It's time for education leaders to think PK-20

On Board Online • August 12, 2024

By Lester W. Young, Jr.
Chancellor, Board of Regents

Mary Meeker is a venture capitalist and former Wall Street analyst whose keen observations about new technologies have earned her the nickname, "Queen of the Internet." In a recent report, AI & Universities, Meeker argues that the tech industry and American universities must unite to maintain our worldwide dominance in artificial intelligence. She's correct, in my opinion. And public education has a vital role to play in ensuring that our students are prepared to participate in, and contribute to, the AI revolution.

Before examining what Meeker's analysis means for us, let's take stock of our current path.

The Board of Regents and State Education Department are fully engaged in developing and implementing several game-changing initiatives to support teaching and learning, including:

• Revising New York's graduation requirements to better reflect what a student should know and be able to do before graduating high school. A critical element of this work requires us to develop the Portrait of a Graduate, to provide a shared understanding of the knowledge, skills and dispositions that New York's public school graduates have mastered. Students will have to demonstrate critical thinking, innovative problem-solving, literacy across all content areas, cultural competence, effective communication and global citizenship. They must also be able to engage in realistic self-appraisal for learning and continuous improvement, work effectively in teams, advocate for themselves and their communities and apply what they have learned for their community.
• Establishing an interconnected and seamless system of education, from prekindergarten to college graduation (PK-20). This system must:
  • Emerge from the current research and thinking in the developmental sciences.
  • Value diversity and promote equity, excellence and inclusion.
  • Prepare all learners for entry into school, college, career and civic life.
  • Connect schools, students, families and diverse communities.
  • Provide all learners with the opportunity to gain the knowledge, skills and dispositions to achieve their dreams.
• Promoting the PLAN Pilot, which encourages districts to consider using performance-based learning and assessment tools that provide reliable measures of student readiness and can better inform teaching, learning and school culture. The PLAN Pilot is a critical element of our comprehensive statewide assessment strategy, allowing students to develop and authentically apply their knowledge and skills to promote deeper learning.
• Implementing a systemwide literacy initiative to ensure that all students have access to high-quality instruction and all districts are working to foster a culture of equity and excellence in reading, writing, listening and speaking. This multi-prong effort includes our participation in the national Path Forward Literacy Instruction Initiative, our leadership of the state's Dyslexia Task Force, and the release of cutting-edge literacy briefs and instructional tools based on the science of reading.

We must also embrace a more expansive view of literacy. The foundations of literacy are absolutely essential. However, our students must be literate in other domains, as well. They must be financially and media literate; and in today's tech-forward, data-informed world, they must also be literate in numeracy.

While these initiatives may appear separate, the pieces are designed to operate together holistically. Each aims to provide greater access to opportunities for all New York's children to learn and grow and to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in meaningful ways in college and the working world.

In my previous On Board column (May 20, 2024), I argued that all New York students must be future-ready, regardless of their chosen path. Our challenge is that the body of knowledge, driven by AI and other technologies, is changing and advancing at an incredibly rapid rate. As a result, colleges and employers are now seeking students and workers who can pivot quickly, possess the metacognitive skills needed to unlearn what is no longer relevant, and immediately learn new things.

Which brings us back to Mary Meeker, Queen of the Internet. Meeker's premise is that the tech industry, government and higher education must all work together to advance AI during this historic inflection point. She asserts, "It's super important to prioritize understanding our students' experience and leveraging technology to ensure we're providing the support needed."

Her assessment is absolutely accurate.

In today's educational landscape, learning must be more than imparting knowledge; it must empower the learner to explore, create, question and be actively involved in their learning journey under the guidance of well-prepared educators who are equipped to use all available resources in an integrated and seamless manner. The time has come for us to think PK-20.