Ed.

the magazine of the Harvard Graduate School of Education

winter 2010 | vol. Liii, no. 2

Also
The Family Way
Wither High School?

The Merit of Pay

A look at how we recognize
and reward teachers
Ed. The Magazine of the Harvard Graduate School of Education | winter 2010 | vol. lIIi, no. 2

16 departments
34 3 Dean’s Perspective

6
4 Letters

6 The Appian Way

34 In the Media

40 Investing in Education

42 Alumni News and Notes

48 Recess

The Family Way 48

22
How a teenaged mother determined
to beat the odds stayed in school
and ended up a professor.

features Stay plugged in

Right on the Money?
It’s a hot topic that never seems to fade:
Should schools stop rewarding teachers
for years of service and instead pay them
www.gse.harvard.edu
Brence Pernell, Ed.M.’09, talks about the 34
events
Conferences. Askwiths. Deadlines. Don’t miss a thing.
www.gse.harvard.edu/news_events/events

16
based on how well they — and, in turn, high school students he teaches in rural

courtesty of brence pernell

their students — perform? South Carolina who work the third shift,
what it means to have strong colleague twitter
support during your first year in the class- We tweet. You follow. So simple.
room, and why he provides extra tutoring www.twitter.com/hgse
for students at their homes.

Wither High School? facebook

Did you know that the Ed School played We’re the Facebook friend approved by your boss.
Is one of the nation’s oldest institutions,
a key role in the launch of Sesame Street, www.facebook.com/HarvardEducation
what former Dean Ted Sizer, M.A.T.’57, once
which just celebrated its 40th anni-
called a “sturdy fixture of every American

28
versary? Lecturer Joe Blatt, Ed.M.’77,
community,” in need of serious reform?
youtube
sesame workshop

director of the Technology, Innovation,

and Education Program, looks back at the Yup, we have a YouTube channel!
long-standing relationship. www.youtube.com/HarvardEducation

Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 1

 Ed.
The Magazine of the
Harvard Graduate
School of Education
PULLING BACK THE COVER dean’s perspective
Pay Raise
senior writer/editor
Lory Hough
lory_hough@harvard.edu Dear Friends:
production manager/editor In this issue’s cover story on
Marin Jorgensen
marin_jorgensen@harvard.edu performance pay for teachers, we For me, the issue of teacher incentives is personal — my husband has been
primarily explored what educators a high school English teacher for 34 years. In this cover story, Ed. magazine
designer
Paula Telch Cooney thought about the topic. The public, explores the complex issue of teacher incentives. What does the research
paula_telch@harvard.edu
of course, also has an opinion. What show about pay for performance? Is the research consistent with the federal
Director of we found interesting is that public Teacher Incentive Fund? Will these programs backfire and lead teachers to
Communications
Michael Rodman opinion is strongly influenced by our merely teach to the test? These are not easy questions to answer with the
michael_rodman@harvard.edu current president. This past summer, data at hand.
Communications intern Assistant Professor Martin West
Jazmin Brooks and Education Next magazine (the Several of my colleagues think pay for performance misses the point. Both
contributing writers staff of which includes three people Kitty Boles and Susan Moore Johnson argue persuasively that we need to
Jill Anderson
Jazmin Brooks
connected to the Ed School — rethink opportunities for career growth. In other words, we need tiered pay-
John Conroy Chester Finn, M.A.T.’67, Ed.D.’70, and career-structures for teachers in order to fundamentally change how to
Amber Haskins
is senior editor; West and Frederick
Tricia Hurley develop the teacher work force.
Elaine McArdle Hess, Ed.M.’90, are executive
Tim O’Brien, Ed.M.’08
Mary Tamer editors) conducted a survey and
Why, then, has pay for performance continued to reappear as the sexy
found that 43 percent of Americans
copyeditor reform du jour, to quote Ed School graduate Bella Rosenberg, from 1710 up
Abigail Mieko Vargus liked the idea of basing teacher
to today? Proponents believe that the devil is in the details — that we just
salary on student performance — a
© 2010 by the President and haven’t figured out yet how to reward high-performing teachers.
Fellows of Harvard College. number that has held steady since

jonesfoto
Ed. magazine is published three
times a year, free of charge,
they started the annual survey in
for alumni, faculty, students, 2007. However, when informed that One thing is certain. There are well-meaning people on both sides of this
and friends of the Harvard
President Barack Obama supported issue who want the best for our children, especially those at risk for school
Graduate School of Education.
This issue is No. 2 of Vol. LIII, merit pay, public support increased failure. We can all agree that we need to find better ways to recognize, reward, and keep good teachers, like my husband.
Winter 2010. Third-class
postage paid at Burlington, VT by 13 percentage points.
and additional offices. What do you think? Write and tell us at letters@gse.harvard.edu
POSTMASTER: Send address
changes to: Sincerely,
Harvard Graduate School of
Education
Office of Communications
44R Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
www.gse.harvard.edu
Kathleen McCartney
To read Ed. online, go to December 2009
www.gse.harvard.edu/ed.

