This Week with Sara Fitts is talking about trends in education for 2015 today. It is always a bit difficult to know exactly what will be trending in education this year; however, based on the trends of late 2014, I am comfortable and confident moving into some strong predictions for this calendar year.
I feel strongly that rigorous learning goals will be a strong trend for the entire year - if not decade. Everyone wants our students to be prepared and in position for the very best educational environments in every school system in 2015.
Data should drive all educational decisions regardless of location. If something is working, it should continue to be implemented for further growth. If something is not working, that data should be utilized to create or find something that will work. Data is important and should drive the decisions.
Assessments will continue to be important; however, the specific assessment may be refined and revised. It is so important to know that students are learning and that they can utilize what they learn in order to broaden future learning. I think that all major assessments will be reviewed and revised in order to be more meaningful to all - students, parents, and educators.
Technology will continue to be utilized at all levels and in all subject areas. The one trend for 2015 is that more technology will be available to be used on all devices - not just on iPads, for example. So many school divisions have BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) systems in place - with a large variety of devices in those classrooms. When apps can only be used with particular devices, the educational experience in classrooms declines.
Flipped learning will have a greater focus and greater impact in 2015. More teachers will be implementing this trend and, as a result, we will see much more of its use this year.
Personalized learning in every classroom will be a huge trend this year. With the fact that most students will have devices in every classroom, it will be the expectation that each student can make the strong case for differentiation on a daily basis.
Individual student outcomes will have a sharper focus in 2015. Again, data should drive all decisions making individual student outcomes easier to determine and assess.
Professional development for teachers is extremely important in 2015 due to technology and digital tools for all classrooms. The teacher is still the one who facilitates all learning - so the PD programs need to be state-of-the-art in order to provide the necessary information to all teachers in 2015 - and beyond.
Sara L. Fitts, an academic and instructional coach, owns and operates SLF Consulting in Manassas, VA specializing in math tutoring and test prep, academic and instructional coaching and consulting, and college readiness and transition. For more information please visit our website and follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
