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| Click here to buy Making Equity WorkForewordBy Douglas B. Reeves*
Mental models can be prisons or sources of liberation. Dr. Stacy Scott reminds us that this choice is up to us. Drawing upon wisdom from the worlds of organizational research in education, business, psychology, and nonprofit enterprises, he requires us to consider the chasm between preconception and reality. In the provocative, challenging and practical pages that follow, every reader will be required to confront the difference between a mental model that places us at the periphery with unalterable forces influencing every choice, and a model that places us at the center with the opportunity for profound influence on every element in the system. We must, Dr. Scott insists, choose between becoming victims or victors. Many books consider the themes of equity, data analysis, and leadership. What makes this book a significant contribution? First, Dr. Scott elevates data over delusion. Obvious? Unfortunately not. Whether the context is national policy or the classroom, the “fact-free debate” is the norm, not the exception. Wander from one section of the bookstore to another and on every shelf you see that superficiality, platitudes and pontification trump facts. When you find a writer who allows truth to interfere with preconception, cherish each word. Second, the reader of this book is treated to multiple perspectives rather than myopia. Although the focus of the present volume is education, Dr. Scott’s training as a psychologist and his experience in business and nonprofit organizations informs every page of the text. This is not another book of war stories, recalling the good old days which, when we must confront the facts, are typically more old than good. This book brings a rich variety of experiences and a vast array of research to a complex subject. We are not given simplistic answers, but a series of challenging questions. Third, we are rewarded with rigorous, practical solutions to complex leadership challenges. While the author does not patronize us with platitudes, neither does he leave us with the typically frustrating array of imponderable challenges. Dr. Scott insists that essential questions have essential answers, including intervention strategies that are uncomfortable but necessary. The book is worthy of thorough study by administrators, teachers and anyone else who cares deeply about public education. In particular, the sections on goal setting and measurement have enormous practical value. For any group struggling with paralyzing belief systems, the chapters on the interrelationship between beliefs, preconceptions, attitudes and professional practices will be particularly compelling. Finally, for any classroom, school, or system that is using the language of “gaps” in its analysis, Dr. Scott reminds us that the gap is not a fixture of nature, but a creation of our own making, one for which we must take personal responsibility. Readers who prefer the comfort of passivity will be profoundly challenged; those who relish the opportunity to make a difference will find encouragement. I have known and admired Stacy Scott for more than a decade, so it may be that my review of this volume is prejudiced, in the truest sense of that term. I have “pre-judged” his work because I see it through the lens of his distinguished professional history. Seeing him work first-hand in some of the nation’s most complex urban school systems, I was able to witness his calm, methodical approach to issues that propelled others into chaos, frustration and dismay. I have seen him bring a fractious audience to silence with a gesture. And I have read the reports from teachers and leaders across the country who testify to the transformative power that Dr. Scott’s ideas, words, and seminars have had on them. I hope that the pages that follow will have the same effect on you.
Douglas Reeves Swampscott, Massachusetts
* Dr. Reeves is the Chairman and C.E.O. of the Center for Performance Assessment. He is the author of 18 books and has twice been named to the Harvard University Distinguished Authors Series. He recently won the Parent’s Choice Award for his writing for students and parents. |
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• Last modified: 08/22/06Send mail to webmaster@makingequitywork.com with questions about this site.Copyright © 2006 Center for Understanding Equity |
