All Posts Tagged With: "school districts"
What Are the Qualities of an Educated Person?
One of the Baldrige Criteria’s core values is a focus on results. If you look at the results of colleges and K-12 school districts that have won the Baldrige Award, you will find impressive results in graduation rates and improvements in core subject areas such as reading and math, but you will find scant evidence that our schools and colleges are producing educated students.
What are the qualities of an educated person? Certainly, proficiency in math and science and the ability to comprehend what you are reading are important qualities, but these are the basics. If you have these qualities and nothing else—and there is ample evidence that too many Americans lack even this minimum knowledge—you could not pass as an educated person.
I agree with Seth Godin, who said “we need to teach students how to think critically, solve problems, work together, and be creative.” To me, those are the qualities of an educated person, especially in the 21st century. You only have to look at the percentage of people in this country who deny global warming and evolution and support Sarah Palin to witness our national deficiency of critical thinking.
I know from experience that teaching critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork,…
19Jan2011 | Steve George | 0 comments | ContinuedEducation: Fix the System
Add the voice of Ben Chavis to those critical of public school leaders. Dr. Chavis spent seven years as principal of the American Indian Public Charter School, transforming it from the worst middle school in Oakland into a high-performing organization. He uses that platform to argue that public schools don’t need more money; they need competent administrators who are held accountable for their performance. (CNN, “Commentary: Who says public schools need more money?” September 9, 2009)
Systems thinking tells us that the system is responsible for 85-95% of an organization’s problems, and since the leaders control the system, they are responsible for those problems. They need to understand how their system works, set goals, identify opportunities to improve, and develop processes that will close the gap between their goals and current performance.
Money is not the answer to these problems, but inadequate financial resources can make it difficult to address them. Schools are being asked to do so much more than in the past to address social and economic issues that have a direct bearing on their ability to educate. Dr. Chavis has given us an example of how this can be done. Other schools, including the five school districts that have received the…
11Sep2009 | Steve George | 1 comment | Continued
