of evidence that many colleges (not the U Cals nor some of the state
behemoths, who respond slowly to new things and are driven by their very
size to be numbers-driven) are not only open to but excited about secondary
school practices that at least chip away at the mold and thus differentiate
their graduates by experience and skills. Even the simple act of bidding
adieu to our last couple of AP classes a few years ago was applauded all the
colleges we consulted, and schools that have done even more extensive prep
work around this issue report pretty much universal approbation. We note the
high place in the secondary school rankings (reprehensible as they are in
concept) occupied by one independent school in New York City that does not
award letter grades. Colleges are wrapping their heads around home-schooling
and on-line schooling; some charter schools and pilot schools are messing
around with very interesting new ideas and still getting their graduates
into colleges.
Unfortunately, at least some of this new or innovative (depending on your
point of view) practice can be regarded as threatening traditional ways of
doing and being for our schools, so there can be a tendency toward
retrenchment or backlash. But I think there's hope here, even though the
great preponderance of cultural effect in the college process as it
currently stands favors slow-to-no change.
Folks interested in the way some schools are at least thinking about
curriculum and innovation should check out the Independent Curriculum Group
website at www.independentcurriculum.org. The group is holding a couple of
upcoming workshops with pretty tasty agendas--at Fieldston in New York City
this Friday (1/15) and at Westtown near Philadelphia on Thursday, January
28.
Cheers--Peter Gow
On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 11:20 AM, Peter Richardson <
richardson@rutgersprep.org> wrote:
> Friends,
>
> I have read this thread with great interest. As always, I am impressed by
> the wise and thoughtful insights offered by readers of this list.
>
> However, I can't help but comment that we seemed to have missed the most
> creativity stifling pressure facing many of our members: The College
> Admission Process.
>
> Most of us include the term "college preparatory" in our mission statement.
> College preparatory implies two things: where our students are accepted
> and
> how well they do once they are enrolled. I believe that colleges are
> beginning to change in a way where innovation of the nature discussed here
> will help our students achieve success. The college admission process,
> however, is an albatross around the neck of any school or educator trying
> to
> become innovative. As long as we consider ourselves "college preparatory",
> as long as our constituencies judge us on successes in college acceptance,
> and as long as the admission process itself remains focused on AP classes,
> GPA's, and SAT's, our creative efforts are destined to be throttled.
>
> Just a thought.
>
> P
> Peter Richardson
> Director of Technical Services
> Rutgers Preparatory School
> 1345 Easton Avenue
> Somerset, NJ 08873
>
> 732-545-5600 x238
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 8:05 AM, Fred Bartels <fredbartels@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Thanks to all who have participated so far in this difficult discussion.
> I
> > knew it would be a challenge for our community but you all have been
> great
> > about calmly and openly exploring the issue. The subject has a kind of
> > taboo
> > about it and it is never easy to broach cultural prohibitions. Private
> > messages I've received may indicate that there are many others with
> > opinions
> > on this subject who do not feel free to speak openly.
> >
> > So why bring it up? Why disturb the community equilibrium?
> >
> > I can assure you it is not done lightly. I've been teaching for 27 years,
> > I'm successful at my job, and am one of the higher paid educators at my
> > school. But I'm a teacher. I value the search for the truth, even when it
> > involves wrestling with difficult questions. I do not believe we should
> > turn
> > off the constructive skepticism we work to instill in our students when
> we
> > turn to examine our own institutions.
> >
> > So, with that being said, I have some questions.
> >
> > One of the arguments that has been put forward to justify the growing
> > disparity between median head salaries and median teacher salaries is
> that
> > the headmaster job has grown to be more complex, difficult and full of
> > aggravation. The job, as described by many, sounds really terrible!
> >
> > This leads to my first question. Virtually all heads started out as
> > teachers. Given the apparently incredibly unpleasant nature of headship
> is
> > there a long list of heads who have gone back to full-time teaching? If
> so,
> > it would be great to get one of these people to participate in this
> > discussion.
> >
> > After reading a number of the rationales using the job difficulty
> argument
> > to justify the growing inequality in head /teacher median income, the
> > following thought experiment occurred to me.
> >
> > Picture a room full of headmasters, most of whom are males. Now imagine
> > addressing them, and saying something like this. "It has come to our
> > attention that your job really isn't very pleasant anymore. We think we
> > have
> > a great solution for you. There are not enough male teachers in most
> lower
> > schools. We can place any of you, who want to bail from your depressing
> > headmaster job, into a full-time teaching position in a self-contained
> > lower
> > school classroom. But wait, it gets better! You know how that rapidly
> > increasing headmaster salary has been narrowing your focus and stifling
> > your
> > creativity? Well, we can take care of that too. When you go back to the
> > classroom we will make your compensation one quarter of what it is now,
> > right in line with the other classroom teachers. What do you say guys?
> Any
> > takers for this wonderful opportunity?"
> >
> > If you have read this far, and played through the scenario above, what do
> > you imagine the reactions of the heads would be?
> >
> > I have many more questions but those two are probably enough for today.
> >
> > Fred
> >
> > [ For info on ISED-L see
> https://www.gds.org/podium/default.aspx?t=128874]
> > Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution,
> > non-commercial, share-alike license.
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> >
>
> [ For info on ISED-L see https://www.gds.org/podium/default.aspx?t=128874]
> Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution,
> non-commercial, share-alike license.
> RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=ISED-L
>
--
Peter Gow
Director of College Counseling and Special Programs
Beaver Country Day School
791 Hammond Street
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467
www.bcdschool.org
617-738-2755 (O)
617-738-2747 (F)
petergow3 (Skype)
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