The work that needs to be done on a policy level is to dismantle No Child Left Behind. The law is unreasonable and purports to have all children on grade level by 2012.
Now, if I designed a test that I knew all of the test takers would fail, I would conclude that the fault is with the test maker, not the test taker.
Students and their teachers cannot possibly achieve the aim that the proponents of of NCLB intended.
In it's place, I would write and support laws that made sure that all students had safe schools to go to, with curricula that inspired them to reach beyond themselves.
I would put the emphasis on achieveable goals for each school, classroom, and student with high expectations for each but no punitive high stakes measures.
I would put the emphasis squarely on teacher quality, with lots of observation and feedback and professional development, but I wouldn't make people fear for their jobs or livelihoods, unless they were truly mediocre or bad.
I would put the emphasis on varying the school day, allowing enough time for sleep, play, and reflection.
I would put the emphasis on creating time to reflect, think, and do. These would be factored into the school day and year. Enough of this frenetic pace, which is like manifest destiny in real time. It's not yoga time that I would look for but a walk in the woods time.
I would put the emphasis on improving consciousness in students ("wake up") rather than media literacy or drug awareness literacy or abstinence literacy. How about just literacy literacy? How about reading a book for reading a book's sake?
Finally, I would put the emphasis on listening to the needs and wants and desires of children, students, teachers, and parents. That is what education is about: Collaboration.
It is simple, it is neo-platonic, and it is what we should be after for our students and the people who love them.
