Reykdal talks constants and change in education

ELLENSBURG — Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal said there are constants in education – but education is changing too, and it’s happening at an accelerating rate. Reykdal spoke to students at Central Washington University on Wednesday. 

Reykdal said part of his task was to talk about how education is changing, and when doing that he tries to be cautious.  

“Because I think anytime we believe we have the answer, and we presuppose programming around that answer, we’re going to be humbled awfully quickly. Especially by a generation of young learners who are proving to us as we speak today that they want something very different. And I believe that will happen at an accelerated rate,” he said. 

There are some fundamental concepts that haven’t changed, however, he said. Children need to learn what Reykdal called “quantitative reasoning” and how to communicate effectively, he said. Children also must learn how to become what he called “a darn good human being.”  

Technology has changed the way people communicate, he said, and young people get less experience in writing and reading. Reykdal cited schools that use dual language programs, which he said help children learn other skills along with language. 

“Communication is actually the core skill there, and it’s going to evolve,” he said. 

Technology has changed how people communicate, and education must take those changes into account, he said.  

“They’re pretty effective communicators,” he said of young people. “They’re not formal communicators the way they used to be. They’re very good verbally, in ways we’ve never seen before, but it isn’t the formal way.” 

Changes in family structure also have an effect. 

“(Children) have grown up in more and more likely to be families of more screen times, less complex texts read to them – by a lot,” he said. 

That has implications for behavior as well as learning. 

“There’s a behavioral component that comes along with getting most of your learning and your understanding through (screens), and very short video and quick stimulus and instant gratification, because now we can manipulate that,” he said.  

Birth rates in Washington are declining, and immigration has decreased, he said, which will present a challenge to public education. 

“We’ve got roughly 7,000 or 8,000 fewer 5-year-olds in the state than we do 18-year-olds, and that’s going to persist for a while,” Reykdal said. “So, Central (Washington University) administrators, I’m going to send you four more giant graduating classes, and then it drops off fast after that. You have four years to figure out how you’re going to deal with a smaller institution. It’s not just you – it’s going to be everywhere.” 

As the cost of college has increased, parents have looked at programs like Running Start and College in the High School to help their children with post-secondary education. Washington’s Running Start program allows qualifying high school juniors and seniors to attend college and receive high school credits. College in the High School provides college-level courses in local high schools. Reykdal said he expected that trend to continue. 

“For you future high school teachers, you’re going to be asked to teach a whole lot more college-level coursework in the future than any high school group of professionals ever,” he said. “So start gearing your brain towards the idea that you’re going to be AP teachers and College in the High School teachers.” 

Reykdal said he agreed with a comment from the audience that some students who have used those programs may know the content when they graduate high school but are not mature enough for the post-high school environment. He believes there’s too much emphasis on accelerated learning in American education, he said, and that research supports that. But in a republic the parents and district patrons have the final say. 

“What people want isn’t always consistent with the research,” he said.  

He supports the idea that children should have more training in multiple languages, and more training on how to deal with electronic devices and the culture around them.  

“We’re trying to inject the idea that we should probably find this middle ground,’ he said.  

He cited the example of multiple-language instruction, which he said would help children in the long run, although it might slow down instruction in basic subjects. 

Education will need to change to keep up with a changing workforce, and a world where industry recruits workers without degrees, offering on-the-job training. He cited elementary teachers as an example; traditionally they taught all subjects and had their students all day. That may change in the future, he said. 

“Are (classrooms) going to continue to be this sort of sacred space that sits outside the rest of the economy that’s specializing, or is it a place where we’re going to introduce more (specialization)? I think that’s a really powerful thing for (future administrators) to think about. I don’t have the answer to that, I just see it happening more and more,” he said.