. . .which stands for Working on the Work, a school-improvement treatise
written by Phillip Schlecty of the Center for School Leadership Reform. It
seems a number of mid-western and southeastern school districts have taken
his work at face value: the student is a customer and the teacher must
provide engaging lessons in order for the customer to properly consume the
language.
My new principal is perverting (at least I hope she is perverting) the
message by demanding that all related arts classes be "fun." (She also has
mandated I use only "A" and "B" grades unless I can provide clear back-up
that I've conferred with parents and the student, provided an action plan
and alternatives for the student to pass, etc. I always have done so, but
the message is not to grade below a "B.")
I've read Schlecty's work this weekend, and I really can find no evidence
that he wants any class to be
this simplistic. Any antedotal evidence out there, guys?
Maggie Tucker
