Blog — Education

Posted 4/16/12 by Common Good

America the Fixable: The Culture of ‘Can’t’ in American Schools

There is too much focus on what "can't be done" to improve America's schools and not enough on what "can" be done. So argue Frederick Hess and Whitney Downs of the American Enterprise Institute in the latest installment of "America the Fixable".

Hess and Downs contend that resourceful principals and school boards can often take control of their schools despite obstacles posed by outdated laws, senseless regulations, and burdensome contracts. Unfortunately, they say, "in selecting, training, socializing, and rewarding leaders, we do not equip or encourage them to lead.'"

A school system can only work as well as the people who run it. "Happily, across the country there are examples of determined state chiefs, principals, superintendents, and school boards who are ready to stop getting pushed around. In Sacramento, many low-performing 'turnaround' schools have been staffed with bright young teachers," write Hess and Dunn. "The problem: California is one state where state law meant these teachers would be the first to go during layoffs. Rather than play the victim, researcher Heather Zavadsky reports that the district figured out a work-around. The superintendent battled with the union, negotiating a deal which stipulated 'that if a teacher had been specifically selected for a turnaround school, and the district could document that the training was different and specific, then the teachers would not be subjected to seniority-based layoff.'"

Read Hess and Downs' full article here.

"America the Fixable" is an online magazine collaboration between The Atlantic and Common Good. It provides a bipartisan forum for the presentation of bold, new ideas to reform America's governmental and legal system--ideas that need to be part of the 2012 debate.

Posted 4/11/12 by Common Good

America the Fixable: How to Rebuild No Child Left Behind

New Jersey Representative Rob Andrews, the latest contributor to our “America the Fixable” series, believes the No Child Left Behind Act should be mended, not ended.

Andrews argues that the law “has helped close the achievement gap between minority students and white students, decrease the high school dropout rate, and help many schools realize their true potential. But,” he says, “the law is outdated and fails to fully address our students' --and our nation's--educational needs.”

Andrews proposes three changes to the No Child Left Behind Act:

• We must implement a longitudinal data method to measure success.
• Special education students should have individual and personalized standards for progress.
• We need a better system to measure progress for English learners.

See the complete reform proposal here.

"America the Fixable" is an online magazine collaboration between The Atlantic and Common Good. It provides a bipartisan forum for the presentation of bold, new ideas to reform America's governmental and legal system--ideas that need to be part of the 2012 debate.

Posted 4/10/12

America the Fixable: Picking Up the Pieces of No Child Left Behind

In the latest “America the Fixable” essay, American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten explains how America should move past the shortcomings of the No Child Left Behind Act and why we should embrace proven strategies for rehabilitating American schools.

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Posted 4/10/12 by Common Good

America the Fixable: How Expanding Student Rights Undermined Public Schooling

Richard Arum, director of the Education Research Program of the Social Science Research Council, worries that the legal environment of our public schools makes it harder for teachers to maintain order in the classroom. In an article for “America the Fixable,” Arum argues that what began as an effort to improve students’ rights has become an obstacle to good teaching.

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Posted 4/10/12 by Common Good

America the Fixable: How Micromanaging Educators Stifles Reform

Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America, believes that micromanaging teachers and principals keeps them from doing their jobs. As part of our ongoing series, “America the Fixable”, she writes that “we've built an education system based on our distrust of educators, and we didn't rethink it when we embraced accountability.”

“For years, well-intentioned policy makers have attempted to safeguard children by micromanaging principals and teachers through mandates and process requirements,” says Kopp. “Our education policies are a patchwork of thousands of top-down regulations that tie educators' hands rather than empowering them with the freedom over how they run their schools and classrooms.”

Kopp envisions a new system based on empowering teachers instead of handcuffing them. She cites the New Orleans charter school example, crediting it with “increasing autonomy along with accountability.” She argues that the New Orleans approach has “become a magnet for mission-driven educators who are drawn to the freedom to innovate and focus on essential work.”

Read the rest of Kopp’s article here.

"America the Fixable" is an online magazine collaboration between The Atlantic and Common Good. It provides a bipartisan forum for the presentation of bold, new ideas to reform America's governmental and legal system--ideas that need to be part of the 2012 debate.