2 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 3

 letters
Another Start-Up
I just read with great interest the “Con-
struction 101” article (fall 2009). I, too,
am an Ed School graduate who founded
a charter school 12 years ago, the Side
By Side Community School. As a school
servicing children from ages 3 to 13 in
Norwalk, Conn., we were one of only 12
original charter schools that opened in
1997. Like my fellow HGSE colleagues,
the idealism and desire to promote truly
equitable public education, particu-
larly for minority and disenfranchised
populations, has led me and my fellow
founders down many interesting and
unforeseen paths, including knowl-
edge of such disparate concerns as fire
codes, egress windows, and accounting
principles. But the rewards of designing
a school, from the days that we all sat
with a glass of wine around someone’s
living room saying “Wouldn’t it be great
if…” to the current cramped and
deeply caring place, cannot be
measured. I now serve as board
chair and active consultant to
the school, but it is the work
of which I am most proud, and
most deeply committed. HGSE
was a part of that willingness
in all of us to take that leap of
faith, to start a school with little
more than a passion for kids who
deserve a chance, and perhaps the
gratefulness that we were some of the
lucky ones who benefited from the
opportunity of a quality education.
Anne Magee Dichele, Ed.M.’79
Professor of education
quinnipiac university
4 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010
Point Man
This is a good article, a must read for
Americans with respect to the future of
our education (“Will Obama’s Choice
Change Education in America?” fall
2009). I believe with President Obama’s
pushing of this topic, the implications
will blossom.
Stu Henderson
Quite frankly the problem with educa-
tion in this country is the quality of the
curriculum and the teachers. If Ameri-
can children score lower scores, the re-
sponsibility lies with the departments of
education and the substandard curricu-
lum. I do not believe President Obama
has the background, attention span, nor
the qualifications to be effective.
Steve G
A to B Gets an A
In my role as
director of cur-
riculum and
communica-
tions, I am always
on the lookout for
books and articles to
bring to the teachers of
my district. I ran into your
story (“The Algebra of Buried
Things,” fall 2009) via a subscription
service that condenses articles from
dozens of publications to give people
like me a quick review. Your story was
so compelling that I came onto the
Harvard site to read it in its entirety.
Thank you for your honest portrayal of
teaching and learning. When I pass it
along to the teachers of this district, I
am confident that many will see bits of
themselves as students and as teachers. I
know I did.
Kathleen Baker
Very Observant
I found this article extremely
informative and very compelling
(“Round and Round,” fall 2009).
As an educator, I find the formal
evaluation process used by my
school district to be uninspiring,
unhelpful, and uninformative.
If the goal of evaluations are to
challenge educators to improve,
I believe this method may present
more beneficial opportunities for
administrators and teachers alike to col-
laborate and to co-define what successful
teaching really means. I, like the author,
hope we can find a “coherent, national
model of what effective teaching is”
because every day we do not have one is
a day students across this country suffer.
Paul Suk-Hyun Yoon
Having been fortunate enough to
experience the power of collaborative
reflection upon teaching practice, both
at HGSE and other universities, I was
much taken by this article. Anything
that discourages “top down” evaluation
and empowers everyone in the educa-
tional enterprise is always welcome.
Brian Mac Donald
This instructional rounds model of first
sharing what you see/observe, without
interpretation, analysis, or judgment, is
the cornerstone of good observation in
early childhood education. Many educa-
tors engaged in learning with young
children spend their days working very
hard to capture in words, photos, draw-
ings, and recordings the work of the
children as well as their colleagues. This
documentation is then shared with the
children, parents/families, and teach-
ers as a tool for reflection and develop-
ing a deeper understanding of what is
occurring within the teaching-learning
relationship. The lessons learned here
shine a much-needed light on the need
for a stronger connection and bond be-
tween teaching practices at all levels of
education. Thank you for your research,
insights, and activism.
Lori Adams Chabay
I think this article has a lot of merit
within teacher observation. I think
that a pilot in one grade in a school to
get the kinks worked out before full
implementation would be a first step
because it lessens the feeling of being
overwhelmed by both teachers and
administrators. The administrators have
to be comfortable with this model for it
to be used effectively.
Donna Downes
Ah, the power of collective IQ! I ap-
preciate the instructional rounds model
with the evidence-based focus, use of
common language throughout observa-
tions and reflections, and the restricting
of personal judgments throughout the
observation process. Most importantly, I
am impressed with the educational plan
for professional staff, knowing “that we
are always learning and we don’t always
have all the answers.” Great read!
Mary Nardo
Point Taken
Always welcome a pointer to a great
book! Beginning, and enjoying, The
Eighth Day (On My Bookshelf, fall
2009). May humanity have one.
Michael Sales
A Sixth Reason to Know Raygine DiAquoi
6. Ray is the BEST! Plus she laughs at
all of your jokes, even if they’re not so
funny (5 Reasons to Know, fall 2009).
Rose Honey
Details Wanted
I enjoyed
reading about
the work that
Professor [Hiro]
Yoshikawa is
doing on early
learning and
development in low-income immigrant
families (“Home Visits and Babies,”
summer 2009). However, I was disap-
pointed in the lack of precision or
depth, specifically as it relates to the
ethnic backgrounds of the “[U.S.-born]
African American families.” Being born
in the United States to black immigrant
parents, such children in our society are
understandably called “African Ameri-
cans,” but what of their ethnicity? Why
is it specific references were made of
ethnic groups that participated in the
study (such as Mexican, Dominican, and
Chinese) but not in the case of “[U.S.-
born] African American families?”
Are we so preoccupied by race when it
comes to black immigrant families that
there is no recognition of ethnicity, be
it Haitian, Jamaican, or Nigerian? More
detailed reporting on the ethnic makeup
of the black immigrant families should
be provided. Doing so would provide
more accurate information and at the
same time stop perpetuating the myth
that all blacks in America fit only under
the umbrella term “African American”
Ed.
and therefore lack the ethnic diversity
that other racial groups have.
Jeff Francois, Ed.M.’94
Re-Purposed
First, a hearty congratulations to the
author (“The Third Chapter,” summer
2009). The book is wonderful. As a
59-going-on-60-year-old man who was
not at all happy about aging, I found
comfort and purpose. I also realized
that I am in the same process as the
interviewees. I, too, am growing in new
and old directions and finding a stronger
“me” as I continue this process. Regard-
ing the concept of special talents, as
an artist/designer/teacher, I am always
horrified when my students tell me they
have no special talents. There are no
“talents” — there is only the freedom
and permission to try. I was encouraged
always. Others never had that support.
On the other hand, as an adult with
ADHD, much was in conflict throughout
my whole life. I only started to come to
terms with this aspect of “me” two years
ago. I had to give myself permission to
talk about it, to deal with it, to find ways
to understand and accommodate it. That
is where the growth happens.
Peter French
Ed. magazine welcomes
correspondence from all of its readers.
Send letters to:
Ed. magazine
Letters to the Editor
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Office of Communications
44R Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
E-mail: letters@gse.harvard.edu
Online Comments: www.gse.harvard.edu/ed
Please note that letters may be edited
for clarity and space.
• Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 5
 the appian way
mark morelli
Name: Susan Moore Johnson, M.A.T.’69, Ed.D.’81 Title: professor
Focus: teachers guiding teachers
“Good PAR programs provide excellent
mentoring, while also enabling the district
to dismiss ineffective teachers.”
On PAR By Lory Hough
6 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010
New teachers and experienced teachers. In some ways, they are
at the opposite ends of the teaching spectrum. However, both
can, and do, struggle. Who better to guide them than other
teachers? That’s the idea behind the Peer Assistance and Review
program, commonly known as PAR, which began 25 years ago
in Toledo, Ohio. Under the direction of a panel made up of
schools administrators and members of the local teachers union,
qualified veteran teachers — usually called consulting teach-
ers — take sabbaticals from classroom teaching to mentor new
teachers during their first years and to support other experi-
enced teachers who are struggling. Although the program has
been established in 30 to 40 districts across the country and is
widely considered to be successful — President Barack Obama
even publicly endorsed it — the program has not been extensively
evaluated. That’s why Professor Susan Moore Johnson and her
team at the Project on the Next Generation of Teachers decided
to study seven districts running PAR programs. This past fall,
she spoke to Ed. about the study, the website they launched
detailing their findings, and why more districts should PARtake.
The new website says that PAR “challenges” most people’s
expectations about what teachers and principals should do. In
what way?
Under PAR, expert consulting teachers assume responsibility
not only for mentoring, but also evaluating, other teachers.
Most people think that the principal is always the evaluator,
but many principals lack the knowledge and skills needed to
supervise all the teachers in their schools. Also, few have the
time needed to seriously mentor several teachers.
What else consumes a principal’s time?
That list is very long. They oversee the budget, hiring, curricu-
lum, student discipline, community relations, special educa-
tion, student assessment, facilities and maintenance, profes-
sional development, and evaluation of teachers not on PAR.
Do some principals resist giving over that control?
We found that principals often resist PAR initially but over
time come to see how PAR supports school improvement. All
PAR programs for low-performing veteran teachers depend
on principals referring those experienced teachers to PAR.
We were surprised to see how many principals who had
low-performing teachers did not turn to PAR, either because
they wanted to provide the help themselves, avoid controversy
within their schools, or not be bothered with following the
procedures required for the initial evaluation and referral.
You mention that PAR is expensive for districts. Why?
PAR’s biggest cost is the salaries of teachers who replace the
consulting teachers. Overall, we found that PAR costs about
$4,000–$7,000 per teacher served, which is about the same as
the cost of high-quality mentoring. For districts, though, the
financial benefits of reducing attrition, which is about $10,000
for a first-year teacher, and avoiding dismissal hearings, which
often cost more than $100,000 each, can be enormous.
PAR is divided into two parts, including the novice program
where new teachers get help setting up their classrooms and
navigating the first year. This type of first-year induction
seems unusual.
You’re right. We certainly found that the intensity of mentor-
ing under PAR in the districts we studied far exceeded what is
provided in most mentoring programs.
This approach not only helps better prepare first-year teach-
ers, but it allows the school at the end of the year to decide if
the teacher should be rehired. They aren’t “stuck” with a new
teacher who isn’t progressing.
Right.
Having the local teachers union as a key player from the begin-
ning is helpful then.
Unions have a legal responsibility to fairly represent teach-
ers by ensuring that they are treated in procedurally correct
ways. Under PAR, the union oversees the procedural rights of
teachers throughout the process. If the teacher fails to meet
standards under PAR, the union is not obliged to contest their
dismissal. This saves the district and the union the legal costs of
arbitrations and court proceedings.
In your study, what percent of low-performing veteran teachers
being helped in the PAR program are dismissed and how many
return to the classroom?
Between 25 percent and 40 percent of veteran teachers on PAR
succeeded. The rest either resigned or were dismissed. We have
detailed data on our website for the districts we studied.
Do the mentor teachers go back to teaching after their rotation?
Most districts urge or require that consulting teachers return
to the classroom once their term is over, though some continue
to work as teacher leaders and take positions such as instruc-
tional coach or staff developer.
More districts should implement the PAR program because...
Good PAR programs provide excellent mentoring, while also
enabling the district to dismiss ineffective teachers. Good
teachers resent the presence of poor teachers and they appre-
ciate the role that PAR plays in maintaining high standards in
the profession.
For details, go to www.gse.harvard.edu/~ngt/par.
Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 7
 the appian way
Not So Lonely at the Top By Mary Tamer
For the 50 women and men who flock to Cambridge each July
for the annual Harvard Seminar for New Presidents, one of the
best lessons learned may be that life doesn’t have to be lonely
at the top.
But it will be different.
Since 1989, such wisdom has been shared with profession-
als from around the United States and the world who share
one common thread; all have recently assumed the helm of
institutes of higher learning and — knowingly or unknow-
ingly — are about to embark on the academic adventure of
their lives.
“The role of the president is different, and if you are not in
the position, you don’t fully understand it,” says Lori Bettison-
Varga, the eighth president of Scripps College and a seminar
participant this past July. “I feel really fortunate to feel so
welcomed by every constituency of the college … but you don’t
realize until you are sitting in the chair that you are on display
to everyone … and every audience is important.”
Such sentiment is exactly why this workshop began, says
Senior Lecturer Judy McLaughlin, M.A.T.’71, Ed.D.’83, chair of
the seminar and director of the Higher Education Program —
namely to allow new presidents to “step outside of the busyness
and reflect” for five days.
“There is only one president on campus, no one else holds
that job. We provide people in the same job with introductions
to resources who are their colleagues,” says McLaughlin. “No
one fully appreciates the feel of the job until he or she is in it,
and everyone says you can’t appreciate the pace, the complexi-
ties, and the expectations until they are yours.”
The 50 participants are also provided with a full five-day
schedule that includes workshops on fundraising, governance,
“
financial management, and strategic planning, led by faculty
No one fully appreciates
the feel of the job until he
or she is in it, and everyone
says you can’t appreciate
the pace, the complexities,
and the expectations until
they are yours.”
— Senior Lecturer Judy McLaughlin, M.A.T.’71, Ed.D.’83
8 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010
experts as well as sitting and past presidents. In addition,
there are ample opportunities for the new presidents to break
down into smaller groups based on the size and type of their
institutions, which run the gamut from small arts colleges to
significantly larger state schools.
“There was a session on balancing your personal life with
all of your activities as president. Hearing how other presi-
dents have done that is helpful, but you don’t always take that
advice,” laughs Bettison-Varga, the married mother of three
children aged 11 to 19. “I think that my 16-year-old would say,
‘You’re not the president of me, you’re just my mom,’ but my
11-year-old is really enjoying being on campus.”
As is Bettison-Varga, whose enthusiasm for her new role
as president of the all-female liberal arts school is evident, as
is the enthusiasm of her mother, Barbara Yunker Bettison, a
member of the Scripps class of 1954.
“She went to her 55th reunion last spring and her class-
mates dubbed her the queen mother,” says Bettison-Varga.
“It was the first event where she saw me with my presidential
robes on and she told me, ‘I had goose bumps.’”
And when goose bumps have the occasion to turn into
hives, new presidents are at the ready, thanks to another
workshop where participants are presented with a “typical
presidential inbox, and asked to cope with it in relatively short
order,” says Kenyon College President S. Georgia Nugent, an
attendee of the workshop seven years ago.
“The contents of the inbox were, as I now realize, all too
authentic: The local TV station seeks an interview on a sensi-
tive topic, a faculty member is threatening revolt, an alumnus
unhappy over a decision has e-mailed the entire board of
trustees, an invitation to an important community event
conflicts with a child’s birthday celebration, and on and on,”
says Nugent. “The organizers of the seminar obviously had
enormous experience in what, exactly, college and university
presidents would face in their day-to-day lives.”
Though the reality of the outlined expectations could be
daunting to some, others, like Robert Huntington, Ed.D.’97,
who recently assumed the presidency of Heidelberg University,
left Harvard’s campus in July feeling “more energized” than he
had on his arrival day.
“Being surrounded by 50 really successful, talented people,
and being exposed to sitting presidents from other schools …
it just doesn’t get any better than that. It was a real honor to
be in that classroom, in that opportunity,” says Huntington.
“There’s a feeling you have when you know you are not alone.”
— Mary Tamer is a freelance writer whose last piece for Ed.
looked at budget cuts and arts education in the United States.
Lead the Leaders
It’s being called “ground-
breaking,” a degree that
will “shake up the status
quo.” In September, just as Education
classes were kicking off for Sector
the fall semester, Harvard
announced the launch of a
new doctoral program in
education leadership that
is tuition-free and based in Leadership &
real-life practice. Management
Called the Doctor of
Education Leadership
Program, or Ed.L.D., the
three-year program will
begin in August 2010
with an initial group of Learning &
25 students. The goal is Teaching
to give students a deeper
A look at the curriculum, which focuses on three broad areas: education sector, leadership and management,
understanding of teaching and learning and technology.
and learning, as well as a
solid grasp of management and leadership skills that will allow research. Students will spend the first two years on campus,
them to become top leaders in school districts, government with a new customized curriculum that includes modules
agencies, nonprofits and NGOs, and the private sector. and both core and elective courses. The third and final year
“Our goal is not to develop leaders for the system as it cur- will be spent in a residency, getting hands-on, paid experi-
rently exists,” says Dean Kathleen McCartney. “Rather, we aim ence with a partnering organization. These include large
to develop people who will lead system transformation.” urban school districts like Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver,
One of the unique aspects of the degree is the curriculum. Philadelphia, and New York, and nonprofit education-
Although based at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, focused groups such as Achieve, Jobs for the Future, KIPP,
faculty members from the Harvard Business School and the New Teacher Project, the New Schools Venture Fund,
Harvard Kennedy School of Government will also take part, and Teach For America. Instead of a traditional dissertation,
emphasizing the belief that for superintendents, education students will lead a significant improvement project for the
policymakers, nonprofit/NGO education leaders, and others to partnering organization. Academic Dean Robert Schwartz,
really succeed in making change, they need to master not only C.A.S.’68, says the time is right in education for this kind of
teaching and learning, but also management, organization, degree, which is funded in part by the Wallace Foundation
policy, and politics.
Harvard President Drew Faust says this kind of collabora-
and gives a full-tuition fellowship and a cost-of-living stipend
to accepted students.
tion at Harvard is exactly what is necessary to create strong
leaders in education.
“The Obama Administration and large private foundations
are about to make unprecedented levels of investment in edu-
“One of the core missions of Harvard’s professional schools cation reform,” he says. “It is critical that states and districts,
is to prepare leaders who can guide organizations in a rapidly and the national organizations they count on for support, have
changing environment. No sector has a greater need for such
transformational leaders than public education,” she says. “I
access to a pipeline of leadership talent equipped with the
knowledge and skills to ensure that these investments produce
am delighted that professors from three outstanding profes-
sional schools are combining their knowledge and experience
dramatic improvements in the performance of our schools.”
to create this groundbreaking program.”
Based in practice, the new degree is also different from
Go to www.gse.harvard.edu/edld to read a list of
frequently asked questions about the degree, or for
the traditional Ed.D. degree, which tends to emphasize more information.
Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 9
 the appian way
A TO B: Why I Got into Education
Learning to Cheat By Tim O’Brien, Ed.M.’08
I bought my first science project on the school bus for
five bucks when I was in 10th grade. I bought it from an
11th-grader after the school science fair ended. For five
bucks I got a bottle of jam, a stick of rock candy, five
pages of writing about the importance of pectin,
and some diagrams on a poster. I crammed the
whole rig into my closet and relished in the work I
would not have to do a year later.
The slope was a slippery one and my cheating
escalated: tiny scrolls of paper rolled up under
the eraser of mechanical pencils, miniscule
essays taped to the inside of my blazer’s cuff,
definitions penned in precise letters on the back
of my tie. Bus rides and recess were spent on a
black market I had not been privy to as a freshman.
Steady streams of exams trickled down from the seniors
to the sophomores. The multiple-choice questions hadn’t
changed in years; our teachers were recycling the tests. All one
needed was a list of letters: D, B, E, B, C, A. …
All this chicanery was propelled by one infuriating exam —
a 50-question, multiple-choice test on Dick Francis’s Dead
Cert. My 16-year-old angst finally had a machine to rage
against — 50 questions worth two points apiece about the
various characters and plot twists in a murder mystery.
“What’s the point of it all!” I fumed through my teeth after
earning a 46 of 100. I had never done so poorly on an exam
in my life. I was furious; English was my favorite class. Why
was my time being wasted trying to memorize how a bunch of
gambling horse enthusiasts killed a jockey? I wanted to learn
about Shakespeare. I wanted to write something majestic.
The resentment consumed my days and nights as I kept a
tally of the frustration: 25 logic problems the teacher didn’t
even collect, 40 definitions marked with a meaningless red
check, a B+ on a poster full of facts about Morocco I copied
from an encyclopedia. I started determining the worth of all
my assignments and exams before picking up my pen. Nearly
nothing warranted any effort. I wanted a challenge. At that
point, buying science projects, kissing up to upperclassmen for
old exams, and smuggling miniscule essays in my necktie was a
truer test of my mettle.
I proudly recount my history of cheating with many of the
educators I work with now. Most are appalled. “How would
you feel if your students cheated in your class?” they ask. If my
students are cheating, then I know I am not doing my job. I
know I have not engaged, challenged, or presented my students
with an assignment that demands legitimate effort and work. I
10 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010
jeff Hopkins, ed.m.’05
tripped up several times as a young teacher with worksheets
that asked for specific answers, or essay assignments with no
room for interpretation. My instruction improved with The
Tempest when I required groups of students to interpret the
play in their own words. The country western, mobster, and
Star Trek adaptations of the play left no doubt that each mem-
ber of class wrestled with the meaning of every line. Groups
clashed over Shakespeare’s intentions and word choice; they
argued for and against each other’s interpretations. It was im-
possible to cheat on the following writing assignment: Explain
the strengths and weaknesses of your group’s interpretation of
the play. How would Shakespeare respond to your interpreta-
tion? How do you know? What revisions would you make given
the opportunity to perform again?
Day after day our students are being graded on simply com-
pleting an assignment that is never scrutinized by their teacher.
Too many of our young people are mindlessly filling in blanks
and summarizing books for an A+ that offers no real indication
of a student’s ability. Report cards are based simply on whether
or not “work” is “done.”
My foray into the academic underworld was more chal-
lenging and more rewarding than my schoolwork. Many of
our students are lured away from boring classrooms by far
more complicated and engaging work: joining gangs, stealing
cars, dealing drugs, or earning honest paychecks. Despite the
legality or wisdom of some of these decisions, one thing is
certain — they are more difficult and rewarding than anything
that happens in the classroom. Our students are much brighter
than our assignments give them credit for and unless we
teachers step it up in the classroom, we are bound to lose what
students we have left.
Decades Later By Tricia Hurley
In the fall of 1960, 13 men traveled to Cambridge to pursue their
doctoral degrees in what was then called the Administrative Career
Program. They were required to study in residence at Harvard for
two years before completing a final project in education admin-
istration that would serve as their dissertation. They came from
around the country, many already married with families. They spent
long hours in classes, at the library, and in the local school systems,
trying to better understand the role of the education administra-
tor. They went on to distinguished careers in schools, districts,
community colleges, universities, and government agencies.
And they also became lifelong friends.
In the nearly 50 years since the 1960–62 cohort began their
studies, they have celebrated each other’s personal and pro-
fessional achievements, including promotions, birthdays, and
weddings. They have served as godparents and, more recently,
attended the funerals of two of their classmates, Daryl Pelletier,
Ed.D.’63, and Albert Benson, Ed.D.’64.
In an effort to keep in closer touch, the cohort has been formally
organizing its own reunions since 1999. Every two years they
choose a city to meet in. The most recent one was held this past
October in Dearborn, Mich. Ten of the original 13 attended, along
with five wives and one daughter, to celebrate nearly five decades
of friendship.
“We were boot camp buddies,” recalls Edward Yaglou, M.A.T.’57,
Ed.D.’68, of his classmates. “Everyone worked hard, but rather than
being competitive with one another, we tried to help each other out.”
This spirit of camaraderie extended beyond the classroom and
into their social lives. The families coordinated babysitting services
so that they could help each other with work and study hours.
There were carpools to campus and even organized social outings
on the weekends to the Boston Pops and local art museums.
“There was an instant bonding,” says Nancy Dolce, who was five
months pregnant with her first child when she and her husband
Carl Dolce, C.A.S.’61, Ed.D.’63, arrived in Cambridge from New
Orleans. “It was such a small group, but we had so much in com-
mon. Even though the wives weren’t taking the classes, we were
involved in their program vicariously.”
When the residency period concluded in 1962, the group
went their separate ways to complete their dissertation projects,
begin their administrative careers, and raise their families.
— Tim O’Brien is a professional development specialist with
Washington, D.C., public schools, where he is working with in-
structional coaches to help teachers craft rigorous and relevant
work for students. Neither his mechanical pencil nor blazer cuff
have been able to help him with this responsibility.
courtesy of paul Kirsch
Left to right, top to bottom, circa May 1962: Lloyd Nielsen, Jack Greenawalt,
Jim Mauch, Paul Kirsch, Carl Dolce, Dave Ponitz; Al Benson, Tom Hasenflug,
Fred Dippel, Rita Jennings, Daryl Pellitier, Ed Yaglou, Robert Binswanger
Although they remained in touch as conferences and travel
would allow, they did not formally reunite as a group until much
later, in 1983, when their classmate Lloyd Nielsen, Ed.M.’55,
Ed.D.’63, was elected president of the American Association of
School Administrators (AASA).
To celebrate, the group decided to travel down to the AASA
conference in Atlantic City and organize a dinner in his honor. It
was the first time in a long time that the group reunited and, in a
speech at the conference, Nielsen made it a point to recognize his
classmates, recalls Robert Binswanger, Ed.M.’59, Ed.D.’64.
Although the conference offered the group the chance to see
each other, it wasn’t until the late 1990s, as many were retiring
or reducing their workload, that the idea to hold more formal
reunions came about.
At Binswanger’s urging, Carl Dolce went online to look up each
of the members and to propose a get-together. The idea was met
with great enthusiasm and fellow classmate David Ponitz, Ed.D.’64,
and his wife, Doris, stepped up to help him plan the first reunion,
which was held in Williamsburg, Va.
This year, in addition to the social dinners and museum tours,
there was the topic of whether the group should continue these
reunions. The group voted overwhelmingly in favor of doing so.
“When the topic came up,” says Paul Kirsch, M.A.T.’52, Ed.D.’63,
“the general response was, ‘Why are we even asking the question?
Of course we’ll be meeting!’”
— Tricia Hurley works in the Development and Alumni
Relations Office.
 the appian way
Repetition, Repetition, Repetition
jeff Hopkins, ed.m.’05
Need a refresher course on advanced cardiac care? An intro-
duction to music theory? A lesson on making a mean cocktail?
All this and more is yours for the taking on SpacedEd, a
new online learning site that utilizes the benefits of spaced
education, a patented methodology developed by B. Price
Kerfoot, Ed.M.’00, after years of research and trials on his
medical colleagues.
Based on the theories of German psychologist Hermann
Ebbinghaus, whose work in the late 1800s focused on memory,
Kerfoot’s own exploration into spaced education began in ear-
nest toward the end of his medical residency when he received
a grant to investigate online education. The goal was twofold:
could online learning, delivered and repeated in spaced
intervals, be used as an effective teaching tool; and could it
improve knowledge retention beyond the typical classroom
experience?
As Kerfoot discovered, the answer was yes on both counts,
and he now has a wealth of documented research to prove it.
Harvard patented the spaced education method in 2006 and
SpacedEd, the company, launched as a start-up two years later.
In July, the first batch of online courses — the majority of
which are free — were opened to the public in 30 topic areas,
with names like iPhone Tips, Swine Flu Facts, and Physical
Exam Essentials. Another 170 offerings are currently in
development.
“Spaced education methodology is content neutral,” says
Kerfoot, a urologist at VA Boston Healthcare and an associate
professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. “It can be
used to teach Arabic to troops in Iraq or to teach a variety of
subjects to schoolchildren.”
For that reason, SpacedEd CEO Duncan Lennox calls it
democratized learning. “Everybody who signs up as a learner
is also an author,” he says, “and anyone can come and build
a course.” (He created a couple, including one called SAT
Basic Algebra.)
And they have. In the first four months since its launch,
SpacedEd has attracted educators, physicians, and firefighters
to its site, offering a $100 incentive payment to all who create
12 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010
By Mary Tamer
STUDENT impact
a course. For those courses that charge a fee, which currently
range from $1.99 to $9.99, 60 to 80 percent of the proceeds
return to the author.
How it actually works, Kerfoot explains, is fairly simple.
Users who sign up for a medical course, for example, may
receive clinical case scenarios along with a series of questions
via e-mail. Once the information is read and the posed ques-
tions answered, users are immediately able to learn whether
their response was correct, as well as how their fellow partici-
pants fared on the same question. Information and questions
are sent at regular intervals, such as two questions sent every
two days. Once the questions are answered correctly twice in
a row, he says, the queries are retired and no longer repeated.
If answered incorrectly, the questions are repeated every 12
days until the information is committed to memory.
“With the spacing effect, if you take information in small
amounts and repeat it, it encodes that information in your
memory. The second part is the testing effect, and some
interesting papers show us that just by presenting people with
information and then testing them on it, it encodes the infor-
mation,” says Kerfoot. “The repetition adapts to the learner
based on whether they answer their questions correctly. The
focus is on mastery and retention of the material.”
Among the compelling research uncovered along the way,
Kerfoot cites a study of 85 care providers that showed spaced
education could reduce their inappropriate cancer screen-
ings by 26 percent over a 36-week course period. In another
trial of 720 urology trainees in the United States and Canada,
Kerfoot was able to demonstrate “a good transfer of learning”
as a result of the spaced education program, with 78 percent
of participants stating a preference for spaced education over
another online education module.
Eventually, Kerfoot sees other educational benefits. The site
could help prevent summer learning loss, he says, or supple-
ment the curriculum teachers are using in class. It could also
be used by teachers to help assess student knowledge and
learning patterns.
Currently, blogs on the SpacedEd website allow learners
and educators to converse with one another, which serves
Kerfoot’s goal to “harness” the collaborative component of this
educational environment.
“What we have found is that spaced education is remark-
ably well accepted by learners, from students to practicing
physicians,” says Kerfoot. “We know it works. Other websites
have bells and whistles, but nothing to prove their efficacy. We
martha stewart
have that.”
Go to www.spaceded.com to learn more.
5
Reasons to Know ...
David Dixon
Master’s student
Special Studies Program
For some people, there’s a day that forever stands out, a day that
literally changes life’s course. For David Dixon, that day was
December 18, 2006. The airbase he was stationed at in Al Anbar,
the largest province in Iraq, was suddenly attacked. His mentor, a
fellow Super-Cobra combat pilot who had taught him how to land
on an aircraft carrier and get over his initial fear of battle, was
killed instantly by a rocket in the spot where, only minutes before,
Dixon had been standing.
“It was a surreal and disorienting moment that every Marine
emotionally prepares for, but prays will never happen,” Dixon
wrote in his Ed School application. The experience inspired him
to do for others what his captain had done for him: mentor and
teach. Now, after two tours of duty in Iraq, he is at the Ed School
on sabbatical from active duty for a year. His goals: to learn how
to better educate internationally deployed Marines and how to
get other young Choctaw Indians into public service.
1
After he graduates in 2010, he will transfer to Washington, D.C.,
where he will develop curriculum and teach. Specifically, he
will train the trainers who educate Marines on the democratic
process, culture, language, and the laws of Afghanistan and Iraq.
2
He says he has sworn his life on defending the Constitution and
wants to continue to learn how to lead.
3
Last year he started a financial aid and mentoring scholarship
program for Choctaw undergraduates who show interest in
public service and national security. In return, each recipient
will mentor two Choctaw high school students.
4
Just back from completing the Great Wall Marathon in China,
he hopes to run in the Boston Marathon in the spring and
eventually become part of the Seven Continents Club honoring
runners who complete marathons on all seven continents.
5
This Texas native says his strong faith led him to get involved
with the Harvard Graduate School Christian Fellowship and to
mentor Christian ROTC students at Harvard, Boston College,
and other local schools.
Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 13
 the appian way
No Strength in Numbers By Lory Hough
CAMPUS BRIEFS

