Through AIMS first 15 years, education policy has been a key driver of our research. Our annual Report Card on Atlantic Canadian High Schools has changed the way people think about education and student performance. We have consistently talked about the importance of testing and accountability and school choice in education reform.
So it is not surprising that AIMS invited the ‘Education Governor’ Jeb Bush to speak at our 15th anniversary dinner in Moncton. This Commentary, Choice Works: Educating our way to self-sufficiency, is based those remarks. Jeb Bush served as the 43rd governor of Florida and through his two terms championed major and successful education reform.
In this Commentary, Bush explains how Florida raised academic standards, required accountability in public schools and created the most ambitious school choice program in the nation. More students in Florida are now reading, writing and doing math and science on or above grade level. More high school seniors are earning a diploma and fewer students are dropping out. Florida’s third through 10th grade students are outscoring 60-70 percent of their peers in all other states in both reading and math.
This Commentary, based on his remarks, provide five steps to education reform, steps that reflect AIMS’ years of research on education policy.
To read the complete Commentary, click here.
Since leaving office after the maximum two terms, Governor Bush established the Foundation for Excellence in Education. The Foundation’s programmes identify, quantify, reward and foster replication of excellence in education.
And as Governor Bush himself said, “Reform is never finished and success is never final. A perpetual cycle of reform will lead to sustained improvement for the long-term.”
