The Counterinstance of Lasting Reform As we move forward into the 21st century, school reform is once again being promoted as the solution to the system's failure to educate our children. The reform suggested now is dramatic and sweeping systemic change. Evidence of the stress this movement has created appears in our daily newpapers as education reporters describe thch local school's struggle to integrate the latest reform strategies. Access to the Internet is an answer to today's educational crisis. When teachers are given access, the Internet will penetrate the school walls that isolate them from each other and their students from students around the world.
Online access brings ideas, instructional methods, resources, and materials into the classroom.
When the Internet becomes as common as the chalkboard in classrooms, the moment of counterinstance will be at hand and America will witness the greatest educational reform since John Dewey introduced the concept of public education. A counterinstance is the moment when new shared beliefs replace old beliefs. By definition, a counterinstance is preceded by years of collected data, emotional disagreements, frequent activities for consensus-building, and experiential sharing. Over the last 30 years, reform movements in education have prepared the nation for a counterinstance. The years of argument about scientific discovery in education, with communities divided and functioning with old beliefs, continue today in America's diverse school systems.