Seven years ago this week American public education lost one of its greatest thinkers and teachers, Ted Sizer. Ted, along with others, helped to found the Coalition of Essential Schools, a national network of schools connected by their belief in a set of principles about what makes for a great school. ANCS and the many other schools affiliated with CES use these principles to guide decisions at their schools about teaching and learning, governance, and other important matters for their school communities.
For many years, Ted would give the opening remarks at the annual gathering of CES schools known as the “Fall Forum“. For my blog post this week, I’m sharing with you Ted’s speech from the start of the 2000 Fall Forum, archived on the CES website. His words connect the CES principles to the daily practices of teachers and schools. I’ve included an excerpt below, but click here to read the brief speech in its entirety.
Every student’s mind should be stretched. Every student’s values should be tested, tested in the sense of confronted at the appropriate time. Every student, without exception, should be able to succeed well at something consequential. And our job is to make sure that every student, without exception, has that jolt of self-discovery and confidence that emerges from doing something of obvious importance exceedingly well. And from that, moving forward to achieving across the board very well. Every school should be a decent, thoughtful, and worthy place. We are in the humanity business. We’re dealing with ideas and children’s minds. Our schools should be described and represented by principles and ideas, and how those ideas and principles play out practically is for those of us close to our own youngsters to shape.