A Good Old-Fashioned Education

DAVID KIRP

APRIL 1, 2013

As some districts experiment with charters, voucers, and high-stakes testing, educators in Union City are finding that time-tested, traditional approaches to teaching students work best.

The American Prospect

About the Author

David L. Kirp, James D. Marver Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, is the author ofImprobable Scholars: The Rebirth of a Great American School System and a Strategy for America's Schools, from which this article is adapted.

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When it comes to education policy, inconstancy is the only constant. During the past generation, self-styled reformers have pitched such nostrums as vouchers, charter schools, high-stakes accountability for teachers, and a near-total emphasis on reading and math. Nothing seems to be working, though: American students continue to lag on international tests and racial and ethnic achievement gaps stubbornly persist.

Here's the good news: From Houston to Long Beach, Charlotte to Brownsville, school systems across the country—big and small; generously and meagerly funded; mainly Latino, mainly black, or heterogeneous; with elected school boards and mayor-appointed school boards—have figured out how to boost reading and math scores and shrink the achievement gap.    Read More