School Change Consulting

Rather than managing schools, districts should develop clear accountability through performance contracts with schools.

Resources

Find out about The Change Leadership Group

Tony is Co-Director of the Change Leadership Group at Harvard University's graduate school of education. Established with a 5 year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CLG works to understand "best practices" in education change leadership and sponsors programs to help build the cacpacity of change leadership teams. To learn more, visit CLG's recently upgraded website.

The Global Achievement Gap

The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need--and What We Can Do About It

Tony's latest book is now available online and in bookstores! To order from Amazon, click on the link below

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1: The New World of Work and the Seven Survival Skills

Chapter 2: The Old World of School

Chapter 3: Testing, 1 2 3

Chapter 4: Reinventing the Education Profession

Chapter 5: Motivating Today's Students-And Tomorrow's Workers

Chapter 6: Closing the Gap-Schools That Work

Conclusion: A Few Answers-and More Questions

Notes

Click "Read More" to go on to the Introduction . . .

Rigor Redefined

Even our "best" schools are failing to prepare students for 21st-century careers and citizenship.

In the new global economy, with many jobs being either automated or "off-shored," what skills will students need to build successful careers? What skills will they need to be good citizens? Are these two education goals in conflict?

To examine these questions, I conducted research beginning with conversations with several hundred business, nonprofit, philanthropic, and education leaders. With a clearer picture of the skills young people need, I then set out to learn whether U.S. schools are teaching and testing the skills that matter most. I observed classrooms in some of the nation's most highly regarded suburban schools to find out whether our "best" was, in fact, good enough for our children's future. What I discovered on this journey may surprise you.

High School Student Focus Group Video

Tony recently conducted a series of focus groups with high school students and recent high school graduates for the Highline School District, outside of Seattle WA. In this moving video, successful and struggling students and graduates talk about their school experiences and what they need from teachers in order to be successful. It can be viewed here.

Change Leadership: A Practical Guide to Transforming Our Schools

Change Leadership: A Practical Guide to Transforming Our Schools,co-authored by Robert Kegan and colleagues at the Change Leadership Group, was published by JosseyBass last year. The result of five years of work with school districts around the country, Change Leadershipis a powerful learning and diagnostic tool for teams from schools and districts. Here is an excerpt from the foreword, written by Tom Vander Ark, Executive Director of the Education Programs at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.