Deborah Meier on Education

by Arthur Camins, Director, Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education, Stevens Institute of Technology

Current debate about education policy is dominated by several zombie ideas. One idea that should have been dead, but keeps coming back to life is the “government is the problem“-inspired commitment to public disinvestment. The other better left for idea is to distrust educators, but trust tests and markets to improve education. There is a better, third way to improve education: invest and trust.

Some in congress appear determined to abandon any federal role in ensuring equity or quality in education by cutting funds, supporting portability of federal education funds to public or charter schools and underspecifying use of funds through block grants to states. Put into action, these policies will reinvigorate and perpetuate the ugly history of opposing equity under the guise of local control.

Others legislators remain enamored with destructive, evidence-free ideas: Test-driven accountability, competition between public and charter schools, and rewards and sanctions will force teachers and schools to “step up their game,” and produce more equitable student performance.

The Better, Third Way

One feature of a better invest and trust improvement strategy is what education scholars Michael Fullan and Andy Hargreaves call investing in professional capital. That means investing in developing the professional capacity and expertise of the people who teach and operate schools. It also means investing in developing leaders who support success through vision and support, creating learning organizations rather than hierarchical monitoring and compliance regimes.

(to read the rest, link to the original bog at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arthur-camins/the-better-way-to-improve-education-invest_b_6824030.html )