To the Reader:

Anyone in field of education at this time, particularly public education, must show strong resolve in the face of constant criticism from political and public sources.  America’s public schools are not perfect, but we provide students with opportunities no other institutions can match.  Our schools are open to all students, regardless of background, race, learning ability, or socio-economic class.  Public schools are better equipped than any other institution to deal with the diversity that walks in the door each day.

Communities have poured their own resources into public schools and have a vested interest in their success.  Teachers have devoted their careers to the education of the students in these communities.  So what is the problem anyway?

Over the past few years, much research has gone into identifying the different generations currently living in America.  These generations have been titled as follows, beginning with current school-age children and reaching to their great-grandparents: Millenials, Generation X’ers, Baby Boomers, and the Traditionalists.  It is likely obvious to most educators that the Millenials are different from previous generations.  That is not a value judgment; for good or ill, they are simply different.

Add into the mix that teachers working with these students come from four different generations and we begin to see the challenges facing public education.  A system that was once set up as a factory to “mass produce” thousands of students with the same skills must now be tweaked to meet the needs of the 21st Century.  And schools are not alone in this; the “typical” American workplace is changing rapidly as well.  It is easy to understand the panic of the business community regarding education in America.

With the changing workplace, the system of education that was adequate in the past no longer provides the skills needed by the 21st century worker.  That should suggest to fellow public school educators that we need to adjust how we do our business.

This book is about how Goshen High School is changing the way we do our business.  Our focus is improving the rigor of our coursework and helping more students succeed within these increased expectations through creating a personalized environment.  We have chosen to pursue this end through what we call a “School of One” initiative, which simply means that we think our students will excel in our system if each student feels himself/herself to be a significant part of our school.  Students have always gotten lost in the shuffle, but this no longer is acceptable if students are to improve academic performance.

In this book, you will read some detail about this process from both the administration and the teaching staff.  We do not work in a vacuum, nor do our students.  We, like thousands of other schools, are simply doing our best to succeed in the real and changing world of public education.  We have made some positive changes and we want to share those changes with the dual hopes of sparking discussion in the education community and continuing our own growth.  Nothing could suit us better than sitting together and sharing ideas with educators from all types of schools all over the nation.

This book is a team effort just like the changes we have made.  It is about successes and failures, but mostly it is about a bunch of dedicated teachers doing what they can to provide the best experiences possible for students.  Nothing was done in a week, or a year for that matter; changes have occurred over a period of time.  The key is that the changes are being applied to a learning model that governs all we do, and therein carries our message.

We are working at two things: improving student performance and enhancing teacher skill.  This is all we will ever do.  It is difficult to determine which comes first, student performance or teacher skill because they are so intertwined.  We have included organization efforts that are general at best, along with departmental and individual teacher efforts.  Sharing our stories has been a joy.

Jim Kirkton, Principal

Goshen High School

401 Lincolnway East

Goshen, IN  46526