LINDA DARLING- HAMMOND NEW FROM
“Our country’s leading education voice addresses what is arguably the most important education topic of our time—teacher evaluation.” —;;;;;; ;;;;;; National Board for Professional Teaching Standards “This is a must-read for those interested in building a world- class education system!” —;;;;;; ;;; ;;;;;; National Education Association
2012 GRAWEMEYER
AWARD IN EDUCATION
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A school can’t be both
paternalistic and
loosey-goosey,
both structured
and open-ended.
grade level behind, are making huge
gains on standardized tests. Perhaps
most impressive, 100 percent of the
school’s first senior class was accepted
into four-year colleges, including
Stanford University, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, California
Institute of Technology, and Wesleyan
University.
Those impressive results mean that
the school is now luring affluent fam-
ilies away from Denver’s most selective
private schools. “We’ve made a whole
group of upper-middle-class parents
in town reconsider public education,”
Bill Kurtz, the school’s founder, told
me. But that doesn’t mean the school
is for everyone. “There’s a segment of
the population who would want pro-
gressive, project-based learning who
would not come here.”
That type of parent would be taken
aback by the fact that the kids wear uni-
forms and walk silently in the hallways.
There’s a lot of structure and discipline
there. But many of those who buy into
rigorous standards and a college-prep
curriculum, whatever their race or eco-
nomic class, will be thrilled. Because of
the school’s success, Kurtz said, “People
are willing to sacrifice touchy-feely
stuff.”
The Great Inversion offers the best
opportunity in a generation to create
racially and economically diverse public
schools. Seizing this opportunity will
take leadership, a clear sense of the
challenges, and thoughtful solutions.
Let’s get started. EL
References
Calvo, N. (2007). How parents choose schools:
A mixed-methods study of public school
choice in Seattle. Doctoral dissertation,
Harvard University, John F. Kennedy
School of Government.
Michael J. Petrilli (mpetrilli@ed
excellence.net) is executive vice
president at the Thomas B. Fordham
Institute and author of The Diverse
Schools Dilemma: A Parent’s Guide to
Socioeconomically Mixed Public Schools
(Thomas B. Fordham Institute, 2012).
