the month of March.Schools preparing kids for the future?2010: Traditional vs. Year-round schools"The time is right for a system that focuses on individual students and lets them progress at their own pace," said education researcher Robert Marzano, who is helping the district develop standards-based learning, a system that was first introduced in the 1960s. "The conversation around the country is about that like it's never been before."The Adams 50 school district is made up of about 10,000 students, mostly from Hispanic families. About 40% are still learning English. In the last decade, as demographics began to change, standardized test scores fell, leading the district to be placed on an academic watch list.School board president Vicky Marshall said the district needed something drastic to turn it around. She set out to enlist teachers and parents, aware that without their support, the new system would fail.High school teachers were among the first to embrace the idea, realizing students would have to have mastered material before moving levels.Their response, according to Marshall: "'You mean, by the time they get to us they're going to know all ... of the prior material that they should know in biology, in math, in social studies, and I'm not going to have to spend the first three months of their freshman year figuring out what they don't know? ... Wow -- absolutely.'"Parents, however, did have concerns, especially whether there would be a big age range in some classes."We were very quick to say, 'No, we're not going to have someone with a mustache ... sitting next to a 6- year-old.' That's just not going to happen," she said.Instead, older children at lower levels are given extra help, as they are in traditional middle and high schools.Standards-based learning in the Adams County School District is currently in place in kindergarten through ninth grade, and will be integrated through all high schools by 2014. But it's not for the faint of heart.This particular approach was developed by the Re-Inventing Schools Coalition, a nonprofit organization that helped turn around a small, struggling school district in Alaska. Students there went from 0% attending college to nearly 90% going on to secondary education or the military.The organization's executive director, Wendy Battino, said that in order for standards-based learning to work, schools must have strong leadership and shared vision. Of the approximately 300 schools that have attempted to enact this system, Battino said, half haven't been able to stick with it."Superintendents last 2-212 years on average in this country. It's really hard to lead systemic change when you have that much turnover," Battino said.Community and school support are critical, she said, "so when a leader does leave, you have enough shared vision and stakeholder support that they will hold onto this and it won't leave, despite the next leader."The message is particularly relevant in Adams County, where the schools superintendent who brought the change recently resigned. And since school board members are are limited to two four-year term limits, the unanimous support may wane if standardized test scores don't improve. So far, they haven't.In last