Reply #16: All great ideas, especially the first bullet, obviously. But...

[jpljr77]

the real "reform" will happen when schools, individually, engage their students' parents -- and the rest of the community -- in a meaningful way.

If you get parents to buy in to their kids' educations, you will see instant improvement. This, in my opinion, is why private schools appear to do better. I'm not talking about economic buy in, although that is the case in private schools, I'm talking about winning the hearts and minds of parents who view school as free day care and getting them to take a proactive interest in their kids' education.

Many of the problems are socioeconomic or cultural, and that presents a high barrier. But it would seem like one, just one, of these "brilliant" education thinkers could come up with a way to engage parents that previously had no compelling reason to engage.

I don't speak from experience, as I'm not a teacher. But I am the son and husband of career public teachers, and let's just say I've picked up a lot over the years from conversations.