Making Schools Work

"This book is about the threats to education quality in the developing world that cannot be explained by lack of resources. It reviews the observed phenomenon of service delivery failures in public education: cases where programs and policies increase the inputs to education but do not produce effective services where it counts - in schools and classrooms. It documents what we know about the extent and costs of such failures across low and middle-income countries. And it further develops the conceptual model posited in the World Development Report 2004: that a root cause of low-quality and inequitable public services - not only in education - is the weak accountability of providers to both their supervisors and clients.The central focus of the book, however, is a new story. It is that developing countries are increasingly adopting innovative strategies to attack these problems. Drawing on new evidence from 22 rigorous impact evaluations across 11 developing countries, this book examines how three key strategies to strengthen accountability relationships in developing country school systems have affected school enrollment, completion and student learning. The book reviews the motivation and global context for education reforms aimed at strengthening provider accountability. It provides the rationally and synthesizes the evidence on the impacts of three key lines of reform: (1) policies that use the power of information to strengthen the ability of clients of education services (students and their parents) to hold providers accountable for results; (2) policies that promote school-based management?that is increase schools? autonomy to make key decisions and control resources, often empowering parents to play a larger role; (3) teacher incentives reforms that specifically aim at making teachers more accountable for results, either by making contract tenure dependent on performance, or offering performance-linked pay. The book summarizes the lessons learned, draws cautious conclusions about possible complementarities across different types of accountability-focused reforms if they are implemented in tandem, considers issues related to scaling up reform efforts and the political economy of reform, and suggests directions for future work."

Introducing a bold, persuasive new argument into the national debate over education, Dr. William Ouchi describes a revolutionary approach to creating successful public schools. This program has produced significant, lasting improvements in the school districts where it has already been implemented. Drawing on the results of a landmark study of 223 schools in six cities, a project that Ouchi supervised and that was funded in part by the National Science Foundation, Making Schools Work shows that a school's educational performance may be most directly affected by how the school is managed. Ouchi's 2001-2002 study examined innovative school systems in Edmonton (Canada), Seattle, and Houston, and compared them with the three largest traditional school systems: New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Researchers discovered that the schools that consistently performed best also had the most decentralized management systems, in which autonomous principals -- not administrators in a central office -- controlled school budgets and personnel hiring policies. They were fully responsible and fully accountable for the performance of their schools. With greater freedom and flexibility to shape their educational programs, hire specialists as needed, and generally determine the direction of their school, the best principals will act as entrepreneurs, says Ouchi. Those who do poorly are placed under the supervision of successful principals, who assume responsibility for the failing schools. An essential component of this management approach is the Weighted Student Formula, a budgetary tool whereby every student is evaluated and assessed a certain dollar value in educational services (a non-English-speaking or autistic student, or one from a low-income family, for example, would receive a higher dollar value than a middle-class student with no special needs). Families have the freedom to choose among public schools, and when schools must compete for students, good schools flourish while those that do poorly literally go out of business. Such accountability has long worked for religious and independent schools, where parents pay a premium for educational performance. Making Schools Work shows how the same approach can be adapted to public schools. The book also provides guidelines for parents on how to evaluate a school and make sure their child is getting the best education possible. Revolutionary yet practical, Making Schools Work shows that positive educational reform is within reach and, indeed, already happening in schools across the country.

Educational reform is a big business in the United States. Parents, educators, and policymakers generally agree that something must be done to improve schools, but the consensus ends there. The myriad of reform documents and policy discussions that have appeared over the past decade have not helped to pinpoint exactly what should be done. The case for investment in education is an economic one: schooling improves the productivity and earnings of individuals and promotes stronger economic growth and better functioning of society. Recent trends in schooling have, however, lessened the value of society's investments as costs have risen dramatically while student performance has stayed flat or even fallen. The task is to improve performance while controlling costs. This book is the culmination of extensive discussions among a panel of economists led by Eric Hanushek. They conclude that economic considerations have been entirely absent from the development of educational policies and that economic reality is sorely needed in discussions of new policies. The book outlines an improvement plan that emphasizes changing incentives in schools and gathering information about effective approaches. Available research and analysis demonstrates that current central decisionmaking has worked poorly. Concentrating on inputs such as pupil-teacher ratios or teacher graduate degrees appears quite inferior to systems that directly reward performance. Nonetheless, since experience with such alternatives is very limited, a program of extensive evaluation appears to be in order. Attempts to institute radical change on the basis of currently available information involve substantial risks of failure. Many people today find proposals such as charter schools, expanded use of merit pay, or educational vouchers to be appealing. Yet there is little evidence of their effectiveness, and widespread adoption of these proposals is sure to run into substantial problems of implementation. Instead of choosing the "right" approach, this book advocates a more systematic approach of experimentation, evaluation, and change. In addition to Hanushek, the contributors are Charles S. Benson, University of California, Berkeley; Richard B. Freeman, Harvard University; Dean T. Jamison, UCLA: Henry M. Levin, Stanford University; Rebecca A. Maynard, University of Pennsylvania; Richard J. Murnane, Harvard University; Steven G. Rivkin, Amherst College; Richard H. Sabot, Williams College; Lewis C. Solmon, Milken Institute for Job and Capital Formation; Anita A. Summers, University of Pennsylvania; Finis Welch, Texas A&M University; and Barbara L. Wolfe, University of Wisconsin.

Marcus Foster improved schools for marginalized students in observable and documented ways. He believed that expectations determine results, and his results were impressive. Making Schools Work is a vibrant account of his creative involvement where the action serves as a blueprint for effecting change.

