Ratchet Effect: The Continuous Evolution of the Portfolio Strategy
The portfolio strategy has driven real improvement in urban K–12 school systems over the past 10 years. Results in Chicago, New Orleans, and New York City have been strong, and portfolio has started to reverse the decline of poverty-ridden cities like Camden, Cleveland, and Indianapolis. But progress is now uncertain, given changes in governorships and […]
How to Ensure New Post-Secondary Pathways Don’t Become “Tracks”
In a recent New York Times column, Oren Cass of the Manhattan Institute argues persuasively that America invests too much money in an assumption that every student is bound for college—and far too little in other educational paths that might stand a better chance at propelling more students to fulfilling lives and remunerative careers. Cass […]
Tossing Aside the “Reform” Label Must Not Mean “Anything Goes”
As Robin Lake recently observed, it is time to move past the phrase “education reformer.” In a curious linguistic twist, over the past decade, opponents of transformational change have co-opted the word “reform” and essentially converted it into a malediction. I say “curious” because it is difficult to imagine the logic of turning “reformer” into […]
Don’t Call Me an Education Reformer — I Don’t Know What That Means Anymore
Don’t call me an education reformer. I’m not interested in debating reformers’ beliefs, who is a reformer or who is not. I’m not interested in responding to blanket accusations about reformers’ intentions, or joining forces with the think-tank types who wish to defend them. This might seem odd coming from someone who leads an organization […]
We Need a More Productive Debate About School Accountability, Not Tired Arguments Over Testing
Last week, we at the Center on Reinventing Public Education celebrated our twenty-fifth anniversary by hosting a convening of practitioners, advocates, and researchers to take stock of where our education system stands, and how it must change to prepare every child for a future where change will be the one certain constant. We discussed a […]
It’s Time to Rebuild the Sensible Center on Education Reform
Albert Shanker used to talk about crab bucket syndrome, by which high school students fighting to get out of poverty are constantly pulled back by others who don’t hope to “make it.” Something like that is happening in the increasingly polarized education policy debate, as groups trying to rise above the ideological divide about school […]
The Enrichment Gap: The Educational Inequity That Nobody Talks About
Note: In celebration of our 25th anniversary, CRPE released Thinking Forward: New Ideas for a New Era of Public Education. The research discussed in this blog post shows how ideas from two essays in that volume—Educational Equality in the Future: Risks and Opportunity and Beyond the Bell: Leveraging Community Assets for an Expanded Learning System—play […]
On the 25th Anniversary of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, a Look at Lessons Learned & New Imperatives Ahead
At the Center on Reinventing Public Education, we are celebrating our 25th anniversary. We are thinking a lot about our principles and lessons learned. At our core, we believe schools can make a difference even for the most disadvantaged children. To do that, they must be coherent — meaning they must be grounded in a […]
Thinking Forward: How Can Public Education Prepare Every Student for the Challenges of the Future?
Today, to mark our 25th anniversary, the Center on Reinventing Public Education is releasing Thinking Forward: New Ideas for a New Era of Public Education. This volume of essays rethinks foundational aspects of the current education system, from funding to accountability to equity, with an eye toward preparing every student for the future. Our goal […]
To Meet the Needs of Complex Learners, School Systems Must Think More Boldly
Twenty-five years ago CRPE was founded on the idea of the school as the locus of change. Today we are reexamining our old assumptions in light of new technical possibilities, changes in the economy, and a recognition that even the most effective schools may need to develop new approaches to better serve students whose needs […]