In his new book Creative Schools, Sir Ken Robinson offers a roadmap to parents, educators and administrators on how to transform the way our schools work, highlighting schools around the world that have already begun this process and giving practical examples of what works.
One of the schools Robinson profiles is Smokie Road Middle School in Newnan, Georgia, which had the odds stacked against it with consistently low academic achievement ratings and a high poverty level. When a new principal arrived and focused on the everyday needs of each individual student and strove to meet those needs by prioritizing what the student found to be important - she had dramatic results and saw improvement on every level.
Creative Schools shows that by focusing first on the students and teachers, not test scores, schools can evolve into the organic, personal learning environments they deserve to be. Sir Ken Robinson is a leader in the development of creativity, innovation, and human potential. For twelve years, he was professor of education at the University of Warwick in the UK and is now professor emeritus.