Steiner said he wondered “where the allies were” in Albany

albany report

August 15, 2011

Steiner said he wondered “where the allies were” in Albany

by Philissa Cramer, at 4:34 pm

When David Steiner announced his resignation as commissioner of the State Education Department, people close to him speculated that he was burnt out by trying to push his agenda through.

In an interview posted today with Rick Hess, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Steiner describes the thoughts that led to his decision.

“There is an enormous investment in the status quo, even from those you would think have an incentive for change,” Steiner told Hess. “… Sometimes, I would look out from the offices in Albany and ask where the allies were.”

Steiner’s complaint reflects divisions among state education officials documented by Michael Winerip in today’s New York Times. Some officials — such as Steiner’s successor, John King, and Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch — favor speedy policy changes in line with federal priorities. Others are urging a more cautious pace.

Now returning to Hunter College’s School of Education, Steiner told Hess that his biggest accomplishment as commissioner was to change certification requirements for new teachers. And he also said he is not confident that plans to boost test quality will pay off. “It’s still an open question whether the next generation of assessments will really match our aspiration to encourage rigorous, deep thinking rather than the rote-like product from the testing regime,” Steiner said.

Anonymous

I think your analysis is faulty; many people want change just not more of the same, which is what SED and the Regents seemed determine to give us: millions spent on more data collection, more high stakes testing and more bureaucracy, rather than actually improving classroom conditions through research-backed solutions (and complying with state law) through reducing class size.
http://nyceducator.com/ NYC Educator

More profundities from the guy who gave Cathie Black a waiver.
http://nyceducator.com/ NYC Educator

More profundities from the guy who gave Cathie Black a waiver.
John G

It’s this pathology that the change will EITHER come at breakneck speed OR it’s being held up by the ‘defenders of the status quo’. It’s the major problem with the reform movement over the past decade years and of those who have pushed that agenda through.
John G

It’s this pathology that the change will EITHER come at breakneck speed OR it’s being held up by the ‘defenders of the status quo’. It’s the major problem with the reform movement over the past decade years and of those who have pushed that agenda through.
http://twitter.com/MaryConwaySpieg Mary Conway-Spiegel

I echo fellow comments…None of this “change” has anything to do with reality. The harm being done to at-risk students–the collateral damage in all this–we have yet to fully understand. Thousands and thousands of High School students who were shunned from schools last year, who represented “bad data” now have no where to go, because the schools that would’ve taken them are phasing out. Who’s keeping track of these kids? Where will they end up? Where will the 2011-12 “bad data” class wander to?
emma

John G: I could not agree with you more.

As I see it, the reform discussion repeatedly plays out that dichotomy: institute across the board changes without enough attention to implementation or be considered reactionary and ridiculously “old school.”
Iwant2know

Why do you think the Mayor gave so much of his own money to “fix” the problem he created?
Roma Giudetti

This article is laughable. First of all, it’s hard to encourage rigorous, deep thinking in the deplorable conditions kids find themselves. The kids just need to look around and figure out that they are not in an institution that has high standards for them. There are no libraries, no computer rooms, no art classes, no music classes, no sports (unless you have some hyper-PTA fundraising machine). Classrooms are overcrowded, there are mice. If you really want change – then start by giving kids a decent physical environment along with smaller classes. Give them music, art, extra-curricular activities that make school a rich experience. Provide them with an environment that makes them feel like they are actually going some place important each day to engage in learning.
John G

To be clear, Roma Giudetti’s comments speak to all of the things that reformers have downplayed or payed very little attention to since they’ve seized the momentum.

And that underscores how this phase of the ‘reform’ movement has really just been an HR movement. They want to bring change to the labor relations landscape and hope for the best, the whole while ignoring long held accepted beliefs about what truly helps a student to learn and what really helps make a school thrive.

How sad that this profession has seen the word reformer passed from the likes of Montessori, Frierre and Dewey to the likes of Klein, Tisch and now Steiner (who really blew his chance to affect any true change with this type of philosophy).

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albany report

August 15, 2011

Steiner said he wondered “where the allies were” in Albany

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