When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957, shattering Americans' belief in our technological superiority, I was in kindergarten. We kids kept hearing that "Ivan" was smarter than "Johnny," and we'd all have to learn more math. Our younger siblings were taught the "new math," which turned out to be no better at producing rocket scientists.
When Covid closed schools, it was a "Sputnik moment" for American education, write Robin Lake, executive director of the Center on Reinventing Education, now based at Arizona State, and Paul Hill, the center's founder. "We blew it."
Pandemic-sparked innovations, such as small learning pods, were jettisoned as "most school systems rushed back to 'normal' — as if normal had ever been good enough," they write.
The "new normal" is "horrifying," Lake and Hill write. "Student achievement is in free fall. Fewer than one-third of students scored proficient in reading and math, according to the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress. These declines predated the pandemic but were exacerbated by prolonged school closures."
"Burning down" the Department of Education "won't fix education's inefficiencies, most of which are wired into the system by state regulations, labor contracts, and local customs," writes Lake in a separate article. “Deny and defend" won't work either.
The center's new Phoenix Rising forum will propose ways to create a "future-ready system" that prepares students for academic and career success.
Among the ideas is a move to flexible learning pathways matching students' goals.
Schools should act as portfolio managers, offering students personalized learning options rather than delivering all the instruction and support themselves. Core academics would remain in assigned schools, but students could use public dollars for apprenticeships, enrichment programs, tutoring and mental health support.
In addition, the Phoenix wants to discuss "rethinking teacher roles and instruction" to "encourage team-based teaching" and "evidence-based instructional practices."
Other ideas include:
Fixing IDEA: Achieving wildly better outcomes and realizing more efficiencies in special education
Remaking ed schools from the ground up: Shaking up the current teacher training monopoly
The Center's Unfinished Business report has more.
Lake and Hill: "States must reallocate federal funding flexibly, revamp laws to incentivize innovation and create new opportunities for experimentation beyond the traditional system."
"Incentivize innovation". A minimally-regulated, competitive, profit-driven market does that.
How do we get from here to there?
I suggest a policy that I call "Parent Performance Contracting".
Parent Performance Contracting (PPC)
Your legislature mandates that all school districts in your State must hire parents on personal service contracts to provide for their children's education if (a) the parents apply for the contract and (b) the child scores at or above age-level expectations on standardized tests of Reading (any language) and Math on or before the start of the contract year.
One contract per child per year.