New from Harvard Education Press
A call to action for school and community leaders to reframe educational institutions as open systems that are adaptable and responsive to the needs of students, families, and communities.
The book is the result of years of working with community leaders from across the country to build a shared discipline for how to open up systems to the communities they serve.
The book highlights real-life examples of the types of incremental, specific, and discrete projects that leaders can use to create openness in educational systems at the school, district, and state levels, providing a blueprint for changemaking.
Despite decades of well-meaning reform efforts, educators remain frustrated that we have not met our promise of better and more equitable outcomes for our students. It is refreshing to read a breakthrough piece that has the potential for dramatic systemic improvement. The book brings hope supported with direction. It is a must-read for education leaders. — Gene Wilhoit, former executive director, Council of Chief State School Officers, and founder, Center for Innovation in Education
The Open System is a rare combination of concrete, practical strategies on how school systems can much more effectively work together with families and communities to improve policies and outcomes, and ambitious, idealistic arguments for how these strategies can help bolster our democracy. — Hanseul Kang, assistant dean and Anita and Joshua Bekenstein ’80 B.A. Executive Director, The Broad Center at the Yale School of Management