On Thursday, Theodore R. Sizer, considered the leader of education reform, passed away on Thursday of colon cancer. You can read more about it here.
Theodore Sizer, Founder and Chair Emeritus, Coalition of Essential Schools
Sizer was a former dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education before becoming headmaster of Philips Academy and later the chairman of education at Brown University.He did not approve of the up and coming state standards for schools, which focused on multiple-choice testing instead of focusing on the physical and academic environment of the schools.
He believed classrooms needed to be smaller and that schools needed to focus on the depth of studying so that students could pick up on key subjects. He also felt schools needed to have flexibility in order to be shaped by teachers, students, and local communities.
Sizer was also well-known as a writer, especially for his trilogy of an English teacher Horace. His first book of the series, “Horace’s Compromise,” written in 1984, brought about the creation of the Essential School movement, of which he is a founder of. He is also the founder and the first director of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University.
Reading, Writing, Reform! 