Tasks and Expectations matter

Published by in edtech, leadership on November 28th, 2005

“Rigor and Relevance” are buzzwords for Willard Dagget and the focus of the “Rigor/Relevance Framework” developed by Daggett and others at his International Center for Leadership in Education. Organizations like Daggett’s and others like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are passionately interested in helping positively reform education (both public and private) in the U.S. and around the world. This is a complex, multifaceted issue, and one of vital importance to us all. I think Daggett is on the right track in encouraging teachers and educational leaders to focus on “rigor and relevance” as key ingredients of the school environments all students deserve and many communities desperately need. (Those that don’t have these schools already.)

I was involved in a Gates funded project in 2001-2004 in various capacities, including videography for the Texas Technology Leadership Academy. More recently, funding from the Gates foundation has shifted to funding the “small schools” movement, and to date, I have not been personally involved in any of these projects. In the future, however, I think I want to be. An excellent resource about the small schools philosophy and research is the School ReDesign Network based at Stanford University. Interestingly, none of the “Ten Features of Effective [School] Design” include direct references to technology. The book “10 Features of Effective Design” is available as a free 75 page eBook in PDF format.

A new report publicized on November 16, 2005 entitled: “Gates High Schools Get Mixed Review in Study“, included the following finding:

Among the most disheartening findings of that analysis—and one the researchers said also applied to comparison schools in their study that do not receive Gates support—was the lack of rigor in teacher assignments and student work, especially in math.

The article went on to describe the “Mixed Results And Indefinite Conclusions” of the study:

An evaluation of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s national high school initiative finds that schools started or redesigned with the philanthropy’s support are achieving mixed early results in student performance, school climate, and academic expectations. Researchers stress, however, that achievement data are too limited to draw definitive conclusions.

High quality, passionate teachers with high expectations for student learning and performance are the most important keys to successful educational reforms of any type. I am not citing research here, that is just my opinion.

I found the last part of the article discussing the shifted focus of Gates grant funding to be very interesting. The Big Picture Company and KIPP: Knowledge is Power Program were mentioned as promising school reform projects. I had not previously heard of the book “The Big Picture: Education Is Everyone’s Business” by Dennis Littky and Samantha Grabelle, but it sounds from the description it is right in line with the educational reform philosophy to which I subscribe and for which I am an unashamed evangelist.

On this day..

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