Future Ready Schools (FRS), an initiative of the Alliance for Excellent Education (All4Ed), today announced a new program for school board members. Supported with funding from Konica Minolta Business Solutions, U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta), FRS-School Boards will provide a suite of helpful tools and free resources for school board members to connect with their communities, support a culture of innovation within their schools, and promote a vision for teaching and learning that is student-centered, forward-thinking, and designed to meet the vast needs of today’s learners. 

“School board members are the steady hand at the wheel driving school districts forward,” said Deb Delisle, president and CEO of the Alliance for Excellent Education. “They set the vision, goals, and priorities for the district and its schools and help create the conditions to improve student outcomes and help district leaders, school leaders, and educators grow professionally.”

FRS-School Boards joins FRS program strands already underway for district leaders, principals, instructional coaches, librarians, and technology leaders.

“Our alliance with Future Ready Schools creates amazing working potential for our business and for schools across our nation and we look forward to the impact it will have on students,” said Kay Fernandez, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Konica Minolta. “The relationships we build through partnerships like this are vital as we continually innovate to advance technology to support the next generation of leaders.”

A key component of the program is the FRS-School Boards Framework which will help school board members forge a visionary and systemic path to support long-term academic, financial, and political sustainability. Included in the framework are eight “gears” focused on personalized instruction for students; ongoing and job-embedded learning; robust infrastructure; strategic fiscal planning; community partnerships; the use of data to transform instruction and support students; support for anywhere, anytime learning; and collaborative leadership.

For example, school board members who participate in FRS-School Boards can access helpful tools and resources embedded in the School Boards Framework to

—support and communicate a learner-centric vision that provides personal and authentic learning experiences and supports social-emotional development for all students;

—adopt curriculum, aligned to state standards, that ensures deeper learning outcomes connected to real-world applications, promotes positive digital citizenship, and prepares learners for future success;

—ensure equity in access to high-quality devices and the bandwidth needed to support student learning at school and at home; 

—adopt budgets that align with strategic and tactical plans while working to eliminate expenses that no longer support the district’s vision; and

—adopt clear policies and support practices on the use of student data that ensure high levels of data privacy and security and that adhere to state and federal laws.

FRS, which celebrated its five-year anniversary in November, helps school districts develop the human and technological capacity needed to personalize student learning and prepare students for college, a career, and citizenship. FRS is one of the largest networks of school districts in the country. More than 3,400 school districts’ superintendents—representing more than 20 million students—have signed the Future Ready District Pledge, committing to personalize learning by tailoring instruction to students’ strengths and needs while engaging them in challenging, standards-based academic content, with the help of effective digital learning strategies.

More information on Future Ready Schools-School Boards is available at futureready.org/schoolboards.

Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta) and its IT services division, All Covered, announces a new partnership with Future Ready Schools® as the sole sponsor of its school board strand.  

Future Ready Schools is an initiative of the Alliance for Excellent Education that helps traditional public, charter and private school leaders make sound financial decisions regarding the acquisition of digital tools to transform teaching and learning. The organization seeks to work with Konica Minolta and All Covered to ensure school boards and district administrators have access to current, relevant information and effective resources to support sound decisions relating to strategic planning, leadership, and building a culture of innovation in America’s schools. 

“Through this partnership with Konica Minolta and All Covered, Future Ready Schools will help school board members build stronger connections to their communities, support a culture of innovation within their schools and promote a vision for teaching and learning that is student-centered, forward-thinking and designed to meet the vast needs of today’s learners,” said Deb Delisle, President and CEO of the Alliance for Excellent Education.

FETC has announced a partnership with Future Ready Schools (FRS), whose framework for supporting the visioning, planning and implementation of digital learning is aligned to more than a quarter of the 600-plus sessions and workshops throughout the 2020 conference. FETC has also increased support of its partnership with Future Ready Librarians and Coaches, an expansion of the Future Ready initiative aimed at raising awareness among district and school leaders about the valuable role librarians and coaches can play in supporting the Future Ready goals of their schools and districts.

“Like FETC, Future Ready Schools has made a clear effort to design content relevant to all the important roles across school districts. This creates a natural synergy between our organizations and, looking at the program for our upcoming conference, it’s evident that there are numerous new learning opportunities that will inform and inspire FETC attendees,” said Dr. Robert M. Avossa, Senior Vice President & Publisher, LRP Media Group. 

One of the issues that district leaders tackled in Philadelphia at the June Tech & Learning Leadership Summit was how to change pedagogy to support new kinds of learning that technology has enabled. Changing ideas about technology, instruction, and learning have expanded our learning expectations. This has led some district leaders to repurpose the role of school libraries as learning hubs and centers of change.

