October 25, 2007

PEOPLE WHO FEAR COMPETITION...:

School Reform That Can Work: Entrepreneurial ventures hold great promise for improving American education (Frederick M. Hess and Thomas Gift, October 25, 2007, The American)

Steve Pines of the Education Industry Association reports that over 26,000 educational ventures are up and running in the United States. Many operate in established niches such as tutoring or textbook sales; other now-familiar operations such as the Knowledge Is Power Program and Teach For America either run schools or recruit teachers; and many others are tackling issues of instructional literacy, professional development, and information technology. To get a better sense of what these ventures are accomplishing, it’s worth taking a brief look at three: Blackboard, SMARTHINKING, and New Leaders for New Schools. The point is not to hail these particular efforts but rather to illustrate what is possible when smart, creative thinkers are given space to experiment with new ideas.

Blackboard, a for-profit firm, was founded in 1997 by Michael Chasen and Matthew Pittinsky. It has become the world’s leading provider of educational software, applications, and services. Its signature technology, the Blackboard Learning System, is a computer-based learning program that provides virtual access to classroom activities such as homework assignments, labs, and tests. With the click of a mouse, students can obtain academic feedback, communicate with their teachers, and collaborate with peers.

Now used by over 12 million students in 46 states, Blackboard has been integrated into the curriculum by some of the nation’s most tech-savvy schools, including nine of the top ten high schools as ranked by Newsweek. The New York Times has referred to Blackboard as a “disruptive technology … with the power to change how established institutions operate.” The Washington Post has called it “a high-tech star … that is doing more to change the way teaching and learning is done in America than any policies of the federal government.”


...recognize that their ideas aren't competitive.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 25, 2007 8:19 PM
Comments

If it was "disrutptive," it wouldn't be in the schools, it would be destroying them.

There won't be real change until the political clout of BIG ED is gutted, and that won't occur until people start attacking BIG ED.

We need to turn the existing infrastructure into a choice based system. This idea does just that.

Posted by: Bruno at October 26, 2007 7:08 AM

I just did a quick run through of the Blackboard site.

They exist to feed off of the same revenue stream that teachers and adminstrators are sucking off of.

I'll bet that the bureaucracy and Blackboard eventually work together to spend lavishly on payroll perks and pensions AND overpriced, un-necessary technology.

I'll concede that I'm wrong when they start giving teachers pink slips after buying the technology.

Posted by: Bruno at October 26, 2007 7:19 AM

OK, now for "New Leaders for New Schools"...

Core Beliefs (off of their website)

Every student can achieve the highest levels of academic excellence. At New Leaders for New Schools, we mean every student in every circumstance.

Utter nonsense on its face. Edu-speak claptrap

Adults are responsible for ensuring that all students excel academically. We, as adults, can and must do more to unlock the potential of each and every student.

Well, Duh!. and if they don't...DOH!

Delivering high-quality public education to all students is critical to a just society that affords every student the full range of opportunities in life.

Fund Children, Not Bureaucracies. If that isn't your credo, then you aren't serious about an educated populace

Great schools are led by great principals. These principals are instructional leaders who coach teachers to reach every student and partner with students’ families and communities to make schools effective.

Absurd Edu-speak. If you shuttered every school tomorrow, sent the payrollees home, and returned the property (and other) taxes to the people, the net educational attainment of the USA would spike upward in less than a year

With access to outstanding public schools, all students will develop the competence, critical thinking, social and civic skills to reach their highest potential in the classroom and in life.

And there, in all its glory, is the proof that this outfit is just another front for BIG ED. These people would never support school choice. Their gravy train would end.

Posted by: Bruno at October 26, 2007 7:36 AM

Next up, Smartthinking and New Leaders for new schools.

Smartthinking would hold promise if they marketed direct tutoring services outside of BIG ED, but looking through their site indicates that they exist as a "product extension" of the same textbook industry that can't get any facts right as they publish PC drivel.

New Leaders is merely a sponge to soak up Not For Profit Dollars to train new principals to go into the same bureaucratized, corrupt, public schools.

You want innovative? Pull your kid out of the school and start a mini-school in your basement.

The first few million names in the phone book could outperform the exisiting system.

Posted by: Bruno at October 26, 2007 7:42 AM

Bruno, this stuff is wonderful and right up there with Jackie Mason for clarity and commonsense.


Bravo!

Posted by: Perry at October 26, 2007 11:28 AM

If the NYT fears it, it can't be all bad.

Perhaps it could teach their employees how to read a stock chart and a balance sheet.

Posted by: ratbert at October 26, 2007 11:01 PM
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