MOREHEAD, Ky. (LEX 18) — Sometimes kids have shorter attention spans, and that’s not exactly new news. But the way school districts in the Bluegrass are addressing it is newer. For the past few years, Rowan County Schools has been working to teach students "durable skills."
The district’s assistant superintendent, Brandy Carver, explains that some of their durable skills are, “Being an active collaborator, effective communicator, and global citizen are probably the biggest ones. We want students to be successful when they leave us, and we want them to be contributors to our community and come back and be a part of the community that we live in."
646 students in 5th, 8th, and 12th grades in this school district completed their defenses –- or durable skills. That means they are life-long learners, active collaborators, critical thinkers, global citizens, and effective communicators.
The school district started working with the Prichard Committee and the Kentucky Department of Education to develop several programs targeting these skills. Students helped recruit community partners to learn what future employers are looking for.
Carver explains those skills can be "Showing up to work on time, being able to communicate and work in a group, and so we developed a profile of a learner around those durable skills." She says, "We've come up with performance outcomes and indicators that exemplify what that looks like at each level."
Smaller communities often see kids leave once they graduate, but programs like this are trying to build relationships earlier. They hope it will get them interested in staying and working where they grew up.
Edna Schack, a community leader and a member of the Prichard Committee, says, "Without people and without homes for people to live in we suffer."
The district wants to be a leader for others in the state. Shack says, "Kentucky is a stand out state we have funding for rethinking about how we access and how we are held accountable."
Rowan County Schools wants to help students achieve and be prepared for what the world has to offer them.
Carver says, "In the past I think we've focused a lot more on the academic side and we've lost some of that importance that's been on those skills and dispositions and so we're really trying to make sure there's a balance there and that they're ready on all fronts."
