Revealing What Lies Behind the Curtain

"What is necessary in order for effective educational change, and why is this so difficult?"

When it comes to defining essential questions in education, I can’t think of a better one than this. There will never be complete consensus about best practices in curriculum, instruction, or assessment. And the information and research base for all of those keeps growing especially with our ability to access resources via ever changing technology. So how does that transfer to the individual student? Of course it is via the classroom teacher.

For all the problems teachers face with ineffective public policy and school administrators, the balance of power to effect change in learning outcomes still lies with the classroom teacher. So I would argue that what become most important are the talents and intentions of these professionals. It is certain that education models and programs will come and go throughout a career. But because student populations vary throughout the country these models cannot be used universally as is. The teacher must be a critical thinker and a decision maker who can implement a plan of action. Too often I still observe teachers who are dependent on a model, or a textbook, or an administrator to take care of these decisions for them. Or in many cases, teachers just do not have critical thinking skills.

I no longer believe that individuals who simply enjoy working with children and have good intentions should be the majority of our teaching force. These skills alone are not enough. We are demanding more as a society for our children than this. However, I do not see this translating at the university level to a more selective and rigorous program for teacher education. I have long been a critic that education should not be a major area of undergraduate study. It becomes a fall back for students who could not make it in more rigorous programs. No one wants to publicly acknowledge this but this is why education majors become the butt of campus jokes. We then produce ineffective teachers who go on to become ineffective administrators and the cycle perpetuates itself. The truly effective and talented teachers then either eventually leave the classroom or become the minority of true professionals in a building.

I am closely watching the events that unfold in the Washington, D.C. school district, as the appointed chancellor, Michelle Rhee, tries to fix a failing public school system by holding all the adults accountable for what happens. She is actually able and willing to fire staff members who are not pulling their weight. In a recent podcast interview, she acknowledges the problem with principals who are also conflict avoiders. How can you possibly be an effective leader of a school and be afraid of conflict? We have all seen this probably as the norm rather than the exception.


Click the arrow to view a video podcast of Michelle Rhee


In “Chalkbored”, Jeremy Schneider argues that there simply aren’t enough people who can do an effective job of teaching so instead we should have facilitators for online learning. I think there are plenty of people who would make great teachers but they don’t want to work in such a dysfunctional and depressing system where job security is determined by length of stay rather than merit.

So to wrap up, I would summarize my answer to the question as this. Until we pull back the curtain and take a good hard honest look at what is going on with school staff (teachers and administrators) there will not be effective educational change.


Daly, James. "Up Front - What works in public education." Edutopia. Jun2008. The George Lucas Educational Foundation. 20 Apr 2009 .

Merrow, John. "A Profile of Arne Duncan - The Engine of Innovation." [Podcast ] The Merrow Report. 25MAR2009: 134. Learning Matters, Inc.. Podcast.22 Apr 2009. .

Merrow, John. "Michelle Rhee - Finding Good Principals." [Podcast 'entry'] The Merrow Report. 13JAN2009: 8. Learning Matters Inc.. Podcast.21 Apr 2009. .

Merrow, John. "The Second Year." [Podcast ] The Merrow Report. 14OCT2008: 120. Learning Matters, Inc.. Podcast.20 Apr 2009. .

Schneider, Jeremy. Chalkbored: What’s Wrong with School and How to Fix It. Pace of Mind, 2007.