Education Week: A Dropout's Guide to Education Reform:
"It’s a telling commentary about education reform that just about everyone has been given a forum to talk about ways to address the country’s appalling dropout rate except the dropouts themselves. I say this unabashedly, because I was an urban high school dropout myself. And after much research on the subject, I can tell you firsthand why it happens and how to fix it.
Charter schools, vouchers, smaller class sizes, and standardized testing are definitely not the answer, as they will not make real, systemic change. Until reformers start listening to the students who have dropped out or are currently failing, their attempts to reform schools also will fail.
The first thing to understand is that many students feel school simply does not matter. I, like most of my classmates, thought I would one day become a sports or entertainment star—and you don’t need to know algebra to shoot three-pointers or rap. Once educators understand this fundamental concept—that we don’t care about school—they can..."
"It’s a telling commentary about education reform that just about everyone has been given a forum to talk about ways to address the country’s appalling dropout rate except the dropouts themselves. I say this unabashedly, because I was an urban high school dropout myself. And after much research on the subject, I can tell you firsthand why it happens and how to fix it.
Charter schools, vouchers, smaller class sizes, and standardized testing are definitely not the answer, as they will not make real, systemic change. Until reformers start listening to the students who have dropped out or are currently failing, their attempts to reform schools also will fail.
The first thing to understand is that many students feel school simply does not matter. I, like most of my classmates, thought I would one day become a sports or entertainment star—and you don’t need to know algebra to shoot three-pointers or rap. Once educators understand this fundamental concept—that we don’t care about school—they can..."
