Tough Choices for Tough Times

It's been quite a while since my last post. Life has been busy. I promised that I would summarize The New Commission on the Skills of The American workforce. The summary can be found at http://www.skillscommission.org/index.htm

While the commission has painted a grim picture of how America will be left behind in a global economy if drastic changes aren't made, I'm not convinced that as a country we would let that happen. That being said, there are merits to some of the recommendations.

1. Assume that we will do the job right the first time: This refers to the graduation rates at institutions of higher education. As school leaders, we have always insisted while there should be a minimum level of competence in our students, our country is not "one size fits all" and there is the assumption that every individual must attend college. There are many alternative paths where people can and will be successful. This is not to say that a college education wouldn't help you get further in a global economy but it may be presumptuous to think you will never be successful without a college education.

2. Make much better use and efficiency of resources. I do believe we need to be more efficient in use and availability of resources. Why should 700 school districts all align curriculum to the state standards? Why should 700 schools develop parallel assessments to the state assessment? Why should 700 schools seek best practices in a given curriculum? All this should be provided to schools. It is not necessary for us all to recreate the wheel. At the same time, if someone has found a way to do it better and more efficiently, there should be a vehicle to share that information.

3. Recruit from the top third of the high school graduates going on to college for the next generation of school teachers. I completely agree that we need to do a better job of recruiting potential teachers into the field. As educators, we may very well see future teachers and should encourage those students that teaching is a viable career path. However, I don't believe that their is a shortage of teachers because people don't want to teach anymore. Personally, issues of violence in urban schools, salary and a system continuously under public criticism are facts that contribute to the lack of new teachers coming into the field. Lets face it, money does talk and if one can be an engineer driving the BMW, house in the suburbs, 1.2 children and a dog...........After all, isn't THAT the "American Dream"?

4. Develop standards, assessments, and curriculum that reflect today's needs and tomorrow's requirements. While I believe in the standards movement wholeheartedly, I do have many concerns regarding how and what we assess in state assessments. We are still asking students (for the most part) to produce previously learned facts. Critical skills is one of the most important skills identified by colleges and employers as a skill lacking in high school graduates. We need to teach critical skills analysis and then find a way for students to demonstrate those skills.

5. Create high performance schools and districts everywhere - how the system should be governed, financed, organized, and managed. School boards as we know them would no longer exist. New York State has charter schools "competing" with public schools and communities where resources are generous. We do need to find a way to improve resources in urban schools but it is not a reason to blow up the entire system. The commission also refers to a "board" that would oversee schools. I would be concerned who the makeup of that "board" would consist of.

6. Provide high-quality, universal early childhood education. Few will argue that quality preschool programs would benefit many students. That being said, there are many students that come to school well prepared because of their socio-economic status and experiences. I know many parents of such children would be opposed to mandatory preschool. Parents should be able to provide alternatives to formalized preschool programs.

7. Give strong support to the students who need it most. I do believe that all schools try to provide the best they can for their students with the resources they have. In my opinion, this comes back to equity, best practices and quality teachers.

The points made can be found in the executive summary- I encourage you to read it. While this document is supposed to be so important with a strong imperative, you must purchase the entire report if you want to read it. The report can be purchased through amazon. The commentary in this post are my reactions and opinions. I welcome anyone that would like to engage in such discussion. I do believe there are many things that we can do to improve America's schools. I do not feel that all is lost and that all schools are failing.