Re: Small Schools -- Chimera or White Blindspot?

[Karen Canty <kscanty@PACBELL.NET>]

Doug wrote,

I do strongly believe that students and teachers
work better together when they know each other, when they have the time to
pay attention to each other and to the work, and that teachers who work
with way too many students rarely have time to get to know more than a few
in any real way.

Doug - I do think that Linda Darling Hammond has done some real research to
prove this point which is why she is working with some folks in the Bay Area
to create small schools - with help from the Gates Foundation.  Whether they
will all work (and George, one of them is in an all-white, upper middle
class area) or even all get off the ground (mostly because of the lack of
facilities, price of land, etc. around here) remains to be seen.  And her
mantra seems to be schools where good teachers teach kids whom they know
well....

Karen

-----Original Message-----
From: Assessment Reform Network Mailing List
[mailto:ARN-L@LISTS.CUA.EDU]On Behalf Of Doug Selwyn
Sent: Friday, January 19, 2001 2:27 PM
To: ARN-L@LISTS.CUA.EDU
Subject: Re: Small Schools -- Chimera or White Blindspot?


I don't understand the impulse to take examples of poor practice and
citing it as evidence that an idea is flawed.  It is possible to find
lousy teaching or schooling through any methodology or approach (and there
are examples of people doing wonderful things through questionable
strategies).  I never suggested one room schoolhouses, nor that it was
automatically a success.  I do strongly believe that students and teachers
work better together when they know each other, when they have the time to
pay attention to each other and to the work, and that teachers who work
with way too many students rarely have time to get to know more than a few
in any real way.

Doug Selwyn
Seattle

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