“If you could redesign schools, what would you do?”

That had to be the best, most intriguing question a job application form ever handed me. I keep going back to it and playing with it. Mandy Manning’s post brought it up again. If we could start from scratch, what would we do?

Here are some ideas I’ve had over the years.

First of all, we need a lot more recess—supervised but unstructured, free play recess. A 15-minute break in the morning, a half-hour break at lunch, and a 15-minute break in the afternoon. That’s an hour of physical activity for the kids every day, which is exactly what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends. (Why do we stop recess at the end of elementary school? Do children suddenly stop needing physical activity or a mental break during the day?)

Second, we need a lot more art and drama and creative problem solving (like maker spaces). Things we used to have that have gotten squeezed out. If we want to stay competitive in the global market, we need to keep the part of the American educational system that was unique and attractive—our ability to develop creative thinkers. Ironically, the more we try to emulate homogeneous school systems from other nations in order to increase our scores on international tests, the more we are going to lose our edge.

I’ll tell you what I mean. I had a teacher from Japan visit my classroom. She was stunned at how eagerly my fifth grade students offered to leap up and do presentations. She told me none of her students would ever volunteer to present in class. She was impressed with the quality of the presentations.

As the kids walked out to recess, she went over to a display on my wall and asked, “What’s this?”

“Bloom’s Taxonomy,” I said. “You know what it is.”

She had never heard of it. Not in any of her education courses. So I explained it to her.

She nodded thoughtfully and said, “In Japan, we do this,” pointing to Knowledge and Comprehension.

I said, “Well, of course, everyone starts there. You have to. But then you do these,” and I pointed to the rest.

She said, “No, we do these,” pointing again to Knowledge and Comprehension. And she taught high school.

By the time we were done talking, she wanted to come teach in America.

Third, we need to rethink how we move kids through our system. I have a few suggestions.

Start with entrance into kindergarten. Parents can bring four-year-olds to registration. If they demonstrate that they are ready to start kindergarten, they are welcome to come in at that time. Some kids are ready by age four. Otherwise, they go home and wait until next year. In the same way, parents can bring five-year-olds to registration. If they demonstrate that they are ready to start kindergarten, they are welcome to come in at that time. After all, the majority of children will be ready at age five. Otherwise, they go home and wait until next year. Then we take any remaining six-year-olds the next year because they should be ready by age six.

Think how many students would have their needs better met simply by starting school in the year that is right for them. One keynote speaker I heard (I’m sorry I can’t remember the name) said the worst tracking we have in the US is by date of birth.

In kindergarten the teachers focus on social and emotional skills, team-building, cooperation, responsibility, independence, creativity. Reading readiness, math readiness, writing readiness.

Kindergarten lasts as long as it needs to last. Some students will finish in a matter of months (weeks? days?) and some will take a year and some will take longer. No one will freak out. We know that children develop at different rates and we accommodate their needs.

Once a child has completed the reading/math/writing readiness and the civilization process of kindergarten, they are ready to move to primary school, which is completely ungraded. There is no first, second or third grade. There are no report card grades and no grades on activities. At report card time, each teacher writes a single page narrative about each child detailing their progress in reading, writing, and math. Teachers also do fun and engaging science, health, and social studies units with their class, based on student interests. (In my world, the school library has a storage room filled with science, health, and social studies kits for all grade levels, ready for check out at any time.)

Finishing the academic demands of primary school could take a matter of months to multiple years. No one will freak out. We know that children develop at different rates and we accommodate their needs.

Now we move to intermediate school for fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. By now we have children of wildly disparate ages. That’s all right. They are all roughly at the same academic level. They will be assigned to a homeroom class based on their age (the better to meet their social/emotional needs). However, at some point during the day, they will each be moving to the math group that meets their needs, the reading group that meets their needs, and the writing group that meets their needs.

Intermediate school does get graded. I love standards-based rubrics for more subjective assessments like writing assignments and projects and oral presentations. I prefer percentage grades for objective assessments like math tests. “You got 8 out of 10 right. That’s 80%.” Here’s a radical thought—I would let teachers choose which type of assessments they use, even on report cards.

In junior high, students go into the math/science block they qualify for, based on their math scores, and they go into the English/social studies block they qualify for, based on their reading and writing scores.

I’ve never taught high school, so I will bow out and let others go from here.

I believe this system would revolutionize the way we do gifted programs and special education programs. In my system, students move through the grades at their own speed. Students can accelerate seamlessly. No one pulls students out for remediation because they are behind their age peers. The expectation is that they will move forward at their own pace.

Are there some students who will need additional help from the gifted department or the special education department? Of course. Students who are very advanced or those who are taking longer than the average student may need tutoring that the primary or intermediate teacher is not able to provide. In addition, any teachers who work with them will need training in how to meet their social and emotional needs.

Students who struggle will now have the gift of time. Currently, for example, there is a red line—every child must be reading by the end of third grade. And we march every child through the grades, willy-nilly. It’s nonsense. It puts enormous pressure on students and teachers, pressure that doesn’t need to be there. I remember another keynote speaker years ago who said that in Europe no one cares when a child learns to read. And eventually every child learns to read.

Schools around the world are getting innovative. What ideas are YOU kicking around?