Marc Fisher’s January 8th Washington Post article on school reform is highlighted with bold exclamation points. Improving teaching and learning does not require the slash and burn reform tactics touted by the so-called school reformers, who focus primarily on vilifying teacher education and the unions and paying teachers for raising standardized test scores. Perhaps Superintendent Jerry Weast of Montgomery County ought to be on the cover of Time Magazine — not Michelle Rhee of DC — showing how he draws on the teacher union and excellent principals to craft serious reforms and points to accomplished teachers like Kim Burnim to lead the way. As Fisher notes, “whereas Montgomery has had striking success in turning around low-income student performance, the District (of Columbia) is still at the starting gate, locked in a fierce battle over how to purge lousy teachers.” Despite the fact that Broad Acres students come to school under the most adverse life circumstances, 81 percent met reading proficiency standards this year, up from 47 percent in 2003.
Broad Acres has had tremendous success “without (DC Chancellor) Rhee's reform tactics: no young recruits from Teach for America, no cash for students who come to class, no linkage of teacher pay to test scores.” Instead Weast works closely with Johns Hopkins University to recruit and deeply prepare its new teachers, and draws on experts like Ms. Burnim, 2006 National Teacher of the Year and Teacher Leaders Network member, to prepare, mentor, and assess novices.
Of course Broad Acres teachers have high expectations, but they also are expected to be prepared, like Ms. Burnim, before they take on the toughest teaching assignments. The reformers often vilify those who call for a broader and bolder approach to school improvement, which points to the fact that even well-qualified and effective teachers like Ms. Burnim need assistance, with afterschool programs and health clinics, all a part of the Broad Acres reform recipe, a point made poignantly over at the Learning First Alliance blog. Reform does not have to be an either-or proposition. Union leaders like Mark Simon in Montgomery County (who now leads the Mooney Institute for Teacher Leadership) have helped change not just the nature of the contract, but also the role teachers play in enforcing standards of excellence among themselves. Accountability can be coupled with teacher professionalism and students can achieve at high levels without vilifying unions and teacher education. Broad Acres proves the point with a broad and bold exclamation point. On the birthday of Martin Luther King — with school equity and excellence on my own mind — I could not think of a better school reform story that points to closing the achievement gap and elevating the teaching profession.
