First, Do No Harm

By Peter Hlebowitsh

Although the pledge to “first, do no harm” is not officially a part of the Hippocratic oath, many physicians still live by it. The phrase, quite literally, represents a first principle of professional medical care. It means that the physician must first contemplate any potential detriment that an intervention might produce before having any confidence in its viability. In determining the merit of a medical intervention, the doctor balances the probability of harm against the probability of benefit. It is a smart way to frame the debate for an intervention and represents a healthy humility about the possibilities of success.

Unfortunately, school reformers and legislators have no equivalent obligation to weigh harm when fashioning school-based interventions. The result is a general failure to perform due diligence in advancing school improvement initiatives, leaving the schools with reform projects that carry unexamined potential to produce harm. The sad reality is that when it comes to school reform, the cure can be, and sometimes is, more harmful than the ailment it addresses.

In light of the upcoming reauthorization of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the time is right for legislators to find their critical sensibilities and to, at a minimum, make no new authorizations without first deliberating over whether their initiatives might...