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THE PLAN: AMERICA'S BEST CHANCE
Our educational system has failed. Not might fail, not is failing — it has failed. Not every school and not everywhere, but when taken in its entirety, our kids are learning insufficiently to thrive in the increasingly competitive and complex world around them.
We hear about “reform” all the time, but the definition of reform doesn’t lend itself to a pussyfoot approach. The truest definition of reform is to put an end to an evil by enforcing or introducing a better method or course of action.
Year after year our progress remains painfully slow because we cling to one or two topics at a time and obsess on them to the exclusion of everything else. We keep searching in vain for the one magical solution to our education predicament: Is the answer increased funding, teacher quality or merit pay? Does the answer exist in higher standards, smaller class size, shorter summer breaks, early childhood learning or charter schools?
Unfortunately, the widespread assumption that these complex issues exist in isolation from one another has undermined our ability to solve any of them. Forgive me for sounding like a broken record, but the problems we face in education are linked in intricate ways, and our solutions must be developed comprehensively as opposed to compartmentally.
We can no longer expect half-measures and incremental ideas to work in systems that have collapsed; rather, we must embrace an unprecedented full and fundamental restructuring. It’s way past time that we move to crisis mode and thoroughly alter the way we approach the education of our children to prevent an all-out disaster.
To make substantial and sustaining improvements in the way we educate our children, we must boldly approach the challenges from a completely new perspective and make our resolution both wide and deep for every child.
OUR MISSION
To ensure every high school student...
Acquires the knowledge and skills necessary to attend higher education, OR
Be immediately productive within the American enterprise — meaning students leave high school with a marketable skill that can earn them money today.
This may sound like common sense — and it most certainly is — but this nation has lost sight of these very simplistic ideas.
The belief that superior education is a hit or miss game is categorically false. Outstanding research and numerous success stories provide crystal clear answers to many of the issues involved. Unfortunately, these heroic efforts are severely limited if their results go no further than an occasional newspaper article or a handsomely bound report that sits on a shelf somewhere.
Charter schools are an excellent example. Although the U.S. charter school movement has widely mixed results, there are extraordinary charters that have pioneered extremely innovative educational concepts. However, without a centralized effort, it’s virtually impossible for other schools to benefit from the invaluable knowledge these charters have gained. It’s highly doubtful that thousands of school administrators can travel across America to observe these successful schools. Even if they could, the process would be too invasive, too arduous, and too time-consuming.
It’s an irresponsible, reckless waste of resources if the successful components of these endeavors aren’t incorporated into a national strategy, based on pragmatism instead of political quicksand. We will not see a significant shift in our education crisis until a far-reaching framework is created that allows educational achievements to be learned from and replicated.
Now for the good news! 1787 is developing an educational model of excellence called America’s Best Chance. America’s Best Chance is a program that addresses every aspect of the school experience, from the material taught in the classroom to what is served in the cafeteria.
All academic and non-academic areas are clearly defined — curriculum, standards, assessment, accountability, expectations, governance, budgets, school culture, teacher quality and training, technology, counseling and guidance, length of the school day, nutrition, class size, discipline, child safety, community involvement, and parent, student, and teacher partnerships.
To develop this revolutionary course of action, experienced staff and engaged citizens thoroughly research, analyze and integrate a broad spectrum of data. Sources include the U.S. Department of Education, the highest ranking international and domestic school systems, research conducted by colleges and universities, social and psychological research, journals and publications, research conducted by nonprofit organizations and private foundations, and extensive feedback from educators and educational leaders.
No stone will be left unturned. America’s Best Chance is not a consequence of a guessing game, politically motivated, or a product of preconceived notions or staff opinions. Every recommendation incorporated into the program is backed by extensive evidence to justify its inclusion. Together, we will discover what works in education and develop a model of excellence that addresses the entire school experience simultaneously.
America’s Best Chance delivers an open learning curriculum that brings success for all children, regardless of their future goals. Students are challenged to think creatively and to use higher order thinking and critical analytical skills.
The curriculum provides students flexibility, diversity, and a cross-cultural learning experience. It also offers a combination of theoretical and practical learning opportunities and promotes integrated knowledge, enhances communication skills, and encourages self-management and personal development. The goal is for students to go beyond the acquisition of knowledge to problem solving and application, as well as to become life-long learners and contributing citizens.
A key element of America’s Best Chance is the students’ ability to choose their educational path according to their abilities and interests. In 10th grade, students choose either a vocational or academic track. The academic track provides a cohesive curriculum designed to expand knowledge and capabilities. Students can earn higher learning credit for core coursework through partnerships with junior colleges, universities and technical institutes.
The vocational track is a dual-track approach, which combines practical training with classroom instruction. This program offers students the practical experience and real-world knowledge necessary to succeed in the 21st century global economy and includes pre-apprenticeship training courses, a modular system of workplace apprenticeships and a well-defined transition from vocational education straight to community or technical colleges. There are several examples of American schools that are trying things like this and it’s working great so far.
There is a strong element of mentorship in the vocational curriculum. America’s Best Chance partners with employer organizations in the community that commit their time and resources to help our kids succeed (and, in turn, they assure themselves a continually qualified workforce). These heroes provide apprenticeships and internships and facilitate field trips and job shadowing, among many other work-based learning opportunities. This is one of the coolest parts of America’s Best Chance. Our dream is for thousands of U.S. companies to be involved with this program.
