As noted in my first blog post, my goal is to avoid educational fads and to focus on essentials and fundamentals for essential education reform.

I really liked Chelsea Krug's piece "Education's Time for Change." She argues, "... to restart education as an institution, the existing system must first be demolished. " 

Then I read Randy Speck's blog, in which he writes:

The current system of education needs to die. We need to have a memorial service, say a few nice things and then bury it. Bury it as deep as we possibly can. Bury bad practices and bad systems. Lay to rest tired methods of classroom delivery and lack of creative innovation. Allow the former educational system to rest in peace. And then start anew!

Build a new system that starts with the needs of the students and creates from there. Re-build teacher colleges to allow prospective teachers the ability to be innovative from day one. Breathe a new life of fresh air into an old system that has been dying for years. This can happen, and it will one day. And on that day, I will be happy to bring the flowers and offer some of the first words of condolences. But then, the past will be the past and the future will be right in front of us. It will be time to live a new educational life and that will be one worth living!

One way or another, I've been saying the same thing for many years, and that's why I shifted from a being a lawyer to being an educator many years ago. 

Here's the good news. I've seen successful new systems put into place to replace old systems. The change was relatively painless, and no buildings were harmed in the process (smile). It was really a change of heart and of mind, and a commitment to do right by kids.

The true revolutionary shift was from the old school model [time was the constant, learning was the variable] to the new model [learning is the constant, time is the variable].  Wow!

Anyone interested in building a new public education system (not a teaching system or a warehousing system or a prison system) must start by reading about how pioneers have done exactly that. You could start by reading about Alaska's Chugach School District and Colorado's Adams County School District 50. Or your read about the pioneering work on proficiency-based education (credit for proficiency) of Tamra Busch-Johnson and the Business Education Partnership's Credit for Proficiency Teacher Workshops in Oregon. I will be sharing more resources on this vital topic in upcoming blogs. And of course, that's what we've been doing at the Delphian School for more than 30 years — but enough about me!

If you want to know why Robert Crumley, superintendent of Chugach School District in Anchorage, Alaska, said this of his schools and school system — "We were standing on a platform that was burning out from under us" — start by reading the "Prisoners of Time" report from the National Education Commission on Time and Learning (published in April 1994, reprinted with a new introduction and examples in October 2005 by the Education Commission of the States). 

I'll be blogging more about proficiency-based education/credit for proficiency soon and providing additional resources. 

Remember: This isn't a fad. This is true education reform. More later!

—The assistant headmaster at Delphian School in Sheridan, Ore., Mark Siegel focuses on social studies, business/economics, science/technology and school information systems. Active in local, state and national public and private school affairs, Mark directs the Oregon Federation of Independent Schools and serves on the Council for American Private Education's board.

To read more blog entries by Mark Siegel, visit The Delphian School.