First Steps Toward Trust
Your issue on Site-Based Management: Making It Work (December 1995/January 1996) was one of the most valuable I have read. Site-based management is an idea whose time is surely coming.
But first we must break down the widespread antipathy between management and the managed. The main causes: the salary discrepancies between administrators and teachers; and an administrative attitude that mirrors industrial management styles of the 19th century. True collegiality will only develop if all players consider themselves to be colleagues.
If the Us versus Them attitude prevails, our attempts at reform will fail. Maybe there is a need for a series of articles aimed at changing school management style to reflect best business management practice.
—Keith S. Coates, Fernie, British Columbia
Of Statistics and Sound Bites
We educators must start using Gerald Bracey's data to rebut the "statistics" politicians use in their sound bites ("Debunking the Myths About Money for Schools," November 1995). In my own study of data from Ohio's 611 schools (1994), I found a statistically significant relationship (to 5 decimal places) between property wealth and student proficiency over the initial three years of proficiency testing. The wealthier the district, the better the students performed.
Further, Michael Bruning (1994) found a statistically significant relationship between district spending for libraries and student achievement. If districts improve their discretionary income levels (which wealthy districts can do, but poor districts cannot do without state help), then where they spend their money can have an impact on student achievement.
One need only visit Ohio school districts. Wealthy districts enjoy superior facilities, supplies, and curriculums, while students in poor districts receive inferior educational opportunities. Yet politicians cite Hanushek's irrelevant, aged data in arguing that "money doesn't matter." I'd be happy to provide my data to interested educators.
—Robert G. Cyders, 1125 Southview Drive, Ashland, Ohio 44805
No Relation Between Spending and Organizational Health
My dissertation found no significant relationship between spending and the organizational health of schools. And, unfortunately, research on class size is sparse and difficult to quantify (18 vs. 20 students, 23 vs. 25?). The article by Gerald Bracey is wonderful, but hard to sell.
—Harvey Polansky, Assistant Superintendent, East Lyme, Connecticut
Whither Space?
Your provocative issue on Productive Use of Time and Space contains 10 articles on time, two on smallness, and one on space. I'm enthusiastic about the benefits of block scheduling, but the treatment accorded the use of space is disappointing.
Educators need more information about imaginative uses of space that are cost-effective and support school programs. Sergiovanni ("Small Schools, Great Expectations") and Wynne and Walberg ("The Virtues of Intimacy in Education") lament largeness in schools, yet suggest few strategies for creating intimacy in the midst of huge structures.
And where are the examples of creating a sense of community by incorporating art and artifacts? articles on the relationship between crowded spaces and discipline problems? calls for improving woefully inadequate science facilities in a nation demanding better achievement in science? May I suggest another issue on productive uses of space?
—Anne Meek, Virginia Beach City Schools, Virginia Beach, Virginia
Editor's note: The writer is the editor of ASCD's book Designing Places for Learning (1995).
The Trouble with Honors Convocations
I could never figure out why I felt so resistant to, and diminished by, our college honors convocations until I read Alfie Kohn's work ("Punished by Rewards," September 1995).
For three years our elementary education students cross disciplines to study and teach together in schools with a 95 percent poverty rate. Art majors help their classmates use visual texts. English majors introduce colleagues to literature; music majors contribute auditory meaning. Each student shares new knowledge and time with children who live in low-income housing units. The work touches something deep in each of them. Then, at Honors Convocation, after we've worked for three years to diminish status hierarchies and build community, I have to choose one of them to receive an award.
Last year I asked my students to select the student who would receive the award. They refused! Maybe I should refuse as well—except that they all could use the money. Any suggestions, Alfie?
—Kathleen L. Fear, Assistant Professor and Chair, Education Department, Albion College, Albion, Michigan
Commercial Trade-Offs Deplored
I applaud your series on "Commercials in the Classroom" (September 1995). Last December the Brant County Roman Catholic Separate School Board approved a technology package. For $100,000 worth of media hardware, they allowed high-powered commercials into our classrooms. They did this even though in 1992 the trustees had voted to prohibit showing commercials in classes.
I am concerned about what these commercials say to students. They are not "harmless concessions to the times," as proponents argue. Yes, they reflect the way the world is going, but shouldn't our classrooms reflect higher values? The souls of the taxpayers' children are not negotiable. Their exchange for hardware should be out of the question.
—Stephen Moyer, St. John's College, Brantford, Ontario
ASCD on the Web
I was just looking at your issue on How Technology Transforms Teaching (October 1995). I immediately went to Web Crawler to find out whether you had a home page. Sure enough, you do. I am wondering why you haven't mentioned it sooner. Terrific issue!
—Joe Reed, Coordinator of Technology, Region 18, Midland, Texas
What's the Problem?
Matthew Gandal attributed to me the view that "student achievement isn't a problem" (September 1995). Not so! In "Wrong Problem, Wrong Solution" (March 1995), I say achievement is not a problem for our best students. A tremendous gap exists between the best and the majority. Better standards can't do much to solve this problem any more than better nutrition standards can solve the problem of world hunger. Opportunities to learn must accompany all standards.
—Kenneth R. Howe, Associate Professor, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado.
The Debate on Standards
Process vs. Content? Why must we fall back into this argument? ("We Need More than Educentric Standards" and "Why We Need Academic Standards," September 1995). The realities of classrooms argue against the either/or posturing. Teachers with high standards call for students to know course content. But time spent learning how to think mathematically initiates a double pay off. Challenging standards that synthesize content and process require much more of both teachers and students. Students who have learned to plan and assess their learning process, as well as their content, can not only recall information for a test, but can also use that knowledge for a lifetime.
—Jim Bellanca, President, Skylight Educational Training and Publishing, Palatine, Illinois
