The Basic School A Community for Learning [Paperback]

A micro-community approach to education with vision and values

The U.S. education system has remained somewhat static as the world changes furiously around it. The Basic School: A Community for Learning offers a model for the future. The classroom — and by extension, the school — is positioned as a little community focused on learning. Teachers are empowered with real leadership, parents are partners, resources are rich, and the curriculum is coherent and centralized. This book describes how to bring this dream-school into reality through a series of small steps forward that, over time, become a journey through progress.

Trustees of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching xiv

Preface xv

The Vision of the Basic School xxi

Prologue: A New Beginning 3

I The School as Community.

A Shared Vision 15

Teachers as Leaders 31

Parents as Partners 47

II A Curriculum with Coherence.

The Centrality of Language 65

The Core Commonalities 81

Measuring Results 103

III A Climate for Learning.

Patterns to Fit Purpose 119

Resources to Enrich 137

Services for Children 153

IV A Commitment to Character.

The Core Virtues 173

Living with Purpose 187

Appendix A Further Acknowledgments 197

Appendix B Technical Notes 203

Notes 209

Index 247

ERNEST L. BOYERwas commissioner of education under President Jimmy Carter and served fl³9