Monday, March 19, 2012

Best Questions: Good Schools — Whole Child Education

Best Questions: Good Schools — Whole Child Education:


Best Questions: Good Schools

Despite the rumors, school improvement is hard. It's not about a single passionate leader. It's not about "fixing" teachers and teaching or parents and parenting. It's not about poverty. It's not about money. And it's not about standards. It's about all of them. And more.
In this column, I'll take on the real deal of school improvement—for all schools, not just certain kinds. And for all kids. Because it's not about quick fixes or checking off the instant strategy of the moment. It's about saying, "Yes, and...", not "Yes, but..."; no matter what our circumstances are. It's about asking ourselves the best questions.
One of the great ironies of public opinion research on education is that everyone rates the school with which they are most familiar as good and "all those other schools" as bad. Turns out, there is just a smidge of truth to that notion. There are, in fact, good schools everywhere. They exist in every state, province, and country, in every