Comments for Andrea Gabor

Comment on Why I Tried…and Failed…to Fire Verizon–Trauma in Telecom Land by Trauma in Telecom Land, Part 2 | Andrea Gabor

Trauma in Telecom Land, Part 2 | Andrea Gabor — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 04:18:46 +0000

[...] a recent blog post, “Why I Tried…and Failed…to Fire Verizon”, I described the systemic [...]

Comment on Why I Tried…and Failed…to Fire Verizon–Trauma in Telecom Land by jmraventos

jmraventos — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:19:17 +0000

What a nightmare !!! It confirm me that the problems with telecom companies are worldwide. In Spain, where I’m living, the poor service of the Internet and phone companies is the cause of more than the 70% of the complaints arriving into the Consumers Associations.
All those problems have the same root causes: the design of the work based in flawed assumptions like economy of scale (front office-back-office), incentives, targets, etc…typical of command and control mindset.

Comment on Education-Technology Lessons from School of One and An Old Tracy-Hepburn Film… by What do the Freakonomics authors have in common with the education reform movement? | Books at fanseyeview.com

Sun, 25 Dec 2011 12:26:00 +0000

[...] Gabor discusses SO1 in her blog: Education-Technology Lessons from School of One and An Old Tracy-Hepburn Film… School of One planned to double in size in the 2011/2012 school year. But in March, shortly after [...]

Comment on About Andrea’s Blog by aagabor

aagabor — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:19:48 +0000

A belated thank you for your kind post. You are so right about the importance of understanding interlinked processes especially in complex systems.

Comment on How A Decade-Long Literacy Obsession Transformed Brockton High by Karl Androes

Karl Androes — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 02:59:07 +0000

Absolutely! Systems matter. Teachers matter. Not because there are some “born great” teachers but because lots of teachers can get it done – given the right support and systems.

Comment on How A Decade-Long Literacy Obsession Transformed Brockton High by aagabor

aagabor — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 23:33:05 +0000

It’s worth noting, though, that the turnaround was achieved with the cooperation of the same teachers who taught at the school when it was “failing”. Undoubtedly there were some very good teachers and some not-so-great teachers. But what made the difference was a change in the system. This is not a story about “good” or “bad” teachers, but about the importance of culture, good management and leadership.

Comment on How A Decade-Long Literacy Obsession Transformed Brockton High by karlandroes

karlandroes — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 21:19:54 +0000

Great case study, Andrea! Thank you for doing it and sharing here. So much better than the usual “Poverty is the only thing that matters. All teachers are the same, none good none less-good. Don’t expect anyone to be able to move these students because they’re poor.” I get so tired of that stuff, especially when I see just the opposite every day in my own work experience. Teachers matter! Systems matter. Deciding to make a difference as a whole school of adults matters! Thank you!
P.S. Do you know the story of Kennewick, Washington and what they achieved there, in this same category of turnaround schools?

Comment on How A Decade-Long Literacy Obsession Transformed Brockton High by Karl Androes

Karl Androes — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 19:58:15 +0000

Terrific case story! So much better than claims we all hear too often that basically say “poverty is ALL that matters and all teachers are the same, so stop expecting teachers to make a difference in poor students’ performance”. This case says “nonsense”! Thank you, Andrea! By the way, have you heard or read the story of the whole district of Kennewick, Washington doing this same kind of turnaround? That’s a very inspiring story, also. If you want, I can point you to helpings of that story, too.

Comment on About Andrea’s Blog by aagabor

aagabor — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 16:05:13 +0000

Dear Thomas–Thanks so much for your kind words and your insights into the problems of safety culture. Please let me know if you ever run across a problem you think needs to be brought to the public’s attention…

Comment on Education-Technology Lessons from School of One and An Old Tracy-Hepburn Film… by Thomas Smith

Thomas Smith — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 13:07:44 +0000

This sounds like something Bill Gates would design. The true value of eduction is to build a love of learning that lasts a life time. I see nothing in this process that does that. It is just another example of people trying to improve something by making things more efficient. It’s great to help students learn about things they enjoy but that leads to them focusing on one area. Too many engineers have never read Moby Dick and too many liberal arts majors haven’t a clue what an algorithim is. This kind of teaching would never make that happen.