2. Technology
• Technology was mentioned few
times throughout the book.
• One key point was that schools must adapt to the new
reality of technology.
• Socialization has been changed by technology. Today’s kids do not need school
for socialization in the usual sense of learning to get along with peers. They
use online sites and texting for socialization.
• If technology is not made available to all, we will continue to see students walk
away from schools, leading to an annual drop-out rate of more than a million.
• Technology is an imperative way to keep all students engaged in their learning,
no matter the situation of the learning environment.
• Merrow states that “Our young people should be learning how to deal with the
flood of information that surrounds them. They need guidance separating
wheat from chaff. They need help formulating questions, and they need to
develop the habit of seeking answers, not regurgitating them. They should be
going to schools where they are expected and encouraged to discover, build,
and cooperate. Instead, most of them endure what I call “regurgitation
education” and are stuck in institutions that expect them to memorize the
periodic table, the names of 50 state capitals and the major rivers of the
United States”(p.8).
3. Leadership
• This book along with the constant news publications reveal how leaders in education
continue to make choices that are not benefitting teachers or students.
• Leaders in schools – superintendents or principals – are often brought in to try and
work a miracle in a failing district or school.
• These leaders appear to know all of the “magic” answers and when those answers
are not effective, they move on to another school district.
• Merrow provided numerous examples of leaders and their plans when hired in
schools or districts. Too often these examples ended in transfers or terminations.
Some administrators were on the right “track” but often the schools (teachers,
students, curriculum, test scores, budget, etc.) had too many areas to transform in
a little amount of time.
4. Change: to achieve success in the education of children, changes must be
made in school systems and by those in higher positions
• student learning matters more than a teacher’s experience
• if mediocre teachers are the root of education’s problem
• the teaching job itself: low pay and low prestige
• principals have authority over hiring their staff but bring in trusted veteran teachers
into the process
• teacher evaluations: lack of, excessively rigid, and ineffective
• teacher pay
• teacher’s lack of school support
• district leadership
• schools need to be where teachers can create stimulating and exciting
environments for children to learn, rather than assessment-focused institutions
where children’s natural enthusiasm for learning is under-utilized
• Merrow notes that “the recipe for success includes some mix of strong
leadership, committed teachers, an integrated curriculum, the willingness
to challenge conventional wisdom and accepted practices, and the moral
imperative to care for and about all of our children” (p. 154).
