TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

• The Bionic Human

Enormous advances in the field of bionics are making replacement body parts and imbedded processors to control them a reality. Here are some examples of what is already available, along with the cost.

• Paralyzed vocal chords are restored to speech by implants that force them to tighten ($2,500-5,000).
  Epileptic seizures and depression are alleviated by an electrode imbedded in a neck nerve, which activates a generator every few seconds ($30,000).
  
• A knee can flex up to 20 degrees when a friction-controlled device is inserted into the joint socket ($16,000-20,000).
  
• New bone growth is stimulated by calcium phosphate and other synthetic materials used to replace bone marrow ($575 for 10cc).
  A cochlear implant receives a digital code transmitted from a processor worn behind the ear, which is then interpreted as sound by the acoustic nerve ($50,000).
  
• Fine motor control is possible with an artificial hand when electrical signals from arm muscles and tendons are transmitted to a belt-mounted computer that controls sensors in the individual fingers ($20,000).

  Source: "We Can Rebuild You," Wired Magazine, September 2002



• A Keyboard That’s Really Light

PDAs and other wireless mobile devices will soon have full-sized keyboards built right in. A light-projected keyboard, with mouse, shines from the device onto any flat surface, turning it into the typing surface. Canesta, of San Jose, CA, calls its design an integrated projection keyboard. Electronic perception technology translates finger movement into keystrokes. Touch typists just have to learn not to rest their fingers on the keyboard.

Source: Maggie Shiels, "The Keyboard That Isn’t There," BBC News (online), October 15, 2002

EDUCATION TRENDS

• Attitudes Toward Public Education

The 34th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools provides some interesting insights into views held by Americans concerning public education. Here are several of the noteworthy findings.

• Many Americans believe that our public schools are not doing a good job. When asked to rate their local schools, however, they give them high grades. For example, on a scale of A to F, 58% of parents gave their local public schools an A or B. That number rose to 71% when public schools parents rated the school their oldest child attends. Only 24% gave public schools in general an A or B. These results are consistent with findings from the past several years of this poll.

• When the public at large was asked how likely it was that schools would be able to have all students pass their state proficiency tests by 2013-14, as required in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, a total of 80% said "very likely" or "somewhat likely." For parents with children in public education, the number was 77%. While the question was not put to teachers and administrators, my hunch is that in considering all the students in their schools, educators would have a much lower percentage in the "very likely" or "somewhat likely" categories related to 100% proficiency. What would your prediction be?

• One of the cornerstones of the NCLB legislation is yearly testing in multiple disciplines in grades three through eight. Sixty seven percent of respondents indicated they favored that provision.
  Source: Lowell C. Rose and Alec M. Gallup, "The 34th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools," Phi Delta Kappan, September 2002


• Blue Ribbon School is Failing School

Each year the U.S. Department of Education honors selected schools with its Blue Ribbon Award for Excellence. Under No Child Left Behind, schools can also be identified as failing if any of nine subgroups of students (based upon ethnicity, sex, disability, socioeconomic status, etc.) do not meet adequate yearly progress. The Kilgore School in Cincinnati, which was awarded a Blue Ribbon Award last year and outperformed many other schools with similar demographics, has been identified as "failing" under the new legislation. And Kilgore was only one of 19 Blue Ribbon schools in the past five years to be labeled as failing by state standards, according to USA TODAY (August 4, 2002). NCLB will allow parents to move their students from a failing school to another school. The fallout from changing criteria for excellence and failure will have profound impact on schools and on parents who thought their children were attending a highly successful school.

Source: Marjorie Coeyman, "Just When You Thought You Knew the Rules...,"Christian Science Monitor, July 9, 2002

• SOME THOUGHTS ON NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

Proficiency Levels – While many educators may hope that state proficiency levels will not be set too high, we must not short-change students by setting them too low. States must look at the academic demand on students once they leave school and make those expectations the basis for deciding the levels at which students must achieve to be deemed proficient, not just by graduation standards, but also by the everyday requirements of the world they will compete in after graduation. International Center research now underway is showing that reading requirements for entry-level jobs are typically higher than the requirements to graduate from high school. For a brief paper on some of the findings, please go to ICLE Information Booth.

Standardized Testing – The increased accountability requirements reflected in NCLB have been building for some time, and they are here now in full force. Administrators need to "to get over it and get on with it." "Get over it" is meant to convey that the state assessments are here to stay and should be accepted as a significant part of education programs. "Get on with it" means placing the testing requirements in the larger context of accountability and a rigorous and relevant education. A thorough understanding of the data regarding the alignment of state standards, state assessments, and community expectations can help educators establish instructional priorities, connect disciplines to common goals, and improve student learning. At the same time, these assessments should be viewed as minimum requirements for students; there are additional skills and knowledge that students will need as adults that are not tested on the standardized exams.

Opportunities in NCLB – Although only 7 to 10 percent of a school district’s budget comes from federal sources, administrators should have a thorough understanding of the legislation in order to access resources to help meet district priorities and new mandates. It is possible to find creative ways in which funding from various provisions can be tapped to help underwrite the costs of implementing the new requirements. Many school districts have hired grant writers. The additional money brought in by a grant can easily offset the expenses incurred in writing it.