Dr. Bill Daggett, with International Center for Leadership, provided an excellent session which helped create urgency for why school leaders must consider systemic educational change. He shared pertinent statistics about the status of current students' college and career readiness and highlighted how students are socially different today.

He also shared how employability skills and dispositions have changed significantly in recent years and how many current jobs will be replaced by Artificial Intelligence and other technologies. Participants were surprised by some of the jobs that would be obsolete in five years.

He challenged school leaders to consider the McKenzie Report, and the Future-Focused Framework of knowledge, skills, and dispositions employers identified as “must haves” for today’s workforce. He asked school leaders to consider how these qualities were incorporated into student learning experiences, curriculum and assessment.

Twenty-one member districts of the SRSN System Design Zone are collectively requesting to the Missouri State Board of Education (on June 6th) approval for engaging in a Demonstration Project which requires a Waiver Request from tenets of MSIP 6. Dr. Mike Fulton shared the proposed alternative metrics for both High School Readiness (3rd-8th grade) and College & Career Readiness (beyond 8th grade). All districts are encouraged to be apprised of this innovative work with the purpose of rethinking and reimagining the current assessment and accountability systems.

The SRSN districts are submitting a grant proposal for CBL learning which aligns to statute 161.380. The grant focuses on providing Professional Learning (PL) opportunities which provide district educators with choice and personalization. The PL content strands include: foundational understanding of personalized/CBL, curriculum/instruction, assessment, and Real World Learning. The Professional Learning Plan is tailored to meet the needs of districts where they are on their CBL journey.

Additionally, the grant will fund the research, technology, and communication tools associated with the SRSN and the SDZ Demonstration Project work. Dr. Pam Hedgpeth explained the tenets of the grant and asked districts for their feedback.

Check out our Professional Learning web page for free recordings and content from all of the previous learning sessions. These resources are a great place to stay apprised of the work from the System Design Zone Demonstration Project Waiver. Additionally, these learning sessions can be used by district leaders as professional learning opportunities for building capacity within your districts.