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Category Archives: School Reform
Schools and Culture: Progress in Infant Mortality Begs a Question or Two
Summary: Progress in infant mortality addresses the same root causes as the struggles of low income students in our schools. The academic struggles of low income students do not originate in poor schools, though are encumbered by them, but in … Continue reading
School Reform: Yes, Put the Principal in Charge, But That Ain’t All
Summary: Moves to give principals the authority to determine who will work in the school building for which they are responsible make sense, but to do so is but one of several interlocking changes that need to proceed together. One … Continue reading
School Reform: Testing and Data — Does the Tail Wag the Dog? Part B
Summary: A continuation of the last post which explores the relationship between testing, the data it collects, and the legitimate role and limits of both in school reform. Already the digital data perspective has altered how we think of and … Continue reading
School Reform: Testing and Data — Does the Tail Wag the Dog? Part A
Summary: Testing and the data collection it produces can be a useful tool in school reform, but serious question persists that in this forest it is too easy to lose perspective, and end up magnifying testing results beyond their legitimate … Continue reading
School Reform: The Education of a Reformer
Summary: In an echo of assertions in recent posts that school district leaders need to listen deeply into the ranks in their effort to reform failing schools, we take a look at the current arrival point of the career of … Continue reading
Posted in School Bureaucracy, School Reform, Schools and Politics
Tagged administrative style, communication in schools, empowering teachers, flat oranizations, Michelle Rhee, relationships in schools, school leadership, school reform, StudentsFirst, superintendent style, teachers' unions
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Schools, Bureaucracy, and Politics: Parent Power and Teacher Professionalism
Summary: Restiveness by parents in Los Angeles and teachers in Seattle reflects the tendency of educational bureaucracies to ignore voices from the grass roots level. Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles is poster child to the desperate academic struggle in … Continue reading
Posted in School Bureaucracy, School Reform, Schools and Politics
Tagged administrative style, at risk students, communication in schools, Crenshaw High School, empowering teachers, Garfield High School teacher boycott, low-income students, MAP testing, parent power, school reform, teacher morale, teacher professionalism
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School Reform: “Finnish Lessons”
Summary: Some characteristics of Finnish school reform give perspective to similar American efforts to change, particularly in the autonomy granted to teachers, the trust of whom is grounded in rigorous preparation and a successful lure of top students into the … Continue reading
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