Imagine you thought you were competing in a race against
10 people of similar ability. Would you try your best? What if
that number increased to 100? Would you still try your best?
Probably not, according to new research published in the
journal Psychological Science by Stephen Garcia, Ed.M.’02, and
Avishalom Tor. Based on a series of studies, Garcia and Tor
found that as the number of competitors (real or perceived)
increases, the motivation to compete decreases.
This “N-effect,” as they call it, can have a profound im-
pact on education, says Garcia, an assistant professor at the
University of Michigan who met Tor, a Harvard Law School
graduate, while they were both students. For example, using
SAT scores from 2005, they found that the more people there
were taking the test at a site, the lower the average SAT score. much harder, the fastest in their lives,” Garcia says. This
They wondered, Were students preoccupied by the sheer num- was especially true of people who scored high on the social
ber of other test takers they were “competing” against or by
distractions that might occur in a larger space — more noises,
for example? Because they were analyzing data at the state
level, not detailed data on each individual, they also had to
take into consideration other factors that could explain high
or low scores such as population density, and parental educa-
tion. They also analyzed results of the Cognitive Reflection
Test, which is correlated to the SAT, from a homogenous
sample of University of Michigan students. The same pattern
emerged: the more students that showed up to take the test,
“The people who thought they were competing in a pool of
10 finished faster than those who thought they were compet-
ing in a pool of 100,” Garcia says. “This showed us that the
actual presence of others isn’t necessary to affect the results.”
To further prove their point, Garcia and Tor asked another
group of undergraduates to imagine they were competing
in two five-kilometer races: one with 50 runners of similar
abilities, another with 500. On a scale of one to seven, they
had to say to what extent they would run faster than normal.
Participants also answered a series of questions related to
social comparison theory — how much people compare
themselves to others.
“We found that people running in a race of 50 would try
comparison questions. “Those who scored low, it didn’t matter
if they raced against 50 or 500 — they tried the same. Social
comparison is a necessary precondition for the N-effect.”
Garcia says educators and education policymakers could
use the results of their study in several ways. First, he says, it
could help inform the class-size debate.
“Traditionally the debate has focused on how much at-
tention teachers can give to students,” he says. “The N-effect
suggests that the motivation to do well is affected by the
number of students in a classroom. Motivation goes down as
A Sixth Reason to Know
Doctoral candidate Shimon
Waronker, Ed.M.’09, the 5 Reasons
to Know profile in the 2009 issue of
Ed., was one of four New York City
principals upon whom the French
government bestowed knighthood
at a ceremony in October. Waronker
received the honor for his efforts to
create a welcoming environment for
students from French-speaking Africa.
A Little Help Goes a Long Way
In a new report released in the fall, Professor
Bridget Terry Long and her colleagues from
Stanford University and the University of
Toronto found that cumbersome financial
aid forms and lack of information about
higher education costs are significant barriers
to higher education. Simply helping parents of
high school seniors fill out the lengthy financial
aid form and apply to schools increased college
enrollment rates by 30 percent. Early details
about this study were reported in the fall 2007
Ed Tech
Professor Chris Dede and Lecturer
David Rose, Ed.D.’76, were among 14
educators, state and district education
technology leaders, policymakers,
and researchers tapped by the
Department of Education to draft
a National Education Technology
Plan. The document is intended to provide a vision for how
information and communication technologies can help transform
American education.
Letter of Interest
In November, Professor Howard Gardner received an honorary
doctor of letters from the University of Sofia, the oldest university
in Bulgaria. In conjunction with his visit to the Bulgarian capital,
Gardner also delivered three lectures related to his work.
Silk Road Meets Appian Way
For three days in October, the Silk Road Project with
Yo-Yo Ma was in residency at the Ed School. The program of
lectures and demonstrations concluded with a concert and
presentation of the first Goldberg Arts in Education Award

“
the lower the average score for the session. the number of students goes up. Students impact each other, issue of Ed. to the project and the Grammy-winning cellist.
Still, says Garcia, these regardless of the teacher’s atten-
“correlation-based studies” tion. Educators could, therefore, pay
have limitations. The N-effect suggests that more attention to class design and Policy Implications
“That’s why we moved the number of students per class.” A new study coauthored by Dean Kathleen McCartney found that the effect of quality childcare programs is greater for
to another experiment. We the motivation to do well Second, he says the study could low-income children, suggesting that targeted government spending would be the most effective use of limited early childcare
recruited 74 undergradu- impact the debate about teacher pay resources. The researchers found that the impact on math and reading abilities lasts at least through the fifth grade.
ates at the University of is affected by the number being linked to student performance.
Michigan to take a short,
easy quiz. We told them of students in a classroom. “This research suggests that
teachers with larger class sizes We’re Honored Carnegie Chair
that if they finished in the
top 20 percent in terms of Motivation goes down as the are more likely to have lower test
scores,” he says.
Assistant Professor Tina Grotzer was recently given a five-year
CAREER award by the National Science Foundation’s Division
The Carnegie Foundation for the
Advancement of Teaching named Professor
speed, they would get $5,”
he says. The quiz wasn’t number of students goes up.” Last, there are implications for
fair testing practices, he says, espe-
of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings.
Professor Paul Harris won the 2009 William Thierry Preyer
Patricia Alberg Graham as chairperson of
the board. Graham, who served as dean of
a test of their knowledge — Stephen Garcia, Ed.M.’02 cially on such important tests as the Award for Excellence in Research on Human Development the Ed School from 1982 to 1991, is a leading
— questions were inten- SAT, which is used by many colleges from the European Society for Developmental Psychology. historian of American education.
tionally designed to allow everyone to easily answer all of and universities as an admissions tool.
them (the name of the president of the college, for example). “Testing providers do their best, but the discovery of
Students took the test by themselves in a room. Some were the N-effect suggests that the number of test takers affects To learn more about Book It
told they were competing against 10 others; some, against 100. results,” he says. “This really could be a big fairness issue.” these briefs, go to Lecturer Rick Weissbourd’s book, The Parents We Mean To Be, was included in
Again, like with the SAT results, Garcia and Tor found that www.gse.harvard.edu/ The New Yorker’s list of the best books of the year. Weissbourd provides guidance
the number of competitors — this time perceived — affected Go to www.sitemaker.umich.edu/stephen.garcia/files/ news_events. for parents concerned about their children’s moral and emotional development.
the outcome. n-effect.pdf to download the study.

14 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 15
Right on by

the money?
elaine McArdle

illustrations by James Yang

Despite repeated efforts to reward teachers based on

performance — both theirs and their students’ — many
experts say this incentive doesn’t improve education.
 Offering financial incentives to improve education — provid-
ing money rewards to students, teachers, schools, or districts
as a way to motivate them to try harder and do better — is one
of the hottest topics in education today.
On the student side, schools in cities like New York,
Chicago, and Washington, D.C., are experimenting with fi-
nancial rewards, including cash payouts to students who make
good grades or show other achievement. The new competitive
incentive grants from the federal Department of Education —
the so-called “Race to the Top” money — hand out financial
remuneration to states that comply with certain requirements,
including improving academic results.
But the greatest focus has been “pay for performance” ini-
tiatives for teachers whose students make the most academic
progress, typically measured by results of standardized tests.
The concept is simple: A series of influential studies in recent
years have shown that teacher quality is one of the most im-
portant factors in student achievement, so “good” teachers —
as reflected in growth in student test scores — should be
paid more than their less able colleagues. Financial incentives
will encourage teachers to try harder in their jobs, the theory
goes, and those who don’t should leave the field and seek other
careers. Pay for performance will rid schools of mediocre
teachers, proponents say, leading to higher student achieve-
ment, betters schools, and, in the long-run, a more productive
workforce in the United States.
In the ongoing effort to address the complicated issue of
improving American education, pay for performance seems
to make sense, and so the movement has caught on across the
country. In the past decade, at least 20 states and a large num-
ber of districts have instituted some form of pay for perfor-
mance for teachers, including California, Florida, Minnesota,
Texas, and the cities of Cincinnati, Denver, New York, and
Charlotte, N.C., according to Donald Gratz, Ed.M.’76, author
of the new book, The Peril and Promise of Performance Pay.
And President Obama has announced that the federal Teacher
Incentive Fund, a competitive grant program to support pay
for performance plans, will increase five-fold, from $97 million
to $483 million.
But does pay for performance really work? According to
many experts, the answer is a resounding no — especially
when teacher ability is measured solely or primarily on student
scores on standardized tests.
“There has never been any research that shows that this
works, although it’s very fashionable to think that it should
work,” says Richard Rothstein, the former education colum-
nist at The New York Times and the author of a number of
books on education, including Grading Education: Getting
Accountability Right.
“When it comes to the sexy reform du jour — basing
teachers’ pay on student performance — the research doesn’t
support it at all,” concurs Bella Rosenberg, Ed.M.’72, an inde-
18 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010
pendent education consultant based in Washington, D.C., who
worked for more than 20 years for the American Federation of
Teachers. This year, Rosenberg did a project that required her
to read “just about every piece of research available on this,
including from the advocates,” she says. She found no evidence
that pay for performance improves education. “It’s not there —
it’s just not there,” she says.
Indeed, since the idea of pay for performance first was
born, in the 18th century, it has failed every time it’s been
tried, says Kitty Boles, Ed.D.’91, a senior lecturer at the Ed
School. As early as 1710, in England, teachers were paid
based on their students’ test scores in reading, writing, and
arithmetic. But problems with this approach quickly became
apparent, she says. The curriculum narrowed as arts and sci-
ence classes were no longer taught. Teachers focused on drills
aimed at improving test scores, and “teaching to the test”
was born. There were even scandals with teachers faking test
scores. For these reasons, pay for performance — also known
as merit pay — was abandoned. Over the past three centuries,
it has been resurrected numerous times, and in each instance,
Boles says, it has failed to improve education and was eventu-
ally dropped. This cycle has been repeated each time a merit
pay system has been launched, including one championed
by President Richard Nixon but declared a failure not long
afterwards, Boles says.
Professor Susan Moore Johnson, M.A.T.’69, Ed.D.’81,
agrees. “There have been waves of merit pay initiatives in
the past, and every time someone recommends it anew, it’s
as if it’s never been done before,” says Johnson, who recently
coauthored Redesigning Teacher Pay: A System for the Next
Generation of Educators, a book garnering much attention
in the education world by advocating a radically different
approach to teacher pay that encourages teacher career devel-
opment through a four-tier system of promotion.
Despite the history of merit pay, these plans continue to
be reborn, including in various waves in the United States
over the past century. Most recently, the passage in 2001 of
the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act reignited the move-
ment. By mandating that all states develop annual standard-
ized tests to measure student performance, NCLB created
objective standards that could be used for other purposes,
too — including as an ostensible means of judging teacher
effectiveness. Merit pay gained real traction when the federal
government instituted the fund that distributes awards to
states and districts that create pay for performance plans in
high-needs schools.
Proponents, insisting that tying teacher salaries to measur-
able standards will improve schools, have instituted a wide
variety of incentive plans across the country: Some evaluate
teachers based solely on standardized test scores, some on
teacher skill development; some offer more pay to teach-
ers working in at-risk schools or with at-risk children, or for
teaching certain subjects. Some favor subjective measures such
as a principal’s evaluation of the teacher, which has its own
critics who fear favoritism, and some rely on a combination of
these and other factors.
To Boles, the format doesn’t matter, whether it’s purely
objective or not; merit pay misses the point. “I’m not ready
to say it will never work, but I doubt it will work because it’s
not the way we should be assessing teachers’ abilities or skills,”
says Boles, who instead advocates better teacher training and a
career path that involves mentoring and being mentored.
Plans that rely solely on student test scores have the most
opponents, including many parents, who scorn “teaching to
the test,” in which students are drilled to increase their test
scores rather than taught to understand the underlying mate-
rial and learning skills to last a lifetime. Teachers’ unions are
strongly against these plans for a variety of reasons, including
that they say it’s nearly impossible to accurately measure an
individual teacher’s contribution to a student’s success, since
a child’s achievement is cumulative over a period of years
and the result of the efforts of many people. Some plans only
reward the teachers whose subjects are tested; namely, reading
and math teachers, thereby excluding others who also influ-
ence student achievement.
“We are opposed to any form of merit pay where pay
goes to individual teachers based on student test scores,”
says Ed Doherty, Ed.D.’98, assistant to the president of the
American Federation of Teachers in Massachusetts, which has
20,000 members. Not only is this the official position of the
union, Doherty says, but in a survey of the 40,000 teachers in
Massachusetts, about 90 percent oppose merit pay.
A related problem is the emphasis on subjects in which
student performance is easiest to measure; namely, math and
reading. “There’s no way to measure performance other than
in math or reading, other than by observing teachers in the
classroom, but that’s extremely expensive, so no one is talking
about that,” says Rothstein. By focusing on math and reading
to the exclusion of other subjects, he says, “you create incen-
tives to further distort and narrow the curriculum, which
is disastrous.”
He adds, “In any institution, if you have multiple goals and
you create incentives to pursue only one or two, you get people
abandoning other things they should be doing in order to focus
on things for which they’re held accountable.” In his opinion,
he continues, “this is one of biggest shortcomings of No Child
Left Behind — schools have abandoned science, social studies,
history, arts, and physical education, which is particularly
disastrous in low-income communities.”
Teachers and many others are particularly offended by
the underlying assumption of merit pay: namely, that teach-
ers would work harder if only they were rewarded with even
a minor financial bonus (the pay differential in most plans is
typically quite small, only a few thousand dollars tops. Most
people who go into teaching are motivated by intrinsic re-
wards — the value of the work they do — rather than extrinsic
motivators, such as money, many educators
believe. “There’s an assumption under this that teachers
would try harder if they were paid more,” says Gratz. “The
corollary is that they’re not trying hard enough now, which
means they care more about money than kids. Frankly,
teachers find that insulting.”
Rothstein agrees. The flawed theory behind pay for per-
formance is “that student achievement is not as high as you’d
like it to be because teachers, to use the economists’ term,
are shirking, are not doing as well as they could, so they need
incentives to work harder or better. That assumes that reason
student achievement is poor is that teachers know what to do
and just aren’t doing it.” To the contrary, Rothstein says, poor
achievement in school is a larger problem that can’t be laid in
the laps of teachers. “The assumption is that all our problems
are due to teachers, so we don’t need to pay attention to social
conditions students come from,” he says.
Johnson concurs. “The essential assumption of pay for
performance is that pay for performance is about effort, and
that teachers who are offered a small sum of money — and it’s
really very small, when you look at these plans — will somehow
redouble their efforts and solve problems [of student achieve-
ment] they don’t know how to solve,” she says.
Rob Stein, C.A.S.’93, Ed.D.’01, also believes that teacher
motivation is not the core issue. Stein was named principal of
an inner-city Denver high school when it reopened two years
ago after being shut down for being the worst-performing
school in the district. Denver’s merit pay system, known as
the Professional Compensation System (ProComp), is cur-
rently touted as the model system for merit pay because it had
widespread support, including from teachers and parents when
it passed about five years ago.
“Denver may be leading the nation, but it’s still not a very
good model,” insists Stein, who describes himself as “agnostic”
with regard to performance pay for teachers because he doesn’t
oppose it, per se, but believes it doesn’t work. “Teachers prob-
ably are not drawn to the profession for financial incentives,”
says Stein, whose faculty receives additional pay because they
work in his high-needs school. “These are people who already
take a pay cut just by deciding to teach. Giving them a five
or 10 percent bonus — when they could earn much more in
another field — isn’t a real incentive. Financial stakes aren’t
what they’re in for, and the amount isn’t enough to make a real
difference anyway.”
He says, “What I see is that people have a missionary zeal
to want to work with kids who need them the most. I’ve never
heard anyone say, ‘I’m applying to your school because of the
extra pay incentive.’” Still, he adds, if the district is going to
offer rewards for things his teachers would do anyway, he’s
happy to ensure they receive them.
Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 19

