Innovation Schools: New Methods, New Options, New Confusion

I consider myself lucky that I am not a parent for one simple reason: how do you choose a school for your kid when there are so many options? I say this from experience. I am a deer-in-the-headlights shopper, frozen stiff by options, upgrades, sales, and outside opinion.

I spend countless hours typing product names into Google’s white bar of knowledge, reading tedious user reviews (when I find out that Ed from Wisconsin took issue with the noise level of an air conditioner I organize a boycott of the unfortunate company), and ultimately talking myself out of the purchase for fear of making the wrong decision. Seriously, I still do not own an iPod since I am convinced a better model will be revealed by a large banner the moment after my credit card is swiped.

Options, however, are not limited to my next gadget. When I picked up today’s Boston Globe and I was greeted with a front page article on innovation schools. Suzanne Kreiter’s photo captured the excitement I remember from my day’s as a waist-hugging, cot-napping student eager to prove I could properly identify my subjects and predicates. Pictured is Alison Buonome, bubbling over with the necessary excitement to capture the attention and ultimately the minds of her second graders. Small hands stretched towards the ceiling with such vigor you can hear the shouts of “Call on me” from just above the fold. My curiosity grew when I read the headline: Innovation schools catch on.

Innovation schools? Growing up in a small, wooded Western Massachusetts town, I remember having innovative teachers, problem solving brainiacs, and access to a brand new Mac with a green screen, but never a whole school of innovation. My interest piqued, I read on to find out how lacking my childhood education had been. What new teaching style will unlock the potential of Massachusetts’ future generations?

James Vaznis easily pulled me further into his article as I read this new educational approach was “catching fire,” “a cornerstone of Governor Deval Patrick’s overhaul of public education,” and competing “aggressively with charter schools.” Some tough words given the current education discourse.

When I continued on to page A8 I saw a more sedate black/white photo of a scene pulled straight from my youth. Circle of chairs. Check. Folded hands. Check. Teacher holding court. Check. From the outside I saw normalcy. Where was the innovation? Kids in lab coats huddled around beakers as teachers produced plumes of smoke through magical concoctions. Miniature Wright Brothers running forward hugging contraptions that would transport them closer towards their dreams.

As I read further I dove headlong into multiple school descriptors: independent charter, pilot, in-district charter, and innovation. Similarities were drawn between the pilot and innovation schools. Descriptions were laid out for further details of each school model. Unions versus non unions versus some unions. School committee approval combined with state education department approval.

As I read the final words I felt heavy. My head was full. My eyelids were being pulled down by weighted terms, ideas at first marketed as gravity busters that upon closer inspection proved to be lead balloons. Maybe I did not get it. That is always a very real option. Maybe innovation begins with the institution and will ultimately benefit the children.

Soon I will begin my Google searches, combing the internet for opinions on school models, new and old. I will read countless entries submitted by parents eager to make the decision of which track to place their child on while combating increasing trepidation as more options are created to better serve their children’s needs.

For right now however, I need to take a moment, look out my window at the hustle and bustle of Boston, and say “Thank you.” Thank you that if children enter my life it will be years before they go to school and hopefully by then the choices will be clear to a parent just looking for the right answer, the best answer.

To help you select the most appropriate school for your child, please visit http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/schoice/choice_guide.html.

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