Project Tomorrow
Thank you for your participation and interest in this year’s online research project.
There were 416,758 online surveys submitted from K-12 students, parents and educators.

Congressional Briefing:
Speak Up Washington 2011

2012 Congressional Briefing
National Release of Speak Up 2011
K-12 Students and Parents Data

“For three-quarters of today’s students in grades 6-12, math and science class is still much like it was when we adults were in school: predominately teacher-centered with little or no opportunities for students to direct their own learning, at their own pace, with their own tools. Think about that in contrast to what is being called for by the new Common Core Standards for math. The Common Core approach is based on teachers laying out a specific task and inviting the students to dig in and solve the problem using appropriate tools and resources. If our schools are able to implement this type of teaching and learning, the potential for interest in math and science should grow.”
-- Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow

Mapping a Personalized Learning Journey –
K-12 Students and Parents Connects the Dots with Digital Learning

On April 24, 2012 Project Tomorrow released the report “Mapping a Personalized Learning Journey – K-12 Students and Parents Connects the Dots with Digital Learning” at a Congressional Briefing held in Washington, DC. Julie Evans, Project Tomorrow CEO, discussed selected student and parent national findings from the Speak Up 2011 report and moderated a panel discussion with students and parents who shared their insights and experiences.

Key findings:

  • Students are adopting technologies and then adapting them to support their own self-directed learning. For example, 1 in 10 high school students have Tweeted about an academic topic. 46% of students have used Facebook as a collaboration tool for schoolwork.

  • Parents are supporting their children’s personalized learning journeys. 64% of parents report that they would purchase a mobile device for their child’s academic use at school.

  • There is a gap in offerings between what schools offer and what students want to learn. As a result, students are looking outside of the classroom to meet their personalized learning goals. For example, 12% of high school students have taken an online class on their own, outside of the classroom, to learn about a topic that interested them.

  • In math and science classrooms where students and teachers direct learning supported by technology, students’ interest in a STEM career is 27%, compared with 20% for students in traditional math and science classrooms.

  • Parents’ definition of academic success for their children places a strong emphasis on learning the right skills to be successful (73%)- more than any other metric for success, including monetary success or getting into a good college.
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Infographic

Over 100 people attended the Congressional Briefing including congressional staff members, student and staff representatives from some of our Speak up schools, and staff from many of our sponsors, champion outreach partners and non-profit partners.

Project Tomorrow was very pleased to welcome staff from Adobe, American Association of School Librarians, American Federation of Teachers, Arizona Department of Education, Arlington County Public Schools, Baltimore City Public School System, Baltimore County Public Schools, Blackboard, Inc., Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, Digital Learning Experience, Discovery, Education Free Agent, e-luminodity, Fairfax County Public Schools, Institute of Museum and Library Services, Intel Corporation, K12, Inc., Kajeet, Maryland State Department of Education, Maryland Society for Education Technology, National Association of State Directors of Special Education, Inc., National Association of State Boards of Education, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, National Education Association, National Museum of American History, National Commission on Teaching & America’s Future, Oracle, NASA/GSFC, Nogales Unified School District, Qualcomm, Senate HELP Committee, Software & Information Industry Association, SMART Technologies, State Education Technology Directors Association, TIES, US Department of Education, US House committee on Education, US House and US Senate.

Students and parents from Arlington Public Schools (VA), Fairfax County Public School District (MD) and McKinley Technology High School (DC) shared their insights regarding personalizing their own learning.

Speak Up Sponsors