Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom

Newsweek brings us its rankings for the best high schools in the country. (Via RCP) You can disagree with their methodology in the rankings, but they illustrate a point---the mark of a good teacher is whether they achieve results with any child anywhere. The mark of a good school is creating the environment and incentives to make that possible.

There is much food for thought here, but the underlying premise is to see children as individuals:

If you want to understand what's happening in some of America's most innovative public high schools, think back to your own experiences in that petri dish of adolescent social stratification known as the cafeteria. Were you a jock? A theater geek? A science whiz? Part of the arty crowd? Whatever your inclination, it defined where you sat. Now imagine that each of those tables was a school in itself—with a curriculum based on sports, drama, science or art and a student body with shared interests and common aptitudes. That radical idea is transforming thousands of high schools. A one-size-fits-all approach no longer works for everyone, the new thinking goes; a more individualized experience is better.

Well, I wouldn't go overboard on a one-interest-defines-all curriculum, but you've got to engage kids first and then grab hold and challenge them to do more.

They've got to see the point of what they're doing. It's their future after all.