Cindy Thelen
R/D 8
I was especially surprised by the realization that very little change has taken place in out school systems even though many schools have focused on “change”. There are probably two key reasons behind this. One, schools forget to allocate funds to sustain the changes that are implemented. Two, they forget to include as many people as possible within the community through the use of community forums, so that people but into the need and the process for change. I have always looked at change as being more short-term. “We need to update our resources (math curriculum for instance), without realizing the continuing need for curriculum development and updating.
I was also surprised by the idea that piecemeal change is not very viable. As soon as you change one component within a system, there are many others that are affected and need changing, too.
Yet, systemic change is overwhelming for almost everyone! And what about budget-conscious Michigan? I can’t imagine speaking to my local district about a complete overhaul of our program without them looking at me as if I were nuts! There just are not the financial resources to do that kind of change. Another issue is time. Most people who want to be involved with change do not want to be involved with such a large time commitment. People want to see results not and people don’t feel they can afford to make such long-term commitments.
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Cindy,
ReplyDeleteYou make many very good points. I do not think there is any public school district in MI that would even consider such an expensive idea at this moment. However, there are many that should. For example, there are many school districts that have school(s) in phase 5 of failing to make AYP. These schools or possibly districts should be looking at this type of change. I also think the state and federal government should support and MONITOR them in this endevor. Although I agree with you saying many people will not make the time commitment, they should. The reason I say this is first hand experience that those people will complain about not liking the outcome. Personally, I would not enjoy making that time commitment but if it actually worked and helped our students learn, I would be happy.
Jackie Sowle
You are absolutely right when you pointed out that not people do not want to make long term commitments either in their schedule or their personal time.
ReplyDeleteIn Japan, it is so difficult to have so many people commit to a project without any discrepencies. I think both, the GSTE and SUTE takes up too much human resources. In the end, it will take too long to see any kind of changes before we have to start all over because people then to leave or step down.