Vision 2030 Framework
THE FUTURE OF EDUCATION
A Call-To-Action
Children sitting in kindergarten classrooms today will graduate from high school in the year 2030. Experts predict that 85% of the jobs available in that same year have yet to be invented. Though the economy and labor market are evolving in ways we can’t predict, one thing is certain: the future needs raw human ingenuity, collaboration, and emotional intelligence; people who are empowered to shape technology, rather than be replaced by it. Will Colorado rise to the challenge?
Colorado’s Challenge
Our current education system was built for a past era, when humans were manufacturing goods on assembly lines and computers didn’t exist. This system has not kept pace with the changes to the economy and external environment. As a result, Colorado has a sizable skills gap and one of the largest achievement gaps in the country.
The Next Revolution
Today’s workforce is globally connected, network-based, knowledge-based, and where we’re headed is rapidly evolving.
The Solution
Futurists agree that education needs to prepare students for jobs that don’t exist yet, to work with tools that have yet to be created, and to solve problems that have yet to be identified. We are calling this new era the Age of Agility. The following pages outline how Colorado can create an agile education system that supports agile learning providers and develops agile learners who are prepared to succeed in a rapidly changing environment.
The Future of Education
This model outlines
7 education principles,
6 educational experiences, and
5 transferable competencies
for students to succeed
in the Age of Agility.
Student Competencies
Personal
Competencies
Students must be ready for a future we don’t yet know. Students need to be adaptive, flexible, self-aware, and take initiative for their own learning and production as it relates to the goals of their team and themselves.
Professional
Competencies
Students need to be ready to both lead and follow. They must know when each is appropriate based on the context. To do so, they need persistence, personal accountability, and an understanding of ethics and their own values.
Entrepreneurial
Competencies
Students should be able to demonstrate deep critical thinking, combined with creative problem solving and continued curiosity when they connect their learning and the real world. When students are empowered to be at the center of their own learning, curiosity and creativity thrive.
Civic
Competencies
Students will engage with work that is increasingly social and collaborative, and need explicit support in growing the interpersonal and social skills that lead to life and career success. This builds a base for students to see themselves through a global awareness and sense of civic responsibility.
Academic
Competencies
Students will continue to need a well-rounded education, with knowledge across subjects and content areas. Access to quality learning opportunities will support relevant, dynamic material that connects students with experts and academics from across the globe.
Student Experiences
Early Education
Provides the foundation for critical skills like determination, sociability, communication, and early literacy and math skills.
Educational Amenities
Provide enrichment, a safe place to learn, transportation, technology, and health services for all students and families.
Personalized Learning
Students work and learn at their own pace, moving to the next lesson when they achieve mastery. Experiences are broadened by student interest and passion.
Technology-Enabled Learning
Technology is leveraged to transform a student’s experience, driving innovation, accelerating learning, and increasing access with open-source knowledge exchanges.
Experiential Learning
Educational experiences are earned and valued throughout one’s school and community. Career pathways exposure is integrated from early education through post-secondary.
Career Exploration and Pathways
All post-secondary options that build toward in-demand career pathways are valued: advanced coursework, certifications, or a two- or four-year degree. Success is defined by building transferable skills, not simply degree attainment.
Education Principles
Set expectations,
get out of the way
We believe Colorado must have high expectations for all students and learning providers. Student learning objectives should be clear, consistent, ambitious, and aligned. Learning providers should have maximum autonomy in how they achieve them. Government should provide basic guardrails to ensure equity in opportunity and to prevent fraud or abuse.
Focus on outcomes,
not inputs
We believe Colorado should regulate outcomes and resist the temptation to regulate inputs. Command and control does not foster innovation, agility, or responsiveness. Government should refrain from over burdening the system with mandates that limit the creativity and flexibility educators need to adapt to local context and changing needs.
Equip all families with
information and access
We believe parents should have complete control over where they procure educational services and experiences for their children. Regardless of their location or income, parents deserve a variety of highquality educational options and must have access to the information, transportation, and technology they need to fulfill their choices.
Empower local learning providers
We believe ground-up innovation results from distributing leadership and empowering the learning providers directly with broad decision-making responsibility concerning staffing, scheduling, budgeting, curriculum, and programs. In this way, those who are closest to the students, are the ones making the decisions that affect them.
Fund students, not systems
We believe education funding should be concentrated on student needs and interests, recognizing that it costs different amounts to educate different students. It should be flexible and fractionalized allowing for greater educational options, and enhancing student experiences and personalization.
Eliminate silos, share everything
We believe that innovation is most likely to occur in an environment that encourages transparent sharing of information. Employers and educators should resist operating within silos to maximize the opportunity to learn from one another, avoid duplication, create greater alignment, and expedite the scaling of promising practices.
Measure performance, continually improve
We believe the state should administer rigorous measurements of student achievement to provide accessible, transparent, and actionable information to all stakeholders. This information should be used to guide continuous improvement, support local leaders in making decisions about where to target resources, and help parents choose the learning providers for their children.