Why School Reform Is Failing And What We Need To Do About It: 10 Lessons from the Trenches

This book's amalgamation of theory and practice is translated into ten lessons learned from attempts to reform and improve public education to date. It provides the perspective of a practitioner as to how and why the unintended consequences of well-intentioned people have hindered, rather than helped, to reform and improve our schools. It calls for us to pause, take a deep breath, and learn from the experiences of the past before launching the latest reform de jour in a frenzied quest to find a silver bullet or quick fix to the many, varied and complex issues that are enmeshed in education reform. More importantly, it presents a roadmap and recommendations for steps that need to be taken to reform school reform so that we can realize meaningful and sustainable improvements in student achievement.

Jerry Wartgow has over forty years of experience working in the trenches at all levels of education, including nearly thirty years as the president/chief executive officer of large, complex educational institutions and organizations. Most recently (2001-2005), he served as superintendent of Denver Public Schools. He is the founding president and president emeritus of the Colorado Community College System.