Joe Graba, senior policy fellow, Education Evolving, July 25, 2008--  Turn to Disrupting Class, by Clayton M. Christensen--A full discussion of the change from standardized teacher-centered to customized student-centered learning is contained in a new book just published by McGraw Hill in 2008, titled Disrupting Class, Graba said. A co-author with Christensen is Curtis Johnson, an associate of Graba's at Education Evolving.  Not an author, but quoted in the book is Ted Kolderie, founder of Education Evolving.  

            Christensen, a professor of business administration at the Harvard Business School, had originated an idea of "disruptive innovation" in a 1997 business book.  Christensen applies that concept in his current book, Graba said.  Education Evolving has been working with Christensen since 2001. 

            Christensen contends that it's impossible for large systems to fundamentally change themselves, Graba said.  He outlined several examples from various business sectors where major change started slowly outside established businesses, but then gathered steam, disrupted the businesses, and in many cases, led to their demise.  One example was that of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), a mini-computer company that couldn't accommodate itself to the personal computer, Graba said. 

            Just such a change is beginning to occur in education today, Graba quoted Christensen as saying.  That change has its beginnings in what Christensen calls "the non-competitive" parts of education.    Some classes just can't be offered in standardized schools, so individual students are beginning to take advantage of online customized courses.   The movement has started slowly.   It's still imperfect, and much better software is needed.  Only 54,000 students were taking such individualized classes in 2001, but that number had grown to 1 million by 2007, and Christensen projects that 50 percent of all elementary and secondary students could be receiving such individualized learning by 2018.

 Joe Graba, senior policy fellow, Education Evolving, July 25, 2008--Why change can't happen from the inside--Returning to the example of DEC, Graba said that the corporation was making 40 to 45 percent profit on large computers, so the culture of the corporation made it impossible to comprehend much smaller margins on personal computers--which at that time still were in their infancy.   Moreover, DEC customers wouldn't have permitted such a change.

            The same circumstances exist within education, Graba said.  The system favors the people who do the best, and they, including parents of the children who succeed as well as their school systems, resist change.   We can't expect that schools today will change from organizing themselves around teaching to organizing themselves around learning, he said.   

            Think, Graba said, about a school curriculum.   It's neatly divided among specific courses, all of which begin and end at the same time.   If one-third of the students in a class could do all the class work by December, they need to patiently wait out the rest of the year for everyone else.  Those students who need more than a September-May school year, just get pushed ahead, irrespective of whether they learned the material or not. 

Joe Graba, senior policy fellow, Education Evolving, July 25, 2008--  Interest from struggling school districts--Graba said that he and Bob Wedl, a former Minnesota Commissioner of Education now an Education Evolving associate, are working with an out state school district that has lost 300 students to surrounding districts under open enrollment.   The question is whether such a school district can customize learning for students, along the Chrsitensen model, he said.  The customized school will call for a radically different organization of teachers and students. 

Joe Graba, senior policy fellow, Education Evolving, July 25, 2008--Disruptive technologies are imperfect in early years--The disruptive technology of customized learning still lacks quality in many respects, Graba said.  That is almost always the case, he said, using again the analogy of the personal computer replacing the mini-computer.

Joe Graba, senior policy fellow, Education Evolving, July 25, 2008--Importance of motivating children to learn--Referring again to Christensen's book, Graba said that  students need to be internally motivated to learn, rather than simply being externally motivated by others.   It's not possible to develop excellence through regulation or command. 

 Joe Graba, senior policy fellow, Education Evolving, July 25, 2008-- Some openness to change among educators--Asked whether organizations of teachers, superintendents, principals or school boards will be supporting change, Graba replied that some individuals, rather than the organizations themselves, will be supportive.   Most organizations aren't change oriented, he said.   Unless public education finds a way to be fully involved in moving from standardization to customization, it already might be too late for the public education system to survive, he said. 

State Sen. Larry Pogemiller, Dec. 13, 2007--Education not changing quickly enough--Asked to expand on his point about difficulty in responding quickly to problems, Pogemiller said K-12 education is the best example.  K-12 education was built to last, but it has not changed quickly enough to meet the changing needs of children.

former Gov. Al Quie, Sept. 30, 2005--Low expectations in schools--Quie bemoans the high drop out rate in some school districts.  Teachers seem to have low expectations of their pupils in many such districts.   Many citizens don't realize the impact that low expectations has on children.

former Gov. Al Quie, Sept. 30, 2005--When referendums should be held--Quie said that when there's legislative gridlock, he'd support a limited initiative-referendum process.  He does not support the requirements for referendums in School Districts, especially for additional operating expenses.   School Board members should have the authority to increase property taxes.  Quie would have no problem with school boards making the decision if the school district fit the needs of the kids in the locality.    He's less certain that such authority should exist in large school districts.

former Gov. Al Quie, Sept. 30, 2005--How to inform and educate our young people on government--Quie agreed that it is a shame that children seem to get most of their information from television.  Quie, said he has serious problems with "post-modern" thought that encourages thinking with your feelings.  We need to work on increasing rational thought.   Schools also ought to teach history without running it through social science. 

John Brandl, professor, Humphrey Institute, Sept. 14, 2005--Improving the educational system--Brandl was asked, in light of the founding fathers' interest in an informed citizenry, how we can accomplish such an objective today.  Kids get most of their information from TV, which is a national media system.   Brandl agreed that this is a serious problem.