History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
True reform: Collaboration at Viers Mill Elementary
By Claus von Zastrow/Public School Insights
Viers Mill Elementary School violates much of the received wisdom about school reform. The school has made astonishing gains in the past decade without becoming a charter school, firing lots of teachers, importing all kinds of outside talent, or paying teachers for children’s test scores. In fact, some of these reforms would likely have thwarted the main strategy Viers Mill credits with its success: collaboration. When I visited Viers Mill about ten days ago, I was stunned by the level of collaboration I saw there. My guide through the building, staff development teacher Susan Freiman, showed me a school where everyone on staff works together for the good of the students. Collaboration at Viers Mill is not just a heartwarming tendency among staff. (Though it is that.) It is a carefully crafted reform strategy. (more...)
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