Leaders in Dallas (TX) ISD have created a road map for changing pedagogy by reorienting school libraries and restructuring how they support new types of learning. Planning teams began with the following question: How do we create an infrastructure that assigns value to learning anywhere/anytime? Also, how do we use professional learning experiences to shift culture? They saw that they could use school libraries to animate both of these opportunities.

Shannon Terry, Dallas ISD’s executive director of professional and digital learning, says they have expanded their digital ecosystem to accommodate shifts in pedagogy and personal learning. “We now have the language that allows us to speak about the core competencies required to move the needle for instructional coaches,” she says. “This provides the lever for change.” Dallas district leaders view libraries as a key component of building capacity for new types of learning experiences for both students and teachers.

FINDING A WAY TO TAKE ON CHANGE TOGETHER

In Wake County (NC) Public Schools, district leaders have been fighting the national trend of replacing degreed librarians with technology staff with no certification requirements, and the transition of libraries to collaborative spaces with few books. Wake County’s emphasis is on creating a shared understanding that strong media programs consist of three parts: the school library media coordinator, the library space itself, and the programming within that space. 

“We are not redefining libraries but rather being more explicit about what strong library programs include,” said Marlo Gaddis, Wake County CTO. “The district’s WakeForward Initiative, that our library team has developed, is built on the new AASL standards, Future Ready standards, ISTE standards, and our strategic plan.” 

Linwood (NJ) Public Schools is also working to rebuild their libraries as learning hubs, says Lori Care, supervisor of curriculum and instruction. “Our libraries had been victims of multiple budget cuts, but thanks to a strong community push, we’re now working to rebuild our program,” she says. Their first step was to find the appropriate modern-day librarian to be housed in the space. In one school, they pulled a teacher from the classroom who had been working toward her library media specialist certification.

“This has been quite successful,” says Care. “Because she’s been a classroom teacher, she has a firm understanding of how to support curriculum goals.” Care says the district intends to continue rebuilding the library program to create new learning hubs that support ongoing changes in teaching and learning.

There is definitely a role for technology in reimagining libraries as learning commons and centers of innovation. Repurposing the library as a hub for teacher professional development and student-driven learning gives students and teachers tools and a common experience to manage changes in teaching and learning.

 This article was revised on September 18, 2019. 

“Power with people leads to commitment, dedication, and ownership. Power over people leads to resentment, compliance, and buy-in. Future Ready principals know how to use their influence to share the leadership role with others.”

Can you tell us a little about Morton Ranch Junior High?

Morton Ranch Junior High celebrates the culturally diverse backgrounds of its 1,225 students. Over half are Hispanic, 17 percent African American, approximately five percent Asian, and 20 percent White. Sixty-six percent meet criteria as economically disadvantaged, 14 percent receive special education services, and 14 percent are English Language Learners.  

Morton Ranch Junior High was selected as a 2018 N2 Schools Transforming Learning recipient by the Principals’ Institute. This recognition honors and showcases the work of campuses making exceptional strides on their journeys to provide innovative learning opportunities for all students. We were also recognized as a 2019 Character.Org Promising Practice School for our work in building character and community in our school.

What does it mean for your students, staff, and administrators to be “Future Ready”?

Administrators. Shared leadership is how organizations create ownership of school goals. As we work on creating leaders at all levels, the Future Ready Principals’ Framework is a great resource. Being Future Ready means being prepared and skilled in adapting to challenges and being able to work with others in different settings.

Staff. The leadership gives clear guidance to teachers, who know that their role is to prepare students for their future, not our past. This means shifting practices and beliefs and knowing our students’ academic, social, and emotional needs so we can design learning experiences to help them grow. 

Students. Students can create agency when they know how to set goals and advocate for their needs. Teaching students how to adapt to different settings and work with others prepares them for our constantly changing world. Our students practice communication skills and teamwork and build character, relationships, and community. Knowing content will always be important, but knowing how to learn and unlearn is a critical skill for Future Ready students.

What does the Future Ready framework look like in practice for you as a principal? 

Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment

Teachers who are able to reflect on their own instructional practice are able to solve curriculum, instruction, and assessment challenges. Pre-assessments in math classes, for example, have helped teachers to be more intentional about meeting individual student needs. Assessment data also helps teachers teach students how to set and monitor personal goals. In other departments, teachers use protocols to examine student work. Not only has this helped teachers reflect on their practice, but it also has helped me to know where to target professional development. 

