Blazing New Trails - Connexions

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12 LIVING LEGEND (PACE) issued a scathing report based on a national study of charter schools. The study found: The nation’s ballooning number of charter schools rely heavily on uncredentialed teachers, fail to acquire federal monies intended to aid low-achieving or disabled children, and display the same finance disparities that beset public schools… . Charter schools display Spartan staff mixes, where the average teacher instructs more than 20 percent more students each day than teachers in regular schools. (PACE, 2003, p. 1) Despite the deficiencies in charter schools found by this study, the movement continued to grow. I have seen no study to indicate that the results of the 2003 study made a difference. The Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University (CREDO) issued a report in June 2009 of a study of charter schools in 16 states and the District of Columbia. This study focused on results and outcomes. The study reveals that a decent fraction of charter schools, 17 percent, provide superior opportunities for their students. Nearly half of the charter schools have results that are no different from the local public schools and over a third, 37 percent, deliver learning results that are significantly worse than their students would have realized had they remained in traditional public schools. (CREDO, 2009, p. 1) Clearly these data do not provide compelling evidence that charter schools are the “answer.” Still, that the charter schools apparently ignore information like this adds to my paranoia and fuels my suspicion of sinister motives among many of our education policy makers. Clearly, the competition model is not “the” solution to America’s education problems. Simply changing the legal basis for providing schooling is not a reasonable answer. If it were, then we should change the legal basis for all schools. I am reminded of an observation attributed to H.L. Mencken, “For every human problem, there is a solution which is simple, neat and wrong.” From my perspective, the market-based “solution” to American education is just such a solution. CONCLUSION We work in academic departments with the title of “leadership” attached to them. It is my observation that we talk a lot about leadership, but as individuals we could do a lot more leading. I suggest that leadership is inherent in each of our specific assignments—not only to talk about it, but also to do it. So, let’s exert leadership by pushing for changes in institutional culture that recognizes the value of work with schools. Let’s exert leadership in developing programs that not only entail completion of coursework, but also help to assure competence among our graduates. Let’s exert leadership in exposing bankrupt notions like market-based enrollment for what they really are—bankrupt notions! I began these remarks by referring to Plato. Let me conclude in the same manner. Socrates speaks: …we cannot avoid adopting the belief, that the real nature of education is at variance with the account given by certain of its professors, who pretend, I believe, to infuse
Shadows and Images II 13 into the mind a knowledge of which it was destitute, just as sight might be instilled into blind eyes. (Davies & Vaughn, 1910, pp. 239–240) Let’s recognize shadows and images for what they really are and not confuse them with reality. REFERENCES Canfield-Davis, K. (2010, April). How 14 days in Fresno have shaken my beliefs. The School Administrator. 36– 37. Center for Research on Educational Outcomes (CREDO). 2009. Charter school performance in 16 states. Retrieved from http//www. credo.stanford.edu Davies, J., & Vaughan, D. (1910). The republic of Plato. <strong>New</strong> York: Macmillan Company. Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE). 2003. Pace issues scathing report of charter schools. Retrieved from http//www. stanford education(charter schools).
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Page 3 and 4: NCPEA EXECUTIVE BOARD 2010-2011 Pre
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Page 38 and 39: 24 INVITED CHAPTERS CONCLUSION This
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Special Education Director Burnout
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Superintendent Decision-making and
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CRITICAL ISSUES IN CRITICAL ISSUES
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Administrative Functions The Admini
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The Administration of Special Educa
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CRITICAL ISSUES IN PROMOTING ACADEM
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The Effective Practices and Beliefs
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Creating Shared Meaning in High Per
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Name Exton Gateway Experiences with
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Part 5 CRITICAL ISSUES IN EDUCATION
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