The 3 R's of transforming the school system

(well, not really)

In response to yesterday's headline in the Washington Times, "Rhee raps D.C. schools 'bureaucracy'" I have been thinking about the disconnect between the need to rally support from the citizens vs. the different demands imposed by the need to govern the system and the difficulty of transforming a broken system.

We all remember the failure of Mayor Kelly-Dixon to inculcate change--"I'll sweep them out with a broom and a shovel"--because of her constant criticism of the line troops, and the fact that there are more workers than there are leaders, and the ability to burrow in and resist change.

That's why I am still enamored of the positive deviance model--and the need to highlight and replicate successes.

(Click here and here for a couple past blog entries on positive deviance.)

I think the better strategy for Chancellor Rhee would be to:

1. Yes, continue to rail against bureaucracy and broken processes
2. Highlighting the pockets of excellence that exist
3. emphasizing the need to support and replicate excellence throughout the system
4. by rebuilding excellence in the systems and structures at the system level that undergird success at the school and classroom level
5. while expanding success at the school and classroom level.

Just yesterday I was talking with a couple who figure they'll be leaving the city in about four years, when their two children are about ready to start school....

Things need to more than change. The school system needs to be transformed.