How many decades before 'reform' becomes 'status quo'?

12-01-2011

By Kevin G. Welner/Education Week

Pause for a moment and warily inhale the decaying fragrance of well-aged change. The nation’s established school reformers have been on the ascendency for decades, and the so-called “change” they offer is simply more of the same. Consider this brief recap of school reform over the past three decades, focused in particular on privatization and choice, as well as standards-based testing and accountability. Reform in the 1980s: “A Nation at Risk”; site-based management; basic-skills testing; graduation exams; and the beginning of standards-based reforms. Reform in the 1990s: Alternative teacher certification and, relatedly, programs such as Teach For America; federal promotion of standards-based reform; state-level development and expansion of standards-based, high-stakes student testing; development and expansion of charter school policies; and the first appearance of education management organizations, or EMOs, and tax-credit vouchers. (more...)

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How many decades before 'reform' becomes 'status quo'?

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