When you hear the words “education reform” what do you think of? Ensuring that there is equity in schooling? That kids are becoming proficient in foundational subjects like reading, math, and science? That they are being prepared for 21st century challenges? That they learn to be critical and creative thinkers ready for a rapidly changing world? That they have excellent, inspiring teachers whom they respect and admire? That they graduate as compassionate, honest, knowledgeable, thoughtful global citizens ready and able to be solutionaries no matter what careers they pursue?

I think most of us would say yes to all of these goals.

Yet education reform in the U.S. has become so polarized, with many camps pitted against one another, as if our purposes were terribly divergent. What feeds this divergence and conflict among so many fair-minded, caring people? I believe it’s a too narrow focus on one or two of the above goals, which prevents crafting better solutions that help to achieve the whole.

Imagine someone coming to an emergency room having been in a car accident. Her bones are broken; she’s bleeding internally; she’s gone into shock; her wounds are in danger of infection. Imagine that instead of being treated comprehensively, the doctor addresses just one of the problems. The trauma specialist stabilizes her with fluids and transfusions, and stops there. The orthopedist decides only to set her broken bones. The infectious disease doctor simply prescribes antibiotics. The surgeon tackles solely the internal bleeding. None of these actions on its own would be good enough.

Addressing the myriad problems we face in education without a comprehensive approach isn’t good enough either. A focus on one area may inadvertently delay progress in another. There are numerous impediments to achieving the educational goals mentioned above and they must be addressed simultaneously. Here are a few:

• Without good teachers, we will not have good schooling. Unfortunately, in the U.S. the teaching profession comes with little status and a modest salary, but requires tremendous work – work that has become less autonomous and creative as educators have been required to teach to standardized bubble tests. So it should not be surprising that the profession does not generally attract America’s best and brightest (though, thankfully, it sometimes does). Without giving too much weight to standardized tests, only 23% of new teachers in the U.S. scored in the top third of SAT and ACT tests. Until we attract only smart, creative, committed people to the teaching profession and give them the autonomy, respect, and flexibility to meet the needs of their students, we should not expect to achieve our educational goals.

• Standardized No Child Left Behind (NCLB) tests, meant to ensure that students receive foundational knowledge and skills, primarily in math and reading, have not actually produced the hoped-for advances. In fact, they have unwittingly resulted in more demoralized teachers (with the most creative ones too often leaving the profession); students who are ever more bored and frustrated; lack of innovation for 21st century skill-building, because there simply isn’t time for it; and reduced time for students to learn and employ critical and creative thinking for today’s real world issues. Until we devise flexible and meaningful assessment tools that evaluate the array of skills and knowledge we hope to impart, we should not expect to achieve our educational goals.

• We’ve created straw men and turned a terribly complex array of educational issues into a battle between “sides.” Whether the straw man is teachers’ unions, NCLB and Race to the Top, vouchers, privatization, Teach for America, charter schools, or iconic figures like Michelle Rhee or Arne Duncan, side-taking is preventing thoughtful problem-solving. Until we stop our either/or thinking and commit to listening to the best ideas from all stakeholders in every quarter, we should not expect to find comprehensive solutions that meet all of our educational goals.

• We lack equity in school funding. Because property taxes provide much of local school resources, wealthier communities have more money to spend per pupil than poor communities. Until we address inequity and consider new and creative approaches to funding our schools, we should not expect to develop truly equitable education.

So here are some overarching thoughts about how to approach solving these interconnected challenges wisely, holistically, and collaboratively:

1. Look to successful educational approaches in other countries and then emulate them. The best model is Finland, which has been ranked number 1 or 2 in global educational achievement for years, having turned around its previously mediocre educational system. While we will need to develop our own approaches that fit U.S. diversity, state systems, and political challenges, Finland provides a model worth considering carefully. Here are some facts about Finnish education that should make us pause and rethink our own strategies:Teachers: Teaching in Finland is extremely prestigious. All Finnish teachers receive a master’s degree that is content-based (rather than theory-based), and the acceptance rate into teacher training programs is less than 10%. Finnish teachers work collaboratively as well as autonomously. They choose their own teaching methods and materials and assess their students accordingly. Contrary to the popular belief that Finland pays its teachers more than we do, teachers’ salaries in Finland are actually comparable to the U.S. (though because Finnish teachers work on average about half as many hours as U.S. teachers, they are actually paid twice as much for their time).Testing, homework, and instruction time: There are no standardized tests in Finland until a single matriculation exam at 15 years old (to determine the higher education options available to students). Education is not competitive. There are no valedictorians, rankings, or tracking. Most schools do not grade students until 6th grade. There are fewer school days in Finland than in the U.S., with shorter school days and more outdoor/recess time. While all pre-schools (nursery and kindergarten) are fully funded and most children attend, academic education does not begin until children are 7 years old. Students are required to complete very little homework, averaging 30 minutes per day.Equity: The variation in Finnish schools’ successes is minimal. Whether rural or urban, in wealthy or poor regions, in schools with 50% of the student body learning Finnish as a second language or those with only native Finnish speakers, Finnish children do well no matter what school they attend.

