As part of the Blaine County School District’s work with professional development speaker and trainer Jamie Vollmer, our parents and families have access to the full library of Schools Cannot Do It Alone Network Library videos!
You can find these resources below:
Preparing All Students to Thrive
A brief review of changes in the economy that demand that all children are prepared to succeed in a complex, rapidly changing society and global economy.
What About Bob?
Helping people in the community understand how they benefit from supporting their schools whether or not they have children in the system.
E Pluribus Unum – Part One
Explaining public education’s role in making good on America’s promise to create the one from the many.
E Pluribus Unum – Part Two
This clip provides the people of your community with a list of practical steps anyone can take to help you and your staff combat unwarranted criticism and build broad-based support for your schools.
The Ever-Increasing Burden on America’s Public Schools – Part One
This video is one of three based upon the information in Jamie’s famous poster chronicling the growth of mandate creep. It covers the years between 1900-1960.
The Ever-Increasing Burden on America’s Public Schools – Part Two
This video colorfully chronicles the growth of mandates from 1960 to 2000.
The Ever-Increasing Burden on America’s Public Schools – Part Three
This clip completes the animated presentation of mandate creep. Sharing this information widely opens the eyes of politicians, business and civic leaders and members of the general public - all are shocked to see just how many responsibilities have been shifted to the schoolhouse door.
The Privatization Game
A brief discussion of the misguided arguments and real costs associated with school choice.
The Blueberry Story
A live presentation of the acclaimed story of Jamie’s transition from public education critic to ally. Praised and applauded from coast to coast.
Myths and Misconceptions
A review of four principal reasons people believe public schools are failing with a step-by-step rebuttal of each. Jamie makes it clear that continuing to promote misconceptions about our schools is not only a waste of time and energy, it will most definitely not move us closer to the goal of unfolding the full potential of every child.
An Obstacle to Change: Nostesia
A companion piece to the discussion of myths and misconceptions. This clip addresses the tendency of people to believe that the schools of the past were superior to the schools of the present and how this tendency acts to retard meaningful progress toward our goals.
A Reason to Change – An Interview with Thomas Jefferson
A live discussion with a principal architect of America’s system of elementary and secondary education reveals a fundamental flaw: selecting and sorting young people for an America that no longer exists.
The Story of the Evolution of "Real School" Part one - The Agricultural Age
To challenge a pervasive – and archaic – mental model of the way school ought to be, Jamie begins a five-part story. It’s a story that puts so called real schools in context. Showing where they came from, how they evolved over time, and why they need to change today. This clip covers the period from 1640 to the first decades after the Civil War.
The Story of the Evolution of "Real School" Part two - The Industrial Age
Jamie continues the story about the evolution of America’s public schools picking up the narrative at the beginning of the Industrial age when factions of our ancestors engaged in a fierce battle to create a new model of "real school."
The Story of the Evolution of "Real School" Part three - The Industrial Age
The discussion of the ever-changing nature of America’s public schools continues chronicling the changes from the late 1880s to the early 1980s. Having triumphed over the social progressives, the administrative progressives build on the notion of schools as factories as their organizing metaphor.
The Story of the Evolution of "Real School" Part Four - The Knowledge Age
The analysis of the change nature of "real school" brings us to the dawn of the so called Knowledge Age – the era of unprecedented social, technological, and economic change that we now find all around us. Jamie examines how workplace changes are forcing our educators and their allies to transform a system of education that everyone understands but no longer serves the needs of the time.
The Story of the Evolution of "Real School" Part Five - The Knowledge Age
This final part of the story of "real school," begins back to the crossroads of change. Unlike our ancestors, we have three choices as we work to create new a model – one capable of preparing all children to succeed in a knowledge-based, techno-driven world.
A Record of Achievement
This clip begins with a review of the forces behind and the language of the 1983 federal report, A Nation At Risk. Jamie juxtaposes the dire warnings about the decline of America’s schools with a thirty year record of progress driven by the graduates of America’s public schools.
