School Choice & Charters Blog

Independent Schools, Common Perspectives

Peter Gow was an administrator and teacher in independent schools for nearly 40 years. As the Executive Director of the Independent Curriculum Group, he wrote about the relationship between private and public education and how the two sectors might draw upon each other’s strengths. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: private schools.

Education Opinion Design Thinking Comes to Independent Schools
Design thinking dovetails neatly with STEM goals and unites the various precepts of "21st-century learning" with relevance and the fostering of creativity; it's also a perfect fit with the "maker" movement.
Peter Gow, March 13, 2013
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4 min read
Education Opinion Independent School Admissions: It's About the Kids, After All
Independent school teachers didn't ask for the process to be like this, and as much as some might relish the prospect of a carefully selected student body, they didn't mean for the selection to take on the trappings of the crazed college application process.
Peter Gow, March 11, 2013
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3 min read
Education Opinion School Rankings: Trash Talk About School Quality
The problem, and it's an even worse problem for public schools, "ranked" as they often are based on state testing, not programs, is that we are so enthralled by rankings. If Boston Magazine doesn't publish its list, whatever the methodology, the carpool caucus already has its own, based on who-knows-what?
Peter Gow, March 8, 2013
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3 min read
Education Opinion Public School Days: A Golden Age Past, But Why?
It blows my aging mind that we're still talking about making one year of kindergarten, much less two or more years of early childhood learning, into a national expectation.
Peter Gow, March 6, 2013
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3 min read
Education Opinion My Charter School Dilemma
The initial charter impulse was a good one, and it shouldn't be lost--but it shouldn't succeed at the expense of the generality of public schools it was meant to inspire.
Peter Gow, March 4, 2013
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4 min read
Education Opinion Independent-Public School Partnerships: Evolving Paradigm, Huge Potential
The real paradigm shift is for independent schools to start viewing themselves--and encouraging themselves to be regarded--as community resources that public schools might draw upon in specific ways, as they do with public libraries, cultural institutions, or museums. The trick will be to develop the partnership idea to the point that the resource role is baked into independent schools' understanding of their own missions and of their public purpose.
Peter Gow, March 1, 2013
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3 min read
Education Opinion What Do Independent School Educators Think About?
If we're going to claim the privilege of independence and charge a pretty penny, I think we're obliged to work to a very, very high standard.
Peter Gow, February 27, 2013
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3 min read
Education Opinion Advanced Placement: Growing, But Good Enough?
This is not to say that the AP is perfect, or even to suggest that pretty good is good enough. Well trained teachers, given freedom and support, are clearly able to create truly exciting, demanding courses. We see this every day in the great work teachers do with students too young for AP classes.
Peter Gow, February 25, 2013
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3 min read
Education Opinion Christina Seix Academy: An Independent School Like No Other
At their most aspirational, independent schools are intentional communities based on defined values; these values are often pitched high.
Peter Gow, February 22, 2013
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3 min read
Education Opinion Independent Schools, Independent Teachers: Freedom and Responsibility
Catching up with our public school counterparts, lots of independent schools talk about creating professional cultures, even professional learning communities or "communities of practice." It's about damn time, and mercifully little talk of "value-added" models.
Peter Gow, February 19, 2013
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3 min read
Education Opinion I Am an Independent School Teacher--Why?
I am confident that I am in a place whose kids aren't all that different from most of those at suburban high schools around the country. They do homework, play sports, hang out with friends, play video games--what kids do.
Peter Gow, February 17, 2013
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3 min read
Education Opinion Independent Schools and Public Schools--Is There a Common Perspective?
I am not alone in wishing that the public and independent school communities, sundered by history and economics, might better understand each other.
Peter Gow, February 15, 2013
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3 min read
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