| Notes |
THE NCEE MODEL
Over the years, NCEE has evolved a characteristic pattern of development. The Carnegie Forum had both recommended the formation of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and then proceeded to follow through by actually creating that organization. NCEE went on to repeat this pattern over the years. In each case, the process began with the recommendations made in a major NCEE report. NCEE then went on to create the organizational capacity needed to implement the changes recommended in the report. That typically took the form of creating a new program within the organization, some with staffs of 200 or more people, doing the development work and offering the technical assistance and training needed to get the recommended policies and practices implemented. When that development and assistance capacity was firmly established and a secure base of funding for it was found, NCEE has spun off that entity and reverted to its original and much more nimble size of two dozen or fewer people and then began the whole cycle all over again.
Thus we are both a “think tank” and a “do tank.” We like to think that our effort to actually implement the recommendations we make in our major reports keeps us honest by forcing us to confront the real implications of our proposals and that our practical experience in the schools and with district and state policymakers improves the quality and fit of our policy work. And we also believe that our policy orientation helps us to see beyond the everyday challenges and examine the features of the system that will result in failure unless we change them. This mix between our daily commitment to teachers, students, school administrators on the one hand, and a commitment no less strong to analyzing the policies and structures that frame the system on the other, has proven over the years to constitute a very powerful learning system for NCEE and its staff. No less powerful is our commitment to learning from other countries with more successful education systems, the hallmark of NCEE’s work over the years. The perspective gained in this way has been unceasingly valuable and has challenged us to closely examine long-accepted practices that may no longer be working, or might never have worked. |