This morning's Times has a nice profile of Shael Polakow-Suransky, New York City School's new #2 (defined, oddly enough,?as ?the educational counterpart to Cathleen?P. Black, the businesswoman chancellor?). ? Among the highlights,
While?Black has given journalists polished answers that reveal little of her thinking, Mr. Polakow-Suransky offers context, distills each point that sustains his argument and summarizes his opinion at the end, a structure reminiscent of a book report. He can sometimes strain one's attention: one question during an interview elicited an answer 1,477 words long.
And this being the Times, we also now know how to pronounce the South African native's name:? Shale poh-LA-coe soo-RAN-skee.
Of most interest to educators, perhaps, is that the Brown University graduate who studied with Theodore Sizer, is a big believer in testing.? He would like better tests and more of them. ?To put it very simply,? he tells the Times, ?how do you know the kids are learning??
Good question.
?Peter Meyer, Bernard Lee Schwartz Policy Fellow