Posted 4/4/12 by Common Good

America the Fixable: Why School Principals Need More Authority

Chester Finn, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, knows a thing or two about making schools work better. In the latest installment of "America the Fixable", Finn shows how restricting the authority of school principals ultimately hurts students.

Under the current system, explains Finn, educational leaders have all of the responsibility but none of the power. Allowing principals to act like CEOs may foster a more efficient system. "If we don't give principals the authority to do their jobs," he writes, "we are going to have few competent leaders for our schools, which means we're not going to have many effective schools or well-educated children tomorrow."

Read the rest of Finn's article here.

"America the Fixable" is an online magazine collaboration between The Atlantic and Common Good. It provides a bipartisan forum for the presentation of bold, new ideas to reform America's governmental and legal system--ideas that need to be part of the 2012 debate.

Posted 4/3/12 by Common Good

The 1-minute intro to Common Good’s Start Over campaign

The basics of Common Good's Start Over campaign--in just one minute!

Posted 4/3/12 by Common Good

America the Fixable: Push the reset button on school bureaucracy

This month, "America the Fixable" takes a new look at our schools and the bureaucratic tangles that hold them back.

Opening the discussion, Philip K. Howard writes that "America's schools are being crushed under decades of legislative and union mandates. They can never succeed until we cast off the bureaucracy and unleash individual inspiration and willpower."

In his essay "To Fix America's Education Bureaucracy, We Need to Destroy It," Howard writes: "Schools are human institutions. Their effectiveness depends upon engaging the interest and focus of each student. A good teacher, studies show, can dramatically improve the learning of students. What do great teachers have in common? Nothing, according to studies -- nothing, that is, except a commitment to teaching and a knack for keeping the students engaged...."

Visit The Atlantic to read the full article.

"America the Fixable" is an online magazine collaboration between The Atlantic and Common Good. It provides a bipartisan forum for the presentation of bold, new ideas to reform America's governmental and legal system--ideas that need to be part of the 2012 debate.

Posted 2/1/12 by Common Good

Providence Journal: One Size Does Not Fit All

The Providence Journal recently published the following editorial criticizing a proposed state law against student texting. As the editors argue, the question isn't whether the law is good policy--it's whether a one-size-fits-all approach prevents independent schools from using common sense to solve their own unique problems.

Another unneeded mandate

Red tape and mandates continue to swamp Rhode Island’s local communities, as part of America’s propensity to turn everything into a law.

This year, state Rep. Peter Petrarca seeks a state law dictating to local schools a policy on student texting, even though many (most?) schools already have their own policies on cell-phone use. And Sen. John Tassoni, who last year failed to pass a statewide ban on students using cell phones during school hours, wants a similar bill in the Senate.

Are they acting this way so that they can boast to constituents they are doing something at the State House? There are far more pressing issues for our elected officials to confront, such as continuing services for the most needy, dealing with unsustainable spending on public-employee benefits and improving public education and one of America’s worst business climates (caused in part by excessive red tape).

According to Mr. Petrarca, studies indicate that 40 percent of students acknowledge that they text during class, and politicians may be able to win over some voters by boasting they are doing something about that scary statistic.

In the real world, though, such mandates add burdens to our already struggling cities and towns, which must enforce them. And it is by no means clear that a one-size-fits-all state policy would work better than individual districts’ efforts to control the problem. Districts, after all, are there on the ground, fighting cell-phone misuse first-hand. It’s their responsibility.

Rather than impose more unessential mandates, the General Assembly should focus on getting rid of some of the costly mandates that exist.

Posted 9/29/11 by Common Good

Today’s Read: Washington Post on a Case of Rules Trumping Results

The Washington Post editorialized today that a Montgomery, MD, elementary school’s longstanding and successful exercise program—that was shut down after administrators became concerned that it might violate the district’s ethics policy—should be allowed to restart. (You can read more about the program and the bureaucratic absurdity it’s currently facing in this earlier Washington Post op-ed by district parent Morris Panner.)

The paper writes of district parents’ request to Montgomery Superintendent Joshua Starr to reinstate the program: “Let’s hope Mr. Starr has the sense to encourage a program of proven worth. Indeed, unless he’s more interested in the rule book than in results, he ought to be looking for ways to replicate this successful model at other schools throughout Montgomery.”

Read the editorial in full and leave your feedback in the comments section below.