Executive Director Warren Simmons quoted in "In Public School Reform, What Can Private Money Buy?"
Published on
Printer-friendly versionExecutive Director Warren Simmons was quoted in In Public School Reform, What Can Private Money Buy? by Helen Zelon in City Limits (9/26/11)
...“We have had more success on the individual-school-innovation side,” Walter Simmons, executive director of the Annenberg Institute, said, citing a handful of New York City schools that blend academic and social/emotional support to keep students engaged, connected and motivated to learn. “But we haven't had that kind of success on the organizational learning and improvement side, on the systems or districts — we haven't learned from successful schools. That's the biggest challenge.”
...Annenberg's Simmons said that less than 2 percent of the $600 billion education pot goes to promoting innovation—compared with about 10 percent innovation-investment in corporations. The resulting thin, shallow investments mean that "school systems focus on outcomes. They under-invest in understanding who students are and the communities they come from. They don't focus on their students' unique set of experiences and aspirations,” or build the kind of community and mentoring partnerships that give high-need urban kids the active support to stay engaged in school. "Pockets of excellence don't scale up," he added.
> Read the complete article (more quotes included)