Gratz also believes merit pay doesn’t incentivize teachers.
But, he says, educators in Denver find that ProComp has some
real benefits in getting all stakeholders — teachers, principals,
and parents — focused on student success. In other words, he
says, the schools benefited not from improved teacher com-
mitment but as a consequence of everyone searching for ways
to help students.
Merit pay may not compel teachers to try harder. But on
the specific issue of attracting high-quality teachers to teach in
at-risk schools or with difficult student populations, Jennifer
Steele, Ed.D.’08, says financial rewards have an impact. Steele
works for the Rand Corporation on projects related to pay
for performance and teacher effectiveness; at Harvard, she
wrote her dissertation on whether a $20,000 cash incentive in
California would induce academically talented teachers to go
to disadvantaged schools.
In fact, it did. The bonus increased by 28 percentage points
the likelihood that gifted teachers would enter a low-perform-
ing school. “So far, we’ve found that you can influence the
career choices of teachers with financial incentives,” Steele says.
Still, that’s a different issue than rewarding teachers for student
performance, she says. While test scores can be one measure,
it’s critical that they not be the sole measure. Rather, a broad
set of factors should be evaluated in assessing a teacher’s per-
formance, including his or her lesson-plan portfolio. Another
measure should be a principal’s subjective evaluation of a
teacher, which Steele says is a pretty good predictor of a
20 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010
teacher’s effectiveness. While there are many critics of the sub-
jective approach, it has an important role in order to balancing
out the “teach to the test” and other negative consequences of
relying solely on test scores.
What to Reward
Eric Anderman, Ed.M.’86, and his wife, Lynley Hicks
Anderman, who teach at The Ohio State University, are
researchers who’ve studied and published in the area of edu-
cational motivation for 20 years. In their new book, Classroom
Motivation, they argue that incentives can work in motivating
students — and teachers, too — if they are properly structured.
That means incentives should be awarded only if they are in-
formational, meaning the student has really learned something,
and if the reward is not perceived as controlling but provides
the student some choice, such as deciding to read a book when
not specifically asked to do so.
“You get rewarded not for doing something but learning
something,” says Anderman. “For example, you’re rewarded
for demonstrating to me that you know how to add a series
of two-digit numbers and understand the process behind it,
versus just completing a worksheet.” The same principles apply
to teachers: “If teachers are simply rewarded for following
some kind of protocol or rule according to how it’s mandated,
that’s not effective. But if the teacher did something creative,
innovative, that would be great because it’s coming from the
teacher,” he says.
The other kind of reward will work, he stresses, but has
serious negative consequences. “The danger is people start
doing things just to get the reward and lose interest in the
activity itself. So the teacher might go through the appropriate
behaviors in order to get a bigger paycheck instead of because
he or she wants to teach kids. The same with kids: they’ll do
the worksheets in order to get the reward, but get bored with
math and rule it out as a career,” he says.
Of course, it’s more time-consuming to base rewards on
a larger portfolio of factors including subjective evaluations,
which is why relying on test scores is popular. But in the end,
it will backfire — if the goal is to produce educated children.
“If you keep rewarding for teaching to the test, teachers will
keep doing that,” says Anderman. “What would be a good
thing would be if teachers were rewarded not just for mak-
ing students achieve, but for specific ways of making them
achieve” including learning critical thinking and other things
harder to test but more valuable in the long run. Like Boles,
Stein, and others, Anderman believes higher salaries across
the board for teachers would be more useful than merit pay, as
would better teacher preparatory programs, mentoring, and
other ongoing supports.
A Multi-Tiered Approach
Johnson is director of the Project on the Next Generation
of Teachers, where she studies teachers’ work and careers.
Her latest book, Redesigning Teacher Pay: A System for the
Next Generation of Educators, cowritten with John Papay,
Ed.M.’05, an advanced doctoral student at the Ed School, is
gaining attention from educators searching for better ways
to approach teacher pay. The book grew out of two studies,
the first of which took a broad look at pay for performance
in four urban districts: Houston; Minneapolis; Charlotte-
Mecklenberg, N.C.; and Hillsborough County, Fla. Without
assessing these programs per se, Johnson explains, the book
examines how these systems are set up, including whether
they use student performance on standardized tests, profes-
sional evaluations, a hybrid model, and whether they used
individual or group assessments.
But it’s the second part of the book that is gaining atten-
tion in education circles. It offers a new and comprehensive
approach for teacher pay that focuses on helping teachers
develop their skills throughout their careers in order to benefit
students and schools. Johnson and Papay’s concept states that
since money is not the primary motivating factor for teachers,
it will neither attract nor retain them in the field. What’s
needed to cultivate good teachers — and by extension, better
students — is a range of support including mentorship and the
ability to learn and grow in a formal way, they believe.
“Teachers generally don’t go into teaching for money, espe-
cially in these days when they have access to all other lines of
work,” in contrast to years past when women and men of color
went into education because they were blocked from some
fields, Johnson says. “Today, people who are choosing to teach
are really choosing to teach, and it’s with awareness of the
limitations of salaries. No one expects to get rich. You hear this
again and again in interviews with teachers.” As most teachers
will explain, she says, they’re drawn to the field because they
want to help students. “They’ll say that again and again: It’s the
kids,” she says.
For that reason, Johnson and Papay propose a system
that would replace the common single-salary scale in teach-
ing with a four-tiered pay structure that sets out goals and
provides rewards in the form of substantially higher pay when
teachers achieve them by being promoted to the next tier.
Each of the tiers — probationary teacher, professional teacher
with tenure, master teachers and school-based leaders, and
school and district leaders — provide opportunities for career
growth. And the system emphasizes career support that helps
all teachers improve. Johnson and Papay also propose what
they call a “Learning and Development Fund,” created by
diverting resources from the single-salary scale, to finance
new learning opportunities for teachers, provide stipends for
special staffing assignments, and give other support to assist
teachers and schools.
Johnson believes that such an approach — with its empha-
sis on investing in teachers’ careers — is the answer to a stable
and successful teaching corps.
“Districts that implement the tiered pay-and-career struc-
ture and its companion Learning and Development Fund will
fundamentally change how they recruit, compensate, assess,
and develop teachers,” she and Papay write. “As a result, their
schools should achieve greater stability, steady improvement,
and increased student success.”
— Elaine McArdle is a freelance writer based in Cambridge.
Her last piece in Ed. explored rural education. Ed.
Gifts for Grades
When we initially started this story, we wanted to look at
incentives overall in schools — for teachers and students.
That turned out to be a huge undertaking, too huge for
one short magazine story. In addition, Harvard Professor
Roland Fryer’s new research on student incentives wasn’t
being released until after the publication of our magazine.
For those reasons, we decided to tackle the topic with
two stories — teacher incentives in this issue of Ed. and
student incentives in a web-exclusive, which you’ll soon be
able to read online at www.gse.harvard.edu/ed. As always,
let us know what you think!
Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 21
Pregnant at 15, Jeannette Mancilla-Martinez
could easily have dropped out of high school
and become another tragic statistic. But she
always had her eye on the future. Now an
assistant professor at a top urban university
with two Harvard degrees under her belt, she
has proven that risk factors can be balanced
out by other strengths: resilience, hard work,
and family members willing to babysit and
drive you back and forth to class.

The Family Way By john conroy

Photography by Alex GArcia

 It’s September 8, the third week of the semester at the
University of Illinois at Chicago, a university that
50 years ago was the dream of Mayor Richard Daley and the
nightmare of hundreds of working-class Italian, Greek, African
American, and Mexican families who ultimately saw their
homes leveled and their communities destroyed. If there are
ghosts here, they are not friendly.
I’m an interloper in Room 304 of Stevenson Hall, where
at 5 p.m., Jeannette Mancilla-Martinez, Ed.M.’04, Ed.D.’09,
begins her class, Studies in Literacy Research and Teacher
Inquiry. She faces 15 graduate students, all of them teachers
who, having put in a full day in their own classrooms, are now
confined to another one for three hours, one they had to fight
rush hour traffic to get to. Making matters more challenging
is the fact that the readings this week are the most demanding
on the syllabus.
Throw into the mix the fact that Mancilla-Martinez, her
Harvard Graduate School of Education doctoral diploma only
three months old, took up residence in Chicago only two weeks
ago. She has chosen this job, one of four she was offered last
spring, in part because she was impressed with the univer-
sity’s mission to serve the urban poor, particularly the African
American and Latino communities. But it’s a city she doesn’t
know; her son, Danny, is in a new school; and Oscar, her
husband of six years, is still back in Boston, finishing an MBA.
In short, it’s a time of considerable upheaval in her life.
A betting man might wager a considerable sum that this
group of students will be tired, unresponsive, and perhaps even
resentful; that the teacher will succumb to their attitudes and
the great stress in her own life; that the class will be a bomb.
Mancilla-Martinez, however, is not someone you should
bet against. Clad in a grey suit and white shirt, she commands
in a subtle way, with the authority of an old hand and the face
of a new recruit. She speaks rapidly with a calm enthusiasm,
her hands moving constantly. After working her way through
various theories on teacher research, she sums up why teach-
ers often resent it. “The predominant sense is that research
imposes procedures and the procedures don’t work when they
are implemented. When it is forced on you, it doesn’t hold
much meaning for you. You take it as a chore, not as a desire
to implement something.” Teachers’ resentment, she says, is
often born in the feeling that the research isn’t applicable to
their particular students, that it will lead to poor outcomes,
and that those outcomes will be blamed, not on the imposed
procedures, but on the teachers stuck with them.
No drama, no fireworks, no bells, whistles, or jokes, but
within the first 20 minutes, nine of the students have had some-
thing to say, and the remaining six are fully engaged. The pro-
fessor clearly expects no less of them, no less of herself. Sitting
24 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010
in class, watching this unfold, and knowing a little about the
professor, I find myself thinking of the families displaced from
this site a half century ago. If there are ghosts here, they must
like Mancilla-Martinez. They would do so with good reason.
It is nearly impossible to write about Mancilla-Martinez
without starting with her family, and ultimately, that’s
the point. Her father, Felipe Mancilla, was born in a village
in Jalisco, Mexico, in 1954, his actual birth date in dispute
(officially February 20, unofficially February 5) because it took
more than two weeks for it to be recorded in a larger village
some distance away.
Felipe’s father abandoned the family after a second son was
born a year later. The boys’ mother, Angela Mancilla, worked
as a maid, found she couldn’t make ends meet, and left for a
similar job in Texas in 1957, leaving her two toddlers behind
with relatives. Eleven years later, having found better paying Clockwise, top to bottom:
Jeannette and Danny, finally in Chicago;
work in Los Angeles, she sent for her sons. The two did not in their new apartment; on campus with
a student; teaching the teachers.
have visas and crossed the border in the back seat of a car,
pretending to be the sons of the woman in the front seat, a
friend of their mother’s whom they’d never set eyes on until
that morning.
By the time the Mancilla boys established legal residency in
1970, Felipe thought that school was out of the question. “I was
already 16 years old. My brother started going to high school. I
saw the situation, my mother didn’t have money for the rent, so
I decided to go to work and help her, and also take my brother
on my shoulder. He needed all the stuff for school and clothes.
After that I couldn’t do anything but work and work.”
His mother had given up her job as a maid for better-
paying work at Moldex, a factory that manufactured foam for
the bra cups of bathing suits. Felipe landed a job there cutting
rolls of cloth.
“I took a second job in a gas station. Got off work at Moldex
at 3 p.m., would pump gas until 8 or 9 p.m. and go home,” he
says. “Then I started throwing the L.A. Times. Got up at 1:30
a.m., throw 450 papers, and report to Moldex at 7 a.m.”
He gave up the newspaper route after a friend hired him as
a gardener, and not long after he built up his own landscaping
business. He’d get up at 6:30 a.m., work until 1:30 p.m., then
report to Moldex at 2:30 p.m. for the second shift. Though he
only had a seventh-grade education, he picked up English grad-
ually, informally, everyone he met his teacher. Thirty-nine years
after he started at Moldex, he now supervises 76 employees on
the factory’s second shift and, at 55, still works his landscaping
route of 60 homes.
In 1974, Felipe married Jovita Garcia, an immigrant from
a village in Sinaloa, whom he’d met on the factory floor. She
too had only seven years of schooling, but unlike her husband,
Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 25
 she’d never taken to English, and it remains a foreign tongue
even today. (Spanish was, and is, the language spoken in the
Mancilla household.) The two settled in Inglewood, an afford-
able if not always safe community. Jeannette, the second of
their three daughters, was born in 1978.
And thus the future Harvard doctorate had a most unlikely
start. She says she never considered the family poor and never
had a sense that they were “doing without,” an attitude she
realizes only in retrospect was the byproduct of her father’s
hard labor. Her mother, she recalls, was intimately involved in
their lives at home and helped at school whenever she could,
limited by her poor command of English.
In Mancilla-Martinez’s sophomore year of high school, the
family story took a sharp turn south.
“I was a really strong student throughout my elementary
school years. I was in honors classes in junior high and high
school,” she says. “So when this news was told to my family, it
was devastating for everyone. They just couldn’t believe this
had occurred.”
A few weeks after turning 15, Mancilla-Martinez had come
home pregnant.
“I had always had a good relationship with my parents.
Particularly close with my father,” she says. “That to me was the
most difficult part, being unable to look him in the eye.”
The hardworking Felipe, the son of a teenage mother, saw
history repeat itself. Mancilla-Martinez’s boyfriend, the father
of the child, eventually pulled the same vanishing act that
Felipe’s father had.
“It was a devastating time in our lives,” Felipe recalls. “My
wife was so upset — and then all the comments. Even relatives
did not make very good comments. ‘Look what happened. She
is taking the kids to school every day and now this.’ We got
some ugly comments from teachers at school. ‘This is going
to be bad; she will not be able to keep going to school.’ I sat up
with Jeannette and we talked about the situation. She told me
she wanted to keep the baby. I said, ‘We are raised to be respon-
sible for our doings. We just have to face it and go forward.’”
At the time, Mancilla-Martinez was working as a paid tutor
in an afterschool program at Beulah Payne Elementary School,
the grammar school she’d attended, situated across the street
from the Mancilla home. About three months into the preg-
nancy, before her pregnancy was visible or widely known, she
was called into the school office. The principal and assistant
principal had somehow found out she was pregnant.
“I was 15, I was totally unprepared for any of this, and I
was told I had to resign as a tutor, which quite frankly, I did
understand,” she says, “but it was really hard to swallow at that
age — to hear two adults telling you that you are not a good
role model for the children.”
26 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010
She decided not to tell her parents she had been fired.
“I just said I wouldn’t be doing it anymore, because I was
too ashamed to say what they’d told me,” she says. “I think my
parents were still so shocked by the news that I was pregnant
that not tutoring at the elementary school was the least of
their concerns.”
She recalls that throughout her pregnancy, her parents
were “completely supportive. …They just wanted me to stay in
school, make sure I was cared for, and provide whatever they
could so I could move forward.” At about the same time, riots
between African American and Latino students were breaking
out at Inglewood High School. Her parents pulled her out and
arranged for her to attend a public school for pregnant stu-
dents. In the end, she missed no school at all. Her son, Daniel,
was born in August, and when school began in September,
Mancilla-Martinez was behind a desk, a transfer student at
Santa Monica High School, eligible to attend because of her
stellar academic record.
Her father recalls the baby’s arrival as a blessing, an event
that “turned our lives around.” Jovita watched Danny while
Mancilla-Martinez attended school.
“It was very difficult and odd to have a newborn starting
my junior year. But because of the family support I had I could
really focus on my schoolwork,” Mancilla-Martinez says. “My
mom was driving me to and from school. I know in retrospect
that I wasn’t the one providing for him.” She attributes her
deep-seated motivation to succeed to her parents, “who had
worked so hard to provide for us without even speaking the
language.” The cutting words of the principal who’d fired her
from her tutoring job, she says, also “fueled my desire to make
something of myself.”
She graduated with honors from Santa Monica and became
the first in her family to attend college, choosing nearby Mount
Saint Mary’s. Jovita drove her to classes the first two years. She
graduated in 2000, summa cum laude.
A fter graduation, she taught grades K through 4 at two
different schools (including the elementary school
where she had tutored). Though she had given some thought
to attending graduate school, it was a small group of fourth-
graders who sparked her application. Although they were
fluent readers, they couldn’t understand the meaning of the
words. “They made me realize I was not as equipped as I
wanted to be,” she says.
A mentor at Mount Saint Mary’s encouraged her to apply
to the Ed School. She was accepted in 2002, and two months
before starting classes in 2003, she married Oscar Martinez, a
descendent of migrant farm workers whom she’d known in an
honors math class in junior high in 1992, lost touch with, and
then bumped into at a party in 2000. In August, Jeannette, Oscar,
and 10-year-old Danny moved from Inglewood to Cambridge.
Mancilla-Martinez’s interests were in language and literacy
development and, not long into her five years at Harvard, she
unexpectedly fell in love with research. She has since worked
as project coordinator with Professor Catherine Snow on a
word-generation pilot study, with Associate Professor Nonie
Lesaux on predicting Spanish-speakers’ growth in reading, and
with former Lecturer Barbara Pan on developing methods for
tracking the language development of bilingual children. She is
the author or coauthor of three soon-to-be-published articles
on minority learners and three articles now under review, and
has addressed conferences in Prague, Chicago, Washington,
D.C., Vancouver, Cambridge, Asheville, N.C., Los Angeles, and
Egmond aan Zee in the Netherlands.
In gathering data for the Lesaux project, Mancilla-Martinez
worked closely with current doctoral student Almudena
Abeyta, Ed.M.’04, Ed.M.’09, then-principal at the Donald
McKay K–8 School, described by Abeyta as “90 percent
Hispanic, 90 percent free and reduced lunch, 50 percent
second-language learners.” Abeyta recalls Mancilla-Martinez as
a different breed, a partner in education, concerned about the
students, who repeatedly met with the school faculty to explain
what the research was indicating.
“It gave us another way to diagnose what our students were
lacking,” Abeyta says, “and what we needed to be teaching them.”
The benefits of having someone with Mancilla-Martinez’s
background doing such research can’t be underestimated,
according to Pan.
“Because of her language background, she is able to com-
municate with the parents in our study directly,” she says.
“She can speak with credibility about the challenges and the
potential of kids from language-minority and low-income
backgrounds. No one is going to accuse her of being an ivory
tower academic who comes in from outside to point out what
is wrong and what needs to be fixed.”
According to Pan, Mancilla-Martinez seems to be com-
pletely unable “to waste time being discouraged in the face of
criticism or difficulties of any kind. She immediately moves
on to, ‘This is what we have, so what are we going to do about
it?’ rather than get mired down in a blue funk for a few days
engaging in ‘Well, if we’d done this instead of that,’” she says.
“That approach to learning and to her work is one of her
extraordinary strengths. I think her work ethic and her sense
that high achievement is possible are probably things that she
got from her parents and her family.”
Current doctoral student Armida Lizaraga, Ed.M.’08, met
Mancilla-Martinez when the latter served as a teacher’s as-
sistant in a class on reading, and then went on to work with
her on Lesaux’s research project. She remembers, “Jeannette
always said, ‘People tell me, “You work so hard, you come in
so early.” I am not working hard. I come in, I drink coffee, it’s
comfortable, it’s a nice office. My dad, he works hard. This is
not hard.’”
Michael Kieffer, Ed.D.’09, now assistant professor of lan-
guage and education at Columbia University, recalls looking
for Mancilla-Martinez at the end of their graduation ceremony
last June. He found her surrounded by Oscar, Danny, Felipe,
Jovita, and Angela — Felipe’s mother, who’d traveled from
Mexico for the occasion — her maternal grandmother, her two
sisters, and seven other relatives. “Her dad was hugging her so
hard, for four or five minutes,” he says. “He had tears running
down his face.”
I asked Felipe to describe that day. “I guess it was just
the best part of our life,” he says. “It was everything we have
dreamed of. It was like going to heaven smiling.”
So what are the odds here? The odds that a child of
non-English-speaking immigrants with seventh-grade
educations, a child raised by factory workers in a low-income
community, a child who was pregnant at 15, would now have a
doctorate from Harvard?
Kieffer suggests that a surface analysis might indicate the
odds would be a million to one, but anyone who meets the
child in question would find that wildly inaccurate. Lizaraga
says the story is completely unlikely, until you meet the child’s
parents. Christopher Howard, an Afghanistan veteran who met
Mancilla-Martinez when his son played with her son on a soc-
cer team in Cambridge, says, “I don’t care what the odds are. I
am going to bet on her every time.”
Pan answers by pointing out the lesson in this. “All of those
factors you just listed are statistically speaking risk factors, and
the cumulative effects of multiple risk factors is considerable,”
she says. “Generally individuals who have more than one of
those risk factors are at a higher risk for academic difficulties.”
But development is a very complex thing, she says, and she
and Mancilla-Martinez have demonstrated in their research
that there is immense variability among children from low-
income backgrounds, that risk factors can be balanced out
by other strengths, and teachers should always be aware that
low-income children are not destined to fail academically.
Mancilla-Martinez did have some early challenges, Pan says,
but she also has a strong, close-knit family and personality
characteristics that are sources of resilience. “We want to keep
the resilience side of ‘risk and resilience’ in the picture.”
— John Conroy is a freelance writer from Chicago. This is his
first piece in Ed. Ed.
Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 27
Wither High School?
Many educators are saying that today’s American high
school is outdated and obsolete. Does one of the nation’s
oldest institutions really need a complete overhaul?

