Good articles on educational reform

Two great links from Conn McQuinn in a comment he left on David Warlick’s blog today.

“Change or Die” is a good article in Fast Company about changing people’s perceptions and behavior. This supports my belief and contention that good leadership matters everywhere: in schools, in businesses, in homes. Where are the visionary leaders we need to help reform our educational system for the 21st century? I think many of them they may be right here among us in the blogosphere.

The Philadelphia Daily News’ article “Education infused with technology” about High Tech High in San Diego supports my fervent contention that more standards and accountability are NOT solutions to the challenges facing us in education today.

Admittedly I am getting most of my information about High Tech High from this one news article and the school’s website (and we shouldn’t believe everything we read online)– but given this limitation it sounds like a fantastic school I’d want my own children attending. Can I pay a school a bigger compliment than that? I don’t think so.

I know someone who knows someone working as an administrator at High Tech High in Albuquerque. I considered setting up a skypecast interview with them last semester, this news article about results from High Tech High in San Diego make me think that sounds like an excellent idea for the near future! Look for that in an upcoming podcast. 🙂

I found the following comment in the article by Larry Rosenstock, inventor of High Tech High, particularly thought provoking:

Rosenstock first opposed charter schools, but came to see them as the only way to force change.

“If something is not working, we have to be intellectually honest and change it,” he said. “Here, teachers meet one hour every morning, 180 days a year. In a typical school, they may meet a few afternoons a year. They have no capacity to work for change.”

Scheduling and time are huge issues when it comes to educational reform. I am not a fan of vouchers either, because I don’t think they will ultimately help the least-advantaged students who most likely won’t go to a different school regardless of the options– and THEIR school needs to be reformed too– but I do have sympathy and understanding for people who support vouchers because they see them as our only hope for change. I think pilot programs like High Tech High have great potential to serve as models of effective school reform. I want to learn more about their philosophy and approaches to learning. I would bet High Tech High will be featured at Willard Daggett’s upcoming Model Schools conference in Orlando this summer.

If people like Daggett are really committed to constructively changing the world by helping foment positive educational reforms, shouldn’t they release their ideas as freely downloadable podcasts, instead of making people travel to Orlando AND pay $75 per speech to listen? (Or pay for the videos by ordering them online?) I think so. But then, I’m also an educational revolutionary and a member of the Luddite Literati…..

Dean Shareski’s post from March 2005 on “Preparing Students for our Changing World” will give you a good flavor of the sort of reforms Daggett advocates.

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On this day..

• Political Philosophy and Media Literacy Cornerstones – 2021
• Why Scratch Club? – 2013
• Temporarily Copy Offline YouTube Videos to Your iPad – 2012
• Claim Your Online Content With Google+ Authorship Settings – 2012
• Misleading Article About Oklahoma Lottery Funds Supplanting Education Funds – 2012
• The Power of Social Media Supporting Collaboration and Creativity: #popupschool at #cwf2010 – 2011
• WordPress Plugins for Database Maintenance and Plugin Listing – 2010
• Harry Potter Whiteboard Wands, Responders, and the Palm Pre – 2009
• The MegaVCR: Media and More in Your Pocket – 2007
• Simple Podcasting on a Global Scale – 2007