| Quality schools, best described
in Dr. William Glasser's The
Quality School, The
Quality School Teacher, Choice
Theory, and Robert Sullo's Inspiring
Quality in Your School, are schools that intentionally
apply the ideas of Choice Theory, the practices of Lead Management and the process
of Reality Therapy throughout
the school.
While no two Quality Schools or Quality
classrooms would look alike, Dr. Glasser has enumerated certain
characteristics that they would share.
A Quality School would meet six
criteria:
- All discipline problems, not
incidents, will be eliminated in two years. A significant
drop should occur in year one.
- At the time the school becomes
a quality school, achievement scores on state assessment
tests should be improved over what was achieved in the past.
- TLC means that all grades below
competence, or what is now a B, will be eliminated. Students
will have to demonstrate competence to their teachers or
to designated teacher's assistants to get credit for the
grades or courses. All schooling** will be eliminated and
replaced by useful education.
- All students will do some quality
work each year - that is, work that is significantly beyond
competence. All such work will receive an A or higher grade.
This criterion will give hardworking students a chance to
show that they can excel.
- All staff and students will
be taught to use choice theory in their lives and in their
work in school. Parents will be encouraged to participate
in study groups to become familiar with choice theory. A
few of these groups will be led by teachers to start, but
parent volunteers will be asked to take the groups over
once they get started.
- It will be obvious by the end
of the first year that this is a joyful school.
** schooling is defined by two practices:
1) making students acquire knowledge that has no value for
anyone in the real world and 2) forcing students to acquire
knowledge that may have value in the real world, but nowhere
near enough value to force every student to learn it.
To The Quality Classroom
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