Charles posted on May 19, 2010 22:40
From my friend, Rick, a newspaper editor.
Rick and I were trading e-mails not too long ago, discussing the MEAP (Michigan's required test for public schools), standardized tests in general, and the word disaggregate. In case you haven't guessed, Rick has a degree in education. He also happens to be a friend of schools, public and nonpublic, and he writes frequently in the newspaper about the schools in our community. Rick and I agree on Schools of Choice and whether or not competition is an effective means of school improvement, and we disagree on vouchers.
"Chuck, true story — a local school superintendent went to a state board meeting when the board was considering schools of choice for Michigan. This superintendent asked the board president about the research on which this program was based. The state board president, after conferring with the state superintendent, admitted there was no research behind it. The local superintendent asked how the board could consider this profound change, based on no research to indicate whether it would work. The president replied, 'Sometimes you have to leap before you look.'"
This prompted me to reply that the 'leap before you look' comment reminded me of many well-meaning laypeople I've known on boards who wanted to "try something different just to see if it works..." without any real school experience to know what the possible (negative) consequences might be.
"Chuck there's nothing wrong with discussing ideas, and throwing things out there. But to make any significant changes just for the sake of change....if research is available, then it should be used. You can try using water instead of oil in your car, and that would certainly be a change, but the results probably wouldn't be desirable."