Personalized Professional Learning

Our teachers set individual goals and we have instructional coaches, a video coaching platform, and other resources to help teachers meet their goals. Meeting teachers where they are and helping them grow to where they want to be is intentional, purposeful work. We also focus all professional learning on campus or departmental goals. For example, next year we’ll be focusing on literacy across the content areas. Professional learning days are integrated throughout the calendar to allow teachers time to learn, model, and share new skills. 

Collaborative Leadership

Team leaders and department chairs have opportunities to learn and practice how to use different leadership strategies to help them build high-performing teams with shared commitment, responsibility, accountability, and trust. Using protocols in PLCs to structure conversation and determine outcomes helps teachers to express their thinking and learn from each other. It also allows all teachers’ voices to be heard. In addition to department chairs and other formal leadership roles, we have team leaders in every core content area and grade level as well as multiple teacher-led committees. Focus groups generate ideas and target specific areas of growth related to school-wide improvement. Students are also leaders and serve on panels and in focus groups. Our students know they have a voice. By being available and accessible to engage with students, I’m able to capture their voice and use their suggestions to help us improve. 

What lessons have you learned as you’ve implemented these ideas and practices?

There’s power and energy in working with people to achieve a goal. Being a Future Ready principal requires seeing beyond your current context and working with others to create an organization that’s equipped to lead and adapt to changes. Building leadership capacity in teachers and students gives them a voice and the opportunity to lead from wherever they are in the building. Being intentional about building leadership capacity has created ownership and pride in our work together at Morton Ranch Junior High. As leaders, we can be afraid to give power away. If given the choice, would you rather have power over people or power with people? Power with people leads to commitment, dedication, and ownership. Power over people leads to resentment, compliance, and buy-in. Future Ready principals know how to use their influence to share the leadership role with others.

What does it mean to be “Future Ready” in your context at Val Verde? 

We have a diverse population of scholars, many of whom will be first-generation college students. In our mixed suburban and rural district, 22 schools serve over 20,000 students. About a quarter are ESL students and 85 percent qualify for free or reduced lunch, and we have a 93.2 percent cohort graduation rate. I’ve been in the district for 20 years and have been superintendent for four. The “Portrait of a Graduate” serves as our North Star, and it’s rewarding to see the educational initiatives we started ten years ago coming to fruition.

If our kindergarten students, the class of 2035, have the 4Cs (communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking) plus flexibility, as well as subject-matter competency, they’ll be successful regardless of the jobs they choose. Even our youngest students are engaged in critical thinking, making sound decisions and choices as they identify and solve authentic problems. 

Every year, we take groups to Google so they can see what a 21st-century work environment looks like, and we take students on college visits as well. This exposure is part of a community-wide vision to help these first-generation college students imagine themselves in these places.

What does the Future Ready framework look like in practice for you as a superintendent? 

The Future Ready Pledge reinforces the road ahead and provides a nice framework to guide our work. A big part of being Future Ready is this idea of a shared vision. Through community surveys, town hall meetings, and connecting with the business community we’ve been able to share our initiatives and build support.

At our annual Explore Fair, students demonstrate projects and skills in diverse areas—including agriculture, marketing, filmmaking, and coding. Students are excited to share what they’ve learned with an authentic audience. I love learning how to code from kindergartners!

Once our 1:1 initiative was complete, we began the process of reimagining our obsolete computer labs. Now every school has a beautiful STEAM lab equipped with tools like interactive displays, LEGOs, Spheros, and green screens. Each school chose its color scheme, flooring, and focus so each lab reflects the unique character of that school. One is focused on culinary arts, another on computer science and robotics, another on soil science and gardening. These spaces give kids the chance to explore, build, and work together. 

These labs also help facilitate this shift in teaching and learning and inspire teachers to think differently about pedagogy and about artfully braiding STEAM into the Common Core Standards. We approach the tension between compliance and innovation by being thoughtful and efficient in compliance so we can innovate. The kids can be confident scholars and engage in learning activities they love.

A BrightBytes survey revealed that a full 86 percent of our teachers believe that technology in the classroom enhances learning. Instructional coaches and PLCs with grade-level teams provide ongoing coaching and daily support for teachers with this deep implementation of technology in the classroom.

We use social media to highlight the transformation process in our schools. When we visit classrooms, we take pictures of the great things happening and post them to reinforce what we want to see. Teachers and principals are doing that now too, and that positive reinforcement is exponential.

What lessons have you learned that you can share with others in your position?

We built a robust infrastructure before adding devices and built a refresh into our budget to replace 25 percent of our Chromebook inventory every year. Our graduates can buy their devices for a minimal fee and we’re able to deploy the latest devices for students. 

