughter, movement, and something else: intense concentration. No one seems bored.
We're watching an experiment unfold. It's first of all an experiment in education that seeks to answer the question: can a more or less typical high school in rural Indiana that graduates only about 79% of its students be transformed into training ground for America's 21st century workforce?
Based on the successful New Tech High in Napa, California, Rochester this year refashioned its entire freshman class curriculum into a New Tech model that is projects-oriented and technologically enabled, with an emphasis on the STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and math. It's a new kind of education designed to promote the kind of "soft skills" today's employers are demanding, such as collaboration, teamwork, independent thinking, listening and knowing how to analyze and communicate complex issues.
It's another kind of experiment as well: a rethinking by the federal government about how to promote workforce development, which has produced the U.S. Department of Labor's now two year-old WIRED program. WIRED is just as revolutionary as the New Tech Project it is helping start up here in the north-west-central Indiana region. It is, to quote the Indiana WIRED website, "A grand experiment to re-invent the way we do economic development and workforce development, and basically transform regional economies."
The genesis of
Rochester's New Tech High could be called a "text-book example" of the
new thinking that characterizes WIRED. Confronted by an economically
hurting community and high drop out rates, Rochester Superintendent
Debra Howe had seized on the New Tech model as the way to revitalize
her school system. "We conducted a needs assessment within the school district asking what the constituents wanted for their children, workforce, and schools. Based on that information we investigated various models. New Tech High met the needs of the school system and community," Howe said.
But Howe lacked the necessary funding within her community. Then she learned of WIRED, and was introduced to Ed Morrison, an advisor for the initiative.
"We told her we could help," says Morrison, "but we couldn't just help one school." WIRED is about promoting development across entire regions. Morrison immediately understood the potential of the New Tech program and together with others at WIRED helped Howe turn her school into a pilot project/demonstration lab that will enable other teachers in the region to come and learn about the New Tech model.
As Ed Morrison explains, each potential grant is required to meet four basic criteria: 1) Is the project innovative? 2) Is it regional in its potential impact? 3) Can it be replicated, or is it too dependent on the personality of one individual or organization? 4) Is it sustainable, and will others invest time and money in the project when WIRED funding leaves?
The Rochester pilot project is clearly fulfilling all four requirements. It is only in its first semester of operation, but Craig Lamb, with Ivy Tech and who is on the core team of Indiana WIRED, expects that other schools in the region will start planning similar curriculum changes soon so they can implement them next school year.
"This is tremendously challenging for everyone involved," says Rochester principal Daniel Ronk. "It's challenging for the students and it's challenging for the teachers, who are having to teach in a completely different way for the first time in their careers. But I've had parents come up to me and say, ‘This is the best thing to ever happen to my child.'"
Lamb concurs. "We need this badly," he says. "Indiana today ranks 7th in higher-education spending, but ranks 47th in the percentage of people who hold a college degrees, and our region has one of the lowest levels of degree holders in the state.
"Nobody will think differently unless someone asks them to. That's what New Tech and WIRED does. It challenges paradigms, breaks down walls, and says, ‘Why Not?'"
