StickWithANose

I’m not well-versed enough in the particulars to offer any keen insights into the likelihood of success or failure, but the emergence of a teacher-led school in the on-going disaster that is the Detroit Public School System is certainly an encouraging sign. As I’ve noted previously, one of the key features of Finland’s successful education model is the high degree of autonomy afforded individual teachers and administrators in experimenting with new ways to achieve loosely defined national standards. One of the most troubling elements of education reform on this side of the Atlantic is that professional accountability has been almost wholly detached from professional autonomy.

Detroit Public Schools is set to open its first school without a principal — teachers will be running the day-to-day operations and making all pertinent decisions.

They won’t have to wait for the central office’s OK to purchase needed items or increase their emphasis on fractions or writing, for instance.

Founded on the belief that those within the building know best what their students need, Barbara Jordan Elementary will be the district’s first teacher-led school, open only to students whose parents agree to be involved. State officials know of no teacher-led schools in Michigan.

The Detroit school, for students in kindergarten through fourth grade, is modeled after teacher-led schools in Boston, Milwaukee, Denver and Los Angeles.

It’s too early to know test results, said Michael McLaughlin of the Boston Teachers Union School. But he can name one indicator of the Boston school’s success: “The families in the area, they’re clamoring to get into this school.”

In Detroit, the high-profile experiment in school reform could have long-reaching implications, said Keith Johnson, president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers.

“It’s an unprecedented opportunity,” Johnson said. “We cannot fail.”