Virtually everyone knows that the education system as we know it is obsolete. You hear it said over and over, "Factory-style schooling doesn't fit the information age." Still, waves of reforms largely focus on making the current system more effective.
Critiques from across the political spectrum share a realization that our future depends on effective schooling. Since the publication of A Nation at Risk, there has been wave after wave of efforts to raise standards, improve teacher quality, strenghten accountability, etc. all aiming to assure that all students learn. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) effectively turns turns those aspirations into a legal promise.
Unfortunately, NCLB ignores one simple fact: there is a fundamental disconnect between the mass-production model and the idea of all students learning. It is time to let go of the age-graded, lock-step, command-and-control system and create a new system that is compatible with what is known about learning and what is needed for a post-modern world.
