The modern graduate: prepared to compete in a global economy
July 29th, 2009 | By: Steve Rasmussen
Issaquah is one of the highest performing and respected school districts in Washington. It’s not our outstanding standardized test scores that have garnered this reputation, however.
We aim beyond the state’s standards to prepare students to thrive in a dynamic global economy, and it is a true and rare gift when an entire community—from the School Board to parents and residents to school staff—partners together to give students the best educational experiences to reach that mission. As a superintendent for 20 years and an educator for 36 years, I have experienced the power of this confluence—but never to the degree occurring in this district. Let me explain why.
Issaquah School Board
The five elected citizens on the School Board serve as stewards of our public schools, and their chief purpose is to reach out to all constituents—parents, graduates, business leaders, educational experts and college and university administrators—to establish the mission and overall learning goals for students. During this process, the Board has heard quite clearly that today’s students need to think globally and obtain myriad personal and critical-thinking skills on top of a solid foundation of core knowledge. As such, our mission states: “Our student will be prepared and eager to accept the academic, occupational, personal, and practical challenges of life in a dynamic global environment.” The Board’s five accompanying categories of learning goals focus on academics, citizenship, technology, expression and creativity, and life management. In other words, this is a roadmap—if a graduate possesses competency in all of these areas, they will have the tools for post-high school success. As superintendent, my job is to align our educational program to the mission and provide annual evidence that all students are progressing.
Educators
Great schools are no accident—it takes a workforce of dedicated individuals who strive toward best practices to achieve our global mission. That’s why the District is committed to attracting and retaining top people and providing them with professional development opportunities. Every employee contributes to the education of children, from the bus driver who exhibits first-class citizenship to the cafeteria worker who provides a daily economics lesson. In the classroom, a high-quality teacher is the most influential factor of a child’s success. While it’s true that a 21st Century education relies on up-to-date materials and technology, these are just the tools; the real key is instruction. In a fluid information society, students need to graduate with more than a finite body of knowledge—they need to know how to think. That is why our administrators and educators continually train in research-based instructional practices to engage students in deeper thinking skills. The objective is to motivate and stretch every student through lessons that are relevant and that capitalize on students’ unique learning strengths. In Issaquah, we have some of the finest educators and we grow professionally together every day.
Community members and parents
Without an ardently education-centered community, the District could not aim for and make progress toward a global-based mission for all students. Our close proximity to the metropolitan Seattle area and major international corporations provide the District with the blessing of smart, diverse, passionate, creative residents who understand the importance of a high-quality education for their children, and for the quality of life in their community. Their support for public schools comes in many generous forms: they historically pass local levies and bonds. They volunteer in schools in droves, which is why Issaquah has perhaps the strongest PTA association in the state and nation. They contribute to a vibrant Issaquah Schools Foundation to provide exceptional learning opportunities that would otherwise be impossible. Finally, they advocate for children and change school laws in Olympia and Washington D.C. Because of our community, local students have the support, motivation, resources, and outlook to succeed.
Combined, this is the Issaquah recipe for student success in high school and beyond: rigorous, real-world learning goals and motivated, education-focused people. Together, we are not only preparing our students to compete in the dynamic global economy—we are preparing them to lead it!
