September 2002 — Features

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The Litany

By Dan Holden, Ph.D.

S. schools, we can assume that the current organizational structure is not capable of producing the results we seek. Furthermore, it seems that schools are operating as effectively as they can within their current organizational configurations. So, changes will have to be accomplished by competent teachers and administrators. It has been my experience that technology in the hands of good teachers makes them great. Technology in the hands of incompetent teachers makes them more incompetent. Teachers need the support and leadership of visionary principals who can eliminate barriers that teachers and students face in effectively using technology.

Beyond having a plan and good people to carry it out, parents and communities must be open to change. The Declaration of Independence states "... that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed." Educational reform is OK as long as it happens to the other guy. Reform is OK as long as we don't have to change the way we do things. We will go to great lengths and suffer to avoid change. Even when districts are failing, there is a reluctance to make changes. Only when schools hit rock bottom are communities and parents willing to consider changing their organizational structures. The reluctance of communities to make wholesale changes without piloting and planning is understandable. Frivolous experimentation can be hazardous to learning, but to be so deadlocked as to never attempt to change is equally damaging.

A Fundamental Change

To help communities understand what leaving no child behind means, we need a marketing plan that is more than just a glittering generality. We need a marketing plan directed at parents and communities that shows a new way of approaching problems by examining the organizational structures that form barriers to getting the job done. We need examples of programs that help students, teachers, parents and community members envision what changes have to occur to make the litany come true.

A national vision must be created to allow people to see what children do in an environment where individualized learning takes place and no child is left behind. The "Islands of Excellence" must show how students spend time in their schools, as well as the part technology plays, so members of other communities can compare the difference with their schools.

This marketing must come from federal and state levels. It must model the activities of schools that exemplify the litany. To tell schools that they should educate all students to their highest ability, but that they should figure out how to do it, is not enough. A consistent message must flow from respected sources outside the community, allowing the public and educators to envision what an effective school looks like, how they are organized, as well as what students and teachers do inside.

Schools need the support of public opinion to make changes that allow their staff and students to work smarter and use technology to its full extent. An affirming body is necessary to make a fundamental change in the structure of schools. We need those who are propagating the litany to not only evangelize, but to find a grassroots voice in communities. Until communities allow schools to change, the litany will continue, but not much will be accomplished.