Stilled but not lost

Ted Sizer, one of our nation’s most brilliant and accomplished educators, died Wednesday — leaving a legacy of both extraordinary vision and action. Ted’s life will be chronicled by those far more capable than me. But from time to time over last several decades I had the honor to work with him on a research study or to join him in advancing education policies that would focus more on students and less on tests, more on results that matter than proxies for them that don’t. I was always humbled by his resolve as well as his humility.

I am also grateful to him for teaching and influencing so many teachers and administrators across our land — including Bob Shirley, who was the headmaster of one his Essential Schools that educated our son, Joseph. Like in other Essential Schools, Bob as the lead educator, also taught students, including Joseph. Bob and the faculty knew our son well (all students are known well in ES) and helped him turn some very important corners in those turbulent adolescent years. The wise and caring educators in that school focused on the essentials — the mind and the spirit. They shaped Joseph academically, but far more as a man (now 27 years of age with a passion for helping others live a better life). I am thankful for Ted Sizer's inspiration.
 
The New York Times published a thoughtful piece on Ted. But my friend George Wood (another extraordinary principal teacher), who leads the Forum on Education and Democracy, said it much better:

“We will miss Ted Sizer and his tireless voice of reason. The image that will be forever etched in my mind is of Ted, head resting on one hand, the other hand busy taking notes, listening intently to whomever was speaking. And then, in his ever so thoughtful way, cutting to the heart of the matter at hand and insisting that we speak plainly, forcefully, and, yes, lovingly, about what is essential about schooling -- that being the careful cultivation of every child's mind…. While Ted Sizer's voice has been stilled, his ideas and dreams live on through the work of the many educators and students whose hearts he touched.”