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Testing Wags the Dog and Other Tales of Unintended Consequence
Summary: Testing in schools has taken its impetus from corporate measurement, and has a place. But the steps taken to assess skills have altered classroom chemistry and in the end may have retarded the very progress the tools have been … Continue reading
School Culture: The “Disagreeable Giver” and the Culture of Continuous Improvement
Summary: Can evidence of successful leadership style in the corporate world be transplanted to schools and kick start a culture of continuous improvement? Do nice guys and gals finish last and ultimately assholes prevail in the race to the mantle … Continue reading
Charter Schools: The Search for the Golden Mean
Summary: After lagging behind other parts of the country in establishing charter schools, the state of Washington is poised to enter the arena after enabling legislation was passed via a recent initiative. An article in the Seattle Times which explores … Continue reading
Posted in Charter Schools, Schools and Politics
Tagged at risk students, charter schools, education and politics, fiscal impact charter schoools, Green Dot Public Schools, Initiative 1240 Washington State, low-income students, school bureaucracy, school reform, teaching culture, UCLA education research
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School Reform: Once Again A Tale of Teacher Power
Summary: Amid the relative merits of “direct instruction” and “inquiry” approaches to curriculum, a narrative emerges that suggests teacher empowerment may be the more important variable. In the ongoing assault on school dysfunction, debate rages between those who advocate “direct … Continue reading
School Reform: Testing and Mistaking the Forest for the Trees
Summary: The struggles in our schools will not be won by resort to more standardized testing, but by a recommitment to the central role of the teacher in the classroom. The stories of impactful teachers are legion; the myth of … Continue reading
School Reform: The Finnish Reinvention of Teaching — A Tale of Revolution in Culture
Summary: A central feature in the successful reform of Finnish schools has been the placement of teachers at center stage, as professionals on a social par with doctors and lawyers, and with autonomous responsibility for the academic growth of their … 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 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: “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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