SchoolsRetooled TM

Summary of Reform Ideas

September 26, 2012 at 8:00 AM Leave a comment

The following outline summarizes the SchoolsRetooled thinking on K-12 reform as of this morning.

Current situation: 3-tiered system…

• Excellent school districts with some subgroup failure
• Average school districts with some quality issues and recent AYP failures
• Troubled school districts with persistent underachievement

All would benefit from some national/state/local improvements…

• No-fault reform – any reform contingent upon incumbents and/or blame is faulty in and of itself
• Better data standards for…
  • Funding formulas and financial statements
  • Student outcomes
  • Teacher effectiveness
• Incentives to address pension fund issues leading to…
  • Solvency for traditional pension beneficiaries
  • Portability for non-vested employees
• Resetting NCLB accountabilities targeting…
  • Near universal proficiency in ELA and Math beginning with 2019 graduates
  • Sliding scale for classes of 2013-2018
• Reorganization of schools…
  • Realignment of school grade clusters to mission and benchmarks…
    • PreK-3^rd grade (free public PreK for at-risk students)
    • 4^th – 8^th grade
    • 9^th – 12^th grade
  • Redefinition of leadership hierarchy with…
    • General manager leading each organization
    • Balance of instructional leadership and parent/community leadership at the next level of management
    • Teachers and support staff assigned to small learning families with administrative assistants as needed
  • Restructured incentives for professional growth…
    • Annual self-assessment, goal-setting, and evidence-based review
    • Review team including supervisor(s), peers, students, and parents
    • Bonus pools for interdependent staff and leaders
• New incentives for Students with Special Needs, English Language Learners, and other subgroups for accelerated progress toward grade-level proficiency
• Advancement of pedagogy to…
  • Realize new potential with technology
  • Maximize student access to personalized learning…matching style, overcoming obstacles
  • Combine memory banking and critical thinking for synthetic and deconstructive problem-solving

Entry filed under: ESEA-NCLB, School Transformation.