Publications Issue All Student-Centered Learning DesignsEducator Talent PathwaysOutcomes That MatterAutonomy and Shared Power A Viable High School in a Small Rural District Memo • January 2001 Nontraditional forms of school do exist that are economically and educationally viable at the scale of 120 students. This has huge implications for rural America’s sparsely-settled areas. The trick is to think differently about teaching and learning. An article in the magazine of the superintendents’ association in Minnesota. School Boards and Teachers Have Choices, Too Memo • January 2001 In K-12 policy discussions, “choice” usually implies family choice. But school boards and teachers have options, too. Boards can choose to authorize chartered schools, which may be easier than trying to change their existing schools. And, teachers can choose to form teacher professional partnerships in their schools. The Valley Crossing School as a Precedent for Contracting Memo • April 1999 Three local districts in Minnesota’s metropolitan suburbs share an elementary school didn’t build, don’t own and don’t themselves staff. The Valley Crossing school is a kind of virtual organization; a fascinating case in the use of contracts. Restructuring Our High Schools for the 21st Century: Creating ‘Grade 11-13’ Schools Memo • September 1998 Currently, students are held until 12th grade even if they can move faster. The Minnesota Post-secondary Enrollment Options Program (PSEO) showed that bright high school students can do well with college-level work. The Grade 11-13 model goes even further, restructuring both high school and the first year of college, un-duplicating the curriculum. Essentials of the Charter School Strategy Memo • June 1994 A quick summary of the essentials of the charter idea, written in 1994, is still basically applicable today. It’s a Revenue Game Memo • January 1992 Districts are unable to control their costs, Minnesota superintendents concede. This helps explain a central notion in K-12, that all budget problems are to be solved on the revenue side. Albert Shanker: Reflections on Forty Years in the Profession Memo • January 1991 In this 1991 retrospective, Albert Shanker looks back over 40 years in the profession. He is realistic about the union’s conventional strategy of higher salaries and smaller class size. He looks toward others strategies: differentiated staffing, the individualization of learning through technology, project-based learning, and performance-based assessment. States Will Have to Withdraw the Exclusive Memo • July 1990 Written as Minnesota was in the early stages of thinking about what would a year later become the first chartering law, this paper zeroed in on “the exclusive franchise” as the heart of the K-12 system-problem. No change, no major improvement in learning, was realistically possible, Kolderie said, until the states withdrew the guarantee of success—for the districts and for the people in them—created by the public-utility arrangement traditional in public education. Joe Loftus’ 1988 Proposal for ‘Chartered Schools’ Memo • January 1988 In 1987 the Chicago Teacher’s Union struck for the ninth consecutive time. Joe Loftus proposed a reform idea, but it did not pass. In 1993 he called Minnesota. “What’s this ‘charter schools’ I’m hearing about?”, he asked. “I proposed that in 1988.” Here are the key pages of Joe’s proposal, an interesting case of parallel invention. Leased vs. Owned Departments (And Some Implications for Schools) Memo • December 1987 Teachers, principals, superintendents, union leaders listen to an executive describe how a department store is a combination of ‘owned’ and ‘leased’ departments. Ted Kolderie shares his notes from the discussion. “We could organize a high school like this!” Post navigation ← Previous 1 2 3 4 5 Next → Stay In Touch Get updates, new publications, fresh analysis, and event invitations in your inbox. First Name Last Name Email Address State What do you want to receive? Monthly newsletter (once per month) Blog posts by email (about two per month) See past newsletters in the archive.