四个有望实现的荒唐创意

教育

学校企业化

    你身边的中小学教育正变得更加市场化。

    首当其冲的是教师，他们需要遵守与企业类似的晋升制度来获得升职。教龄不再是教育工作者能否达到“特级教师”级别的衡量标准，取而代之的是资质。（纽约的许多学校已经将这个理念付诸实施。在那里，教师被称为“教学导师”。）加州大学伯克利分校教育研究院（UC Berkeley's graduate school of education）教授布鲁斯•福勒说：“当然，这不仅意味着要淘汰不称职的教师，而且还要提高教师的工作效率”。

    考试将变得更加集中——甚至会变得更加重要，州级评估考试将给国家考试让路，而且以考核技能为主的测试将成为实现职业规划的快速通道。“与大学学位相比，通过严格的资格认证考试获得的证书在就业市场上将具有更高的价值，”非盈利教育机构可汗学院（Khan Academy）的萨尔•汗补充道。

    除此之外，由于高中毕业生并未掌握技术，企业有可能创办自己的学校。比如沃尔玛高中（Wal-Mart High）。有人报名吗？

    ——丹尼尔•罗伯兹

Education

Schools learn from businesses

    A more market-minded approach is coming to a K-12 classroom near you.

    It may start with teachers, who will move up the educational equivalent of a corporate ladder. Forget tenure; educators would instead build to "master teacher" level. (The idea already exists in many New York schools, where they're called "mentor teachers.") "It's not just meant to prune lousy teachers, but also to make them more effective," says Bruce Fuller, a professor at UC Berkeley's graduate school of education.

    Testing will become more centralized -- and potentially more important, state assessment exams will give way to national ones, and skills-based testing could fast-track careers. "Credentials based on rigorous certification exams will be more valuable in the job market than a college degree," adds Sal Khan of the education nonprofit Khan Academy.

    And corporations, frustrated by the skills gap of high school grads, may open schools of their own. Wal-Mart High, anyone?

    --Daniel Roberts