Dealing with the Stress of Change

Our district is in the middle of many change initiatives that are focused on developing a different accountability system for student learning. The drive is coming from the School Board and is fueled by everything they have been reading in "The World is Flat", "Disrupting Class", and more.

Although small task force groups have attempted to grapple with what needs to change with our current graduation requirements and grading system, the groups fall short of being able to make meaningful creative change recommendations. It is so hard for people to recommend a system change. It takes strength to stand up to collegues and say "I was part of this recommendation!"

So the forward thinking School Board makes the decisions for them and then are chastised as being "Top Down". A new position paper has recently been delivered for feedback from the teachers, parents, and students. It identifies desired changes in our current system and will have an impact on how teachers grade as well as what it will take for our students to graduate. We, of course, know that for a new system to actually happen, there needs to be teacher support but how can we find that middle ground without it taking years to implement?