Wave after wave of "something new" has washed through the educational community in the United States. Some good, some bad, some unremarkable, these innovations recede quickly at the advent of the next novelty.
Given that our system is currently structured as a K through 12 matrix, any proposed change should be given, at a a minimum, a thirteen-year trial before any conclusion is drawn about its merits or lack thereof.
The wise reader will quickly chuckle at such a notion. The idea of a thirteen-year trial period goes so against the current of the political establishment that it would be almost incomprehensible to any elected or appointed educational bureaucrat.
While America's educational system has done much to harm itself, it, or at least the public portion thereof, is also at the mercy of the larger social framework in which it exists. Nobody's interested in thirteen-year studies. Even outside of education, researchers find it difficult to garner support for longitudinal studies. Quick projects, with the hope of instant gratification, find more support. Perhaps in some quiet corners of the private sector someone would be willing to engage in a long-term trial of a method or pedagogy.
With great ceremony a new program is placed into the school system, but administrative dynamics will not leave it in place long. Its introduction will be an important item on some agenda, but its demise will take place almost without notice, as it is moved aside for the next new thing.
The reality being what it is, we will continue to lurch from one initiative to another every few years.
[Ann Arbor Pioneer High School Teacher Andrew Smith currently teaches at both Huron High School and Pioneer High School. He teaches History and German. For the 2014/2015 academic year, he has two classes every morning at Pioneer and three classes every afternoon at Huron.]
