{"id":2002,"date":"2019-03-04T20:03:21","date_gmt":"2019-03-04T20:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/?p=2002"},"modified":"2024-10-15T22:02:17","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T22:02:17","slug":"what-we-do-transforming-our-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/2019\/03\/04\/what-we-do-transforming-our-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"What We Do: Transforming Our Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Here at the Discovery Institute\u2019s, American Center for Transforming\nEducation (ACTE) we focus on system\nchange<\/strong> rather than focusing on improving the present system.  We do that because, for decades we have tried\ndozens, if not hundreds, of reform ideas without any material improvement in\nstudent outcomes. We have also tried to improve schools by dramatically\nincreasing the amount of money we spend on education.   Again, the results have not been\nforthcoming.  Basically, we have learned\nthat reforming a failed system yields a reformed failed system.  We have also learned that putting more money\ninto a failed system simply gives you a more expensive failed system.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current system is obsolete and no matter how much we tweak it and no\nmatter how much money we spend on it, the results will not materially improve\nfor the vast majority of our children. \nToday, after decades of effort, both in the classroom and from increased\nfunding, about 30% of America\u2019s children receive an education that prepares\nthem for college or a career.  Of the\nremaining 70%, about 25% drop out before graduating and the remain 45% will\ngraduate without the skills and knowledge needed to live a productive life in\nthe 21st<\/sup> Century. This miserable level of performance has been the\nrule for more than three decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changing the system must start at the state level.  States control most of the money, they control who can teach, who can lead, the governance structure, the compensation system, the curriculum, the testing regimen and graduation requirements. In other words, states control.   Thus, if we want to improve our schools, it has to start at the state with legislative changes.  That is why, we at the ACTE, are focusing on states and specifically on those states where change is most likely to occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also believe that our current school system and the school calendar, are\nintegral parts of the American culture. \nThis means that changing the system will also require changing the\nculture.  Both will take time and,\ntherefore, our effort involves a multi-year plan that creates the demand for\nchange from the bottom up, not the top down. Thus, the legislative changes we\npropose do not deal with the system itself, but rather with the rules and\nregulation that inhibit innovation and inhibit the successful education of\nevery child.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our plan for change is\ndivided into two phases:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phase One:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Identify Reform-Minded\nStates.<\/strong> Our early\nresearch efforts are focused on identifying states that are positioned for\nchange and equipped with courageous state leaders who are willing to buck the\neducation establishment..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Promote Choice\nLegislation.<\/strong> The formal\neducation of a child, which is one of the most important aspect of raising a\nchild, is not controlled by the child\u2019s parents or guardians. That is simply\nunacceptable. Thus, we promote and support school choice legislation in all its\nforms\u2014choice within a district, vouchers, tax-credit scholarships, education\nsavings accounts, and charter schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pass Innovation\nDistricts Legislation.<\/strong> We\nsupport passing legislation that will grant innovative education leaders the\nfreedom to enact change within their schools and districts. By allowing public\nschool districts to apply for waivers that grant flexibility for school\nadministrators, we empower school administrators to implement innovative\nsolutions to insure the learning of every child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pass Leadership\nInstitute Legislation.<\/strong> Orchestrating\nfundamental change of our school system is going to take well-trained\ninnovative education leaders.  Today,\nthose types of people are in short supply. \nWe propose the creation of leadership institutes that, in partnership\nwith universities, would select and train educational entrepreneurs to be\nagents of change within their schools and districts.   Effective leadership is an essential\ningredient for the transformation of our school system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phase Two:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Appointed School Board\nLegislation.<\/strong> Change is a\ndifficult, long-term process,  Currently,\nsuch long-term planning and execution is impeded by the continual turnover of\nboth school board members and superintendents. This is particularly the case in\nurban districts where more than half of our students attend school.  Allowing for appointed school boards will\nprovide greater stability of governance that is critical to implementing\nlasting, far-sighted change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modifying\nCertification Laws.<\/strong> The education\nprofession should be open to our brightest and most talented citizens.\nEducation schools now have a monopoly on the supply of human capital that is\nallowed in our schools. By removing barriers that prevent subject matter\nexperts from becoming teachers, we can hire teachers based on qualifications\u2014not\njust their certification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

School Funding\nLegislation.<\/strong> The current\nfunding system greatly constrains innovation by heavily restricting how school\ndistricts can spend their money. We believe that education funding should\nfollow the child and be based on the cost to educate that child\u2014making school\nfunding a function of both the number and the type of children who elect to\nattend a particular school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teacher Compensation\nLegislation.<\/strong> By eliminating\nthe state salary schedule, schools will be able to hire and pay teachers based\non school need, market conditions and budget allowances\u2014ultimately attracting\nhigher quality teachers. This allows high-demand teachers, like math and\nscience teachers, to be paid more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graduation\nRequirements Legislation.<\/strong> Currently,\nhigh school credit hours measure how much time a student spends in a seat.\nInstead, states should re-define graduation standards and requirements to\nreflect the level of learning achieved by the student.  We believe there should be a minimum of three\ndifferent diplomas that could be earned upon completion of high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donald Nielsen<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

is a Senior Fellow of\nthe Discovery Institute and author of Every Schoo<\/em>l. After a\nsuccessful business career, culminating with being CEO of a NYSE company, he\nhas concentrated his time and effort in the field of Public Education. In 1993,\nhe was elected to the Seattle School Board where he served for eight years. He\nalso served nine years as a trustee of Seattle Pacific University and now\nserves on the Dean\u2019s Advisory Board of the University of Washington School of\nEducation and the Foster School of Business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Team<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

ACTE has an\nextraordinary team of experts in pursuit of these objectives.  Together,\nthey have many decades of experience at all levels: as teachers,\nadministrators, school board members and elected officials.  All are\nwholeheartedly committed to realizing the full vision of educational\ntransformation outlined herein. Advisory Board<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further Readings<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every School<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
Donald Nielsen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Customers in Public Education are the Parents, Seattle Times op-ed <\/a><\/em><\/strong>
Donald Nielsen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Charter School Lesson For Washington<\/a><\/em><\/strong>
Nina Rees, President & CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working to promote systemic change\nto our nation\u2019s education system<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here at the Discovery Institute\u2019s, American Center for Transforming Education (ACTE) we focus on system change rather than focusing on improving the present system.  We do that because, for decades we have tried dozens, if not hundreds, of reform ideas without any material improvement in student outcomes. We have also tried to improve schools by dramatically increasing the amount of money we spend on education.   Again, the results have not been forthcoming.  Basically, we have learned that reforming a failed system yields a reformed failed system.  We have also learned that putting more money into a failed system simply gives you a more expensive failed system.      The current system is obsolete and no matter how much we tweak it Read More ›<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":250,"featured_media":2009,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[48,47],"tags":[46,45],"coauthors":[1064],"class_list":["post-2002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education-policy","category-school-choice","tag-__featured","tag-__fi-30vh"],"acf":[],"author_names":["Donald Nielsen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/250"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2002"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2002"}],"wp:action-assign-author":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post\/2002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}