School reform initiatives fall victim to quick fixes and piecemeal change time and again. Life in schools goes on as though surrounded by an impenetrable bubble. Public schools are facing an existential crisis. School systems have resisted top-down and institutionalized change for over 60 years. The dissonance between today’s world outside schools and the world inside the schools—the institutions most of us have experienced since we were five years old—is profound. Palo Verde School District is on its way from being a Closed System to an Open System. Participants will hear doable solutions to creating a learning environment that will increase student achievement for ALL students and help close the Achievement Gap.