We also decentralized our IT structures. Nothing kills an initiative faster than a teacher having to stop and fill out a help ticket. There are at least two trained tech integration specialists in each school. These teachers give just-in-time support to their colleagues and are also bringing great ideas back to us. We streamlined our Chromebook repair process with a software solution running on a touch-screen computer in every library that scans the device’s barcode and generates a work order. Teams of middle-school students are trained to repair keyboards and screens—and they learn customer service as well.

Our next project is to replace classroom furniture. We set up a model classroom so people could visit, ask questions, and vote. Schools chose their own colors and configurations. It’s important to know when to let go of certain decisions so people can have ownership and agency. 

When we see the enthusiasm in the kids’ eyes, we know we’re on the right track.

The Future Ready Framework for principals identifies six key priorities essential for school principals who are interested in creating and sustaining a new culture of personalized learning within their schools. These six priorities are as follows:

https://tinyurl.com/ydgxdzwn

A full-day workshop just prior to the ISTE 2018 Conference in Chicago will explore how K-12 librarian leaders can lead, teach, and support the Future Ready goals of their schools and districts, develop an action plan for their library programs, and delve into the challenges and best practices surrounding empowering Future Ready Librarians.

The “Future Ready Librarian Leadership Summit” is hosted by Follett, which more than two years ago announced its support of Future Ready Schools (FRS), an initiative developed by the U.S. Department of Education. Led by two respected industry experts, it will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 23 at Marriott Marquis Chicago.

[Future Ready Schools® Releases New Blended Learning Guide for Districts]

Registration is currently underway, limited space is available, and the $99/person workshop fee includes lunch. ISTE ’18 kicks off the next day at nearby McCormick Place.

Ray, a past Washington State Teacher of the Year, will be joined in leading the workshop by Shannon McClintock Miller, an international speaker, consultant, and author who previously was a K-12 district teacher librarian in Iowa for 10 years.

To register for the June 23 Future Ready Librarian Leadership Summit, visit https://bit.ly/2pyL4g6. For more information about Follett, visit www.FollettLearning.com.

Future Ready Schools is a free, bold effort to maximize digital learning opportunities and help school districts move quickly toward preparing students for success in college, a career, and citizenship. The effort provides districts with resources and support to ensure that local technology and digital learning plans align with instructional best practices, are implemented by highly trained teachers, and lead to personalized learning experiences for all students, particularly those from traditionally under-served communities.

The Alliance for Excellent Education and the U.S. Department of Education are leading this effort with the support of the over 50 organizations.

Future Ready Schools Overview
Future Ready Schools is a free, bold effort to maximize digital learning opportunities and help school districts move quickly toward preparing students for success in college, a career, and citizenship. This effort comes at a critical time as districts embrace college and career readiness as the goal for all students and recognize the potential of digital tools to help teachers personalize learning for each student. While less than 30 percent of U.S. schools have the bandwidth they need to teach using today’s technology, federal and state efforts are expanding this capacity to ensure that at least 99 percent of the nation’s students have access to high-speed internet in their schools within the next five years. Such connectivity, along with strategic planning by districts to maximize its availability, has the potential to transform the educational experiences of all students, regardless of their background.

District leaders must respond to these changes with thoughtful planning to align necessary technologies with instructional goals to support teaching and learning. The effort provides districts with resources and support to ensure that local technology and digital learning plans align with instructional best practices, are implemented by highly trained teachers, and lead to personalized learning experiences for all students, particularly those from traditionally under-served communities. The Alliance for Excellent Education and the U.S. Department of Education are leading this effort alongside a vast coalition of national organizations. Future Ready Schools can be found at www.futurereadyschools.org. Districts can download the Future Ready Schools fact sheet here.

Future Ready Schools Pledge
The Future Ready District Pledge, according to the U.S. Department of Education, is designed to set out a roadmap to achieve transformation success and to commit districts to move as quickly as possible towards a shared vision of preparing students for success in college, careers and citizenship. As of November 2015, approximately 2,000 school superintendents have signed the Pledge. To see what Superintendents have signed the pledge in our state, click here.

In an effort to support superintendents and district leadership teams and to fulfill the Future Ready District Pledge—and determine their readiness to do so—The Alliance for Excellent Education has developed both the Future Ready Schools Framework and Future Ready Schools Interactive Planning Dashboard. The Future Ready Framework provides the roadmap for a successful digital transformation. With student learning at the center, a district must align each of the seven (7) key categories, called gears, plus leadership, in order to implement and sustain successful digital learning.

