But
if school autonomy means more flexibility at school level to think of and react on the needs of the community by crafting curriculum, teaching and assessment so that they benefit all children, then I think more autonomy can really enhance both quality and equity of education.
Not exact matches
Research confirms that all kinds of positive outcomes result from
autonomy - supportive parenting: Teens learn better and do better in
school, they are more engaged, and they persist harder
if the face of difficulty.
Lastly,
if greater
autonomy and decision - making were reserved for the local level, would
schools be more responsive to student needs and provide more personalized learning experiences?
Mrs. Bush is equally articulate about «backpack spending» (the institute is sponsoring a project on
school - district productivity that includes 20 different researchers» papers); teacher
autonomy («Obviously,
if you are held accountable as the principal of your
school and you don't have the authority to change anything, by either hiring or firing, or setting up another structure that your
school district doesn't allow, then how can you be really accountable?»)
If converting to a standalone academy, the potential for greater
autonomy in certain areas of
school life may be one of your key motivations.
It's common for students to propose new after -
school clubs or fundraisers for field trips, and
if the activity is appropriate, we give them the
autonomy to carry it out.
• too much
school time is given over to test prep — and the pressure to lift scores leads to cheating and other unsavory practices; • subjects and accomplishments that aren't tested — art, creativity, leadership, independent thinking, etc. — are getting squeezed
if not discarded; • teachers are losing their freedom to practice their craft, to make classes interesting and stimulating, and to act like professionals; • the curricular homogenizing that generally follows from standardized tests and state (or national) standards represents an undesirable usurpation of
school autonomy, teacher freedom, and local control by distant authorities; and • judging teachers and
schools by pupil test scores is inaccurate and unfair, given the kids» different starting points and home circumstances, the variation in class sizes and
school resources, and the many other services that
schools and teachers are now expected to provide their students.
In this fashion, mainstream
schools can no longer justifiably complain about charter competition
if they are unwilling to embrace the innovation
school autonomies which are comparable to those enjoyed by charter
schools.
If so, this could resolve some of the tension between the formal law of state control and the de facto
autonomy of local
school districts by aligning practice with the formal legal theory of state power.
«
If you want to have
autonomy for
schools — like the non-government
schools — you have to actually be dinkum about it and reform this area in a different way.
If done well, this initiative could be a real breakthrough, giving some innovation
schools the same
autonomy that charters enjoy, along with a board to shield them from district mandates and politics.
Well, what we've found from research and detailed studies of
schools that are using this additional
autonomy is that just giving
schools more authority may make no difference at all
if schools don't have a capacity to make good decisions in the interests of their students.
If you believe
autonomy, cooperation, and some degree of commitment are necessary to make things like the Common Core,
School Improvement Grants, or teacher evaluation deliver (and I do), then this is a strategy that ensures lots of troubled implementation and disappointing outcomes.
«
If a government
school receives a cut in funding, the blame squarely falls at the feet of Ms Jones who has complete
autonomy over how much each
school receives and, most importantly, how it is used.»
Can a
school have the nimbleness that many charter operators say is so important to their success
if that
autonomy is hobbled by such things as tenure?
If all that students have experienced in «No Excuses»
schools is abundant structure and little
autonomy, is it any wonder they flounder in college?
But
if you search Google for «charter
school corruption,» and any state with approved charter
schools, you will find a lot of problems with
autonomy.
One lesson charters have proven is that
schools can succeed in educating all children
if they are given
autonomy from centralized mandates and instead evaluated based on their results.
«
If we could give all of our
schools the
autonomy that the I - Zone has and the ASD has and the charter
schools have — I think it'd be a recipe for success,» he said.
If a team of poor
school leaders got
autonomy the results would not be good.»
This legislation gave those
schools additional
autonomies around collective bargaining, personnel assignment and scheduling, the length of the
school day, funding, and other organizational and structural issues, and also created the possibility of state receivership
if the
schools did not dramatically improve their performance.