   Cost: Less money is spent per pupil in Finland than in the U.S.

   It certainly seems we have much to learn from Finland’s successes.

2. Avoid side-taking. We can be supportive of teachers’ unions while constructively critiquing outdated and unsuccessful approaches these unions have taken and abetted. We can believe in traditional public education and also support charter schools, where some of the most innovative educational initiatives and approaches occur, providing ideas and models for traditional public schools. Instead of falling on one side or the other of the concept of vouchers (which generally provide a small stipend for a student to attend another school, rather than a full ride), we can have meaningful conversations about equity in school resources and consider what it would mean if vouchers were synonymous with the full cost of education for every child from age 3 through high school (and perhaps beyond), “redeemable” anywhere. There are many more issues that have polarized good people who all want children to have a good education, but I think the point is made: Until we stop our knee-jerk side-taking and focus on creative problem-solving, our kids will be the losers.
3. Embrace the 21st Century. While the world has changed dramatically, schooling has changed little in the past century. A couple of years ago, a rising high school senior I knew was furiously memorizing the names and dates of American presidents the week before school began. When I asked why, she told me this was a summer requirement in preparation for her AP American History class. I was stunned. In her pocket was a tiny computer (her phone) that could provide this information in seconds, whenever she might need it. Was this rote memorization really worthy of what is supposed to be a college level course? Ironically, her teacher was considered the best in the school.Meanwhile, that same year the kindergartners (kindergartners!) in the Auburn, Maine, schools were being provided with iPads, at a cost of $200,000, for 285 5-year-olds. Embracing the 21st century is going to mean thinking wisely, creatively, and intelligently about the skills and resources our kids will need for a rapidly changing world. Certainly, there is a better use of an AP American History student’s time than memorizing names and dates of presidents and a better use of a 5-year-old’s time (and taxpayer’s money) than spending school hours on a government subsidized tablet.Online learning is a powerful and important way for our older kids to gain knowledge and skills. When I first learned about Khan Academy I was thrilled by it. People of all ages, anywhere in the world, could now easily learn math, science, and other subjects at their own pace and level, free of charge. But when I wrote an enthusiastic blog for a teachers’ website about Khan Academy, and it happened to be published on April 1, a reader thought it was an April Fool’s joke because Khan Academy had been summarily dismissed by some educators who rejected the idea of such online learning. In the 21st century, we can and must utilize technologies wisely to augment classroom learning and critical thinking, and we must bring in educators who are equipped to lead this effort.As our children graduate from high school, they will face profoundly complex global challenges and potentially catastrophic problems. Our planet is warming faster than most climate scientists’ best predictions; we may lose half of all species on Earth by the end of this century; there are over 7 billion people on our planet, each of whom needs adequate food, clean water, a home, and economic opportunity (and 1 billion of whom don’t even have access to clean water and adequate food).

   Yet along with these challenges come tremendous opportunities. We have a greater capacity to solve our problems than ever before in human history. We can communicate and collaborate with people across the globe instantaneously. Our children can be connected with their peers all over the world, learning and creating friendships that can lead to peace, partnerships, and ultimately global prosperity and sustainability.

   It’s time to be like the emergency room doctor responding to the victim of a car crash. The doctor doesn’t just stabilize the patient, but rather calls in the range of specialists to ensure that she is treated comprehensively, successfully, and with her future health and well-being in mind.

   The growing failure of our educational system to meet our broad spectrum of goals is one of the greatest emergencies of our time, and we need to treat it as such. If we do not graduate a generation of solutionaries who have the knowledge, tools, and motivation to think critically and creatively about the problems we face, we may not be able to avert massive global calamities.

   Education is the greatest hope we have for achieving a just, healthy, and peaceful world. Let’s treat it as such.

~ Zoe

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm; Above All, Be Kind; and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDxDirigo talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“
My TEDxYouth@BFS “Educating for Freedom”
My TEDxYouth@CEHS “How to Be a Solutionary”

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