With the end of the academic year in sight, MACTE leaders are looking toward the future to determine what needs to be emphasized to stay on the cutting edge in order to prepare the best teachers for Minnesota students.  This look into the future includes both a short term and long term timeframe, that is, what do we need to do next year, and what do we need to do to prepare teachers for the schools where they will work five and ten years hence.

Issues on the near horizon include support for students with mental health challenges; guiding students in the use of personal pages like facebook and myspace; using technology in ways that enhance what students already use and know; preparing on-line learning options and opportunities; and it goes without saying the ability to use data to refine teaching to address the educational disparities that exist.  All of these things make an assumption of content knowledge, but clearly much of what is needed is the ability and capacity of teachers to be flexible, adaptable, and thoughtful about how to reach every child and help him or her reach the highest potential.

Rethinking how education is delivered to students and how the outcomes are assessed is a mid-range goal.  No one way of doing education will work for all - charter schools, community schools, private schools, on-line high schools, public schools all need to coexist.  Thus teachers must be ready to teach in many types of settings and all of us must be committed to continuing to learn, re-assess, re-align, and re-vitalize.  While we may not be able to predict exactly what will be in place ten years hence, we must be alert to the possibilities, and flexible enough to adapt without laborious processes and rules. 

What of the more distant future and what is it that should be our collective focus?  As MACTE continues to look forward we see that some progress has been made in preparation for diverse populations - we need to continue to do more here.  There is no longer a need to look to "urban schools" for diverse populations in language, culture, or socio-economic status.  All teachers (new and continuing) are working in these settings.  Rather, looking toward a more global understanding, applied locally, we will be preparing our teachers to educate future leaders to understand much more broadly the world they will enter.

As futurist Gary Marx stated, "As leaders in society our responsibility is to constantly create the future we need, not just defend what we have.  The process of staying in touch with the environment, getting connected to the world of ideas and possibilities around us, staying on top of issues, and considering the implications of massive trends must be ongoing."

As an organization we want to partner with you and other educators to ensure that our teachers are ready to prepare students to live "satisfying and productive lives in the 21^st century". (Marx, 2006).