Reframing Reforms?

I just finished reading an interesting article written by Drs. Jonathan Plucker and David Rutkowski from the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy (CEEP) at Indiana University entitled "Running A Race Against Ourselves". I will include a link so that readers can review the entire piece themselves but, in a nutshell, these two researchers conclude that "most education reforms are not effective" because they aim too broadly and thus miss the mark.

Their article is certainly thought-provoking and worthy of being read by all who are engaged in efforts to improve the educational experience of children in our community. From my perspective, the authors are inviting well-meaning people from all backgrounds to set aside their agendas and ideologies and put the focus where it needs to be: on the individual student. In our efforts to find ways to reform the larger "educational system" we seem to be losing sight of the child or young person in the seat, each of whom has their own challenges and barriers that get in the way of them achieving academic success.

I invite you to read the article and let us know what you think.
www.CEEP.Indiana.edu/projects/PDF/EdWeek0901.pdf