There is a need for a radical reform of a system that has become obsessed with data and metrics, with graduation and dropout rates that can be easily manipulated, and with schools that would rather their students be obedient and easily controlled, regurgitating the facts they have been fed, than to have their creativity and intellectual curiosity unleashed. Standardized testing encourages teachers to teach to the test rather than engage young minds, particularly when those test results will be used to evaluate those teachers.

1. ADDICTED TO REFORM
BY JOHN MERROW

2. There is a need for a radical reform of a system that has become
obsessed with data and metrics, with graduation and dropout rates that
can be easily manipulated, and with schools that would rather their
students be obedient and easily controlled, regurgitating the facts they
have been fed, than to have their creativity and intellectual curiosity
unleashed. Standardized testing encourages teachers to teach to the
test rather than engage young minds, particularly when those test
results will be used to evaluate those teachers.
01
There is big money in those testing services and in school reform in
general, some of it going to administrators who are stronger on
rhetoric than on real education, some to the likes of Amazon and Apple
for technology that is often misused or misunderstood, and some to big
pharma within the overdiagnosed, pill-popping culture that would
prefer to see students medicated than stimulated.
02
A 12-STEP PROGRAM TO
RESCUE PUBLIC EDUCATION

3. THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS IS
TO PRODUCE:
TEST OBSESSION
TEST 1:
Educated Students
A
Knowledge
B

4. WHICH MORE ACCURATELY DESCRIBES THE
STRCUTURE OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS:
TEST OBSESSION
TEST 2:
Teachers are "labor,"
and administrators are
"management"
A
Students are "labor",
and teachers are
"management"
B

5. 3 HISTORICAL JUSTIFICATIONS FOR
SCHOOLS: DEBATE & DISCUSSION

6. 3 HISTORICAL JUSTIFICATIONS FOR
SCHOOLS: NEW TRENDS AND
CHALLENGES
Learn to read, count, then what?
share human wisdom, critically think,
question, analyze (flow of technology
24/7)
PROVIDING
ACCESS TO
KNOWLEDGE Expanding children's worlds beyond
family (has this changed now with
digital technology and social media)?
What is the role of schools now in
this respect?
SOCIALIZATION
Parents need places to send their
chidlren to places while at work to
keep them safe
CUSTODIAL CARE

7. DEFINE THE REAL PROBLEM. IN MOST CASES, THE PROBLEM STARTS WITH THE
WRONG DEFINITION OF A PROBLEM. WHAT IS THE REAL PROBLEM WITH
PUBLIC SCHOOLS? ARE THEY:
LOW ACADEMIC STANDARDS (RAISE STANDARDS INITIATIVES INCLUDE A
NATION AT RISK, GOALS 2000, COMMON CORE)
POOR TEACHING (TEACHER CORPS, VISTA, TROOPS FOR TEACHERS, TEACH FOR
AMERICA)
LOW-TECH FACILITIES (SUBSIDIZING TECHNOLOGY IN SCHOOLS; HAPPENING
NOW)
ALL THESE ARE THE SYMPTOMS, THE BY-PRODUCTS OF A FLAWED SCHOOL
SYSTEM
STEP 1: OWN THE PROBLEM

8. REAL PROBLEM 1: SORTING STUDENTS BY "WINNERS" AND
"LOSERS" RATHER THAN CREATING PLACES TO EXPAND EACH
CHILD'S OPPORTUNITIES
REAL PROBLEM 2: AMERICA IS BY FAR THE ONLY COUNTRY THAT
USES TEST SCORES TO EVALUATE TEACHERS RATHER THAN
STUDENTS (WHICH IS WHAT TESTS WERE DESIGNED FOR)
REAL PROBLEM 3: MOST REFORMS TARGET SYMPTOMS (LOW
GRADUATION RATES, LOW TEST SCORES, CLOSING THE
"ACHIVEMENT GAP")
ALL THESE ARE THE RESULT OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
STRATIFICATION, WHICH IS NOT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF SCHOOLS.
THE ROLE OF SCHOOLS IS (4 KEY WORDS BELOW):
HELP: SCHOOLS ARE PARTNERS WITH FAMILIES, NOT THEIR
REPLACEMENTS
GROW: IS A PROCESS, SOMETIMES 2 STEPS FORWARD, 1 STEP
BACKWARD
AMERICAN CITIZENS: THIS IMPLIES GOOD CITIZENS, NEIGHBORS,
VOTERS, RELIABLE WORKERS, WHAT ELSE?
STEP 1: OWN THE PROBLEM

9. NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND: GEORGE W BUSH (16
YEARS OF REFORMATIONS AND BILLIONS OF
DOLLARS SPENT)
RACE TO THE TOP: OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
(STATES COMPETING FOR FEDERAL DOLLARS
INSTEAD OF AUTOMATICALLY RECEIVING
THEM)
GROWTH IN FOUNDATIONS (BILL AND
MELINDA GATES FOUNDAITON OFFICIALS
FILLED MAJORITY OF POSITIONS WITHIN THE
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
THINK AND LEARN
RESULTS???
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS SPENT, YET AMERICA'S
ACADEMIC RESULTS ARE WELL DISAPPOINTING
(FINLAND, JAPAN, CANADA CREATED SYSTEMS
THAT OUTPERFORM THE U.S. WITH MUCH LESS
INVESTMENT AND MORE EFFICIENT
MECHANISMS IN PLACE

10. School reform is big business, and very profitable as well. The
School Reform industry gets around $620 billion federal and state
education dollars, plus millions more from the foundations and
businesses (Mark Zuckerberg gave Newark charter school
movement $100 million to support charter growth)
WHERE DOES MONEY GO? Follow the Trail.
- individuals (Teacher for America top 3 executives get around
$900,000; KIPP pays its 3 top executives over $1.3 million;
- billions and billions go to "testing" (in 2012 Brookings
Institution had a contract with Pearson for $1.7 billion for testing
development)
- advocacy (Bill and Melinda Gates gave out $135,425,600 to only
8 organizations for "advocacy")
- U.S. Department of Education (hundreds of millions spent on 2
reforms: dropout prevention and school turnarounds
- the BIG PHARMA (sales of medication to treat ADD and ADHD
totals to $9 billion, up from $4 billion in 2007)
Results??? See previous slide
STEP 2: CALCULATE THE
COST OF REFORM

11. SINCE 1987, THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS HAS INCREASED
ABOUT 9% (FROM 45 TO 53 MILLION STUDENTS), BUT THE
AMOUNT OF NEW TEACHERS HAS INCREASED BY 200%
(FROM 65,000 NEW TEACHERS TO 200,000 NEW
TEACHERS).
PERHAPS 40% OF ALL NEW TEACHERS LEAVE THE
PROFESSION WITHIN THEIR FIRST 5 YEARS. 1/4 OF ALL
TEACHERS IN THE U.S. HAVE LESS THAN 5 YEARS OF
EXPERIENCE.
WHY??? WHO IS THE WINNER IN THIS? WHO IS
LOSING?
HIDDEN COSTS TO REFORMS...

12. WE HAVE BECOME ADDICTED TO THE PROCESS OF LARGELY
SUPERFICIAL SCHOOL REFORM, WE HAVE LOST SIGHT OF
OUR CHILDREN'S BEST INTERESTS AND OUR NATION'S
FUTURE (LOVE TO READ, ARTS, COMMUNITY SERVICE,
CITIZENSHIP). ALL THESE ARE DISAPPEARING FROM THE
SCHOOL SYSTEM
BECAUSE WE ARE ADDICTED TO SCHOOL REFORM, TEST
SCORES ARE USED AS PRIMARY EVIDENCE USED BY
POLITICIANS, POLICYMAKERS, AND REALTORS (TO MARKET
HOMES)
THE REAL VICTIMS OF SCHOOL REFORM AND THE USE TEST
SCORES ARE THE KIDS WHO HAVE BELIEVED THAT THEY
AREN'T WORTH MUCH. THEY ARE THE LIVING EMBODIMENT
OF THE PRICE WE ARE PAYING FOR SCHOOL REFORM
STEP 3: DON'T PAY THE
PRICE

13. Child's Intelligence? Here, ADHD is a useful tool to inflate those test scores and
both teachers and parents compromise the diagnosis. America is leading the world
in consumption of amphetamines. Roughly, 1/5 high school boys is diagnosed with
ADD or ADHD. Students learn that there is a pill for all their problems. 2. Teacher
turnover: pressure on test scores produces many loopholes and manipulation,
including legitimate cheating (teachers and admins) 3. What should be measured:
schools or teachers?
1.
How intelligent is this child? V How is this child intelligent?
Special Education is the easiest field to find a job. Overdiagnosed: highly
political and financially profitable . Assessment is needed. But assessment is
needed for improvement. Not test to punish.
Let's measure what we value. VS Valuing what we measure. What do we value?
Physical development? Creative aspect of humanity? Let's measure that as well!
CEOs of GE, DuPont, Xerox, Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, and other 100+ leading
companies claim that HS graduates fo not posses the skills needed to effectively
perform the job. "Soft" skills mattered the most, with basic reading and math
ranking 6 and 7.
WHAT TO MEASURE?
WHAT ARE THE DEFINITIONS OF
INTELLIGENCE AND ABILITY?
WHAT ARE WE TRYING TO
ACHIEVE?
STEP 4: ASK THE RIGHT QUESTION

