Solutions for Creating the Learning Spaces Students Deserve
Different Schools for a Different World
Scott McLeod Dean Shareski
Copyright © 2018 by Solution Tree Press
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction of this book in whole or in part in any form.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: McLeod, Scott, 1968- author. | Shareski, Dean, author.
Title: Different schools for a different world / Scott McLeod and Dean Shareski.
Description: Bloomington, IN : Solution Tree Press, 2017. | Series: Solutions series | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017016974 | ISBN 9781943874101 (perfect bound)
Subjects: LCSH: Educational change--United States. | Education--Aims and objectives--United States. | Educational accountability--United States. | Comparative education.
Classification: LCC LA217.2 .M3996 2017 | DDC 370.973--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017016974
Solution Tree
Jeffrey C. Jones, CEO
Edmund M. Ackerman, President
Solution Tree Press
President and Publisher: Douglas M. Rife
Editorial Director: Sarah Payne-Mills
Managing Production Editor: Caroline Cascio
Senior Production Editor: Tara Perkins
Senior Editor: Amy Rubenstein
Proofreader: Evie Madsen
Text Designer: Rian Anderson
Compositor: Laura Cox
Cover Designer: Laura Cox
Editorial Assistants: Jessi Finn and Kendra Slayton
To Betsy, Isabel, Lucas, and Colin, who put up with my shenanigans and without whom everything would be meaningless.
—Scott
To Paula and all those kids and their mates, who still don’t know exactly what their husband and father does for a living.
—Dean
Acknowledgments
Solution Tree Press would like to thank the following reviewers:
Kevin Doerfler
Assistant Principal
Portage West Middle School
Portage, Michigan
Michael Roberts
Principal
Desert View Elementary School
Hermiston, Oregon
Bo Ryan
Principal
Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Magnet Middle School
Hartford, Connecticut
Kristy Venne
Assistant Principal
Dublin Jerome High School
Dublin, Ohio
Table of Contents
Arguments for Why Schools Need to Be Different
Four Big Shifts and Ten Building Blocks
Chapter 1: The Information Literacy Argument
New Ways of Communicating and Accessing Information
Opportunities for Collaboration
Chapter 2: The Economic Argument
Disappearing Manufacturing Jobs in Developed Countries
Automation’s Influence on High- and Low-Skill Jobs
Chapter 3: The Learning Argument
Evolution of Instructional Roles
Technology Use
Chapter 4: The Boredom Argument
Influence of Teaching Materials and Assignments
Influence of Cognitive Demand on Engagement
Chapter 5: The Innovation Argument
Key Skills for Innovation
Environments That Foster Innovation
Teachers’ Lack of Choice and Flexibility
Chapter 6: The Equity Argument
Demographic Discrepancies in Academic Achievement and Technology Usage
Discrepancies in Ways Students Utilize Technology in School
Iowa BIG, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
New Village Girls Academy, Los Angeles, California