Five big trends that will shape education for the next decade became fully evident this year. 

1. State policy matters more. With federal devolution (e.g., ESEA waivers) and state aggregation of control of the six levers (standards, assessment, accountability, data, funding, and human resource policies), state education policy matters more than ever -- and so does state leadership. 

The shift to digital and implementation of real college and career ready standards demand and will test state leaders. Despite fraying around the edges, Common Core State Standards will frame the next decade of U.S education the way NCLB did the last. In most states, the online administration of new state tests in May of 2015 will be the most important event of the decade; preparation for and responding to the results will be among the most important leadership tasks. 

2. Viral adoption of free/cheap web/mobile apps makes this decade much different than ...

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