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Minds and Matter: Embracing change: Why schools want to move toward project-based learning
by Kevin Hatfield, School Superintendent · Op-Ed · April 28, 2016


Embracing Change: Why Project-Based Learning? First, as a proud, long time public school leader, educator, coach and parent, I find the seemingly endless beating of the anti-public school drum, well, offensive.
Like all organizations, we continually strive to improve. Our schools are not the places of the past. We have been embracing changes and currently graduate students capable of competing with any students, anywhere.

Our public schools produce many of our country’s greatest thinkers, educators, business and community leaders. I wanted to take a few moments to remind everyone of some amazing facts about the West Branch Community School District and our public schools in general.

Iowa leads the nation in graduation rate again! The WBCSD’s graduation rate is generally 5-6% higher than the State average at 95 – 98% annually.

Iowa leads the nation in providing college-level coursework to high school students. Four years ago, West Branch had one of the lowest percentage of students enrolled in college credit coursework in our region. Today we are a regional leader.

Russell Martin, a senior at West Branch High School, has been selected by the Des Moines Register as a Top 10 Academic All State Scholars.

The average West Branch student will graduate with between 15 and 30 hours of college credits. Many of our students will graduate with health occupation and trades certifications making them ready for immediate employment.

Mrs. Burger is Iowa’s Elementary Principal of the Year. Mrs. Oswald, Mr. Bucknell and many of our teacher leaders are routinely asked by surrounding districts and the State to share regarding standards-based grading, reassessment and leadership. They all attended public schools!

Recent West Branch High School’s ACT scores have been among the highest ever recording in the history of the school district. This is a credit to our staff, students and parents as a “culture of learning” is replacing a “culture of completing.”

Four of the five Americans who won a Nobel Prize last year attended public schools.

Studies show that the literacy rate in the United States is 99 percent for students age 15 and older - the highest ever recorded.

Many of our recent presidents, from both parties, were products of public education, including Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.

Musicians Wynton Marsalis, Carlos Santana, writer Maya Angelou, artist Andy Warhol, director Steven Spielberg, choreographer Alvin Ailey, photographer Annie Liebobitz, to name a few, all graduated from a public school.

A greater percentage of public school students have been exposed to the advance sciences and higher level math concepts than ever before.

Today’s students are technological literate while also demonstrating a greater appreciation of the arts, ecology and the world around them. They do not accept the status quo.

The District’s Strategic Plan was developed around one question: How will we increase the likelihood that all students will graduate career and college ready and capable of accomplishing “anything they put their minds to?” The status quo is not good enough for the District either!

Part of our strategic work is to shift the learning paradigm from “teacher-driven” to “student-driven” learning. We are developing frameworks for students to become more engaged in authentic, personalized learning experiences. We have the technology in the hands of our students. We are confident that these experiences will enhance the 4 C’s of education: critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity. A research-based strategy that supports this paradigm shift is called Project-Based Learning (PBL).

PBL combines standards-based curriculum with empowering students to solve real world challenges. PBL requires the authentic application of content, 21st Century skills, in-depth inquiry, learning stemming from a driving question or problem (student’s need to know) and it requires deeper reflection and revision and presentation. It involves more failure (that’s right) and learning from mistakes. (As we all know, worthwhile problems are often more complex than originally planned for!) PBL experiences require students and staff to apply essential understandings from math, science, social studies, language and the arts in an authentic, cross-curricular manner. It can involve cross-curricular planning from staff and staff teams.

The West Branch staff has been engaged in the study of multiple pathways to support this transformational work. We are building off of our earlier professional development involving higher order thinking skills and questions, tiered interventions and data teams and standards-based grading. We see PBL as the gateway to building a competency-based school system. What support will there be for students to generate ideas and / or problems to study?

Recently Iowa BIG, Bellevue BIG, Mt. Vernon and the Alburnett’s personalized, project-based programs joined our teachers for a morning of professional sharing and learning. Generally, three methods are used to generate “pools of problems” to support students:

Student-generated problems stemming from their personal interests and passions

Teacher-generated problems and passion course offerings

Note: This will require the development of a district calendar with days set aside to allow students and staff to focus on this work more intensely. We would likely refer to this as the “Bear Term.” This would not involve adding days, but having days built within the calendar year.

Community and business-generated problems

Note: We will be inviting local businesses and agencies to submit problems they would like our students to study or help solve. We are hoping this advance school-community-business partnership in a more authentic way. Perhaps it will lead internships and unique learning experiences for students. We are always grateful for your support!

Finally, the age of “anytime, anywhere learning” is here. The factory or traditional model of schooling and learning is being transformed. A place called school has been forever changed. Our facilities must support this work. District resources will also be directed in support of this effort. We will scaffold in these experiences at all grade levels. The West Branch Community School District is truly a future focused community of learners striving to prepare students to live and learn with passion and purpose.



Kevin Hatfield is the superintendent of West Branch Community Schools. You may reach him at 319-643-7213 or khatfield@west-branch.k12.ia.us.