By lory hough
illustrations by tim Walker

Was Bill Gates right: Are America’s high schools obsolete?

It’s an odd question to ask — outrageous even. How could
one of the nation’s most recognizable institutions, what former
Harvard Graduate School of Education Dean Ted Sizer, M.A.T.’57,
once called a “sturdy fixture of every American community,” no
longer be useful? When Gates made this remark in 2005 at a
national education summit in Washington, D.C., he said he didn’t
mean that high schools were broken or underfunded — although
that is often the case. His meaning echoed a point that educators
around the country have been arguing for decades now: High
schools are not, by their mere design, teaching kids what they
need to know to be capable, successful adults.
As Gates pointed out, “Training the workforce of tomorrow
with the high schools of today is like trying to teach kids about
today’s computers on a 50-year-old mainframe. It’s the wrong tool
for the times.”

Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 29


H
ow did high schools get so off course? Initially
they didn’t have to serve many students, and
certainly not the diverse pool that we have today,
starting with the first public school, founded in
Boston in 1635 to prepare a tiny group of the nation’s elite sons
to enter the ministry or, eventually, further study at Harvard.
These small numbers continued through World War I, when
only about 5 percent of American children went to high school
and eighth grade was the culmination, says education historian
and former dean Patricia Albjerg Graham. “Most people didn’t
graduate from high school until World War II,” she says.
By the 1960s, virtually all high school-age Americans were
in school. “No other nation had ever accomplished as much.
Many educators felt utopia was at hand,” reported The New
York Times in 1981. And although the numbers were rising, for
those who finished, even with modest skills, the work world
was eagerly waiting.
“At the time, there were lots of jobs available for high school
graduates,” says Bill Symonds, director of the school’s Pathways
to Prosperity Project (formerly called the Forgotten Half
Project). “It was completely conceivable that you could have
just a high school diploma and get a good job.”
However, by the time Sizer wrote his seminal 1985 report,
A Study of High Schools, and A Nation at Risk warned of edu-
cation failure and the need for deep reform, that earlier sense
of utopia was slipping away. Manufacturing jobs started to
disappear, other countries were bypassing the United States in
math and science achievements, and the boom in technology
started to demand higher skills. As a nation, we came to real-
ize that if you wanted to get anywhere in life, Graham says,
you had to go to college. High school was an interim stage, not
the final stage.
Forgotten Half
So where does this leave high schools today? In need of a
serious design overhaul, said Gates at the summit, a sentiment
echoed by many at the Ed School. And until they do change,
Gates said, “We will keep limiting, even ruining, the lives of
millions of Americans every year.” In today’s knowledge-based
economy, high school students — the nation’s future work-
ers — need what has become known as “21st-century skills”
in order to earn the kind of comfortable living that their high
school diplomas alone once allowed. These skills include the
obvious, like the ability to keep up with rapidly changing
technology, as well as so-called “soft skills,” like creativity and
the ability to collaborate.
As President Barack Obama told a group of librarians re-
cently, “In this new economy, teaching our kids just enough so
that they can get through Dick and Jane isn’t going to cut it,” he
said. “Over the next 10 years, the average literacy required for
all American occupations is projected to rise by 14 percent. It’s
30 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010
1505
The actual term
“high school”
originates in
Scotland, with the
world’s oldest, the
Royal High School
in Edinburgh.
1635
The first public school in the
country is founded, Boston Latin School. In 1821,
the first solo high school starts, English High
School. Both are still functioning in Boston.
not enough just to recognize the words on the page anymore.
The kind of literacy necessary for 21st-century employment
requires detailed understanding and complex comprehension.
But too many kids simply aren’t learning at that level.”
The result is that the ones who don’t go on to college, this
“forgotten half,” as they were dubbed, are falling further behind.
According to the Census Bureau, the median earning for a
full-time worker with a bachelor’s degree in 2007 was about
$47,000. For someone who started college but didn’t graduate,
the number dropped to about $33,000; someone with just a
high school diploma earned about $27,000. For dropouts, the
economic picture is even bleaker: According to Northeastern
University’s Center for Labor Market Studies, over a working
lifetime from ages 18 to 64, high school dropouts are estimated
to earn about $400,000 less than those with diplomas.
This knowledge and wage gap is especially wide during
sluggish economies, when employers have their pick of better-
educated applicants. As one Denver employment agency owner
told the Denver Post in the spring, “If I had a light labor job, I’d
have a Ph.D. do it,” noting that she had recently hired two people
with bachelor’s degrees to remove sticks from the sidewalk.
Even during the best of times, employers now say they want
educated applicants. “There’s a story that the former governor
of North Carolina likes to tell,” says Joel Vargas, Ed.M.’97,
Ed.D.’03, program director at Boston-based Jobs for the Future.
“He realized how much the labor market had changed when he
went to visit a local flooring company and the owner told him
they needed people with associate’s degrees. The nature of the
work is much different now.”
In his talk to librarians, Obama said this doesn’t bode well
for the forgotten half. “Every year we pass more of these kids
through school or watch as more dropout,” he said. “These are
kids who will pore through the help-wanted section and cross
off job after job that requires skills they just don’t have. And
others who will have to take that help-wanted section, walk it
over to someone else, and find the courage to ask, ‘Will you
read this for me?’”
1917
Smith-Hughes Act, commonly known as the
Vocational Act of 1917, passes.
1944
The GI Bill signed
into law by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt,
sending nearly 8
million World War II
veterans to college.
College for All?
Which brings us to the question that is at the heart of the cur-
rent debate on secondary school reform: What then should be
the focus of high school? Different camps say different things,
but perhaps the loudest voice has been the one saying that the
only way to close the gap is for every student to go to college.
Symonds argues that although the college-for-all mantra
may sound good — who doesn’t want a highly educated
workforce? — the reality is that only 30 percent of young adults
actually get a B.A. by the age of 27. The majority never even
start down that road — they aren’t motivated to do so or don’t
have the confidence to try — or start college but don’t finish.
The latter, he says, is a particularly huge issue that doesn’t get
much attention.
“Many young people are not prepared to succeed in college,”
he says. “That’s a key reason the United States has one of the
highest college dropout rates, especially at the community college
level. Well under half going to community college earn a degree.”
Senior Lecturer Paul Reville, the current secretary of
education in Massachusetts, agrees that many students come
to college not ready to do the work. “Thirty-seven percent of
our graduates in Massachusetts needed remediation when they
got to college,” he says. According to a 2009 study by ACT, a
nonprofit assessment organization, less than one-quarter of
graduating high school seniors nationwide are college ready,
based on English, math, reading, and science scores. Twenty-
five percent of students at four-year institutions fail to return
for their sophomore year, a number that grows to 47 percent
for students at two-year institutions.
Partly to blame, says Reville, is that most high schools are
designed to be one-size-fits-all.
“Can we do it all with one-size-fits-all?” he says. “No. I think
we’re at the end of the era of thinking that will work. It’s out-
moded at this point. We have some students coming into ninth
grade ready to do highly challenging work, and others still at an
elementary school level in areas like math and reading. We’ve
got to develop a differentiated model of learning at that stage.”
Reville acknowledges that all people, in order to succeed,
need to be lifelong learners, “but not everyone needs to go to
an Ivy League university. That’s not what we need in society.
What we need is for everyone to have some level of postsec-
ondary learning. We need to prepare our students to be ready
for a challenging career or trade where the procedures and
equipment constantly change. They need to be ready to master
new skills. High schools, therefore, need a range of options to
meet that.”
Academic Dean Robert Schwartz, C.A.S.’68, says it’s also
time to end the grip that higher education has had on how
secondary schools operate. “I accept the idea that the condition
of life in this economy is that kids who are 17, 18, 19 years old
will need to be able to continue to learn new things,” he says,
“but what I argue is that there are lots of different ways and
higher education shouldn’t hold the franchise.”
Options
Still, says Vargas, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have high
expectations for all students.
“The expectation that everyone should be aiming for a
postsecondary credential of some sort is not hardwired into
the traditional high school,” he says. “The traditional high
school was set up to meet diverse needs by sorting students
into different curricular paths — many of which did not lead to
college prep. Those schools were built for an old economy. All
paths must lead to and through some postsecondary educa-
tion. That’s why it’s important to make college a presumption
in schools.”
The way for high schools to do this, he says, is to offer more
options for students beyond the traditional approach to learn-
ing, referred to as “multiple pathways” in academic circles, he
says, because everyone should have an opportunity at a good
job, not just a job.
“It’s important but not enough to surround students with
a college-going culture. It’s going to take aggressive, innova-
tive approaches to bridge the academic, social, and financial
chasm that low-income students face between high school and
college,” he says.
Options include increasing access to community colleges,
such as the plan by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick
to offer free tuition at the state’s 15 community colleges. (The
plan was derailed by the economy.) Schwartz says we should
also be offering individualized education and training accounts
to all students that can be used postgraduation for college or a
high-quality training program.
“If you’re a poor kid and you say you want to go to college,
there’s a Pell Grant waiting for you,” he says. “If you’re a poor
kid and you don’t want to go to college, you’re on your own.
This type of account sends a message to all kids: Not only do
we need you, but we trust you to figure it out.”
Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 31

