K–12 education is at an inflection point. Compass Learning is helping lead the way by providing insight and perspective into key trends students and educators should monitor as this school year progresses.

“At the beginning of 2012, we predicted K–12 education was shifting from classroom-centered to student-centered learning models, where teachers organize instruction around the needs, motivations and strengths of each student rather than the whole class,” said Ann Henson, VP of Curriculum and Instruction and Customer Service at Compass Learning. “We believe that prediction very much still holds true. There are a number of key drivers accelerating the student-centric approach, including the move to Common Core State Standards, a greater use of the social and mobile technologies at our disposal, and a greater emphasis on career readiness in addition to college readiness.”

Key Education Sector Predictions for 2012–2013:

Educators will continue to be pressured to “do more with less” and prepare for the new national Common Core State Standards. As students and educators return to the classroom for this school year, there are five key trends that will have the biggest impact on education.

1) Common Core State Standards Will Dominate Conversations:

• Common Core will be the number one topic discussed in education circles as states that have adopted Common Core prepare for the transition.
• Teachers, in particular, will contemplate how to modify and shift teaching styles to bridge the transition between current state standards and Common Core State Standards and the shift from summative to formative assessments.

2) To College Or Not To College, That Is The Question

• While college readiness has long been a crucial component of K–12 education, career readiness is emerging as a major area of focus.
• One dilemma that will emerge is if and when kids are made to pick between the college path and the career path.
• Based on numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 31.7 percent of high school students who graduated in 2011 did not attend college, so ensuring those students are prepared for the workforce is critical.

3) The Use Of Social and Mobile Tools In Education Is Too Big To Ignore

• Mobile is becoming a bigger and bigger phenomenon; According to Pew Research, 75 percent of kids between the ages of 12 and 17 own a cell phone, making anytime, anywhere access to information and content ubiquitous.
• Based on data from The Wireless Association, there are 331 million mobile devices in the United States (greater than the population of the US).
• The opportunity and the challenge will be defining content that is both instructional and manageable.
• Software will be extended to a new platform that accounts for the unique properties of the devices and user engagement versus simply moving software from one platform to another.
• The opening of the Internet in schools, and access to resources online are inevitable, but need to be managed in a way that benefits both students and educators.

4) The Quality of Open Educational Resources Will Be More Closely Scrutinized

• With the advent of social tools, mobile and the opening of the Internet, open education resources (OER) will play a vital role in expanding education – but quality control will play a very vital role.
• Tagging of resources will become critically important to ensure the right content is connected with the right curriculum and the appropriate students.

5) The Shift From Grade-Based To Competency-Based Learning Will Accelerate

• Learning will be less and less about quizzes and test scores, and more about, “Was the objective learned or not?”
• Students will have greater visibility into what they have mastered and what they haven’t and work within those parameters to gain competency versus simply taking a test.
• Grade configurations (3^rd, 4^th, 5^th grade, etc.) will start to go away as we move to competency-based models.

Added Henson, “This is really a very exciting time in education as more educators work with instructional models that provide the opportunity to focus on the personal needs of each student. The innovation we are seeing will give teachers the time and tools to make personalized learning a reality. Ultimately, it’s about empowering teachers to fully engage with their students to ensure long-term success.”

About Compass Learning, Inc.

Compass Learning, Inc. provides K-12 educational software that empowers teachers to unlock every student’s potential for academic success and personal growth. Compass Learning takes a student-centered approach by providing comprehensive solutions that address the needs of every student and student-type to create personalized learning and differentiation programs that reach, engage and inspire students to succeed. Teachers and administrators can more efficiently and effectively manage and measure progress, freeing time to focus on delivering academic results and 21^st century skills. Both of the company’s software solutions, CompassLearning Odyssey® and the Renzulli Learning™ System deliver academic rigor that is based on more than 40 years of research into how students learn and are aligned to state and Common Core State Standards to support classroom and district accountability. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Compass Learning serves more than 7,800 schools across the United States.