Reforming Schools
Recently I attended an education “summit” in Washington, D.C. hosted by former governor of Florida, Jeb Bush. The conference brought education reformers together from twenty states to discuss what works and what doesn’t in efforts to improve the quality of teaching and learning in the United States. I was encouraged by what I heard. Schools can improve, and some of the most dramatic turnarounds can be found in the most difficult areas.
Governor Bush made it clear: we are in an “educational arms race” in our globalized world. The United States will only remain on the economic cutting edge if we can educate our young people for the knowledge-based jobs of the future. We must succeed or find ourselves falling behind more educated populations.
National leaders discussed a number of ideas for reform at the three-day summit. I was particularly struck by the following:
1. Quality teaching is the key to learning. Attracting quality teachers and keeping them in the classroom is priority one.
2. What gets measured gets done. Good data is essential to school improvement. Schools must set high standards and measure individual student progress.
3. Teachers and administrators should be paid for performance. We can measure quality teaching. Excellence should be well compensated. Teachers and administrators should be rewarded for their output (educated students) rather than their inputs (graduate degrees, certifications and professional development classes).
4. Set policy to benefit the children, not the adults. Educators often set policies that benefit the adults in the education system rather than the children being educated. The question asked of every new policy should be, “Will children benefit?” not “Will adults be comfortable?”
5. Follow the money. Find out where the money is spent. Focus resources on classroom instruction and not administration.
6. Provide parents with school choices. Competition among traditional public schools, magnet schools and charter schools will push everyone to higher levels of achievement.
7. Be open with parents. Publish test scores and financial information on every school in an easy-to-read format so parents can make informed choices for their children.
8. Education “delivery systems” are changing. Technology is changing the way we educate our children. More content will be delivered to our students via the internet and less in traditional classrooms. We need to use technology to meet the individual needs of our students. One size no longer fits all.
9. Education is the best way to escape poverty. The best thing we can do for impoverished areas is to give them first-class schools.
We all know South Carolina schools need to be reformed. If we do things the way we have always done them, nothing will change. If we are open to new ways of doing things, we can establish a world-class education system of which we can all be proud.
John B. Cook said:
Brent,
Yes; that quote really defines contemporary education in America: The definition of insanity, “Always doing what we’ve always done and expecting a different outcome.” We seldom learn.
October 27th, 2009 at 4:27 am
Bill Conley said:
When you say not to compensate depending on degrees of professional development, how do teachers who have older ways of teaching that aren’t working learn how improve. Incentives are necessary to encourage teachers to improve. Just to tell teachers to do better or increase scores, which is how we determine success in learning, doesn’t help. As a teacher you know that each year brings a different dynamic in the classroom. You have years that you get classes that excel and others that don’t have any interest whatsoever. We need to hold all who are involved in the educational process accountable. This includes administrators, students, and parents. Many times we blame teachers and only hold them accountable. Anyone in the public system knows the difficulties in trying to educate students that come with extreme baggage to school. Wealthier districts have an easier time, because of the supportive background at home. I do agree we need to hold teachers accountable for improvement in student’s education. The incentives should be tied to improvements and not comparative numbers. If we use incentives for teachers to learn best practices that actually work in the classroom from other successful teachers, that would be a good way to spend money.
I heard you and talked to you at the Beacon in Spartanburg. I was impressed and agree with your view on improving education within our public system instead of focusing on encouraging to get students to leave it.
February 1st, 2010 at 10:29 am
Mark Alan Peter, MA, MA said:
How to feel about the “Put Parents in Charge” legislation and a statewide vouchers program?
February 6th, 2010 at 4:18 pm