Is the New Education Reform Hiding in Plain Sight?
July 1, 2018
By: Laura Pappano
Source: The Washington Post
DALLAS — In 1997, a sixth-grader at Dan D. Rogers Elementary School set a three-alarm fire in the library. Erin and Sean Jett, whose house is so near they hear the school bell ring, did not have school-aged children at the time. But it left an impression. “My child will not go there,” Erin said.
When it comes to their children’s education, parents are like drug-sniffing dogs. Test scores matter. But so do other things. Which is why now, more than 10 years later, Emma Jett will be a fifth-grader at the Dallas school this fall. And her parents are happy about it.
Their changed view — and that of others who shunned Rogers and now want in — is driven by personalized learning.
Amid all the bellowing about charters, school choice and vouchers, a potentially more revolutionary reform movement is bubbling up. Philanthropists, state education officials, reform advocates — even charter school leaders — are examining personalized learning.