We all know the supposed definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
And yet, in education, we keep doing something remarkably close to that.
The cycle goes something like this:
- We are reminded that educational outcomes are nowhere near good enough. PISA scores. Pandemic learning loss. A Nation at Risk, if we want a throwback.
- We passionately declare WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING.
- We ask an impossible question: What works, at scale, quickly, and cost-effectively?
- We find an intervention that has produced promising results when implemented well as part of a coherent approach: science of reading, high-dosage tutoring, eighth-grade algebra, PBIS, RTI, PLCs. Pick a decade.
- We drop it into systems that often lack the capacity and strategic coherence to implement it effectively.
- We are disappointed when the results fall short.
- Funding changes. Leadership changes. The intervention fades.
- Repeat.
I thought about this cycle a lot this week because roughly two dozen people from inside and outside the education space sent me a New York Times article ranking 30 ideas for improving American schools by effectiveness and cost.
The irony is that, after ranking all 30, the article concludes something reasonable: no single intervention is enough; what works depends on the needs of students and teachers in a particular place; and good ideas only work when we can implement them well and sustain them over time.
And yet the article’s premise still feeds the same collective impulse:
What’s the thing that’s going to fix educational outcomes?
There isn’t one. There has never been one.
We have been searching for silver bullets for decades, and the search itself is a significant part of the problem.
What I’ve seen work: start with the students in front of us. Get clear on what they need. Build the capacity to deliver it well. Make aligned choices about how to use the time, people, and money we have. Keep learning and adjusting.
This week, I’m asking myself two questions:
Where am I contributing to this cycle?
And how can I help the people I work with break out of it?
Rooting for you,
Rob
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