On Wednesday, March 16 you are invited to a free public screening of Most Likely To Succeed, an award-winning documentary about education and curriculum reform. Education Week calls it “among the best edu-documentaries ever produced”. This film is being shown in school districts nationwide as we all face the challenge of how to best prepare today’s students for success in the changing world and global economy in to which they will graduate. As a top-performing district we need to ask: How should Shrewsbury respond to this challenge?
The film is based on the book, Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing our Kids For The Innovation Era. In the book, authors Tony Wagner and Ted Dintersmith argue that American schools were designed more than a century ago to produce efficient assembly line workers. Now, the U.S. economy has changed from manufacturing to innovation, but they believe schools have not changed with it. The authors argue that schools need to adopt significant changes in order to produce graduates who can “ask great questions, critically analyze information, form independent options, collaborate and communicate effectively”, and subsequently be successful in today’s marketplace.
The film explores the type of alternative vision of American education that the book proposes by following students and teachers at High Tech High in San Diego. This school’s philosophy is that all students learn in different ways and that hands-on learning is more effective and lasting than rote memorization or cramming just to do well on a test. Student work at High Tech High is largely project based and collaborative, much like today’s workplaces, with students focused on solving real life problems by experimenting, failing, and trying again.
In Shrewsbury, we are better prepared than most districts to face the challenges described in the book. Similar to High Tech High, we offer opportunities that require students to think critically, form opinions, work collaboratively, communicate effectively, and become informed and responsible citizens. But, what might we need to do differently to help our students adapt to what the world will demand of them in the future?
Following the screening, there will be a discussion between the audience and a panel of experts representing business, higher education, and Shrewsbury Public Schools.
I encourage all parents of school age children, SPS teachers and staff, and even our high school students to attend this screening and be part of this important discussion.
Respectfully,
