Better Fall 2009 US

WASHINGTON
CORNER
Washington corner:
Changing view of
silver bullet solutions
WASHINGTON HAS LONG BEEN IN SEARCH of the What Works Clearinghouse, the but because of the proliferation of bargain-
the “silver bullet” for education, breathlessly Comprehensive School Reform Quality priced programs that have no research base.
promoting the latest and greatest new Center, and Social Programs That Work. Local ofﬁ cials should look back and consider
idea. Extended day. Extended year. Pay for Each of these clearinghouses comes to how much they spent on dubious “good idea”
performance. Pay for grades. Tenure reform. somewhat different conclusions, as each has programs that failed to produce meaningful
Afterschool programs. Teacher mentoring. a somewhat different process. However, one results for their students.
School choice. Differentiated accountability. thing they all have in common is that they all Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has
Growth models. empirically identify the programs most likely been rolling out an ambitious agenda for
While these methods have the potential to generate positive outcomes from a ﬁ eld of reform, along with unprecedented resources
to have a positive impact on student seemingly good ideas. behind the effort. It is his goal to turn around
learning, choosing just one or choosing the lowest-achieving 5,000 schools in the
several unsystematically will never reform
School reform that
country in the next ﬁ ve years. He calls this
education. We have not been able to ﬁ nd reform effort “education’s moonshot,” and
the silver bullet because it is a myth. Silver
addresses all aspects of
discourages “ﬂ ash-in-the pan” solutions,
bullets worked for the Lone Ranger, but he
school functioning is not
which fail to offer sustainable school
lived only in ﬁ ction.
easy. It is not cheap.
improvement. In some ways, Duncan’s
In particular, no one has invented or agenda is even more ambitious than a
will ever invent a silver bullet solution for
But it works
moonshot. He is calling upon education
the struggling schools that serve high- leaders to change the way they think, act,
poverty neighborhoods. Such schools The availability of this growing set of and spend within our current education
can indeed turn themselves around and resources means there are more proven system. And he wants it to happen fast.
can achieve remarkable gains, but not by choices available for school leaders. These Duncan and his Washington team are
rushing after the latest fad or adopting options allow schools to choose a reform working hard to release guidance for several
a patchwork approach. Research-based model that is not only proven effective, but structured funds that intend to spur reform.
turnaround models that use a multifaceted, also ﬁ ts their speciﬁ c needs. The largest effort to be led by reform minded
comprehensive approach to school reform states is the Race to the Top Fund (RttT),
offer far more promise than the latest “hot A Changing Federal Landscape funded at $4.35 billion dollars. RttT will
idea.” Such models focus on the core of The unique thing about the comprehensive only go to a limited number of states, but
practice-curriculum, instruction, classroom programs identiﬁ ed as effective by this is not the only new funding opportunity
management, assessment grouping, these clearinghouses is that they are for reform-minded local leaders. School
accommodations for struggling students, the successful integration of multiple Improvement Grants (SIG) are funded at an
parent involvement, and more. strategies, not a single silver bullet. The unprecedented $3 billion and will be awarded
School reform that addresses all aspects U.S. Department of Education and state to States to make subgrants to local education
of school functioning is not easy. It is not departments of education should encourage agencies. While guidance is not ﬁ nalized,
cheap. But it works. the adoption of programs proven to be this fund is designed to strongly encourage
effective. There is more money on the comprehensive turnaround strategies. Finally,
Evolving Resources, More Choices line than ever before. Competitive grant the Investing in Innovation fund (i3) will offer
In 2002, when No Child Left Behind processes that encourage the adoption of $650 million to local education agencies
was ﬁ rst signed into law, the choices proven programs will provide the greatest that partner with non-proﬁ t organizations
of comprehensive strategies proven by yield for each dollar invested. in scaling up evidence-based practices that
research were slim. Schools face a different Local school districts and school leaders improve student outcomes.
picture today. Multiple resources are now do not need to wait for a federal or state Duncan’s call to action makes
available to make an informed decision consensus. They can make the choice comprehensive turnaround strategies
among research-based reforms broadly now to implement a program that has a more necessary than ever. Comprehensive,
available to schools that need them. demonstrated track record of success. Some proven strategies are the only way to
Many programs have been identiﬁ ed as local ofﬁ cials may experience “sticker shock” guarantee large scale results in a short time
effective by a number of major research over the cost of implementing a research- period. Duncan’s plan does emphasize the
clearinghouses that conduct systematic proven comprehensive school improvement expansion of charter schools and other new
reviews to identify effective programs. These strategy. This reaction is understandable, not schools, an initiative that will take time to
include the Best Evidence Encyclopedia, just because of the current economic climate, come to fruition. Comprehensive reform
22 Better: Evidence-based Education fall 2009
Better(US) Fall09.indb 22 14/10/09 13:05:35
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