“This book merits every American’s serious consideration” (Vice President Joe Biden): from the Secretary of Education under President Obama, an exposé of the status quo that helps maintain a broken system at the expense of our kids’ education, and threatens our nation’s future. “Education runs on lies. That’s probably not what you’d expect from a former Secretary of Education, but it’s the truth.” So opens Arne Duncan’s How Schools Work, although the title could just as easily be How American Schools Work for Some, Not for Others, and Only Now and Then for Kids. Drawing on nearly three decades in education—from his mother’s after-school program on Chicago’s South Side to his tenure as Secretary of Education in Washington, DC—How Schools Work follows Arne (as he insists you call him) as he takes on challenges at every turn: gangbangers in Chicago housing projects, parents who call him racist, teachers who insist they can’t help poor kids, unions that refuse to modernize, Tea Partiers who call him an autocrat, affluent white progressive moms who hate yearly tests, and even the NRA, which once labeled Arne the “most extreme anti-gun member of President Obama’s Cabinet.” Going to a child’s funeral every couple of weeks, as he did when he worked in Chicago, will do that to a person. How Schools Work exposes the lies that have caused American kids to fall behind their international peers, from early childhood all the way to college graduation rates. But it also identifies what really does make a school work. “As insightful as it is inspiring” (Washington Book Review), How Schools Work will embolden parents, teachers, voters, and even students to demand more of our public schools. If America is going to be great, then we can accept nothing less.

If we teach in the way that human brains learn, both students and their teachers will thrive! This book aligns evidence from the learning sciences on how and what students need to learn with classroom practice (pre-K–12). It demonstrates, with hands-on examples, how a change in educational mindset (rather than in curriculum) can improve student outcomes on both standardized tests and a breadth of 21st-century skills skills. Written collectively by classroom teachers, administrators, parents, and learning scientists, this book shows readers how to co-construct and reimagine an optimal educational system. Making Schools Work offers three case studies of schools, including a statewide system, that are all realizing a 6 Cs approach to learning focused on collaboration, communication, content, critical thinking, creative innovation, and confidence. The text documents the ever-evolving implementation process, as well as outcomes and the ongoing work of stakeholders. Readers can use this resource to create an education for all children that is culturally responsive, inclusive, effective, and fun. Book Features: Helps educators teach in the way that human minds learn.Jointly written in accessible language by teachers, administrators, parents, and learning scientists.Offers hands-on ways to reimagine classrooms without investing in new curricula.Puts teachers in the driver’s seat, reminding them of why they teach.Provides culturally responsive, inclusive, effective, and fun strategies.Offers children the possibility of learning the skills they will need for 21st-century skills success. “Most of us agree that it is critical at this moment in time to reimagine what school could be. This reimagination must be informed by the best available science and built on current educational wisdom found in our schools. This book does just that and makes clear that more playful learning across the K–12 school system would be the most natural way to help all students learn the 21st-century knowledge and skills they need in life.” —From the Foreword by Pasi Sahlberg, author of Finnish Lessons 3.0: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland? and professor of education, Southern Cross University, Lismore, Australia

Wanted: A Queen of Education Candidate must be able to take decisive action, cut through red tape, deflate the bureaucratic bloat, wrestle with the diagnostic nightmare of ADHD, and refuse to sell out her students to the corporate fat cats. Though we have "education presidents" who give lip service to fixing schools—what we really need is a Queen of Education who will get the job done. Anyone searching for such a candidate would put LouAnne Johnson's resume on the top of the stack of likely applicants. LouAnne Johnson is the gutsy ex-marine turned teacher who has wrestled with tough kids and even tougher adults. Her life inspired the movie Dangerous Minds — which was based on her book My Posse Don't Do Homework. Johnson's knack for finding original solutions to intractable problems has not only made her an exemplary teacher but a popular speaker on the lecture circuit. In this engaging book, "Queen" LouAnne offers her down-to-earth advice about fixing schools. Johnson makes no secret about the fact that she is fed up with an educational system that is too quick to label and write off children who don't fit the mold. Among her royal rules for fixing the system: no class shall have more than 20 students, all elected representatives must teach in a public school classroom for two weeks, and the testing frenzy must stop this very second! LouAnne is a passionate advocate for schools that are smaller, healthier, more humane, and more attuned to different learning styles. With humor and good sense, she shows how a compassionate teacher or parent can cut through the red tape and make a crucial difference in the life of a child. "LouAnne Johnson's book is a blend of common sense, humor, and practical, down-to-earth ideas of how each one of us, as a parent or a concerned citizen, can make a contribution toward improving America's public schools. I highly recommend it." —Michele Borba, Ed.D., author, Don't Give Me That Attitude!, No More Misbehavin', and Building Moral Intelligence "As a former student of LouAnne's first 'at risk' class, I experienced firsthand her approach to education. The result was nothing less than a miracle. This book has the power to do for the United States education system what it did for our class; turn a flawed reality into an exemplary system of education." —Dan Mueller, associate producer and designer, BottleRocket Entertainment Inc. "LouAnne Johnson writes with passion, humor, and good old common sense about the joys and frustrations of teaching, and the ways in which caring individuals can make a critical difference. Her book is a must read for all who have a stake in the success of our schools." —Robert R. Spillane, United States Department of State, Office of Overseas Schools, former New York State Deputy Commissioner of Education and former superintendent of the Boston and Fairfax County Virginia Public Schools Praise for Dangerous Minds "Johnson shows the importance of basic respect, constant encouragement, and unorthodox teaching strategies for a generation (another generation) of disenfranchised students." —Kirkus Review "Remarkable - Johnson proves that unorthodox methods can turn a problem kid into an "A" student." —Vogue