tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6011483.post1547369164826745077..comments2010-02-16T09:39:19.951-05:00Peter Gowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13602866242146968481noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6011483.post-50044525680657238752009-09-16T12:25:22.197-04:002009-09-16T12:25:22.197-04:00It's wonderful to see you back! Your points about tying education reform to a school's mission and the dangers of glomming onto an idea without ensuring it's really right for *your* school resonated with me. I believe middle school practices, as enunciated by the National Middle School Association, are deeply progressive, and we have actively adopted them as guiding principles in our middle school. In our team meetings, we are very much focused on "what's best for the kid" in a holistic fashion, combined of course with "what's best for the group." Yet far too many institutions (I believe) are middle schools in name only, perpetuating practices more typical of what we used to call (and in some places still do) a junior high - a "little high school." Quite beyond the disservice such schools do to themselves in not focusing on what serves their core principles and values, they do a disservice to the NMSA model which, research shows, works best when applied holistically. When you call your school progressive, but it's not, and your practices are ineffective, people react as though progressivism itself is at fault. I believe this is at the root of your term, "New Progressivism." So, besides educating students, parents, and the public about what we do, I would argue we also need to contrast it with other practices out there in order to reclaim our territory. I am forever telling people, "This is what we do at my school, this is how it relates to the NMSA model, here's why some schools that call themselves 'middle schools' aren't really." It's a slog, but a worthy slog, and one that, if done right, can help our schools stand proud and true to who we are.billinthemiddlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07062022069681533843noreply@blogger.com