Dough Johnson "Conspiracy Theory"

Doug Johnson and I have gotten into quite a discussion about his post, "Conspiracy Theory," in which he considers the slow/nonexistant nature of educational reform in the U.S. Read Doug's original article here. Last night, I sent him the following email, which he's asked to post on his blog. (I said sure.)


Hi Doug,
>
> In your comment to Diane you mentioned the fact that the medical field
> evolves with innovation.
>
> There's another way to think about school innovation than no
> innovation occurring. In their book on the history of American school
> Tyack and Cuban point out that lots of little innovations have taken
> place. But these innovations did not effect the core processes of
> schooling or the interactions that take place between teacher and
> students. Perhaps we could argue that on the one hand there is too
> much innovation in American schools, every half decade brings a new
> practice or strategy. The problem is that these new practices are rarely well researched or thoughtfully directed.
> They are then given up as soon as the next one comes along.
>
> In medicine it often takes a lot longer for innovations to stretch from
> the laboratory to the doctor's office. There's a lot more testing and
> retesting. But once these innovations reach the practitioner they have
> some level of credibility and are not quickly dispensed with.
>
> If medical innovations were more like educational innovations, doctors
> would not wash their hands between patients in even numbered years.
>
> Just some thoughts.
>
>
> Andy