Vargas says another option, one that has been gaining trac-
tion, is to open more early-college high schools. “Why not au-
tomatically enroll students in college-level courses, as they are
ready, even if they’re still in high school? Dual enrollment and
early college arrangements can serve this purpose, depending
on state policies,” he says.
Targeted primarily to those who come from households
where college-going is not the expectation, these schools are
a dress rehearsal for college, with all students taking college
courses with transferrable credits. Students also participate
in internships and certification programs. One example is
Hidalgo Early College High School, a school that Vargas visited
in Texas that is about 90 percent low-income, 98 percent
Latino, and nearly 65 percent “at-risk” for dropping out.
“These are kids you wouldn’t expect to have a postsecond-
ary future,” he says, “but the school was remarkable. Every
student had an early college experience. By the 11th grade, kids
were taking college-level courses that were charting a pathway
toward college or technical credentials. That was true even for
the kid ranked 187th out of 187. It’s a way to wed high school
and college goals.”
At schools like Hidalgo, the fallback for students is a
postsecondary path. “This is very different from the fallback
we’ve often had for kids — life skills,” Vargas says, referring to
the “life adjustment” movement that started in the 1940s that
believed the smartest 20 percent of young Americans should
have an academic curriculum, 20 percent a vocational cur-
riculum, and the remaining 60 percent — “the sludge in the
system,” as Graham says they were known — simple life skills:
check writing and personal hygiene, for example. The father
of the movement, Charles Prosser, argued that because this
60 percent wouldn’t be academically challenged beyond their
abilities, they were more likely to stay in school. (Proponents
of the early-college model say students stay in school chiefly
because they are being challenged and engaged.)
While early-college high schools link students with local
colleges, Schwartz says another option is to directly link high
school students to business, like existing career academies,
which started in 1969 in Philadelphia in collaboration with
Philadelphia Electric Company and Bell of Pennsylvania,
and talent development high schools, which allow struggling
students to play academic “catch up” before learning about
specific career paths.
“Kids and their families from eighth grade looking up ought
to be able to see a set of pathways, each leading to a range of
occupations and fields, and a clear range of what you would
need to do to get there,” Schwartz says. “For middle class kids
trained in a sense for delayed gratification, high school has
been beaten into them. For kids growing up in housing proj-
ects, television is sometimes their window to the work world,
and it doesn’t give you a realistic sense of how to get there.”
32 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010
1957
The Soviet Union launches Sputnik,
the first satellite to orbit the Earth.
United States ramps up science and
math requirements.
1965
Elementary
and Secondary Education Act
requires standardized tests in
public schools.
1983
A Nation at Risk warns that schools
are failing, setting off a wave of reform.
Applied Learning
One way to do combat this — and perhaps the option that
stirs up the most debate — is the one that has the longest
history: vocational education, commonly called “voc ed,” but
now officially known as career and technical education. As far
back as the 19th century, European educators were touting the
importance of engaging with the studied subject. At the end
of that century, the Swedish model for handiwork, sloyd, was
introduced in the United States, where it evolved into manual
training. Although educators like John Dewey said it would
benefit all students, by the early 20th century, this type of train-
ing became viewed as not academically challenging, a place to
dump the kids who weren’t smart.
Since then, Graham says there has been talk of reforming
vocational education —“moving beyond just shop class to
something more relevant” — but it hasn’t quite happened yet.
“Why? Because it’s hard to change anything, and it’s
particularly hard for youngsters who don’t have the skills or
the inclination to do calculus or who don’t read well,” Graham
explains. “You don’t, on the whole, see a large number of chil-
dren of bankers going into vocational education or becoming
vocational education teachers. Most [students in vocational
education] have been the children of those who are not promi-
nent in the community.”
Reville argues that many vocational schools are changing
for the better and that the stigma is “rapidly disappearing.” In
Massachusetts, “vocational schools have steadily been increas-
ing and are now exceeding the statewide average on standard-
ized tests.’
In fact, mainstream schools could learn a few lessons from
vocational schools, he says. “They’ve mastered applied learning
a long time ago. With applied learning, school becomes very
engaging for students. It gives them hope and a sense of direc-
tion. That’s often absent from mainstream schools.”
1992
America’s first charter
school opens: City
Academy High School
in St. Paul, Minn.
2002
No Child Left Behind Act
of 2001 is enacted.
Schwartz says that while vocational high schools in places
like Massachusetts are doing well, many others are falling
short because they can’t afford to buy up-to-date equipment
or software. He would rather see more vocational education
at the postsecondary, rather than secondary, level. “Colleges
and universities have a better likelihood of establishing close
relationships with employers and can better keep up with
changes,” he says.
In response to expanding vocational training, Graham says
we need to ask, “To what extent does it enlarge and to what
extent does it limit students? It enlarges for kids who come
from families without regular work histories. They learn about
getting to work on time and other skills you really do need to
succeed. For some kids, it can be very beneficial. For many, it’s
a dead end.”
Symonds insists that vocational training is not just another
way to pigeonhole students into dead-end futures.
“This is something we desperately need for kids here in the
United States. Not to limit them, but to give them a chance.
The idea that this will limit them is a misguided notion,” he
says. “Critics often cite the argument about ‘tracking,’ but the
issue is far more complex than they suggest. At the most gener-
al level, I’d respond that a system that produces huge numbers
of high school dropouts is the worst form of tracking. Clearly,
high school dropouts have next to no prospects in our society.”
In 2007, nearly 6.2 million students in the United States
between the ages of 16 and 24 dropped out. More than half of
the dropouts in this age group were jobless in a given month
during 2008, compared with 13 percent with a college degree.
“Our view is that we need to offer students multiple path-
ways to success. A strictly academic pathway is one pathway,
but one that obviously doesn’t work for all students,” Symonds
says. “High-quality vocational education integrates academic
content with career and technical instruction. If you do that,
you can expose students to a career that interests them and
prepares them for college. In other words, career and technical
education might just be a hook that gets them motivated to
learn. But that doesn’t mean they can’t switch to another field
after high school.”
Practical Matters
No matter what path a school or district chooses to take in an
effort to reform high school, it’s clear that the next obstacle
will be trying to figure out how to actually implement these
changes, says Chris Saheed, Ed.M.’90, principal of Cambridge
Rindge and Latin High School, in Cambridge, Mass.
“What is tricky to do is to figure out how to change the typi-
cally traditional high school model of educating students into
the proposed model that incorporates academics and a new
skill set,” he says. “First, the accountability system requires that
schools pay attention to proficiency in tested subjects. Second,
there is the even larger question of what is a well-educated per-
son and what skills does one need to be ready for the choices
after high school. The latter is constantly shifting in a highly
technological society and global context.”
It will also be important to start integrating the idea of mul-
tiple pathways into the thinking of students, something that
Nicole Shadeed, Ed.M.’08, C.A.S.’09, has been doing this part
year as the ninth-grade guidance counselor at Malden High
School, located about six miles north of Cambridge.
“I think it’s important to provide students with as much
information as possible, as early as possible,” she says. In addi-
tion to the expected services for students — college visits and
college fairs — she also talks to students about other high-
quality paths.
“I will be going into our new semester-long business class,
Freshmen Career Tech, to do some interest inventories, discuss
all postsecondary options — work, armed forces, technical
schools, two- and four-year colleges — in addition to discuss-
ing how to be successful in high school, résumés, and the
importance of getting involved in high school.”
This approach, she says, is all about making sure that high
school is equitable for everyone.
“We want students to have options and have the knowl-
edge to make informed decisions. It’s fine if a student does
not want to attend college, but we don’t want students who
are interested to not attend because they didn’t understand
the requirements to apply or how failing classes affected their
GPA, so we are trying to get that information out as soon as
we can,” she says. “I do not assume college for all. Our guidance
staff always tries to be inclusive when talking about postsec-
ondary plans. We are careful to not just say ‘college’ because in
2008, 22 percent of our students did not go to college right out
of high school. We want students to be able to decide, but on
their terms.” Ed.
Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 33
 in the media
How did E-180 begin?
E-180 came out of necessity. My work
visa was up (I am Québécoise) and I had
to leave the United States unless I found
a sponsor. I had been an entrepreneur
all my life, and I was ready to start my
own thing. That meant going back to
Montreal, where I could get financial
support to create a social enterprise. I
was thinking about an education-related
media venture: educational documentary
production company, a publishing house,
an educational marketing company — all
meant to promote the values behind
democratic education.
What finally sparked the idea?
As I was investigating the type of grants
I could get for an educational media
oneonone
company, I fell on Facebook’s grant for
Courtesy of Christine Renaud
with the creation of new Facebook applica-
tions. I thought, “So many people on
Christine Renaud Facebook, so much knowledge, such a
culture of sharing. What if people were
aware of what their friends know, and
could learn it from them?” Even though
Christine Renaud, Ed.M.’07, remembers her teenage years well, complete with
I never applied for the grant, E-180 was
all the challenges and complications that age implies. “It was a fight: me against born. We believe that education doesn’t
‘the system,’ and I was not going to lose,” she recalls of a time when making her have to be institutionalized and that the
point was a bit more important to her than making good grades. But when, at Internet provides amazing tools to help
us to find mentors to help us jumpstart
18, Renaud spent two months in Guatemala teaching English, her whole per- our learning in any field, with one single
spective changed. “I decided that education was the most efficient way to create meeting.
multiplying agents of values that had become dear to my heart: solidarity, social
justice, and human rights for all,” she says. “But now it was me in front of them: The E-180 website uses the
term “social entrepreneur.”
me representing authority, me enforcing rules I didn’t really believe in, me play- What does it mean to be a
ing the teacher. This feeling of discomfort brought me to wonder about another social entrepreneur?
way of educating, another way of understanding human potential development.” There are as many
definitions of social
This revelation propelled Renaud through college and to the Ed School, where entrepreneurship as there
she says she discovered she had so much more to learn. And her learning contin-
are social entrepreneurs. For me,
ues as CEO and cofounder of E-180, a website, blog, and soon-to-be mentoring a social entrepreneur is someone who
portal, where anyone seeking to expand their learning without formality can be tackles an issue affecting the common
good by creating a new initiative. Just
matched with a mentor on any topic for free.
34 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010
as your typical entrepreneur identifies
a market and a product to alleviate the
“pain” of its prospective clients, a social
entrepreneur prioritizes social return
over profit as her measure of success.
And why is “consensual education,” another
term used, so important?
Consensual education is important
because there is no other way to learn.
Education is a relationship, and a
relationship where consent is absent
is oppressive. … Education can only
happen where mutual respect and trust
exist between the parties involved, and
it’s an everlasting process of negotiation.
It is based on the teacher knowing the
personal goals of a student and commit-
ting to them, and the student trusting
that the teacher is a guide who has her
best interests in mind.
How have you
been getting the
word out?
Even in the
online media
world, I wholeheart-
edly believe that communities are best
created by meeting with people, listening
to their needs and comments, being
attentive to their reactions, and adapt-
ing your offer. Viral publicity is certainly
a tool, but with all the noise present
online, it is not enough. That’s why we’ve
been guest speakers at many conferences
and paid many beers and coffees to talk
about E-180 and hear what people have
to say about it.
Our podcasts, Twitter, and the blog
have also served us tremendously. They
serve as a permanent presence that
people can refer to once the beer is gone.
It also allows us to hear what the com-
munity has to say on a daily basis. That’s
one of the most fascinating things about
the Web: the amount of information
people share out of caring for an ideal.
Once the portal is
launched, how exactly
will it work?
We are still developing
the portal, and I want
to save some surprises
for our users! But the
big idea behind E-180
is a matchmaking
website where people can jumpstart
their learning by finding and meeting
great mentors. As I mentioned before,
we believe education is a relationship,
where everyone can contribute to the
learning of others.
Give me a real-life scenario.
Martin just got a MacBook after being a
PC user for all his life. He wants to learn
how to fully utilize the different func-
tions and shortcuts a Mac has to offer.
Ghassene is a Mac employee and a Mac
aficionado. After finding Ghassene on
E-180 and viewing his profile to make
sure he has good ratings as a mentor,
Martin contacts Ghassene with the tools
provided by E-180. Ghassene can then
evaluate if Martin is an active member
of the community, if he teaches some-
times or just takes from the community
without ever giving back. They like each
other’s profiles, so they meet for two
hours, during which Ghassene shows
Martin tips to use his Mac to its fullest
potential. While chatting, Ghassene
realizes Martin is Mexican and speaks
Spanish: he connects him with his
girlfriend about to leave for Mexico, who
wants to learn some basic Spanish.
These meetings already happen in-
formally everywhere: I basically learned
Ed.
everything I know about entrepreneur-
ship and online media by chatting with
people over lunches. E-180 just creates
an easy way for people to access and find
great mentors and to create a commu-
nity around the passion for knowledge
sharing.
Tell me about your
other venture
ArtAnywhere.com?
ArtAnywhere
is a Web portal
connecting visual artists with individu-
als and businesses interested in rent-
ing art. More than an online gallery,
ArtAnywhere is social enterprise that
aims to create worldwide communities
striving to ease accessibility to the arts.
We help emerging artists to develop
their entrepreneurial skills so they can
make a great living out of their art.
Second, we provide the tools for the
“emerging collectors” to develop their
own sense of aesthetics and their ability
to navigate the field of the arts.
If you were to create a mentor profile on
E-180, what would you teach?
People often come to me to ask about
the process of starting up a new project,
alternative education, social entrepre-
neurship, social
media, and “life
coaching.” What
they don’t know is
that I can actually cook
without any recipe and
whistle whole songs,
harmonies included.
images: istockphoto.com
— Marin Jorgensen
For more information go to
www.e-180.com.
• Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 35
 in the media
Books
140 Characters: A Style
Guide for the Short Form
Dom Sagolla
John Wiley & Sons, 2009
A guide to writing for
the modern age of social
networking sites, 140
Characters — the title
is inspired by the maximum entry
length of Twitter, the online microblog
Sagolla helped develop — covers all the
basics of short-form writing, including
simplicity, honesty, and humor. Whether
constructing sentences for colleagues
or clientele, Sagolla teaches the art of
short-style writing required of today’s
social media. Dom Sagolla, Ed.M.’00,
is a cocreator of Twitter, the founder
of DollarApp, and the cofounder of
iPhoneDevCamp.
Another Faust
Daniel and Dina Nayeri
Candlewick Press, 2009
Another Faust follows
the lives of five children
who mysteriously
disappear only to
re-emerge years later
at a New York socialite
party with a strange female companion.
The plot unfolds as a contemporary
reimagining of the Faustian bargain,
creating a tale about determination,
consequences, and salvation. Dina Nayeri,
Ed.M.’07, holds an MBA from the Harvard
Business School and currently lives in
Amsterdam.
Billy and Milly, Short and Silly!
Eve Feldman
Putnam Juvenile, 2009
In this picture book designed for children
ages 3–5, Feldman introduces the world
of reading to kids with rhyme and vivid
illustration. Follow Billy and Milly through
13 adventures in these funny and simple
short stories told in only three or four
36 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010
words apiece. The author uses easily
recognizable words in the tales along with
vibrant, playful illustrations to bring young
readers right into the action. Eve Feldman,
Ed.M.’70, is an author and illustrator of
children’s and young adult books.
The Body in the Sleigh:
A Faith Fairchild Mystery
Katherine Hall Page
HarperCollins, 2009
The Body in the Sleigh is the 18th
novel to be released in Page’s Agatha
Award–wining series. Set on Sanpere
Island, Maine, this atmospheric holiday
murder mystery follows the heroine,
Faith Fairchild, celebrating the Christmas
season with her family, but Faith’s high
spirits are dampened when she discovers
the body of a young woman in an antique
sleigh in front of the Sanpere Historical
Society. The victim was a teenage drug
addict who was beloved by many, and
her untimely death rocks the tight-knit
island community. Katherine Hall Page,
Ed.D.’85, is the award-winning author of
the Faith Fairchild mysteries.
Connected Wisdom: Living Stories
about Living Systems
Linda Booth Sweeney
SEED, 2009
In this book, Sweeney
explores the principles
that guide living
systems to explain
and understand the
world around us. She
gathered 12 folktales from a variety
of cultures, each revealing a unique
example of how humans, animals, and
insects are connected in life. The book
is a combination of art, science, and
philosophy that invites readers to think
deeply about the Earth and their role in
it. Linda Booth Sweeney, Ed.D.’04, is a
founding partner in the Sol Education
Partnership and is a content expert for
SEED — Schlumberger Excellence in
Educational Development.
ON MY BOOKSHELF: Assistant Professor Martin West
Currently reading: Making Harvard Modern: Book(s) you have read over and over: Reading rituals: For reasons I don’t fully un-
harvard education Press
The Rise of America’s University by Morton Thanks to my son, both Curious George and derstand, I like to keep my books as pristine
The Essential School Board Book: and Phyllis Keller. The Lorax are now in heavy rotation. A book as possible. I don’t like dog-earing pages
Better Governance in the Age of I’ve returned to on my own many times is and would never underline or write in the
Accountability The thing that drew you to it: Mainly the Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling. margins, as useful as it might be to do so.
Nancy Walser chance to learn about the history of my new
Harvard Education Press, 2009 employer and HGSE’s place within it. It’s Favorite spot to curl up with a good book: Next up: Gerald Grant’s Hope and Despair
Increased attention on the abilities and always useful to know where any bodies are Outside with a mountain view — though in the American City: Why There Are No
achievements of students has forced buried so that you can avoid the same fate. that’s not always practical. In our new home, Bad Schools in Raleigh. I’m skeptical of the
school boards to realign their priorities we have a small den with a large beanbag subtitle’s claim, but I’ve learned a lot from
and responsibilities. In The Essential Last great read: Jonathan Lehrer’s Proust that looks like it will do nicely. And while Grant’s earlier books and am confident that
School Board Book, Walser refers to the and the Neuroscientist, which shows how you can’t exactly curl up, I always manage to the same will be true of this one.
great artists often anticipated key findings get a lot of reading done on airplanes.
“age of accountability” as the influence
of modern brain research.
for the new pressure school boards face
to transform and maintain student
success through district and school
policies. She highlights the stories of 16
different boards throughout the country,
representing all socioeconomic districts,
and the policies they have employed to
improve student achievement. Master’s
student Nancy Walser is assistant editor
of the Harvard Education Letter and
coeditor of Spotlight on Leadership and
School Change.
Families, Schools, and the Adolescent
Connecting Research, Policy, and
Practice
Edited by Ruth Chao and Nancy Hill
Teachers College Press, 2009
The authors have created a book designed
to help educators and policymakers
create effective strategies to enhance
the family-school partnership. With
particular focus on the transition into
middle and high school, the book’s
research looks at the challenges parents
face in maintaining involvement with
their children’s education, along with
the school’s challenge of creating and
keeping an open line of communication
with families. Bringing together diverse
perspectives from the field of sociology,
psychology, and teacher education, the
authors provide an educational tool
relevant to a wide range of backgrounds
and socioeconomic communities. Nancy
Hill is a professor at the Ed School and at
tanit sakakini
Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study.
Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 37
 in the media
From Schoolhouse
to Courthouse: The
Judiciary’s Role in
American Education
Edited by Joshua Dunn
and Martin West
Brookings Institution
Press, 2009
From Schoolhouse to
Courthouse is a collection of articles
and papers from experts in the fields
of law, political science, and education
policy that debate the issues of secondary
education in America. Some claim
education litigation and the courts’
influence are necessary to ensure student
rights, while others say the threat of
court action undermines the authority
of teachers and administrators. Martin
West is assistant professor of education
at the Ed School and executive editor of
Education Next.
Handbook of Formative
Assessment
Edited by Heidi Andrade and Gregory Cizek
Routledge, 2009
Andrade and Cizek have created a
handbook that thoroughly profiles the
field of formative assessment as it relates
to improving student achievement.
Written by leading international scholars
and practitioners, each chapter includes
a discussion of key issues that dominate
formative assessment policy and practice
today as well as those in the coming years.
Heidi Andrade, Ed.M.’89, Ed.D.’96, is
assistant professor at the University of
Albany, State University of New York.
The Hardest
Questions Aren’t on
the Test: Lessons
from an Innovative
Urban School
Linda Nathan
Beacon Press, 2009
Nathan founded the
Boston Arts Academy
in 1998, a pilot school operated through
38 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010
the Boston Public School district where
the administration has the freedom to
create their own curriculum and to select
their student body through an audition
process. The unique and innovative
structure of the school sets the scene
for the author’s personal narrative about
dealing with the organizational and
educational challenges in an ethnically
and socioeconomically diverse urban
district. Nathan gives readers an honest
look into the successes and failures
schools, teachers, and students endure
while trying to create a shared vision
of purpose and achievement. Dealing
with topics like school structure, teacher
support, and racial inequality, the book
serves to show a “back to basics” approach
to education as an answer to a failing
public school system. Linda Nathan,
Ed.D.’95, is the founder and principal of
the Boston Arts Academy.
Hello Professor:
A Black Principal
and Professional
Leadership in the
Segregated South
Vanessa Siddle Walker
The University of
North Carolina Press,
2009
Ulysses Byas, a black school principal in
Gainesville, Ga., during the 1950s and
1960s, serves as the inspiration for Hello
Professor. Through conversations with
Byas, and access to his vast collection
of notes and records documenting his
years of service as a principal, Walker
uncovers the influence and power black
school leaders had in the Jim Crow South.
By creating a community of regional and
national associations, black educators
became the instrument of ideas and
knowledge to encourage resistance to the
sanctioned regressive educational systems
of the 20th-century Southern states.
Vanessa Siddle Walker, Ed.M.’85, Ed.D.’88,
is a professor in the division of educational
studies at Emory University.
Hope and Despair
in the American
City: Why There Are
No Bad Schools in
Raleigh
Gerald Grant
Harvard University
Press, 2009
Hope and Despair is a study of urban
education policy, race, and segregation
through field research and historical
narrative. Grant compares two cities —
Syracuse, N.Y., and Raleigh, N.C. — in
order to examine the consequences of
the country’s educational inequalities.
He argues that the primary reason for
Raleigh’s educational success is the
integration, by social class, that occurred
when the city voluntarily merged with
the surrounding suburbs in 1976. In
comparison, Syracuse’s decline, he writes,
is because of the growing class and racial
segregation that has left the city mired
in poverty. Gerald Grant, Ed.D.’72, is
a professor of education and sociology,
emeritus, at Syracuse University.
I Spy A to Z
Jean Marzollo
Cartwheel Books, 2009
Easy-to-read riddles paired with
46 object-filled photographs
create an engaging alphabet
book for children from
kindergarten to second grade.
Readers use the simple picture clues to
recognize the letter and letter sound
featured on each page. The book won
an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Book
Award and is the 35th book Marzollo has
released in the I Spy series. Jean Marzollo,
M.A.T.’65, has written more than 130
books and resides in upstate New York.
Leading Adult Learning: Supporting
Adult Development in Our Schools
Eleanor Drago-Severson
Corwin Press, 2009
Leading Adult Learning introduces a
developmental model of adult learning to
help school and district leaders enhance
individual capacity in the educational
workplace. Through a focus on research
and application, the author details her
four pillar practices for adult growth:
teaming, providing leadership roles,
collegial inquiry, and mentoring. The
book shows school leaders how to foster
growth and learning for individuals
with different needs and developmental
orientations. Eleanor Drago-Severson,
Ed.M.’89, Ed.D.’96, is an associate
professor of education leadership at
Columbia University’s Teachers College.
Leading with Inquiry &
Action: How Principals
Improve Teaching and
Learning
Ellen Goldring, Matthew
Militello, and
Sharon Rallis
Corwin Press, 2009
Thoroughly grounded
in research and case studies, this book
is a practical guide that provides an
efficient and functional framework
for transforming current or aspiring
principals into inquiry-minded, action-
oriented instructional leaders. The
authors present a systematic, ongoing
process for collecting information,
making decisions, and taking action to
improve instruction and raise student
achievement. Sharon Rallis, Ed.D.’82, is a
professor of education policy and reform
at the University of Massachusetts at
Amherst where she is also director of the
Center for Education Policy.
The Peril and
Promise of
Performance Pay
Donald Gratz
Rowman & Littlefield
Education, 2009
This book is
a resource for
school teachers,
administrators, board members,
policymakers, and citizens who would
like to understand what is behind
performance pay, what might work
and what will not, and how to build a
school improvement effort that includes
teacher compensation as one of its
strategies. Gratz argues that in order for
performance pay to work, there must
be a fundamental change in how school
reform is approached — by stepping
away from failed models of the past, and
focusing on the conditions that largely
influence educational results. Donald
Gratz, Ed.M.’76, is professor, department
chair, and graduate director in education
at Curry College.
harvard education Press
Strategy in Action:
How School Systems
Can Support Power-
ful Learning and
Teaching
Elizabeth City and
Rachel Curtis
Harvard Education Press, 2009
Strategy in Action explores how school
systems can effectively implement a
focused, functional plan to transform
teaching and learning across entire
school districts. The authors introduce
three core competencies of high-
performing school systems: understanding
what the work is, knowing how to do
the work, and building the individual
and organizational “habits of mind”
that foster continuous improvement. By
unifying theory and practice, City and
Curtis illustrate key concepts in each
chapter that call to action the tools and
resources needed to stimulate educational
development. Elizabeth City, Ed.M.’04,
Ed.M.’07, is executive director of the
Ed School’s new Doctor of Education
Leadership Program and lecturer on
education. Rachel Curtis, Ed.M.’94, has
worked with a variety of school systems
on issues of district improvement strategy
and leadership development.
Ed.
BLOGS AND MORE
Bina Shah
www.binashah.net
Bina Shah
This is the personal and professional
website of Bina Shah. Here you can follow
her literary career, from the five books
she has published to her journalistic
work with newspapers like the Dawn, The
Friday Times, Libas, and the Pakistani
website, Chowk. Bina Shah, Ed.M.’94, is
a writer and columnist living in Karachi,
Pakistan.
Rigney’s Rant
www.wolfpack.hyde.edu/category/blogs/
rigneys-rant
John Rigney
Rigney is currently assistant head of
school, English department chair, and
codirector of the senior curriculum at
the Hyde-Woodstock boarding school
in Woodstock, Conn. Rigney’s Rant is
his blog about daily life in the school
between students, faculty, parents, and
the surrounding community. John Rigney,
Ed.M.’05, lives on the Woodstock campus
with his wife and two children.
Ed. magazine provides notice, on a space-
available basis, of recently published books,
blogs, podcasts, and websites by HGSE
faculty, alumni, and students. Send your
name, degree, and year of graduation, along
with the title of the book, the publisher, and
date of publication, or a URL link to your
blog, podcast, or website.
Ed. magazine, In the Media
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Office of Communications
44R Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
E-mail: medianotes@gse.harvard.edu
Fax: 617-495-7629
• Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 39
 investing in education
Making the Connection
By Jill Anderson

