I took away a few different points from Kennedy's book. I think she would agree with some of the points made in this blog entry, including the fact that policymakers don't understand how to educate students - particularly low-income students - and reforms that are approved in general assembly chambers rarely make it to the implementation stage in the nation's classrooms. I also think she would agree that a uniform effort at educational reform simply wouldn't be beneficial given the drastic differences inherent in schools all across the country. I do believe that she would say that there are some common causes that unite teachers in their concerns to be able to accomplish the goals that are set for them (i.e. giving teachers time to organize and reflect on lesson plans, being able to keep a class on task for fear of losing lesson momentum, the different interruptions that are expected through the course of the day) but I also don't think that Mary Kennedy would say that successful education reforms at a struggling urban school in a section of New York City or Chicago would be just as successful with a school facing challenges in rural Indiana or Kentucky. I do think most people, though, would agree with the iconic image of "the struggling/failing urban school" has become the image most associated with the nation's education system, and politicians and other policymakers have really exploited it.

This is an interesting New York Times article on school resegregation. The reporter uses stats about the schools citywide and compares it to the situation at the charter school analyzed, before going into the experiences of individual teachers and students at the school to show some of the issues and complexities of urban schools that are segregated by race.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

In reviewing videos on You-tube, I saw this RSA Animate video. I know little of the background of the speaker, though I have seen one such Animation project before, which provided some tremendous food for thought. In this video, elements of speaker Ken Robinson's speech are animated to provide greater insight into his discussion. He talks about the flawed concept of basing educational reforms on an antiquated system that is centuries old and created to serve a purpose much different than the current needs we're striving to fill today. While he brings up multiple points during the 11-minute speech (I know little of ADHD, let alone enough to speculate on his assertions about the topic), his aspects of educational systems worldwide do bring up valid points in considering how best to proceed with effective reforms.