This seems ridiculous. In this system, teachers went through training and California Standards were set for what part of these kids' education exactly?

I am encouraged to see the MV-Whisman district commit to engaging students in the process of building character and learning how to learn at a personal level that will last for a lifetime. Gaining system-wide alignment between administrators, teachers, parents, and students on vision, goals, and the process of learning will increase the possibility of superior results. The 'whims of children' will be managed by professional educators willing to appreciate that actually listening to their students can inform them of barriers to improvement. Anyone who views the video about CI provided at the MVWSD.ORG website should be able to tell that those involved in the program are excited about its possibilities. Congratulations to Dr. Ghysels and the Whisman board for their initiative to take the district far beyond what California Standards and No Child Left Behind can ever hope to achieve.

In my years of involvement with public education, I have repeatedly heard people say that the schools need to function more like private business. Yet when they use terms more common to business, panic ensues. Can't win for trying. I think the CI model is not going to have kids dictating how the teacher teaches and what they learn; what I think it may do is help kids feel like they have some input into what will help them learn best. The teacher is still in charge, but under the CI model, the teacher will be listening to what the students have to say about their learning environment. Many teachers--in my experience, the better ones--have always listened to the students. (Not the same thing as letting them run the show!) This is just a more formalized process for that. I think CI could be very good; and in the worst case, I don't think it will do any harm.

I couldn't agree more with Parent, Waverly Park. That is so true. I think the responsibility should be put on the student to perform at their best and the teacher is there to instruct and guide them through the process. That's the job of the teacher. If the student wants to succeed, then they have to take on an active role to make it happen. It's a two way street. Teachers and students must work together as a team.

in the end, EVERYONE does better if they own their "job". This may very well be true here. By actively participating in how their educational experience is formed, they may feel more applied to it.