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April 29, 2008

Risks and Rewards

Twenty-five years after "A Nation At Risk," the general consensus seems to be that the tide of mediocrity continues to lap at our toes. The Washington Post's Mark Fisher writes that, 25 years later, our school children continue to be underserved by "dumbed-down, boring textbooks; thin courses; inexperienced teachers," resulting in a persistent achievement gap and college-bound students who must be remediated.

"What to do? We've tried all manner of cheap ways to fix the problem, anything we can think of that can be accomplished with existing structures and personnel." Ah, yes - well, what NOT to do. Fisher finds comfort in the one-to-one successes of those who take "end runs around the bureaucracies" to do the right thing, the rigorous thing, for kids.

Perhaps he had in mind Friendship Collegiate Academy, a charter school in Washington, D.C., which was honored by the College Board as one of three "outstanding high schools that have successfully improved the academic environment and helped students achieve equitable access to higher education despite social, economic and cultural challenges."

Friendship Collegiate Academy exemplifies Fisher's one-to-one success - but a success made possible by the implementation of systemic reforms that enable broad 'end runs around the bureaucracy' - reforms that demand both choice and accountability, and put students ahead of systems. Reforms grounded in these "Top Ten" offered on the occasion of CER Newswire's 10th Anniversary.

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