When Erika Smith, Ed.M.’07, arrived

at the Harvard Graduate School of
participants in the first year. “It was more successful in the
first year than we could have anticipated,” says Stone, who now
works in healthcare but continues to research mentoring.
Lecturer Eileen McGowan, Ed.M.’98, Ed.D.’04, director of
the Field Experience Program at the school, supported Stone
and Fenellosa in creating SAMI. “They were really ahead of the
time,” McGowan says. “SAMI [has] developed into a strong,
“ As an incoming doctoral student, the
SAMI program has been an amazing
part of my experience at HGSE. My
mentor, Joe Cronin, M.A.T.’57, has
Education campus in the fall of 2005, she
wondered how to stay connected to the
in-house program.”
The number of alums volunteering as mentors grows every
more than five decades of experience
school. As a part-time student who was
also working full time, Smith wanted to
year. For the 2009–2010 school year, 90 alums are donating in education as a teacher, principal,
their time. “The fact that it’s still going on and has [so many]
make sure that she didn’t miss out on the participants is a clear reflection that a need exists. It’s very state superintendent, cabinet
graduate school experience. gratifying to see something that started out as an idea come
Then, Smith attended an event spon- to fruition,” Stone says. “I get an opportunity every year to talk secretary, and college president.
sored by the Student-Alumni Mentoring
Initiative (SAMI) — a formal mentor-
to alums and students in the program and hear [about] the
benefit gain.”
Over dinners we’ve discussed careers,
ing program offered by the Ed School’s
Alumni Relations Office that aims to
SAMI kicks off as soon as students are on campus each classes, research, and the impacts of
fall. Mentor profiles are shared online, where students have
connect alums and graduate students. an opportunity to view them and identify up to three mentors the last 50 years of federal education
The event, she says, changed her graduate who most interest them. In October, mentors and mentees
school experience from being focused solely are invited to meet at an event. Directly following the event, policy. It’s been so helpful to have a
on academics to a more well-balanced one.
Every year hundreds of students come to
students give their mentor preferences.
Finding an appropriate match is one of the most impor-
mentor who has seen it all and can
the Ed School with concerns about making tant aspects of mentoring, explains McGowan, an expert on give me the long-term perspective on

jeff Hopkins, ed.m.’05

the most of limited time and staying con-
nected, on top of juggling assignments, work,
and social lives. The goal of SAMI is to create
mutually beneficial mentoring relationships between
students and alums by fostering formal and informal meet-
ings during the academic year.
“SAMI highlights the importance for graduate students
of building relationships with one another and to the school,
networking, and lifelong learning,” says Kristen DeAmicis,
Ed.M.’05, former assistant director of alumni relations.
“However, this is also another way for alums to give back and
demonstrate a commitment to HGSE.”
Now in its sixth year, SAMI began when two master’s
students, Eric Stone, Ed.M.’03, and Amy Fenellosa, Ed.M.’03,
came up with the idea to start a mentoring program on
on campus thanks to their shared interest in organizational
psychology. “We both had mentors in our lives that were
significant influences personally and professionally,” Stone says.
“We decided to propose a more formal program.”
The proposal, which grew out of a student club called
Counsel on Mentors and Leaders, paired alumni and students
with varying interests. Although Fenellosa and Stone had al-
ready graduated when SAMI launched in the fall of 2004, both
worked closely with Alumni Relations to help structure the
program, as well as to arrange for student and alumni matches,
mentoring. “Mentoring is a relationship,” she says, noting that
mentoring serves not only as a career function, but also a
psychological social function. Within a month after matches
are made, mentors and mentees are “trained” by McGowan on
making the most of the relationships.
“Good mentoring is reciprocal. While the intention is
toward the protégé, both people should benefit,” she says.
In most cases, people volunteer as mentors when they have
experienced a prominent mentor in their own lives or careers,
McGowan notes. “Mentors are guides along the developmental
journey. They share expertise from their lifetime journey and
point out the pitfalls, share mistakes, and ways to overcome.
They provide networking opportunities and encourage stu-
dents to have a greater visibility in the field,” she explains. “This
is an opportunity to make a connection that without SAMI
a career in education.”
— Geoff Marietta, doctoral candidate in education
policy, leadership, and instructional practice
more about what they are going to get out of it. I will gain the
satisfaction of being an individual coach, adviser, and tutor.”
Once a match is made, SAMI recommends a range of
activities to ensure that the relationship blossoms. However,
the activities of SAMI mentors and mentees vary depending on
what both people want from the experience.
For Smith, it was as simple as meeting up for the occasional
cup of coffee and conversation or participating in her men-
tor’s hobby. Smith laughs thinking back to the time she made

“
campus. Fenellosa and Stone connected early during their year applications, and mentor training. The program attracted 24 would be difficult to do, with someone who walked this road
before and is able to share expertise.”
The SAMI program has been a great way to connect with practitioners in Mentors come from a range of experiences and back-
grounds. For instance, Joe Cronin, M.A.T.’57, has had a
various areas of higher ed. My mentor, in particular, provides incredible lengthy career and an array of experiences in education, rang-
ing from superintendent and dean to professor and consultant.
insight into how things that we learn in class are used in the real world. We He got involved a few years ago with SAMI to share some of
that experience.
have great discussions about policy, practices, and change that have really “Depending on whom the mentees are and what they are
broadened my perspective and enriched my experience here at HGSE.” interested in, I can draw on five decades of experiences and
share some of those experiences with them, answer questions,
— Theresa Kaiser, master’s candidate in higher education and talk about career-building strategies,” he says. “To me, it’s
candles with her mentor, Ande Diaz, Ed.M.’94. Unfortunately,
Smith just didn’t possess Diaz’s artistic touch. Still, Diaz
became a source of inspiration for Smith. “I was super inspired
by her commitment to fitting everything into her life,” she says.
Though Diaz is not acting as a mentor this year, she encour-
aged Smith to become a SAMI mentor herself.
While Smith is currently studying for her Ph.D. at Brandeis
University and working fulltime at the school on a college
access program, she is giving back to students at the Ed School.
“It’s a great way for students to get perspective outside of the
academic experience,” she says. “It helps to remember that
there is a world out there.”

40 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 41
 alumni news and notes
PHOTO FINISH
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Now it’s
also worth an alumni note. We are now including alumni-
focused photos in the alumni section of Ed. magazine.
(Either the alum is in the photo or the photo is connected
to the graduate — a photo of a new baby, for example.)
Send your high-resolution digital photos to classnotes@
gse.harvard.edu. Photos that are not in focus, dark, or at
a low resolution may not be usable. Please identify the
people in the photo and include a few lines of context.
Due to space constraints, we may not be able to print all
photos but we will do our best!
1956
Mary Ellen McGoldrick
McGowan, Ed.M., passed away
on July 24, 2009.
1959
John Eliot, M.A.T., is pleased to
report that the American Psy-
chological Association has made
research materials he donated
in 1999 to the Archive of the
History of American Psychology
in Ohio available online (http://
drc.ohiolink.edu/handle/2374.
OX/19835). These materials in-
clude a large collection of figural
spatial tests, a monograph titled
The Nature and Measurement
of Spatial Intelligence, and a
spatial research database that
is a reference tool that provides
bibliographic information about
spatial intelligence.
1968
David Dashev, M.A.T., is the
chief executive officer of Medi-
tox in West Palm Beach, Fla.
“Owning [the] facility is proving
to be the most rewarding activ-
ity of my life.”
1969
Francis “Tuck” Amory, M.A.T.,
was cited on NPR’s Talk of the
Nation in May 2009 for his in-
novative and effective therapy
approaches with Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder clients.
42 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010
Review, and recently published
two articles in The Effective
Executive. He shares a home
with his wife, Maryanne, in
Wayland, Mass.
1970
Gerald Hayes, Ed.M., has been
appointed vice president of
administration and finance at
Westfield [Mass.] State College.
He held a number of municipal
and nonprofit leadership posi-
tions in various Massachusetts
communities including Holyoke,
Lowell, and Springfield.
1976
Keith Shahan, M.A.T.’67, Ed.D.,
retired as head of school at John
Burroughs School in St. Louis
after 23 years of service. He is
currently the president of the
Independent Schools Associa-
tion of the Central States.
Richard Lodish, Ed.D., is
principal of Sidwell Friends
Lower School in Washington
D.C. He recently returned from
a book tour through China for
A Child in the Principal’s Office:
Laughing and Learning in the
Schoolhouse.
1978
Larry Stybel, Ed.D., is celebrat-
ing his daughter’s graduation
from Stanford University
Graduate School of Business
and her new position with EMI
Music in New York City. He
works for Stybel Peabody
Associates, Inc., coauthors a
blog on career management/
leadership for Harvard Business
1980 PROFILE
Fred Schecker, Ed.M., joined
Laura Lees, Ed.M.’01, is wondering what to say next.
the Pew Center on the States
in Washington, D.C., as project
manager for the Stateline.org
website. The center works to Luckily for her students at Maui Community College, Laura Lees’ stitute teaching in
advance public policy at the state
level in a multitude of areas, wordlessness does not extend to the classroom. In fact, Lees, the public schools.
including early childhood educa- Ed.M.’01, considers one of the best parts of her position as an “I loved being in
tion and children’s dental health. instructor in writing and English literature to be when “students the classroom,” she
Stybel
shed their fears about writing and find their voices,” she says. Lees’ says. “This is where
1981 commitment to her students and her profession was rewarded
recently when she was honored with the University of Hawaii’s
I discovered my
passion for teach-
Mary Robinson, Ed.M., has
Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Teaching, an award for which she ing and decided to
courtesy of laura lees
been named president and chief
was nominated by her colleagues and students. learn more about
executive officer of the National
Council For Adoption. Although she is the daughter of educators, Lees’ path to education and
teaching was not a straight one. After her first year at Amherst
College in Massachusetts, she found herself struggling with what
teaching, not only
English literature.
Changes in Alumni Relations a college education really means. “I knew one needed to go to So I applied to HGSE.” Shortly after finishing her master’s, Lees
college, but I wasn’t sure why I needed to go to college,” she was offered a position at Maui Community College.
In the Alumni Relations Office, it’s a time
remembers. “I tried multiple majors — toyed with art history and Lees truly enjoys the challenges that come with teaching the
for beginnings and endings. In Decem-
thought about political science, all because I thought I should.” diverse, community college student body. “It’s one of the parts
ber, after more than seven years work-
ing at the Ed School, including three as
Lees ended up taking a semester off and headed to Hawaii of teaching I love the most,” she says. “Working with students
with her then-boyfriend, now-fiancé. “That’s when I realized why from all backgrounds, ages, cultures, academic motivations, and
director of the alumni office, Bev Witten
I needed to go back to college,” she says. “College is different for experiences means I have to find multiple modes of teaching and
said goodbye to Harvard and moved
everyone — some have a specific career in mind, others need to make time for individual learning.”
back with her family to South Africa,
explore the act of learning to discover their future. I was excited And she’s thrilled that she gets to do it in her adopted home
where she was born and raised.
Witten to learn when I read novels, analyzed poetry, and wrote. Once of Hawaii, not just because of her fulfillment at work. “I stayed
“I am back in South Africa and hope
I dove into the joy of learning, I really appreciated the luxury of [in Hawaii] because of the people, the ocean, and the life I found
to make a significant contribution to my country using the exper-
higher education.” here,” she says. “I must admit I also love surfing.”
tise and skills I acquired during my time working in the States,” she
After graduation, Lees returned to Hawaii where she discov-
says, “and from the master’s degree I was able to earn at Harvard
ered that her favorite among the many jobs she tried was sub- — Marin Jorgensen
while I was here.”
Before joining the alumni office, where she also worked for a
year as the assistant director, Witten worked in the school’s Office
of Student Affairs, at the Harvard Family Research Project, and 1985 1988 with helping to plan social and
cultural events sponsored by the
1996
with the Askwith Forums. Although she is happy to be back in Joan Gallos, Ed.M.’76, Ed.D., Denise Vega, Ed.M., won the Anne-Marie Yu-Phelps, Ed.M.,
club, her primary focus will be
her country (especially with the warm weather!), she says she will was awarded the 2009 Distin- Colorado Book Award and the presenting Harvard book prizes together with her husband
guished Service Award from the Colorado Authors’ League Top and two children, is living and
deeply miss Harvard. to outstanding high school
“My time here has been wonderful,” she says. “I am proud of what
Organizational Behavior Teach-
ing Society (OBTS) in June. She
Hand Award for her young adult
novel, Fact of Life #31, which
students in the Sarasota and
Manatee county school systems.
working in Joao Pessoa, a small
city in Brazil, as a missionary for
we’ve accomplished during the past few years, in particular refram- was also named as an OBTS Fel- tells the story of Kat Flynn, a Maryknoll Lay Missioner. She
low: Sage of the Society, for her 16-year-old girl who works works at a nongovernmental
ing the alumni council, building the SAMI Program, and improving
student engagement opportunities. We’ve also really increased
contributions to excellence in with her mother, a home-birth 1991 organization called Afya, a
engagement with alumni over the past three years — that is some-
management education and to
the scholarship of teaching and
midwife. Vega’s first novel, Click
Here (to Find Out How I Sur- Mark LaCelle-Peterson,
holistic health and education
center primarily serving poor
thing I am especially proud of.” learning. She is a professor of vived Seventh Grade), won the Ed.M.’88, Ed.D., was recently and underprivileged women.
leadership in the department of Colorado Book Award for Young appointed vice president of the
After Witten’s departure, the alumni relations and annual giving
public affairs and director of the Adult Literature in 2005. She has Teacher Education Accreditation
teams were merged and are now overseen by Denise Tioseco,
Ed.M.‘02. A graduate of the Administration, Planning, and Social
executive MBA program at the published three additional books Council (TEAC), where he has
served as an academic auditor
1999
Henry W. Block School of Busi- for children and young adults.
ness and Public Administration since 2005. He is currently a Cara Livermore, Ed.M., re-
Policy Program, Tioseco returned to the school in December 2008
at the University of Missouri– Brenda Brown, Ed.D., was member of the joint TEAC/ ceived the Educator of the Year
as the HGSE fund director. She has worked in higher education for award in June 2009 from Boston
Kansas City. recently elected to the board NCATE Design Team focused
more than 10 years in various capacities including outreach, admis- on the future of accreditation of Public Schools. She is a Span-
of directors of the Harvard
sions, student affairs, and development, most recently at the MIT Club of Sarasota, Fla. Along educator preparation programs. ish teacher at the Boston Arts
Academy.
Sloan School of Management, overseeing class and reunion giving.
Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 43
 alumni news and notes
PROFILE 2005 2007 Schools is a national movement
of leaders with a commitment
Nayeri, released her first book,
Another Faust, in August 2009.
Emily Nichols Grossi, Ed.M., Alison Harris, Ed.M., was ac- to ensure that every student
LeAnna Marr, Ed.M.’03, and her husband, Tom, wel-
comed their second son, Oliver
cepted into the New Leaders for
New Schools program in Char-
achieves academic excellence.
2008
Nichols, on March 17, 2009. lotte, N.C. She will be a member
is perpetually jet lagged. He joins big brother, Jack, who of the first cohort and will serve Susan Enfield, Ed.M.’02, Ed.D.,
turned three on July 4. as a resident principal at Bishop became the chief academic of-
LeAnna Marr, Ed.M.’03, knew where she was headed long before Spaugh Community Academy. ficer for Seattle Public Schools
Beyond a principal training on July 1, 2009. Prior to joining
she got there. “In my statement of purpose for my HGSE applica-
program, New Leaders for New the Seattle schools, she was
tion,” she remembers, “I noted that I applied to HGSE because of the deputy superintendent in
the International Education Program’s focus on policy and reform, Evergreen Public Schools in
and that I hoped to pursue a career with an organization such as Vancouver, Wash.
the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).”
Catherine Bradbury, Ed.M., is

