Iowans look to collaborate and ‘transform’ education system

CEDAR RAPIDS -- What would a perfect education system in Iowa look like and how does the state get there?

Roughly 80 educators, parents, students, businesspeople, consultants, and interested community members from Eastern and Central Iowa started discussing that and other issues Saturday during the first  Co-Creators Camp for Transforming Education at the CSPS building, 1103 3rd St. SE.

The all-day collaborative camp was part of TransformED, an initiative to facilitate conversations about the future of education supported by SourceMedia Group.

“The great thing about today is that parents aren't just talking to parents, business leaders aren't just talking to business leaders, teachers aren't just talking to teachers,” said Aaron Farnsworth, a Solon High School language arts teacher.

In addition to a video presentation, an opportunity to speak with local representatives, and a chance to share their own personal passions for education, attendees spent much of the afternoon in small-group sessions.

During the sessions, participants discussed various education topics such as the value of Learning Advisers, the concept of passion-driven learning, and a push for a competency-based learning system.

According to Farnsworth, in a competency-based system, educators would stray away from grading students with percentages or letter grades. Instead, they would look to gauge competency, give more specific meaning to teacher feedback, and allow students to see their own growth.

The discussion acknowledged the difficulty of defining terms like “competency”, “sufficiency”, and “mastery.” Also, the education system - such as at the college admissions level - now requires grade point averages.

Ultimately, Farnsworth said the state should do away with superficial learning, which comes from students feeling forced to cram for tests in order to gain a certain percentage grade.

“How are we going to keep students engaged enough to retain the knowledge?” he asked. “How can we take this system and make it better?

Mary Airy, a Grant Wood Area Education Agency Early Education Consultant, said the camp helped her network with people she wouldn't normally network with.

Airy said after hearing all the ideas and collaborative strategizing throughout the day, she wondered, “What's next?”

“There are things we can do better,” she said. “We have to help people understand that change is good, it's not bad. Now we have the support to be able to understand and help bring about the necessary changes.”

After groups presented their ideas from small-group sessions, SourceMedia Group Director of Community Building Trace Pickering appealed to the attendees to make the connections made at Saturday's “grand experiment” last.

“I would like to see this group of people get connected and stay connected and help us build this story of what our schools could look like,” he said.

Pickering said the number of businesses willing to sponsor more collaborations on education like Saturday's camp is growing.

“We see this as the beginning, not the end,” he said.