Results of Brewster's reform efforts have been documented along the way and already indicate improvements with statistically significant gains in achievement, technology skills, student conduct, student retention, collaboration, college placement and faculty expertise and culture. Bain admits it has not been easy, but urges other schools to understand that this kind of reform is do-able. Bain said the most important question schools can ask themselves when contemplating reform is whether or not their efforts will be leveraged for better teaching and learning. By working together to leverage human capability through better teaching and learning, educators at Brewster have made significant changes occur. You have to give people the strategies, methods and tools to make the change happen.
School reform needs skilled change agents.
Brewster's team leaders, department heads and senior managers have worked to build that capability in remarkable ways. All schools don't need to be like Brewster, but they can share a powerful design methodology that leads to new and exciting environments where all students learn. Alan Bain Reformer, Technologist Associate headmaster of Brewster Academy, Alan Bain is also CEO and principal consultant for The Endeavor Group, a company he began to further his outreach agenda in the U.S. and overseas. He has held positions in the graduate school of the University of Western Australia and Lehigh University and earned his doctorate in education in 1987, having taught for five years at the secondary level in rural Australia. Even though there's a really powerful body of knowledge on teaching and learning, it still hasn't been translated into classroom practice consistently and sustainably.