A case study of Avalon School and several other teacher-led schools in the Midwest. These schools use resources differently than traditional district schools, use a different praxis of teaching, and divide authority and responsibility differently—including assigning responsibility for learning to the students.
Today's youth are more different from each other and from previous generations than at any time in history. The nation's still standardized model of learning isn't working for nearly half of them. Customizing learning opportunities will. And today's fast-changing technology platform already shows how effective on-line and computer-centric learning can be – and how it changes the role of educators in amazing ways.
Albert Shanker and Ray Budde had the 'charter' idea early. Minnesota got it into law; seeing 'charter' not as a kind of school but as a platform for developing different schools. Use this timeline to learn more about the progress of the chartering idea.
E|E's Ted Kolderie explains why sound policy requires true innovation, followed by “continuous improvement”. The two must exist together; we may not be able to afford a 'monoculture' in education policy.
Carrie Bakken, member of a teacher professional partnership (TPP) that runs Avalon High School in Saint Paul, Minnesota, met with Duncan to describe how the TPP arrangement improves school conditions for teachers and students. She argued that when teachers are put in charge, very different types of schools emerge, and today’s issues around tenure, compensation, and teacher evaluation are resolved.
Policymakers, in revising ESEA, should think of strategy as a "split screen". The only realistic approach is to pursue our differing goals at the same time. K-12 education must improve both its performance and its economics. It must work concurrently for equity and for excellence. It must improve traditional school while encouraging innovation beyond traditional school.
The 2009 Minnesota Legislature passed new "site-governed school" legislation, which provides school boards a "charter-like" option. A district board may approve "site-governed schools," which are provided significant autonomy and flexibility to develop new models of schools in exchange for greater accountability.
The total cost of the education system is rising at about 5 to 8 percent per year. If schools are not at the same time increasing "performance" or "productivity," their real cost to the public is increasing. This relationship is not sustainable. To reconcile this problem, schools will need to be designed differently.
Clayton Christensen, business professor at Harvard Business School, says: Improvement requires states to make room for disruptive innovation in public education.
