We should never accept the idea that organizations can’t strive for continuous improvement, but perhaps is it reasonable to wonder, do we need to fund alternatives to the existing system – is that the most efficient way to ensure every child gets a great education?
If one part of the federal government cannot design and run a big computer system, how is another able to collect records of millions of conversations had by citizens of friendly countries and even snoop on their politicians? – The Economist, November 2, 2013 The central irony of the age in which we live is…
Back in college, I enrolled in courses on California history and California literature during the same quarter. It was a pretty good case study of how literature reflects history. And, perhaps, vice versa… the name of this state, after all, derives from a circa 1510 Spanish story about a fictional paradise. People have come here…
In many ways, a school built today contains many similarities with a school built 100 years ago. The idealized school is on a grassy campus, almost park-like, somewhat set back from the road in a somewhat walkable suburb. It’s distinguishing feature is probably its football stadium! But downtown San Diego offers a glimpse of the…
Some say that truly successful people are those who are willing to invest their time – and perhaps money – to pursue long-term goals. Long term goals require a certain amount of delayed gratification. Take the high school student who stays in to study so he can get into a good college so he can…
Dusting off the blog to give a few thoughts on the Mad Men finale. A few caveats: I stayed up way to late to read recaps and reviews, so I don’t know if I have many truly original thoughts. You simply must read Tom & Lorenzo’s “Mad Style” recap. They do such a great job.…
I’m part of a team that studies District-Charter Collaboration Compacts. How well are these agreements working? They’ve fostered increased goodwill, but that may not be enough. A refresh and refocus is needed for Compacts to achieve their original goal: improving education for all kids in a city by sharing resources and responsibility across sectors.
There are lots of provocative ideas in this blog post discussing a new book from John Abbott, director of the 21st Century Learning Initiative, but I was most struck by this sentence: “disaffection with the education system reflects a much deeper societal malaise.” I’ve never been a fan of the idea that our country has been in…
What is the essence of the American Dream? A house, two cars, and 2.3 children that will grow up to live a better, more fulfilling live than you did? This dream seems beyond the grasp for many Americans in the wake of the Great Recession and a global economy that appears to help stratify the…
In a conversation about education reform recently, someone asked me about the focus on test scores and whether that resulted in entirely too much class time on “test prep”. I think it is a risk, to be sure, that “test prep” will consume instruction. But I think several trends mitigate this risk. For one thing,…
“For me it’s like common sense, but it’s actually revolutionary,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan when asked recently about California’s new Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). LCFF represents the conclusion of a several-year effort to fundamentally rethink the way that California provides funding to schools. As Secretary Duncan indicates, LCFF starts with a fairly simple…
California Governor Jerry Brown is sticking to his bold “Local Control Funding Formula” (LCFF). It’s been interesting to see that push back is coming primarily from Democratic legislators, primarily based on the idea that it would be more “fair” if the state increased the base grant for all students, rather than provide so much supplemental funding,…
In baseball, as in life, it would be foolish to suggest that money isn’t important. But adding more expensive players to the payroll is no guarantee of success. How much a team spends is not as important as what they do on the field, using the players they’ve got. School districts, like baseball teams, need the kind of leaders that can make a dollar go a long way.
Sean Robert Gill 