The Future of Education: Charlottesville Lee Elberson

Welcome to the Future of Education: Charlottesville, a show where we consider what our education system should look like in 20 years.   I’m your host Lee Elberson and I ask you to join me on a journey to the future as experts from the Charlottesville Community explore our education system through a variety of different lenses.  These topics are specific to Charlottesville but likely have wide-reaching implications.

Intro Music: Yoffee, J. (2020). Will To Live [Single]

References:

C4K - C4K uses guided mentorship and creative learning to build lifelong skills in Charlottesville's youth.

Afterschool Alliance -  Great information and research on why out-of-school programs are important.

Some questions covered:


How have non-profit organizations evolved to support our education system?
Compared to 20 years ago, what strides have been made in educational support?
What are some of the unique challenges that C4K has faced in the last 20 years?
What do we want our education system to look like in 20 years?
How will non-profits evolve if we move to decentralized education systems?
How would focusing on project-based learning help career trajectory?

Welcome to the Future of Education: Charlottesville, a show where we consider what our education system should look like in 20 years.   I’m your host Lee Elberson and I ask you to join me on a journey to the future as experts from the Charlottesville Community explore our education system through a variety of different lenses.  These topics are specific to Charlottesville but likely have wide-reaching implications.

Intro Music: Yoffee, J. (2020). Will To Live [Single]

References:


College Scholarship Statistics
Percent of Students Receiving Scholarships
Total Tuition Spent in 2018 (Nat. Center for Ed. Stats.)
Is College Worth It?
Americans' Perceptions of Success in the U.S.

Some questions covered:


In the past year we’ve seen lots of criticism about Zoom schooling.  However, there are many benefits supplied to us by technology.  Can you speak to some of the technological benefits you’ve seen implemented at community colleges and other education institutions?
You wrote an interesting op ed a few years ago titled Is College Worth It where you mention some of the benefits of attending college but also the cost.  Can you take me through the mental calculus of what it takes for families to make that decision in today’s financial climate?
How do we educate students earlier about career choices?
What should the compensation structure look like for educators?
Will we always have degrees granted from exactly one institution or will we start to have an increase in multidisciplinary studies and even multi-institutional coordination?

Welcome to the Future of Education: Charlottesville, a show where we consider what our education system should look like in 20 years.   I’m your host Lee Elberson and I ask you to join me on a journey to the future as experts from the Charlottesville Community explore our education system through a variety of different lenses.  These topics are specific to Charlottesville but likely have wide-reaching implications.

Intro Music: Yoffee, J. (2020). Will To Live [Single]

Topics Covered:

Historical review of education


Compared to 20 years ago, what strides have been made in our education system?
What are some of the unique challenges that large universities have faced in the last 20 years?
Given that 1.3% of tuition($7.4B/604B) is awarded as scholarships, what am I missing that I think it should be 20%?
How has that affected equity in our university system?
How does college ranking determine college decision?
US News & World Reports College Rankings?
Do we associate success with financial success?  Is fulfillment a better term?
The CEO of ACT (Janet Godwin) stated that standardized test outcomes are just a symptom of systemic inequality. Is there truth to that statement?
Are students with resources always going to perform better?

Future thinking


What do we want our education system to look like in 20 years?
What should college recruitment look like in 20 years?
What attributes does the class of 2041 have that the class of 2021 does not?
In considering changes to our education system, do we take a bottom-up (birth-5 first) or top-down (college first) approach?

What can we do NOW to shape our education system?


How would focus on project-based learning help career trajectory?
Jobs ask for resumes, Colleges ask for test scores, and school systems depend on transcripts.   Are we too dependent on test scores?
What is the balance between project-based learning and rigid testing?
What can we do to better collaborate among educational institutions?

Welcome to the Future of Education: Charlottesville, a show where we consider what our education system should look like in 20 years.   I’m your host Lee Elberson and I ask you to join me on a journey to the future as experts from the Charlottesville Community explore our education system through a variety of different lenses.  These topics are specific to Charlottesville but likely have wide-reaching implications.

Intro Music: Yoffee, J. (2020). Will To Live [Single]

Topics Covered:

Background


What impact did education make on you growing up?
What motivated you to work in independent schools?
Do small independent schools require staff to wear many hats?  If so, what are the advantages of creating generalists in this environment?

Historical review of education


Compared to 20 years ago, what strides have been made in our education system? 
What are some of the unique challenges that small independent schools face that students face 20 years ago?
Have students developed an oversimplified view of pass/fail in the past decade?
What were some of the learning lessons from a year of COVID schooling at Renaissance?
What do you think students get out of a college degree that justifies the cost?

Future thinking


What do we want our education system to look like in 20 years?
What does equity look like in our school systems?  
Jobs ask for resumes, Colleges ask for test scores, and school systems depend on transcripts.   Are we too dependent on test scores?
What does the class of 2041 have that the class of 2021 does not?
What does collaboration look like among educational institutions?
What can we do NOW to shape our education system?
Would focusing on project-based learning help or hurt students' career trajectory?

Welcome to the Future of Education: Charlottesville, a show where we consider what our education system should look like in 20 years.   I’m your host Lee Elberson and I ask you to join me on a journey to the future as experts from the Charlottesville Community explore our education system through a variety of different lenses.  These topics are specific to Charlottesville but likely have wide-reaching implications.

Intro Music: Yoffee, J. (2020). Will To Live [Single]

Topics Covered:

Historical review of education


Compared to 20 years ago, what strides have been made in our education system? 
What have we done correctly in education?
What are some of our growth areas? 
What are some of the positives that have come out of this year in COVID?  
What lasting effect will virtual education have on students and is there a place for it moving back into in-person education?

Future thinking


What do we want our education system to look like in 20 years?
How should the relationship between independents and public schools look like in 20 years?
What does equity look like in our school system?  

What can we do NOW to shape our education system


What stakeholders do we need more involvement from to help make these changes happen?  
Do we need some radical changes to our education system?
What type of benchmarking do we need to do with our students?
How can we empower teachers to take creative leaps in their curriculum decisions?
How will your potential new role as a city councilor change from your role as a school board member?

Welcome to the Future of Education: Charlottesville, a show where we consider what our education system should look like in 20 years.   I’m your host Lee Elberson and I ask you to join me on a journey to the future as experts from the Charlottesville Community explore our education system through a variety of different lenses.  These topics are specific to Charlottesville but likely have wide-reaching implications.

Intro Music: Yoffee, J. (2020). Will To Live [Single]

Historical review of education


Compared to 20 years ago, what strides have been made in our education system? 
What are some of the unique challenges that middle school students face that students our age didn’t face 20 years ago?
What is the profile of a middle school student who has a healthy lifestyle?
Do students have an oversimplified view of pass/fail?

Future thinking


What do we want our education system to look like in 20 years?
What does mental health look like for the student of the future?
What does equity look like in our school system?  
What does collaboration look like among educational institutions?
What does the class of 2041 have that the class of 2021 does not?

What can we do NOW to shape our education system?


Are middle students aware of professions that fit their skillsets?
How can we get students to take more risk in a healthy manor?