Most importantly, America’s Best Chance helps achieve a dramatic increase in achievement for all children while significantly decreasing racial, ethnic and socio-economic discrepancy. As we have seen time and time again throughout these books, there are very specific and overwhelming challenges for children who are born into low-income families, and racial disparity remains rampant.
A major focus of America’s Best Chance is to develop enhancements outside of the standard curriculum that will address and attempt to solve these inequities. We will continually search for the root causes of the disparity epidemic and incorporate programs to help end this terrible trend once and for all.
Without question, it is possible to develop a school structure that brings success for all children, regardless of their demographics or home situation. Wait a second…what? But what about those social factors we’ve been talking about like poverty, race, etc.?
My contention is that proper restructuring and an overhaul in curriculum will alleviate many of these factors, including elevated dropout rates, from even being an issue. For this to happen, education must be viewed as an autonomous endeavor. It must completely stand on its own. Parental involvement can no longer be an automatic assumption, and issues such as race, economic status, and the dysfunctional home life of the child can no longer be an excuse for our failing to properly educate them.
The Gallup organization once asked the American public why the United States has low educational outcomes in low-income communities. The most frequent responses were the home life of the students, economic hardships, poor community involvement, and lack of parental involvement.
These may all be true, but low educational outcomes in low-income communities are not prevalent because these kids are impossible to educate; rather, circumstances and systems have them starting on severely cracked foundations, then ensure they fall right through.
The bottom line is that the future success of many of our children is largely dependent on what they are provided during the school day. I know well the argument that it is not the government’s place to raise children and, in that elusive perfect world, I believe that to be correct.
The involvement of parents is incredibly advantageous for the children blessed to have it, and parental commitment should be loudly applauded whether demonstrated at home or within the classroom. However, in crisis mode, you must build strategies within the context of the realities of the situation, not what you wish the realities were.
As a reminder, not everyone’s experience is the same. Without a doubt, in a perfect world, all children would learn basic life skills — everything from self-control to sex education — within the home environment.
Unfortunately, it appears this is not the prevailing trend. Sex is an excellent example, and one that can have lifelong implications for the children who are not adequately educated about its potentially dangerous consequences.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that 30 percent of high school students have had sexual intercourse and 48 percent of them do not use a condom. Over half of the nearly 20 million new sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) reported each year are among people aged 15 to 24. Twenty percent (20%) of all new HIV diagnoses are among people aged 13-24. Over 145,000 babies are born to adolescent females every year.
Clearly, not everyone is hearing these things at home, and it is our responsibility to make certain it’s heard somewhere.
We're always perplexed when I hear such adamant resistance to these ideas. How can someone possibly justify withholding age-appropriate sex education from our kids while, at the same time, be aghast by high abortion rates and furious that the government — in their words — has to financially provide for babies who have babies and then their babies?
This is ridiculously flawed logic and unbelievably unfair to our kids. We know this conversation is outside some people’s comfort zone, but the faster we face these difficult truths, the faster we can fix them.
Our intention is for America’s Best Chance to eventually become national policy, but we’re not just going to sit around and wait for that to happen. We need to start making progress in our educational crisis now!
So, in the meantime, 1787 will present this groundbreaking policy to the White House (until 1787 is there, of course!), all members of Congress, every state governor, every state legislature, state boards of education, state education departments, local school boards, local superintendents, and school principals.
Privately raised, non-deductible funds will allow America’s Best Chance to be offered to schools free of charge, to include all instruction materials and staff for the transition. Schools retain complete control of school operations and the decision-making process. Plus, the school’s existing budget will be honored, so participating schools will need no additional funds to accommodate the program. Highly trained teams will be available to help facilitate the transition for as long as they are needed. The transition teams will collaborate with each individual school to create a framework of shared beliefs, customs, and behaviors.
Although the core of America’s Best Chance will follow a standard model based on exhaustive research, certain elements will remain flexible to retain school autonomy. It is imperative that the changes implemented are appropriately linked to each school’s unique culture. There will also be a certain amount of sovereignty regarding curriculum and standards, and mechanisms will be recommended that encourage teachers and staff to systematically evaluate and renovate both.
Now here’s where we all can chip in. Let’s each commit at least five hours a week to this type of endeavor which, if you think about it, isn’t that hard to do. We can just take it from our Facebook or reality television time! : )
Initially, this involvement can be in the form of ideas and recommendations, but that can eventually translate into action. For example, if you are an accountant, you can work with the local school administrators to stay within budget as America’s Best Chance is implemented into a new school. If you are a chef, you can help create healthy menus for the schools. If you are a contractor, you can coordinate and lead the construction crews brought in to give the schools a fresh, new look. Most everyone can be on a transition team, secure community sponsors and employer partners, or mentor/tutor the students.
Once we prove this model works — and we most certainly will — the program will spread like an inescapable wildfire, because it’s hard to argue against successful results.
Wow, we are almost there! Now all we need is an infusion of good old common sense. We feed our children Froot Loops for breakfast and pizza for lunch, give them a fifteen-minute recess, and then force Ritalin down their throats because for some odd reason they can’t sit still and concentrate. Common sense. The ratio of our publicly educated students to their school counselors is 408-to-1, even though the counselor’s primary purpose is to enhance students’ academic achievement, personal development, and to help them develop future career plans. Common sense. We have systematically dismantled the discipline function in our schools giving our educators no recourse against kids who essentially run wild, cause trouble, and have free reign to recruit other kids to come along for the ride. Common sense. We spend $26 billion a year for the federal Pell Grant program; meanwhile, the American public spends $137 billion a year on their pets.
Common sense. Common Sense. Common sense.