America’s schools are being crushed under decades of legislative
and union mandates. They can never succeed until we cast off the
bureaucracy and unleash
individual inspiration and willpower.
Schools are human institutions. Their effectiveness depends upon
engaging the interest and focus of each student. A good teacher,
studies show, can
dramatically improve the learning of students. What do great
teachers have in common? Nothing, according to studies — nothing, that
is, except a
commitment to teaching and a knack for keeping the students
engaged (see especially The Moral Life of Schools).
Good teachers don’t emerge
spontaneously, and training and mentoring are indispensable. But
ultimately, effective teaching seems to hinge on, more than any other
factor, the
personality of the teacher. Skilled teachers have a power to
engage their students — with spontaneity, authority, and wit.
Good teachers typically are found in schools with good cultures.
Experts say you can tell if a school is effective within five minutes
of walking in.
Students are orderly and respectful when changing classes;
there’s a steady hum of activity. Good school culture typically grows
out of good
leadership. Here as well, there are many variations of success. KIPPÂ schools
have a formula that includes, for students, longer hours and strict
accountability to core values, and, for teachers, a cooperative
role in developing school activities and pedagogy. David Brooks recently
described a
highly successful school in Brooklyn that abandons the
teacher-in-front-of-class model in favor of collaborative learning.
Students sit around larger
tables trying to solve problems or discuss the task at hand. In
every successful school, whatever its theory of education, a good
culture sweeps
everyone along, as if by a strong tide, towards common goals of
discovery and learning
