70426 Visionary Leaders

I am in finishing a fascinating book by Steven Ambrose titled “To America” where he chronicles the faults of America’s great leaders. He then launches into their global visions that they used to bring the United States to greatness. Jefferson – designing what constitutes a free country and the Louisiana purchase; Lincoln – after twenty years of others talk drove the launch of the transcontinental railroad; Teddy Roosevelt (my name sake) who modernized our military in the early 1900’s and forced through the Panama Canal; and Franklin Roosevelt who foresaw and prepared the United States to pay their role in winning WWII.

We have another great vision that has yet to be seized by any national or state leader. That vision is: “The emerging technology of digital curriculum has matured to the point where it can be applied effectively in our K-12 classrooms. The increase in academic performancei will be as the railroad was to the wagon train.”

Has Leadership seized this truly effective vision? Lets see:

April, 25, 2007 New York Times

From the business communityi billionaires Bill Gates and Eli Broad are spending $60 million to open up the presidential campaign conversations to address K-12 education. They are calling for stronger, more consistent curriculum standards nationwide; lengthening the school day and year; and improving teacher quality with merit pay. After spending $2 billion of their fortunes into schools with self reported marginal results, they are still locked onto more incremental but costly incremental. Elearningi transformationi lead by digital curriculum is nowhere to be found.

April 16, 2007 eSchool News online

Careless, inappropriate, and misguided news reports about the recently reported $10 million US Dept of Education K-12 eLearning study maligned around the world the efficacy of math and reading software. The real news was that what the study found that if digital curriculum is used 5 minutes a day with each subject and was supported by non-elearning savvy teachers: academic performance changes will not happen. Federal education leadership conducted this poorly executed study and then released the half-baked findings leading with strong caveats. Reporters failed to dig the truth behind the press release.

March 28, 2007 Education Week

National test scores are not going up. In fact high school seniors at or above proficient levels in math on the NEAP test dropped from 40 to 35 percent since 1993. But over the past 15 years the high school grade point average has increased from 2.7 letter grade middle C to 3.0 letter grade B. Instead of school leaders seizing the day (carpe diem but who teaches Greek anymore!) and aggressively transforming their school with emerging digital curriculum, they bump up grades to provide the illusion of progress.

As the song from my youth goes “Where have all the leaders gone, opportunitiesi a passing?”