New Policy Brief Based on Learning from L.A.
PACE (Policy Analysis for California Education) has just issued a new policy brief based on the conclusions in Learning from L.A.: Institutional Change in Public Education. It retraces a little of the historical narrative from the book and introduces the five policy levers we think are necessary to move the District past muddling through permanent […]
Wounding Public School Choice in L.A.
The Los Angeles Unified School District board did serious damage to their Public School Choice plan on Tuesday. They amended Superintendent Ramon Cortines’ recommendations to remove the strongest of the charter school applicants, those that could have been future contenders to take over failing schools. The district has more than 100 schools that have been […]
Learning About Learning Differently
When we finished with Learning from L.A. and The Transformation of Great American School Districts, we came to the crashing insight that almost all the education reform we had seen was about rearranging what adults did. All the reforms had a trickle down assumption, such as, “if teaching became more interesting for teachers, students would […]
For Teacher Unions: Things That Go Bump In The Night
Author: Charles Taylor Kerchner – Two forces will fundamentally change public education and deeply challenge the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. I will describe them, and then, I will pull the long-legged beasties out from under the bed, and try to show that they can, indeed, be your friends. Both these […]
Mindworkers.com is changing
Mindworkers.com is changing. With the help of John Watson and Anja Ross, the web site will be fronted with a blog page. I will share my thoughts on education politics and policy here and invite your comments in the convenient blog fashion. I’ll also provide links to writing that appears in other places. The behind […]