Annenberg Foundation and Annenberg Institute for School Reform
2002
The Annenberg Foundation and Annenberg Institute for School Reform recently issued this self-congratulatory celebration of "lessons learned" from the $500 million "Annenberg Challenge" program launched in 1993. It's a gushy 60-page recap of truisms and earnest inside-the-box notions about education reform ("every child benefits from high expectations," "schools need lots of allies to do this work," "professional development holds the key to better schools," "schools need strong leadership," etc.) from which you're not apt to learn anything you didn't already know except that the Annenberg folks evidently felt a powerful need to assert themselves in the face of criticism (some of it by us) that all this money has left few footprints. It seems they're content with fingerprints or, perhaps, leafprints. Should you want to see our skeptical appraisal of what the Annenberg Challenge produced in three major cities, surf to http://www.edexcellence.net/detail/news.cfm?news_id=41. Should you want to see our ideas about more effective education-reform philanthropy, go to http://www.edexcellence.net/publications/index.cfm?topic=22. Should you want to see this harmless but self-serving exultation by the Annenbourgeoisie, go to http://www.annenbergchallenge.org/.
