If you believe that the world has changed dramatically in the last 100 years but that schools have not changed to meet the needs of the modern world, or if you believe that every time someone has a new idea to improve education its gets crammed down the throats of school districts only to fade away in 2 or 3 years, then this week's highlighted research in Accents Online is for you.
The article from Rick Hess at the American Enterprise Institute on Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again challenges the notion that the way we educate students is the one best way to do so--discouraging the faddism of imposing new reforms on the existing system and asking not how societal advances can improve the current system, but rather how the system can be rebuilt using the information and technology we have available to meet the modern goals of education.
I like the idea of thinking "If we were building an education system from the ground up today, how would we do it?" but the reality for those working in districts is that while the system, on the macro level, looks like it hasn't changed much, the dedicated individuals, whether in the classroom or the district office, who are working to make improvements while keeping the current system going (all on a shoestring) are making incremental improvements that do make a difference.
And I think that's the point here--allow those who know how to make a difference to work in a structure that welcomes it.