The 7 Gears of the Future Ready Schools Framework are as follows:

• Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
• Personalized Professional Learning
• Robust Infrastructure
• Data and Privacy
• Community Partnerships
• Budget and Resources
• Use of Space and Time

Future Ready Librarians
Future Ready Librarians is an expansion of the Future Ready initiative aimed at raising awareness among district and school leaders about the valuable role librarians can play in supporting the Future Ready goals of their school and district. Two guiding questions are central to Future Ready Librarians.

• How can librarians and libraries support Future Ready schools?
• How can librarians and libraries become more Future Ready?

Future Ready Librarians will provide resources, strategies and connections for district leaders and librarians to be able to work together to promote and implement innovative learning opportunities for students.

The Future Ready Schools Interactive Planning Dashboard is a free, online tool to help district leadership teams plan systemically to use technology effectively to engage students, empower teachers, and improve learning outcomes. Through the dashboard, district leaders assess their digital readiness levels, identify gaps, obtain strategies, action plan and track their progress over time. Districts can download more information about the Dashboard, here.

Source: futurereadyschools.org. For questions, email Sara Hall at shall@all4ed.org.

Future Ready Schools® TED Talk
In this video, Vancouver Public Schools (WA) shares stages of development of a teacher leader program designed to encourage the building of leadership capacity in teachers. The video includes advice for district leaders as they consider the changing role of teachers in the classroom as leaders in the digital transformation.

Future Ready Schools® (FRS) has announced a series of free regional events to support educators who are planning to implement personalizing learning strategies for their students. This student-centered approach tailors instruction to students’ strengths and needs while engaging them in challenging, standards-based academic content. The eight “institutes” include personal professional development opportunities for district leaders, IT directors, principals, librarians and media specialists, as well as teacher leaders and instructional coaches.

FRS is working with an advisory board of education experts to create a research-based, two-day agenda filled with personalized professional learning opportunities for educators led by expert facilitators. Each FRS institute will launch ongoing regional networks of experts who will act as mentors to ensure districts have the resources needed to create personalized learning plans.

Registration is open to one leadership team per district at www.futureready.org/institutes.

The 2017 FRS institutes are free, but space is limited.

The Future Ready Schools® (FRS) publication, A Guidebook for Success: Strategies for Implementing Personalized Learning in Rural Schools, helps education leaders capitalize on existing assets while addressing their community’s challenges. This guidebook highlights how district leaders can use the research-based FRS framework and free planning resources to leverage opportunities and overcome challenges inherent in their rural setting to transform teaching and create a personalized learning experience for their students.

To help rural districts overcome these challenges, FRS developed a research-based framework and five-step planning process to guide schools and districts as they transition to a personalized learning model centered on individual student learning and facilitated by innovative instruction accelerated by the smart integration of technology.

Download the guidebook here.

Future Ready Schools® (FRS) announces the release of eight Planning with a Purpose micro-credentials designed for FRS district leaders and leadership teams.

The FRS Planning with a Purpose micro-credentials use the FRS planning tools (interactive dashboard) to show mastery in developing an implementation plan to deploy personalized learning strategies across a school system—public, private, or charter.

Each micro-credential covers one of the seven FRS framework topics (also called “gears”) plus collaborative leadership.

Submission details to consider include the following:

1. Submission is free and should take less than two hours if the district has collected specific gear assessment data via step 3 of the FRS five-step planning process.
2. There is no limit to the number of team members from one district who may earn a micro-credential in each topic.
3. Micro-credentials specifically address step 3 of the FRS five-step planning process and are designed to recognize achievement and mastery of individual team members.

Future Ready Schools® announces FRS Principals, the latest expansion of the FRS initiative that supports personalized learning and innovation.FRS Principals helps school leaders develop the necessary skills to lead a successful FRS school; build an in-depth understanding of change management; and showcase leadership culture necessary for success. Through eight FRS institutes planned for 2017, FRS Principals will tap an active network of like-minded educators beyond their own school, district, and state for help and advice when challenges arise. FRS Principals is the latest track to be added to the FRS initiative, joining dedicated #FutureReady resources for librarians and instructional coaches.

Future Ready Schools® announces the new Instructional Coaches Framework and Strand, created by over 15 leading instructional coaches. The FRS Instructional Coaches strand provides instructional coaches with research-based strategies, protocols, and resources to help coaches effectively collaborate with and support their schools and districts with professional learning designed to strengthen instructional practices.

Instructional Technology Specialist Laura Nylen explores Personalized PD for Future Ready Librarians.