Thompson: Turnarounds Need Trust
I
t's sad that Secretary Duncan misstates the facts regarding schools that turn themselves around while keeping the same kids in the same building.
It would be tragic if he did not adjust the ESEA Blueprint based on the facts of Organizing Schools for Improvement, the study from Chicago that lays out the importance of trust and effective professional development in fixing schools.
Had the Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCRS) just published its data on elementary reform efforts in 1992, they could have mistakenly concluded that improved schools faced the same socio-economic challenges as schools that stagnated, as well as perpetuate the misconception that leadership, teacher quality, and "expectations" or instructional "push" were the keys to improvement.
A two decade-long intensive focus on the schools that stagnated, however, showed that they had higher rates of poverty and racial isolation (often above 90% for both metrics), served neighborhoods with higher crime rates
It would be tragic if he did not adjust the ESEA Blueprint based on the facts of Organizing Schools for Improvement, the study from Chicago that lays out the importance of trust and effective professional development in fixing schools.
Had the Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCRS) just published its data on elementary reform efforts in 1992, they could have mistakenly concluded that improved schools faced the same socio-economic challenges as schools that stagnated, as well as perpetuate the misconception that leadership, teacher quality, and "expectations" or instructional "push" were the keys to improvement.
A two decade-long intensive focus on the schools that stagnated, however, showed that they had higher rates of poverty and racial isolation (often above 90% for both metrics), served neighborhoods with higher crime rates