Recently the Hoover Institute published twelve essays on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the release of A Nation at Risk, which flagged a “rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a Nation and a people” and birthed the modern education reform movement. One of the essays in the Hoover collection is by Cami Anderson, who reflects on her 2011-2015 superintendency of New Jersey’s largest school district, Newark. (Anderson is currently the founder and CEO of ThirdWay Solutions, which empowers organizations to “reflect the gifts and voices inherent in America’s racial, gender, and other diversity.”)

 In “Lessons from Newark: The Lineage of Modern School Reform and Where We Go Next,”  Anderson describes her efforts to “build a ‘system of great schools’ (not a great school system) for every Newark student.”

“Much has been written about the personalities and political drama in Newark during that time,” she continues, “but almost nothing has been written about the actual playbook and results. More importantly, I believe the reform efforts there still serve as useful examples to illustrate what is possible, what we should correct, and where we should go next.”

In a conversation with Anderson, I asked her if her experiences in Newark are analogous to the current “culture wars” in American schools. 

“I was struck by the level of political polarization in Newark and the competing agendas but now it feels universal with everyone leading into the fray,” she replied. “Folks on the ground who are trying to get things done are facing the same sort of adversity I faced there. How can we support individuals who are global change-agents and can solve problems for students? It seems as if extreme views are making it hard to achieve common-sense solutions.”

What does Anderson regard as her successes?

“We were able to find moments of relative consensus: well-built instructional materials, adherence to the science of reading, a common set of standards.  And we found the more we got the community invested, the better off we were. We worked to offer students a menu of different options: magnet schools, comprehensive schools, early learning centers, public charters. As a city and a school system we created a master plan to offer a diversity of options for families. 

You must think of a community  like Newark as a unit of change and build a coalition of folks, not a series of compromises to political factions. We had the right plan and went about it in a kid-centric, community-centric way, getting the key people invested. A state needs to create conditions that allow this to happen, making sure we protect leaders who are making hard decisions and setting big audacious goals for thorny issues that don’t have easy answers.  Anything that sounds easy isn’t going to work.”

In the essay, Anderson describes a four-pronged approach to creating a district that best serves students. 

People: “It’s critical to have the right people in the right seats, from the leadership team to the teachers to mental health professionals to custodial staff. No matter their role, every adult in the building must be equipped with the right mindsets and skill sets to uphold the mission and goals of the school.”

Content: “A high-quality school needs high-quality and culturally competent curricula. It also needs frameworks, protocols, and data that drive great instruction and continuous improvement. As computer programmers like to say, ‘Garbage in, garbage out.’ This ‘content’ ingredient is all about replacing that “garbage” content with engaging and carefully crafted content.”

Culture: “We know from research that schools with intentionally curated environments characterized by high standards alongside high support produce better student outcomes. Students learn healthy habits, and the school community has well-established values and expectations. Norms and protocols prevent incidents, and when incidents happen, adults minimize shame and exclusion to keep students learning. In these schools, there is joy and choice.”

Conditions: “This ingredient is all about strong operations and infrastructure. The building is clean, well equipped, and well run. The trains run on time. You have the facilities, management structures, and funds to support learning, and you have the funding, supplies, and technology to support all of the other ingredients of a high-quality school.”

Her chapter concludes with Recommendations for Systems Leaders.