New Coalition to Rethink Learning...Now!

September 8th was a huge day in the school reform world. President Obama delivered his highly anticipated Back to School speech; the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Viacom launched their Get Schooled initiative; and a coalition of civil rights leaders, education advocates, philanthropic organizations, and concerned citizens launched the Rethink Learning Now campaign.

Somehow news of this last venture hid in my media blind spot until today, when I finally readjusted my mirrors, got the scoop, and am now (excitedly) sharing it with you.

Ever get the feeling that many of today’s school reform initiatives somehow miss the mark? That billions of dollars are spent implementing policies which, although well intentioned, never trickle down to actually making a difference where it really counts the most: enriching the quality of teaching and learning that takes place in every classroom?

Enter Rethink Learning Now—a campaign whose mission is to refocus school reform’s national spotlight where it belongs: on learning, teaching, and fairness.

Each of these three core pillars of education, at the heart of Rethink Learning Now’s campaign, has its own impressive PSA. Here’s an example:

(To watch the other two PSAs, click here.)

The campaign’s goal is to collect qualitative data on what powerful learning environments, highly effective teachers, and fair public school systems look like using feedback and personal experiences from people across the country. This data will then be used to inform lawmakers and influence policies aimed at reforming American public schools.

I encourage you to visit the Rethink Learning Now website, to  read some of the learning stories already posted, and consider submitting one of your own.

Here’s how Sam Chaltain (National Director of the Forum for Education and Democracy)  describes the philosophy behind the campaign:

…why are we tolerating a national culture of testing, when we all know from personal experience that what we need is a national culture of learning? We can do better. We can have schools in every neighborhood that teach children both basic- and higher-order skills, that allow creativity and innovation to flourish, and that lead all children to discover how to fully and effectively participate in our economy and democracy...Rethink Learning Now campaign [has] a simple goal – to ask people to reflect on what they already know to be true about powerful learning, to share those personal stories, and then to use that collective wisdom to help the country better understand what a healthy, high-functioning learning environment actually looks like.

I love the idea of starting a national conversation about powerful learning, highly-effective teaching, and a fair school system, and I agree that this is exactly where the focus of our school reform efforts should lie. There’s also something so powerful about seeking to incorporate the personal insights and experiences of a cross section of the American public into education policy at all levels.

This is a definitely a movement that I look forward to participating in and will follow very closely.