Reform isn't rocket science

Why does so much reform produce so little change? asks Jack Schneider in a post on the Answer Sheet blog in The Washington Post. His answer is that most observers see fixing schools as more like baking brownies than launching a rocket: "Mix one good teacher with a solid curriculum; stir in a few books; add a pinch of snazzy technology; and bake for 180 days." What could be so hard? But unlike working educators, most leaders of reform have never taught a five-period day, felt the joy of an unquantifiable classroom victory, lost instructional time to a standardized test, or been evaluated by a computer. And unlike students targeted by reform, most policy elites have not gone to school hungry, struggled to understand English, battled low expectations, or feared for their personal safety on the walk home. Because reformers believe school reform is simple, they are untroubled by their lack of familiarity with educational research, test construction, cut scores, or measurement error. Most are not versed in literature on cognition, memory, or motivation. And most have never understood schools from an anthropological or historical perspective. Most issues facing public education are dilemmas rather than problems, Schneider says, the difference being that whereas problems can be solved, dilemmas can only be managed. Educating kids isn't rocket science. It's harder. More

Source:  Public Education News Blast

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Los Angeles Education Partnership (LAEP) is an education support organization that works as a collaborative partner in high-poverty communities.