"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Ren2010: a Model of Parent/Teacher/Public Involvement?

DFER's Joe Williams opines on the appointment of Black in the NY Post:
New York City's public schools are dramatically better today than they were eight years ago, in large part thanks to the tireless work of Chancellor Joel Klein. But there's still a long way to go, and the city needs its next chancellor, Cathie Black, to chart a clear path forward, and quickly.

If Black wants to finish what Chancellor Klein started, she must work to make parents, teachers and the public feel invested in the process.

Chicago's Renaissance 2010 plan is an excellent example of this: It let the city's leaders explain to Chicogoans exactly what they hoped to accomplish, and then frame each reform, like closing schools, in the broader effort to improve the system. Mayor Cory Booker is starting a similar process in Newark.
That's interesting, Joe: Black should work to make parents, teachers, and the public feel "invested in the process"; Ren2010 is a good example of "this" (presumably getting parents, teachers and the public "invested"); and Ren2010 is a good example because it let city leaders (ie Chicago's corporate leaders) explain to Chicogoans what they wanted to accomplish.  In just two sentences, Joe goes from pushing for Black to get the public involved to praising the top-down strategy of Ren2010.  Baffling!

2 comments:

  1. Particularly baffling since the term, Renaissance 2010, is so toxic that it has been banned by the Daley machine in Chicago.

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  2. The scores are lie, the whole thing smells of politics and favors. It's an insult to education to choose a non-educator. A complete joke.

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