It Takes an Educational Village ...
In years past, we used to talk about how it took a village to truly improve public education. It wasn't just up to teachers to do what they do behind the schoolhouse doors between the hours of 8 and 3. Parents needed to take a more active role. Local policymakers needed a greater understanding. Community leaders -- from youth groups to churches -- needed greater connection. And even the business community needed greater focus on skills and outcomes.
Oh, how the times have changed. In our post-NCLB environment, we are now hearing more and more vitriol about those "outside forces" trying to influence what is happening in our public schools. We have rallies and blogs and media coverage on how school improvement should be left exclusively to the trained, certified educators in the system. All others should watch from the sidelines, being told, in the words of Kevin Bacon in Animal House, "Stay calm! All is well!!"
But we know all is not well. From third-grade reading proficiency levels to high school graduation rates and all measures in between, all is not well in our public schools. Yet another generation of students has fallen through
