Education Crisis Is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Yong Zhao is a Foundation Distinguished Professor in the School of Education at the University of Kansas and a professorial fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Health and Education Policy at Victoria University in Australia. Trina E. Emler is a doctoral candidate and a multidisciplinary research assistant at the University of Kansas and an international education consultant for YEE Education. Anthony Snethen is a doctoral candidate at the University of Kansas and a middle school English teacher. Danqing Yin is a doctoral student and a first-year experience instructor at the University of Kansas.

• ContentsAcknowledgments viiIntroduction Entrepreneurship and Personalizable Education 2“Yes, but . . .” 3“Yes,  and . . .” 4Plan of the Book 61. Radical Changes Led by Students 9A Great School Invented by a Group of Unhappy Students 9The Independent Project in Practice 10Children Are Capable 16Students Desire Autonomy: Deschooling Education 19Get Out of the Way  222. Radical Changes in the Classroom 25Teaching Without a Rudder 25The Teacher Who Used to Hate School 29The Teacher Who Accidentally Created a Miracle 31A 19-Hour Drive Starts a Global Enterprising Educator  34Challenge the Status Quo 363. Radical Changes in Broken Schools 39A Crisis Is a Terrible Thing to Waste 39Challenging the Grammar of Schooling 42Learning Entrepreneurship Skills with a Safety Net 49Out with the Old, in with the New: Taking on the Challenges 534. Radical Changes in Successful Schools 57New Measures of Success 58Why Good Schools Change 60How Good Schools Change 62A Challenge for All Good Schools 775. Radical Changes Within Networks of Schools 79Banding Together to Leverage Change 79The Annesley Remaking  80The Rudolph Group: Networked to Innovate 82The Prisoner’s Dilemma and Possible Solutions 89Challenging the Education Norm of Isolated Institutions 926. Radical Changes from Outside 95Support for Students and Teachers from Real-World Scholars 95Bringing Entrepreneurship to the Classroom 98The Magic Is Not in the Money 101What Works 103Collaboration Is Key 105Student-Centered, Student-Run 107What Happens When Teachers Say, “Yes,  and” 1107. “Yes, and . . .”  113Characteristics of Changes and Change Makers Needed in Education 113The Changes 113Change Can Happen Anywhere 121Characteristics That Spark Ignition 122Creating a Culture of “Yes, and” 126References  131Index 139About the Authors 151

“Zhao has, again, written an education book that one cannot put down. He has a profound ability to describe how the world is changing, and that schools should as well.”—Larry Rosenstock, CEO, High Tech High“This is a must-read for school teams seeking seeds of proven success that will ignite truly transformative change.”—Grant Lichtman, internationally recognized thought leader and author