Reforming education a lot harder than it looks

The average person might think: “Education isn't rocket science.” No, it's a good deal more difficult than that as it involves understanding and working with human beings. Billions of dollars and millions of hours from reformers have produced very little in the way of results because those reformers haven't actually spent much time in schools, learning about what makes learning different from other fields. “Unlike working educators, most leaders in the reform movement have never taught a five-period day, felt the joy of an unquantifiable classroom victory, lost instructional time to a standardized test, or been evaluated by a computer. And unlike the vulnerable students targeted by so much reform, most policy elites have not gone to school hungry, struggled to understand standard English, battled low expectations, or feared for their personal safety on the walk home.”