The problem with reporting on education as 'stories' is that a lot of information that would get in the way of the narrative is hidden from view. This article profiles the Norris School District in Wisconsin, founded by the grandson of "Wisconsin's richest man" and today described as embodying as "a complex system of interdependent principles whose elements and practices help empower the structure as a whole." It's the usual: student profiles, competency-based learning, community placements, etc. But look a little more closely. At this sentence, for example: "Many of its students are adjudicated youth who have been assigned to a nearby residential treatment center." They're prisoners! The school district is also 94% male students, but (surprisingly) 18% from low-income families, and has a graduation rate of 42%. There's an 8:1 student-teacher ratio, an average teacher salary of $200K, and the school receives revenue of $200K per student. None of this shows up in the article, a puff piece by Sam Chaltain (who should know better) that tells a very different story. What's happening in Wisconsin? We don't know, even after reading this piece. We should not see it as an example of the future of learning, though.
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