Sunday, May 26, 2013

Students helping each other will improve our schools


Letter to the Editor - Wisconsin State Journal

It was refreshing to learn that Madison’s new Superintendent Jennifer Cheatham has an entry plan that includes citizen input on how Madison can best improve its low graduation performance. I would like to ask the Superintendent to consider that Madison adopt a district-wide community ethic of “all for one and one for all.” This would involve an explicit shared intention between both the teaching staff and the student body that teaching and learning is a joint enterprise.

Together the faculty and the student council might adopt a goal of increasing their class’ promotion and graduation rates. Joint meetings could be held between faculty and students to brainstorm how best to help all students succeed. Meritorious academic student achievement would require that students help their fellow students.

Students could pair up and sign learning pacts with one another. Students could volunteer as tutors for various subjects. Others could prepare and deliver homework and pre-exam reviews. Fundamentally the purpose would be to more intentionally empower all the students to share their knowledge and passion for learning with their peers. Once established such a school culture will benefit all students both academically and socially.

William R. Benedict
Madison

Crossing the rubicon