But
if you expected that recognizing «the risk to private -
school autonomy and innovation» would mean abandoning the push to mandate state assessments (i.e. — Common Core tests), then Fordham's «revised» approach will leave you scratching your head.
If Fordham truly recognizes the «risk to private -
school autonomy and innovation» that Common Core poses, then why is it still calling mandatory Common Core testing as an initial preference?
This allowed her «lots of
autonomy over areas and year groups, as
if it were a mini
school», but it also provided the security of knowing that accountability rested with the senior leadership team.
If we want to manage the reform of our public schools intelligently — if we want to think strategically about the future of our entire public school system — we have to relax our attachment to complete charter autonom
If we want to manage the reform of our public
schools intelligently —
if we want to think strategically about the future of our entire public school system — we have to relax our attachment to complete charter autonom
if we want to think strategically about the future of our entire public
school system — we have to relax our attachment to complete charter
autonomy.
If only the DfE had to work on the preparation, planning, presentation of proposals and own ideas of building plans and kocation, they might have thought about this aspect of delivering new
schools before all then hard work is then «filed» and momentum lost because once again we have people in positions of
autonomy why have little idea how tomproject manage and follow through really good proposals to the end!
School autonomy isn't necessarily a bad idea, we just don't know
if it has any effect.
If the high -
autonomy schools leave the district's SELPA, it could lead to denials by the board when they come up for their five - year renewal.
Kim Farris - Berg explores the question:
If teachers had
autonomy to collectively make decisions influencing whole
school success, would they be interested?
Kim Farris - Berg, Edward J. Dirkswager, and Amy Junge answer the question: What would teachers do
if they had the
autonomy to collectively — with their colleagues — make decisions influencing
school success?
Instead, most teachers only have the chance to expand their leadership responsibilities by assuming an administrative position, which requires them to leave the classroom entirely.4 Even
if teachers do not want to leave the classroom, pursuing a role in administration may be their only way to achieve increases in pay, responsibility, and
autonomy.5 Although some
school districts implement career pathways, diverse leadership roles for teachers are few and far between.
High - performing charter
schools in the Recovery
School District — such as Sophie B. Wright, Lafayette Academy and several KIPP campuses in Uptown — are concerned that the Orleans Parish
School Board will take an administrative fee out of their federal grants
if they return to the district, amid broader issues of trust and
autonomy, reports Jessica Williams of The Lens.
On the other hand,
if the city decides to continue granting specific
schools more
autonomy for site - based management, that requires a different skill set, he said, someone more adept and managing the flow of resources between somewhat independent
schools.
Rather than serve as a conduit for flowing district policy to
school principals, who are then expected to act on those centralized decisions, Ms. Allen and her team in the 20,000 - student district help principals learn how to best exercise
autonomy in their
schools, from making staffing decisions to figuring out instructional priorities to determining
if there's enough money in the
school's budget to buy a van for after -
school activities.
If you have a very professional work organization in
schools where there's a lot of discretion, a lot of professional
autonomy in a collaborative culture, you get unions that very much reflect that kind of stance.
At the same time, we recognize that some new accountability provisions could undermine charter
school autonomy if not implemented carefully.
If DCPS administrators want to retain successful
school leaders like Pope, they need to trust their judgment and allow them greater
autonomy..
For example, parental choice is only meaningful
if schools have the freedom and
autonomy to differentiate themselves.
If teacher - powered
schools are to succeed in bringing innovation to K - 12
schooling, what does this imply about the kind of
autonomy that will be necessary?
If we're serious about innovation, states and districts will need to tackle politically difficult subjects like union contracts, accountability policies, and
school - level
autonomies.
Rebecca Clark also argued that it could «undermine the
autonomy» the government is attempting to build in the system
if RSCs got involved in
school relationships.
If the focus and curriculum are appealing to you, or you like the idea of a
school that has more
autonomy than a traditional
school in the system, you might prefer a charter.