Sunday, December 23, 2012

Why Do Smart People Do Dumb Things? Thinking about School Reform | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Why Do Smart People Do Dumb Things? Thinking about School Reform | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice:


Why Do Smart People Do Dumb Things? Thinking about School Reform

Examples are legion. Recall President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. Or Director of the Central Intelligence Agency David Petraeus resigning over extra-marital affair. Or shrewd investors in Bernard Madoff’s company losing their financial shirts.
Switch to education and consider El Paso (TX) Superintendent Lorenzo Garcia who went to jail for inflating student test scores and giving a no-bid contract to his mistress.
OK, Larry, you made your point. People with smarts, power, and position caved in to their impulses. They did dumb things.
Actually, I want to go beyond that self-evident point made elsewhere and say that very smart educational