source: Ohio Department of Education
Each Child, Our Future is Ohio’s five-year strategic plan to ensure each student enjoys a bright future thanks to an excellent preK-12 education experience. More than 150 Ohio-based partners helped develop Each Child, Our Future, with feedback from 1,200 Ohio parents, caregivers, preK-12 and postsecondary educators, employers, business leaders, community members, state legislators and students.
This is the fifth in a 11-part series that walks EdConnection readers through the plan. Last week, we covered the plan’s vision and one goal. Now, we explore the four equal learning domains, or the four areas in which we want each Ohio student to develop knowledge and skills for success beyond high school. Find the four equal learning domains on pages 12-13 of the plan, which is available in its entirety by clicking here.
Foundational Skills and Knowledge
For our students to be successful in a rapidly changing economy, we must equip them with foundational knowledge and skills that support lifelong learning. Each child must know how to read and write critically (literacy), work with numbers (numeracy) and use technology to take the best advantage of future learning experiences.
Well-rounded Content
Beyond foundational literacy, numeracy and technology skills, students need exposure to a broad range of subjects and disciplines to help them pinpoint their passions and become lifelong learners. These include social studies, science, world languages, arts, health, physical education and career-technical education fields, among others.
Leadership and Reasoning Skills
Success depends on more than academic knowledge. Students must be able to show leadership skills. Among other things, these include learning from mistakes and improving for the future, listening to others and working to achieve a common goal, and giving and receiving feedback. Success through reasoning skills means students know how to draw on many disciplines to synthesize information, develop creative solutions and generate new ideas. These reasoning skills include critical thinking, problem-solving, design and computational thinking, information evaluation and data analytics.
Social-emotional Learning
Research shows that being part of a community improves life satisfaction and health. Doing this successfully means understanding the importance of social interaction and personal feelings. Social-emotional learning includes skills like self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, collaboration, empathy, relationship skills and responsible decision-making. Social-emotional learning gives children the tools to become resilient and persistent in life.
Next week’s EdConnection will feature an overview of the 10 strategies for achieving the vision and goal outlined in Each Child, Our Future.
