Models for School Improvement

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Successful Educational Environments

We are a society of individuals striving for the ideal education. Unfortunately, too many of our children are not receiving that ideal education. Many would probably argue that an increasing number of today's young children are inadequately educated by their academic institutions, and public elementary schools in the urban setting are most often their target as more and more of them become labeled due to poor performance. The challenges facing urban school reform are manifold. Educators and researchers are continuously searching for methods to overcome these challenges.

Therefore, it makes sense that reform movements focus on approaches for the creation of more effective schools. Models of successful educational environments can provide solutions to the problems facing urban communities. Can these models come from the observation and study of another culture - past and present? Can we gather knowledge from another culture and use it to evaluate how our society views schooling, how our school administrators manage and supervise, how we share authority at the school level, how our teachers are motivated to teach, and how our students are motivated to learn?

This practice domain looks at specific aspects of ancient and modern Greece that reveal ways in which schools in the urban setting can be improved. It investigates parallels between Greek culture and our own, while highlighting those elements of Greek culture that could serve as models to inspire positive change within our own educational practices and beliefs.

Ideas for Improvement	Building Strong Learning Communities: What role does school-based management play in school reform? What role do parents and community members play in school-based management? Can it help us build stronger learning communities? How can those with authority empower other individuals to become involved? How can administrators help teachers to help students learn? How could aspects of Greek culture impact schooling in an urban environment? What elements of Greek life are helpful to us?
Models for Practice	Using Public Space as an Open Forum: How can positive change be invoked? What useful parallels exist between our culture and Greek culture? What does public space mean to the Greeks? Can connections be made between the ancient Greek agora and site-based management? Can conversations surrounding education take place in an open forum? What can we learn by studying the Greek agora, the Greek concept of the propylaea, and Greek literature?
Artifacts	Growing from Positive Change: Are more effective schools built from successful models? Can end results show the appearance of positive differences in education? What would those changes look like? Can models from Greek life be developed to show successful change?

Stephanie Sabatino was a graduate student in the Educational Administration Program at New York University. These pages were created based on her interest in issues of educational reform and travels throughout Greece.