Table Of ContentEducation Is Upside-Down
Education Is Upside-Down
Reframing Reform to Focus on
the Right Problems
Eric Kalenze
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Copyright©2014byEricKalenze
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Kalenze,Eric,1971–
Educationisupside-down:reframingreformtofocusontherightproblems/EricKalenze.
pagescm
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
ISBN978-1-4758-0993-0(cloth:alk.paper)—ISBN978-1-4758-0994-7(pbk.:alk.paper)—
ISBN978-1-4758-0995-4(electronic)
1.Schoolimprovementprograms.I.Title.
LB2822.8.K352014
371.2'07—dc23
2014022947
TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican
NationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary
Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments xiii
1 OfMismatchesandMissions 1
2 HowtoUseaFunnel 13
3 TheFunnelTips:ABriefAnnotatedHistory 25
4 AMeaninglessEngagement 39
5 BuildingSkyscrapersonSand 57
6 How(SchoolsShouldHelp)ChildrenSucceed 79
7 WhatGetsMeasuredGetsDone(...ButWon’tNecessarily
ChangeAnything) 99
8 OutsidetheBox,ButStandingStill 119
9 TooScatteredtoMatter 133
10 RightingtheFunnel:IssuestoSolve,ActionstoTake 143
11 FunneloftheFuture:AnAudaciousIdealModelandWhatto
DoLocally,StartingToday 159
12 AnAwesomeResponsibility 171
Bibliography 175
AbouttheAuthor 185
v
Preface
ThefirstthingyouneedtoknowisthatIneverintendedtowriteabook.
All I really wanted to do was make better sense of my work in and with
schools. I wanted to temper my frustration and bring my confusion down a
few notches, simply by becoming better informed about all of the issues in
play. When I started this project, I was only a handful of years into what is
now an almost-twenty-year career in education. But even then, I was sure
something was deeply, fundamentally wrong with the whole operation. And
as far as I could tell, there were only three possibilities: I was incapable of
graspingsomethingincrediblyimportantabouthowpublicschoolingworks,
Iwasold-fashionedbeyondmyyears,orIwasoutrightcrazy.
The feeling that something was off began back in my teacher-training
program,wherewhatIwasbeingtaughtabout“ideal”teachingandlearning
often clashed with my own beliefs about why schools existed and how to
drawthebestoutofchildren.Overall,theprogramdidn’tpaymuchattention
totheknowledgeandskillsstudentswouldneedtobecomedisciplinedlearn-
ersandsucceedintheworldthatawaitedthemaftergraduation.Thecourse-
workwasfarmoreconcernedwithhowtoengagestudentsbymakinglearn-
ing more active and inquiry-based; how to account for and appeal to each
student’s innate preferences, sensitivities, and abilities; how to create indi-
viduallyappropriateassessmentsofstudents’learning;andsoon.
Rather than accept all of these lessons at face value, I spent most of the
program thinking about what turned out to be fundamental questions: Do
schoolsandteachersactuallylooklikethis?Couldthey?Shouldthey?Andif
they do, are their graduates more successful? With teachers doing all this
worktokeepstudentscomfortableandhappyduringtheirlearning,whenare
kids expected to rise to a challenge? Was school even supposed to be hard
anymore? Am I allowed to teach anything in particular? Or will the act of
vii
viii Preface
choosing certain subject matter over other topics be too invasive and de-
motivating?
Thankfully, the combative positions I took in class and the soapboxing
papers I wrote did not get me kicked out of the program. Eventually I
emerged with the proper credentials, along with many more questions than
answersaboutthecraftofteaching,themissionofschooling,andhowIwas
goingtomanageitallintherealworld.
A few months later, after taking a job teaching high school English, I
considered myself lucky because my students were no problem. I loved
workingwiththem,andtheyseemedtoenjoythemselveswithoutneedingto
throw me under the bus to do so. (Most of the time, anyway.) The vast
majority of my students, many of whom had arrived in my class with little
previous success in English literature and very little love for the typical
classroomtasks,earnedpassinggrades.FairlyearlyintomytenureIearneda
reputationasateacherwhocouldgetalotoutof“difficult”kids,afactIstill
taketremendouspridein.
But the philosophical tension persisted. Something was wrong with the
wholeendeavor,evenifIcouldn’tputmyfingeronexactlywhatitwas.And
no matter where I looked, whether within my own school’s faculty or to
outside education experts, it was exceedingly difficult to find fellow profes-
sionals who agreed with my instructional and classroom management prac-
tices,letalonetheunderlyingphilosophy.Thesepracticeswereworkingwell
for me and for my students, and I was building a favorable reputation. Still,
whatIwasdoingandwhatIbelievedalwaysseemedtolookvastlydifferent
fromeveryoneelse’sideasof“bestpractices.”
SowhatofthismysteriousSomethingWrong?How,exactly,didmypractice
and philosophies differ from those of my colleagues and from those pro-
motedinmytrainingprogram?DidIbelieveincorporalpunishment?Public
shaming?Worksheetsfilledwithdrillafterdrill?Lockstepcompliance?
No. Far from it. Anyone who observed my classes would say they were
fairly high-paced and fun, with lots of discussion and activity. (They bor-
deredonbeingtooloud,actually.)ThebigdifferencewasthatIdidn’truna
particularly “child-centered” classroom as defined by the best-practice play-
booksofmytrainingprogram,mymandatoryongoingprofessionaldevelop-
ment,andmostofmycolleagues.
Let me give you a few examples. When teaching literary concepts, I
didn’t go out of my way to account for students’ various learning styles—
meaningIdidnotassignartprojects,say,abouttheconceptsathandtomake
sure my visual-spatial or kinesthetic learners would best be able to under-
standthem.Whenworkingonessays,Ididn’tdesignalternativeassessments
for students who didn’t consider themselves strong writers. I always made
my students read difficult texts (using reasonable ways to hold them ac-