And, that’s exactly what she did. In fact, before she even gradu-
ated, she had applied to USAID’s foreign service and was offered
a position as an education officer.
Today she focuses on national policy and educational reform in
countries where the U.S. government provides foreign assistance.
In particular, she works closely with foreign service nationals —
the local staff hired to provide in-depth knowledge of their coun-
tries, cultures, and education systems.
“In many ways, my job is to figure out how to wed U.S. foreign
policy priorities with educational needs in a country,” she
explains. “I can’t think of a more rewarding job than helping
children worldwide gain access to quality education.”
Marr has worked for USAID in Sudan, Egypt, Morocco, Kyrgyzstan,
and Tajikistan, but the country that affected her most was Guinea
in West Africa, where, coincidentally, she had lived years before
jill anderson
The Nayeris
the dean of middle school at St.
Dina Nayeri, Ed.M., in collabo- Mark’s Episcopal School in Fort
ration with her brother, Daniel Lauderdale, Fla.
“It was a very challenging program to get off the ground,”
Marr says. “In part because corruption can be such a politically
sensitive topic, but also because it was very different from typical
The school, Gray says, “helped me understand the most im-
USAID programming. I feel that simply launching this program
portant issues in education and how I might build a career that
and opening a national dialogue on corruption in Guinea —
was both meaningful and unique.” Specifically, he developed a
something Guineans would rarely discuss in public prior to this
strong conviction that schools and school systems ought to be
activity — was a huge step in the right direction.”
structured in a way to facilitate continuous improvement, foster
Currently, Marr is on a two-year rotation in Washington, D.C., as
innovation, and empower talented people to be entrepreneurial
the education team leader for Asia and the Middle East, for which
in order to continually improve practice.
she provides technical assistance for the educational programs
At his first post–Ed School position with Be the Change, Inc.,
in 23 countries including two of USAID’s largest, Pakistan and
a nonprofit that works with education entrepreneurs, Gray
Afghanistan. Working in Washington gives Marr the opportunity

courtesy of ethan gray

managed the policy work during the organization’s first
while associate director in the Peace Corps. “It’s an extremely to examine USAID’s work from a regional perspective, rather than
campaign, ServiceNation. But his interest in education reform
challenging country to live in, and one of the poorest places I country-specific, as well as engage government agencies, com-
led him soon after to The Mind Trust, an organization, as Gray
have been,” she says. “But in general, Guineans love Americans mittees, and education panels — even Congress.
says, “dedicated to dramatically improving public education for
and love working with the Peace Corps and USAID.” Still, she’s eager for her next placement. “While I’m learning a
underserved students by empowering education entrepreneurs
While in Guinea, Marr led the design and implementation of a lot here in Washington,” she says, “I’m very much looking forward
project to combat corruption and poor governance in the health, to getting back overseas.” PROFILE to develop or expand transformative education initiatives.”
As vice president, Gray not only advises The Mind Trust’s
education, and agriculture sectors, problems that USAID theo-
rized were constraining development in the country. — Marin Jorgensen Ethan Gray, Ed.M.’07, president and CEO on issues of strategy and operations and
advances the policy work, he also leads the effort to help this
is a new Hoosier with big plans. Indianapolis-based and-focused organization build a national
2001 Costa Rica (www.upeace.org).
The center combines classroom
2003 network of city-based organizations that will work together to
Ethan Gray’s path toward policy work and supporting education support education entrepreneurs as they scale to new markets
Colby Berger, Ed.M., was ap- sessions with field visits and Luis Alejo, Ed.M., was
pointed in July 2009 as executive honored with a 2009 Award entrepreneurs, begun as an undergraduate at Harvard College, across the country. The goal, Gray explains, is to reach out to the
hosts seminars on topics like
director of Adoption & Foster corporate social responsibility of Merit from the Legal Aid took a slight detour after graduation. Feeling burnt out, Gray, organizations in other cities with underutilized resources in the
Care Mentoring, the only men- and entrepreneurship in the Association of California and Ed.M.’07, and his best friend from high school moved to central entrepreneurial sector, share best practices, and ultimately sup-
toring organization in the Bos- social sector. the California Commission on
Vermont and started a small lumberjack business. port cities in their efforts to become “vibrant hubs of innovation
ton area that exclusively serves Access to Justice. He works as a
young people in the foster care staff attorney for the Monterey But, Gray admits, “I wasn’t destined to be a lifelong lumber- and entrepreneurship.”
Mukherjee and family
Witten
system. County Superior Court and jack.” In fact, a slight chainsaw mishap convinced him to move Moving forward, Gray hopes to use his work to further his
was recognized for his exem- on to Washington, D.C., where he landed a paid internship as the vision of a school system structured for advancement. “By invest-
plary work in improving access Al Witten, Ed.M.’02, Ed.M., was
2002 to justice. Since 2007, he has the commencement speaker for
the Boston Teacher Residency
first research assistant for the fledgling think tank Education Sec-
tor. There, he was taken under the wing of Ed Sector’s cofounder
ing in talented people and giving them the opportunity to in-
novate,” he says, “I believe that we are getting closer to building
provided free legal assistance to
Mohit Mukherjee, Ed.M., thousands of people who can- Program on July 23, 2009, at Andy Rotherham and thrown into the group’s first major research school systems that can pursue continuous improvement.”
founded the Centre for Execu- not afford legal representation Faneuil Hall in Boston.
tive Education for the United projects. There his interest in education policy blossomed and
in Monterey County.
Nations University for Peace in pointed him toward the Ed School. — Amber Haskins

44 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 45
 alumni news and notes
A Friend’s Goodbye to Sizer In Memory
Elsa Parshley Brown, GSE’28 Theodore Sizer, M.A.T.’57 Donald Folk, Ed.M.’65
In October, Theodore Sizer, M.A.T.’57, passed away at his Amelia Tataronis Rieman, GSE’34 Samuel Francis Gilman, GSE’58 Virginia Anne Lowell, Ed.M.’65
Harvard, Mass., home at the age of 77. Often referred to as Don Donaldson, GSE’37 Charles Goodwin III, Ed.M.’58 Nathan Gross, M.A.T.’53, Ed.D.’66
the “boy dean” after taking over the top spot at the Ed School Mary Ann O’Brien, GSE’39 Dorothy Joan McQueen, Ed.M.’58 Sandra Price, M.A.T.’67
in 1964 at the age of 31, Sizer was widely considered one of Marcia Wilson Lebow, GSE’40 Freda Gould Rebelsky, GSE’59 Anita Teeter, Ed.M.’67
the nation’s leading education reform advocates. Immediately

Deane Keller Painting

George Quint, M.A.T.’41 Hubert Reynhout Jr., Ed.D.’59 Howard Dowdell, Ed.M.’57, Ed.D.’69
following his death, there was a flood of obituaries and tributes Marie Edna Beaupre, M.A.T.’46 Sandra Roseman-Weiner, Ed.M.’59 Ralph Gabor Lewis, Ed.D.’71
about his life and legacy, including a personal piece written by George Toney, GSE’46 Lawrence Griffin, Ed.M.’60 Richard Fogg, Ed.D.’72
his friend John Merrow, Ed.D.’73, on his blog, Learning Matters, Charles Henderson, Ed.M.’47 Frank Viggiani, GSE’60 Katharine Sangree, Ed.M.’74
which we have reprinted, with permission. M. Albert Linton Jr., M.A.T.’47 Elizabeth Zaleznik, Ed.M.’60 Edwin Campbell, Ed.M.’75
beds for the night. Ted, Debbie Meier, Don Hirsch, and a few Anne Powers, GSE’47 Richard Clark Jr., Ed.M.’61 Chester Hedgepeth Jr., Ed.M.’77
The news that Ted Sizer has died did not come as a shock. His other thoughtful people brought that program to life. Homer Scott, M.A.T.’48 Wilfrid Hamlin, GSE’61 Stanley Selib, Ed.M.’78
friends knew that he had been battling colon cancer for some Ted never sought the spotlight or worried about who got Elbert Floran Nothern, Ed.M.’49 Guido Perera Jr., M.A.T.’61 Chinaka Esiaba, Ed.M.’79
time and exchanged messages regularly, always asking hope- credit, which may explain why he accomplished so much. In Vincent Gannon, M.A.T.’50 Charles Robinson, GSE’61 John Ziergiebel, Ed.M.’80
fully, “How’s he doing?” 2006, I was asked to speak at the Harvard Graduate School Robert Arthur, M.A.T.’52 Frank White, M.A.T.’61 Stuart Shepherd, C.A.S.’82
While his friends, admirers, and supporters are many, Ted of Education commencement, and before I flew east from Charles Bybee, GSE’52 Martha Whitney Langford, M.A.T.’62 Michael Clarke, GSE’83
Sizer’s influence reaches far beyond that group. Make no mis- California I wrote Ted and Nancy asking if we could meet for Frank Graves Dickey, GSE’53 Joseph Hozid, Ed.D.’63 Laura Riegelhaupt, Ed.M.’85
take, Ted Sizer was one of the giants of American education, a breakfast that day. We met at a small restaurant and exchanged Robert Peebles, M.A.T.’53 Kazuie Sanuki, Ed.M.’63 Cynthia Hsin-feng Wu, Ed.D.’93
force for good for more than 50 years. news. Ted looked strong and waved away questions about the Ernest Alfred Singer, Ed.M.’54 William Tapply, M.A.T.’63
He is well known as the founder of the Coalition of Essential pump he had to wear as part of the chemotherapy. When he Mary Ellen McGowan, Ed.M.’56 Barbara Tabak Berger, M.A.T.’65
Schools, which in 1984 launched a wave of change based on left the table briefly, Nancy told me how excited he was to be
the idea of engaging students in useful and challenging work. back because this commencement marked his 50-year an-
He knew that seat time was a completely inadequate measure niversary with the school. I wanted to know how Harvard was
of learning, and he was highly skeptical of the value of multiple honoring him. Nobody knows, she said, because Ted doesn’t CLASSNOTES/ADDRESS UPDATE
choice tests and conventional grading. want any fuss.
NAME: YEAR(S)/DEGREE(S):
His seminal book, Horace’s Compromise, will be read for Not on my watch are we going to fail to honor this great
years to come, as it should be. man, I thought to myself. After we parted, I made a beeline ADDRESS:
Two personal memories that capture Ted’s spirit and ap- for Dean Kathy McCartney’s office and told her. Her powerful
CITY: STATE: ZIP:
proach to life. Ten percent of Walter Annenberg’s $500 million tribute to Ted, who was seated on stage with the rest of the
gift to American education went to support the Coalition of faculty, produced a standing ovation that went on for many E-MAIL:
Essential Schools’ effort to transform high schools. That’s a minutes. There weren’t many dry eyes in the house, certainly
great story for a journalist, and so I called him up and pro- not mine. NOTES FOR PUBLICATION IN ED. OR ON THE ALUMNI WEBSITE:
posed that we follow, on television, the efforts of one school The greatest tribute we can pay to Ted Sizer is to keep alive
to adopt Ted’s nine principles. As my opening gambit for what his vision — that students must be respected, and that the Ed. and the Alumni Relations Office
highest form of respect teachers can show their students is to welcome news from HGSE alumni about
I assumed would be serious negotiations, I told him that we
employment, activities, or publications.
would need full access, no strings. “Fine,” he said. “What sort of challenge them with work that stretches their minds. Classnotes will appear either in Ed. or on
school are you looking for?” Rest in peace, my friend. the alumni website.
We ended up filming in Woodward High School in
— John Merrow, Ed.D.’73, is a journalist who began his career Please e-mail your classnote to classnotes@
Cincinnati, Ohio, for three years, and Ted had no problem with
gse.harvard.edu or submit online at
our reporting on what was clearly a “two steps forward, two as an education reporter for NPR a year after graduating from
www.gse.harvard.edu/alumni_friends/
steps back” process. the Ed School. He is the founder and host of Learning Matters, classnotes/submit_note.
Openness was just one of his virtues. He was also a true which produces The Merrow Report, a series of documentaries
for PBS, NPR, and Frontline. Classnotes can also be mailed to:
gentleman, full of humor and charm. While he must have
Ed. magazine, Classnotes
been tough (he ran schools, after all!), he was also gentle and Harvard Graduate School of Education
optimistic, a gracious host. When we were producing School This tribute to Ted Sizer originally appeared on the Office of Communications
Sleuth in 2000, I called him at his home in Harvard, Mass., to Learning Matters website at http://learningmatters.tv/ 44R Brattle Street
blog/op-ed/a-tribute-to-ted-sizer/3200/. Go to www. Cambridge, MA 02138
see if we could meet him at his office for an interview. “Why
r I do not want MY classnote on the web. r this is a new address.
don’t you come to our home instead?” was his response. If I gse.harvard.edu/blog/news_features_releases/2009/10/
r I want MY classnote only on the web.
remember correctly, he and [his wife] Nancy also offered us dean-theodore-r-sizer-1932-2009.html to read more tributes.

46 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 47
 recess
Mama Knew Best
It was his mother Helen’s philosophy: If you see
something that needs to be done, do it.
So when the Ed School started looking for funding
for the new Doctor of Education Leadership Program,
former Harvard Overseer Paul Buttenwieser and his
wife, Katie, a social worker at Children’s Hospital in
Boston, did just that — they stepped up and donated
one million dollars to endow a fellowship that will
support one student throughout the three years of
the program.
“Education is so crucial,” says Buttenwieser, who
became interested in the Ed.L.D. Program — the
school’s first new degree in 74 years — while serving

Urban Farmer by Lory Hough
Professor Tom Hehir has a great garden. Peppers, tomatoes,
spinach, cucumber, lettuce, eggplant, watermelon — you
name it, he probably grows it. But if you want to see it, don’t
look out back. Look up. Five flights up.
Hehir’s garden is on the roof of his brownstone in Boston’s
South End, with views of the Prudential Center and Copley
Place. And it’s not the first urban garden that he’s created. He
had one in Washington, D.C., and another in Chicago, the lat-
ter enveloping the balcony of his apartment on the 44th floor.
Asked why he does it, he says, “Mostly because I’m a
foodie. I love to eat and there’s nothing better than fresh
vegetables.” In one season, he’s able to grow more than half of
the fresh vegetables that he needs for a year.
Since he started working the soil at his South End home,
which he bought in 1980 when he was working for Boston
Public Schools and the area was still affordable on a teacher’s
salary, he has also found that rooftop gardening has other
benefits. The winter freeze tends to come later in the city and
containers thaw faster than the ground does in the spring.
City living also means fewer bugs and pests so he has never
had to use an insecticide.
“It’s also very green. It keeps the house cooler and the
vegetables don’t need to be transported,” he says. “People are
jill anderson
wonder what the impact would be if every roof was used for
growing food.”
There are challenges, too. It’s a lot hotter on the roof.
Although that allows him to grow crops like watermelon,
which often eludes New England ground gardeners, it also
means containers dry quickly and he needs to rely on the
irrigation drip system he installed a few years ago.
Growing up, Hehir says his family always had a garden,
but his interest in harvesting his own really grew out of an
experience he had one summer when he was teaching at a
technical high school in Framingham, Mass.
“I was asked to oversee a big vegetable garden for a com-
munity of retired Jesuits in Weston [Mass.],” he says. “The
priest was a friend of my uncle who was also a Jesuit. He knew
that I had been a greenskeeper at a golf course in the summers
during college and knew that I knew about things like soil
culture.” The priest also knew that Hehir had a background in
special education, which helped him effectively communicate
with the grounds crew, many of whom had mental challenges.
“Ever since then, I’ve had gardens,” he says.
Asked if he ever longs for more space, he says he has all
the space he needs (except to grow corn, which requires too
much soil).
ed malitsky
as a member of the school’s visiting committee. Sit-
ting in on meetings and listening to faculty members,
he realized that for K–12 education reform to be suc-
cessful in the United States, incredible people at the
top needed a new kind of training.
“While teachers are the most critical part of the
educational system,” he says, “having the right kind of
administrative leaders is critical as well.”
The tuition-free Ed.L.D. is based in practice, with students
spending their third and final year in a residency with a partnering
education-related organization. The doctoral degree, which will
start with an initial cohort of 25 in August 2010, is designed to give
students a deeper understanding of not only teaching and learning,
but also the management and leadership skills needed to suc-
cessfully run a school district or have a senior role at an education
nonprofit, government agency, or even in the private sector.
As Dean Kathleen McCartney says, “These individuals will be
successful by altering education policy debates, forging powerful
public-private partnerships, and restoring confidence in schools.”
Or as Buttenwieser says, summing up what he thinks the degree
is for: “It’s training the next Arne Duncan,” referring to the U.S. sec-
retary of education, who Buttenwieser says created many success-
ful reforms in Chicago, where he served as CEO of the public school
system before joining the Obama administration.
Buttenwieser is no stranger to philanthropy. He grew up in an
activist household in New York. His mother, one of the city’s first
female lawyers, once worked in a settlement house and chaired the
Legal Aid Society and the New York City Committee on Adoptions.
She took in foster children and was a tireless defender of Alger Hiss,
dent of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York and a
trustee of Columbia University, Lenox Hill Hospital, and Fisk Universi-
ty in Nashville, among others. Paul, along with his children and wife,
started the Family-to-Family Project 15 years ago, a nonprofit that
helps the homeless in Boston. He has served on the board of various
art organizations, including the ART and the Museum of Fine Arts.
“Paul and Katie have demonstrated time and time again their un-
wavering commitment to the public good, whether it be through
investments in education, the arts, or in needy local families,” says
McCartney. “I have also come to know Paul as an engaged advisor
through his role as a member of the HGSE Visiting Committee. To
borrow his words, he understands that we need real, subverting
kind of change at the systemic level in order to make progress on
the challenges of American public education. Through the years,
I have relied on his wise counsel as we moved forward with our
plans for the new doctorate in education leadership, and I am so
grateful for his support.”
Asked what longterm results he anticipates from the new
degree, Buttenwieser is optimistic. “It is going to radically affect
education for the better.”

waking up to the potential of roof gardens and the need to “I plant what I need to eat and I preserve what’s preserv- a State Department official famously accused of being a spy in the

jill anderson
support local agriculture. I walk around the South End and able,” he says. “It’s all I need.” late 1940s. His father, Benjamin, an investment banker, was presi- — To get more information on the new degree, go to page 9.

48 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 Ed. • Harvard Graduate School of Education • winter 2010 49
 Harvard Graduate School of Education Nonprofit Organization
Office of Communications U.S. Postage PAID
44R Brattle Street Burlington, VT
Cambridge, MA 02138 Permit No. 70

Where’s Ed.?
Despite the annual Ed School Halloween
party going on around him in the Gutman
Conference Center this past October, this
little vampire just couldn’t get enough of
the fall 2009 issue of Ed. When asked if he
wanted to join the other ghosts, poodles,
and unicorns as they started lining up for the
parade that would take the children around
campus, Ellis Iurilli-Hough (ok, the editor’s
son) shook his head and said, “I just vant to
read my magazine.”

Think you can top this photo? E-mail us a

picture of yourself (or someone in your
family) reading Ed. and you may be a future
jill anderson

star of the back page, too!