A More Excellent Way

If you haven't read it yet, run--don't walk--to check out Marc Fisher's Washington Post article on how a high-needs, failing school in Maryland remade itself into a successful learning environment for children through collaboration, hard work, and good old-fashioned caring. Fisher contrasts this approach to that of D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Claus vonZastrow over at Public School Insights picks up on the glaring contrast with a compelling analysis of his own.

Cooperation is a welcome and refreshing change from the confrontational battles over ed reform that have dominated both policy discussions and media for some time. Personally, I know of more troubled schools that have been "turned around" through people coming together and really putting the interests of the students first, than through the scorched earth approach of some high-profile educational and political leaders.

I am reminded of a particular elementary school some years ago in my hometown. Located in one of the worst, most drug infested areas of the city, the academic program was nonexistant; the only constant was survival. Then the parents, teachers, and administrators of that school banded together and decided to take their school back. In a few short years, it became a model school with one of the strongest educational programs not only in the state but the nation. The key was refusing to continue the blame game, and instead focusing on what needed to be done, by recognizing and utilizing the talents and resources that were already available.

Similarly, I worked at a high-poverty rural high school that had nearly collapsed academically and organizationally. The principal, assistant principal, and guidance counselor all quit two months before the end of a horrendous school year. When I arrived there the next fall, along with a team of new administrators, we found that what was holding the school together was a core of dedicated veteran teachers who, along with the school's parents, simply refused to give up on the students. By listening closely to them and building on the foundation they had established, the school soon reached, and gradually surpassed, state proficiency standards. More important, the community and the students regained pride and respect for their school.

Such approaches to successful reform require mutal respect among the key shareholders of the school: students, parents, teachers, administrators, support personnel, and political leaders.What's wrong with starting our reform efforts by expecting that all children can learn? That most parents love their children and are doing as much as they can or know to help them succeed? Or that the majority of teachers are professionals who care about students and want them to excel? A school reform effort grounded in these expectations can generate the cohesion and trust needed for significant and sustainable improvement.

Perhaps our schools are less in need of a purge and more in need of revival.

1 Corinthians 13:13

Comments

[Ariel Sacks]

An inspiring piece. This is a great reminder of what probably matters most in teaching coming to me as I am fore-head high in ELA test prep. (12 days to go).

[Nancy Flanagan]

Thanks for yet another take on the Fisher article. It truly was an inspiring story. What was interesting to me was number of people who pushed back against clear evidence of what it takes to move a school forward: caring teachers working together and a systematic plan to address things that aren't going well. There were echoes of "you have to have a team of people who are in it for the long run"--and that flies in the face of "we can just hire smart temps."

Did you read the second, followup piece on the school in D.C.?

[TeachMoore]

Thanks for pointing me to the Fisher article to start with, Nancy. I did read the follow-up piece, but thought it begged the question he raises in the beginning. The staff are trying to work together to accomplish important things for the students, but couldn't that have been done without breathing threats? There are teachers in DCPS who have long wanted the freedom to do the things described here, but were actually prevented by the school system which now wants to make them the culprits. Still don't see the need for this adversarial approach to people who have been hanging on in DC Public when nobody else cared.