Monday, November 24th, 2003
THE FUTURE OF ANY STATE IS THE EDUCATION OF ITS YOUTH
I realize things have been quiet in terms of posting lately but one reason for the dearth was that I was attending a seminar with a premier educational theorist and consultant, Dr. Roger Taylor. I left thoroughly impressed with his ability to synthesize and aggregate a number of research proven methods with a very rich degree of content depth – E.D. Hirsch or William Bennett would have nothing to complain about in looking at Dr. Taylor’s system yet paradoxically neither would an academic on the other end of the spectrum like Howard Gardner.
Now educational consultants are a dime a dozen – heck, I’ve been an educational consultant on more than one occasion – and the fact that city school districts or state boards of education have hired Taylor alone doesn’t mean his system is valid. Nor does the interest of the Gates foundation or McDonald’s corporation in funding his pilot projects justify my recommendation to you to go check out his website and view his sample programs. Here’s what impressed me – he walks the walk.
* Roger Taylor has taught in an inner city Chicago High School for the last 18 years- for free
* 100 % of his students are classified as Title I. Most are eligible for free breakfast and lunch – meaning that many are quite poor. Some are orphaned, technically homeless or in group homes.
* 88 % percent of Taylor’s students this year – the same students who we hear are unteachable, distracted, lost, at-Risk – passed the prestigious and very tough AP exams. Some will go on to the nation’s finest universities in the fall.
This pass rate is, by the way, a national record.
Dr. Taylor has refused to sell his website or program to commercial entities even for an offer in the seven figures, opting instead to remain a nonprofit and pursue the grant funding required to eventually be able to give away his materials to any school who desires them for free.
