For all the crap that Memphis City Schools takes — and I’m not saying they don’t deserve at least part of the reputation they have — recent events have transformed them into a model of national education reform.
I know what you’re thinking: MCS a model? Please, they have a graduation rate of 62 percent. That’s hardly a model of education.
But with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as the federal Race to the Top challenge, Memphis’ educational system is on the cusp.
Seriously. I wrote about it this week for our paper edition.
[And if you don’t believe me, you can read this story from The Washington Post: Gates Foundation playing pivotal role in changes for education system.]
Education reform has taken many forms in the last few decades. Optional schools, charter schools, smaller schools. All of these things have worked … marginally. Smaller schools, for instance, have helped reduce school violence, but didn’t do all that much for student achievement.
The new national thinking — and the research behind it — puts a renewed emphasis on the teacher.
