"A distinguishing characteristic of our nation — and a great strength
— is the development of our institutions within the concept of
individual worth and dignity. Our schools are among the guardians of that principle. Consequently . . . and deliberately their control and
support throughout our history have been — and are — a state and
local responsibility. . . . Thus was established a fundamental
element of the American public school system — local direction by
boards of education responsible immediately to the parents of
children. Diffusion of authority among tens of thousands of school
districts is a safeguard against centralized control and abuse of the
educational system that must be maintained. We believe that to take
away the responsibility of communities and states in educating our
children is to undermine not only a basic element of our freedoms but
a basic right of our citizens. "
~ President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Was Ike right or are his ideas outmoded?
Ike's comment is interesting in light of the traditional view of conservatism (to which I feel Ike subscribed) versus today's strongly centralized "conservatism", the current flavor.
ReplyDeleteI think Ike is rolling in his grave at what is passing for conservatism these days. For comparison to today's American education (with special regard to "No Child Left Behind"), look no farther than Bonaparte's France, or Soviet Russia. Centralized education.
Local control and home rule remain important to delivering a vital education to all students.
By the way, I just found this blog, and I'm really happy it's here. I'll be joining in regularly, I hope.
Local control is essential in education. Schools should reflect the community that they are in. I also agree that there should be state standards or goals for education. They help equalize education across a stae but local schools should be given freedom to meet them in their own way using the local resources and ideas. Another term in education that bothers me is "best practices." I feel that what may work in one school system or school as an instructional method or technique may not work in another. "Better Practices" may be a more acceptable term. It at leasr leaves you some freedom to choose if the "best or better practice" is something that you can use.
ReplyDeleteEd's point about feedback is important. We need to get feedback from students that graduate from high school to see how well our school system is working. Elementary schools also need feedback from middle schools and high schools. It gives schools am idea of what has worked for students and what has not over the years. It also gives us feedback beyond test scores and college enrollment rates.
ReplyDeleteAntedotal evidence is helpful for us to change schools. Some students we meet their needs well and other students we do not meet their needs well. It helps schools to change and grow. We as teachers have meet students later on and have seen how successful they have become or maybe that they heaven't gone as far as we would have liked. Using this information for school improvement is a valuable resource. It would be interesting to find out if there is a scientific or statistical way to measure it. We also should use some of the antedotal evidence if it is specific.