14. "WHEN ADULTS DEMONSTRATE
TAHT THEY CARE AND BELIEVE
IN YOU, MUCH IS POSSIBLE"
- ANGELA DUCKWORTH, AUTHOR
OF "GRIT"
AFFECTION DEFICIT DISORDER IS
THE NEW ADD.
STEP 5:
MAKING
CONNECTIONS

15. Creating appealing programs for children can become one of
the key points that can transform education system.
Early programs need to be full of free play, social
interactions, and with no testing.
Getting rid of 12th grade and spend the money on
preschool.
STEP 6: START EARLY

16. FAILURE IS ESSENTIAL AND IS PART OF THE PROCESS.
LEARNING BY DOING. WE ARE WHAT WE REPEATEDLY DO
(ARISTOTLE). EXCELLENCE IS NOT AN ACT BUT A HABIT.
WORKING ON A PROCESS INVOLVES TRIAL AND ERROR AND ARE
MORE LIKELY TO RETAIN INFORMATION THAN THOSE WHO ARE
SPOON-FED THE MATERIAL,
PROJECT-BASED LEARNING: INVOLVING ADULTS AS GUIDANCE
AND SUPERVISORS; PROJECTS THAT DO NOT HAVE RIGHT OR
WRONG ANSWERS; PROJECTS THAT INTEGRATE TECHNOLOGY
WITH HUMAN INTERACTION; PROJECTS THAT PROVIDE REAL LIFE
SKILLS AND BOOST CONFIDENCE.
ALL THESE IMPLY ABSENCE OF STATE TESTING.
STEP 7: EXPECT MORE

17. TECHNOLOGY WILL NOT REPLACE GREAT TEACHERS, BUT
TECHNOLOGY IN THE HANDS OF GREATTEACHERS CAN BE TRANS
FORMATIONAL - GEORGE COUROS
STEP 8: EMBRACE
TECHNOLOGY
(CAREFULLY)

18. WORKING TOGETHER WITH PEERS, COMMUNICATING
ACROSS GENERATIONS, SPECIFIC PRODUCTION SKILLS,
MAKING VALUE-BASED JUDGEMENTS, MAKING DIFFICULT
EDITORIAL CHOICES, MEETING REAL-WORLD
PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS
INVOLVE PARENTS, BUSINESS AND LOCAL COMMUNITIES
STEP 9: EMBRACE OUTSIDERS
(ENTHUSIASTICALLY)

19. U.S. EDUCATION SYSTEM MAKES IT TOO EASY
FOR JUST ABOUT ANYONE TO BECOME A
TEACHER.. AND FAR TOO DIFFICULT TO EXCEL
AT THE TASK
Changing the system won't be simple or fast
because there are always those who benefit the
current inefficient system.
STEP 10: EMBRACE TEACHERS
(RESPECTFULLY)

20. STEP 11: MEASURE WHAT MATTERS
CURRICULUM IS
DISENGAGING AND
MEANINGLESS- WHAT DO
TESTS MEASURE? HOW
DO THEY RELATE TO LIFE
SKILLS?
POOR EVALUATION
SYSTEM FOR TEACHERS
(PERIODIC, SCHEDULED IN
ADVANCE, TEST-
OBSESSED CULTURE)
USING STUDENT TEST
SCORES TO PUNISH AND
REWARD TEACHERS IS
THE WORST POLICIES
SEEN IN HISTORY
EVALUATION SHOULD USE
MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS
RATHER THAN SINGLE
MEASURE OF STANDARDIZED
TEST SCORES

21. IT'S TIME TO MEASURE WHAT WE VALUE, INSTEAD OF
OUR CURRENT PRACTICE OF VALUING WHAT'S EASY TO
MEASURE.
WHAT SHOULD BE MEASURED?

22. We need to focus on the educational and emotional needs and strengths of
individual children. We need to involve the entire village, not just the parents
and educators. We are committed to eschew fill-in-the bubbles tests with
measuring what really matters.
FOCUS 1
Raising the bar for entry into the teaching profession, strengthening teacher
training, and improving working conditions will make it harder to become a
teacher but easier to be one. Ending church will dramatically affect the
landscape in teacher education- half of the ed schools will go out of business.
FOCUS 2
Children become what they regularly do. Curriculum should be challenging and
interesting. Financial decisions should be transparent for all types of schools.
Those who have been losers (students, teachers, and the public) will become the
winners. There will be new losers: those who have been benefitting from failure
and mediocrity, those big pockets of research agencies, technology giants,
expensive testing agencies and the BIG PHARMA,
FOCUS 3
STEP 12:
CHOOSE A
NEW PATH

23. THANK YOU!