Our Goals...

The overarching goal of the Educational Systems Design Project is to lead the inevitable transition from a largely passive, group-based model of education with limited flexibility and minimal accountability for student progress to a system in which active students engage in activities designed to develop skills needed for success in the world outside of school, which are prescribed based on individual student needs.

In order to attain this overarching goal, the following sub-goals have been identified:

• PARTNERSHIP
  Form a long-term partnership joining the most important players in American education and gain a commitment from each to collaborate in the development of new approaches to education
  


• FOCAL STANDARDS
  Develop "focal standards," a manageable list of the educational outcomes partner organizations care enough about to measure and require of all graduates
  


• INFORMATION SYSTEM
  Develop a system to track the development of the abilities identified in the focal standards, resulting in a "student profile" for each student that indicates what the student has nad has not mastered
  


• LEARNING MANAGEMENT TOOLS
  Develop a set of tools that organize the information contained in the student profiles and mkae it available and more valuable to students, parents, and educators
  


• NEW EDUCATIONAL MODELS
  Design, develop, and implement new models of education that apply important developments from the fields of learning science and technology to meet individual student needs
  


• LEARNING RESOURCES
  Identify, develop, and/or facilitate acquisition of learning resources (such as online databases, software tools, computer-assisted instruction, and educational games and simulations) that contribute to the success of the new models created by the project and interact with the student profiles
  


• RESEARCH
  Conduct formal research on the effectiveness of the new models, and use the information provided by the research to improve their performance and to inform others of the benefits of the new models
  


• PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
  Develop, implement, and evaluate new models for the professional development of teachers, administrators, and other educational professionals, paraprofessionals, and service providers in order to ensure the development of the new perspectives and skills required by the new educational models
  


• INDEPENDENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY
  Develop a financial base for the project that insulates it from fluctuations caused by changes in political power and downturns in segments of the economy.