It's so very good to hear about positive experiences like this. Thank you, Bruce.
Selma ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bruce Leier" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Selma Singer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Futurework@Scribe. Uwaterloo. Ca" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, April 17, 2002 3:33 PM Subject: RE: Schools/education > Selma, > > Again using the anecdotal evidence of my 4 young ones, none of them > graduated early. But the individualized plans allowed for creative use of > time in school. My oldest, girl, had a tremendous growth spurt during the > 9th grade. The individual plan allowed her to in effect drop-out for a year > to deal with her hormones, etc. She now is an expeditor in the printing > business. My next, a boy, spent almost all of his high school years taking > college courses, both under grad and graduate courses. He then dropped into > the art world as a puppeteer [incidentally, appearing with the New York City > Opera Company, in Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendek]. He now is a > nurse practioner. The 2 younger made more traditional progress and both are > in education. > > Bruce Leier > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Selma Singer > Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2002 9:08 AM > To: Keith Hudson > Cc: liz; JOHN AND MARIA GRIMANIS; Varda Ullman Novick; Irenestuber; nick; > liz2; jennifer; trish; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: Schools/education > > I am particularly interested in the response some of you may have to the > idea that each child should have a program individually tailored to her/his > needs and that some children will graduate at 14 and others at 21. > > Selma > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Keith Hudson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "Selma Singer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Cc: "liz" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "JOHN AND MARIA GRIMANIS" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Varda Ullman Novick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; > "Irenestuber" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "nick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "liz2" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "jennifer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "trish" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2002 3:43 AM > Subject: Re: Schools/education > > > Hi Selma, > > At 13:24 15/04/02 -0400, you wrote: > (SS) > <<<< > I tried to email this article directly from the Globe but, for some > reason, it refused to cooperate to print. I do hope you can get it and > would love to hear what you think. Selma > >>>> > > A superb article and most encouraging. I show it below for those interested. > > The two strong points I took from it were: > > (a) that Richard DeLorenzo had a great degree of autonomy; > > (b) he consulted with his "customers" rather than the authorities or > experts (he thinks this was the strongest factor of success). > > This is what we badly need -- whether we have state supported education or > private. We need diversity. We need schools to respond to their local > needs. We need freedom for those who have a real vocation to teach. > > My main complaint against state education in England is that it has been > centrally directed, and very heavily, too. It is failing badly. We have > variations in standards far greater than if we gave freedom to schools. > Slowly, painfully, we are learning the lesson of Richard DeLorenzo. > > Keith Hudson > > <<<< > CHUGACH'S MODEL OF SCHOOL SUCCESS > > David S. Broder > > The Chugach School District is one of the strangest in America. > Encompassing 22,000 square miles of remote Alaskan wilderness, ranging from > the islands of Prince William Sound to isolated ''bush'' villages, it has > only 214 students and barely two dozen teachers on its staff. Unemployment > in the area tops 50 percent, and three-fourths of the people, many of them > Aleuts, are below the poverty line. Two of the school board members live > what are tactfully called ''subsistence lifestyles.'' Another is an > 81-year-old retired woman bartender. > > Yet in seven years, this school district, facing challenges of almost > unimaginable scope and complexity, has transformed itself into a national > model of education reform whose methods are being copied not only across > Alaska, but now in the Seattle public schools as well. > > Last week, the Chugach superintendent, Richard DeLorenzo, stood before a > ballroom full of high-powered executives, explaining how little Chugach had > won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, an honor that in the past > has gone to companies such as Cadillac and Ritz-Carlton as a signal of > their success in providing customer satisfaction. The rigorous competition- > named for the late commerce secretary in the Reagan administration- has > been around for 14 years, but this is the first time any winners have been > found in the education world. In addition to Chugach, the five honorees > this year included the Pearl River School District, an affluent area in > Rockland County, north of New York City, and the University of > Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie. > > All three represent remarkably successful collaborations among local > communities, educators, and businesses in setting common goals and > relentlessly measuring where they stand in achieving them. But it is the > Chugach story that carries the strongest message to districts that take > seriously President Bush's challenge to ''leave no child behind.'' > > In 1994, when DeLorenzo arrived, the average Chugach student was 3 three > years behind grade level in reading and lagging badly in other areas as > well. Now these students have moved from the 28th percentile nationally in > reading to the 71st percentile; from the 53rd percentile in math to the > 78th; and from the 22nd percentile in spelling to the 65th. When state > proficiency exams began in 2000, Chugach students topped the Alaska average > by 8 percent in reading, 17 percent in math, and 35 percent in writing. > > This was not accomplished, DeLorenzo stressed, by ''teaching to the test.'' > To the contrary, the Chugach curriculum goes beyond the basics to include > technology (a laptop is provided every student), science, and social > studies. Special emphasis is placed on service learning (involving students > in community projects), personal health (to offset alcoholism, which is > widespread in the villages), cultural awareness (to broaden horizons) and > career development (to ease transition to work). > > The district provides performance pay bonuses and scholarship benefits to > its teachers and offers them an unusually robust 30 days a year of > in-service training. It has done this while cutting the administrative > overhead from 25 percent to 10 percent of state and federal funds, putting > the savings and a growing amount of foundation support into instructional > programs. > > But the key to success, DeLorenzo said, was the application of ''Baldrige > principles'' to the whole process. It began with structured discussions > with the ''customers,'' the parents and other villagers, local businesses, > and the students themselves, to identify their needs and goals. The whole > system was then redesigned to achieve those results. > > Instead of measuring ''seat time'' in the classroom and promoting students > from grade to grade, whatever their skills, an individual work plan is > developed for each student, who then proceeds at his or her own pace. > Teachers monitor pupils' progress constantly and report to their families > on how they are doing. Some students meet all the graduation requirements > by 14; others have stayed in school until 21. > > Subjecting familiar bureaucratic structures and methods to rigorous > scrutiny in pursuit of measurable improvements in customer satisfaction is > the defining characteristic of the Baldrige approach, whether it be in > check-printing companies or fast-food chains (two other winners this year) > or in schools. > > This systemic approach to education reform, championed by organizations > such as the National Alliance of Business, is being tried in a growing > number of districts across the country, and DeLorenzo recently lobbied > Secretary of Education Rod Paige to embrace it as the best bet to achieve > Bush's goals. > > Few places face the physical and social challenges of Chugach. DeLorenzo > says he will not rest until at least a million other youngsters are > experiencing the success his 214 students have come to know. > > 15 April > > David S. Broderis a syndicated columnist. > >>>> > > __________________________________________________________ > "Writers used to write because they had something to say; now they write in > order to discover if they have something to say." John D. Barrow > _________________________________________________ > Keith Hudson, Bath, England; e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > _________________________________________________ > >
