Lessons I Have Learned from Researching School Reform

Many years ago, I had met with a group of Stanford University graduate students then working on their joint Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and education. Some had taught for a few years through Teach for America and were eager to graduate and then apply their knowledge and skills learned in their MBA program to largely minority, low-performing schools. Here is the post I wrote about that discussion I had with these wannabe reformers eager to engage in school reform. Many of the 18 MBA students sitting around a seminar table had taught a few years in urban schools through Teach for America. Those who had no direct experience in schools had worked for consulting firms with contracts in major urban districts. Smart, savvy about organizations and passionate about reforming schools, the students wanted to hear my thoughts about reform that I had extracted from nearly a half-century of experience as teacher, superintendent, and researcher. I offered four lessons. Since I have…