Forethought, The Silver Bullet

From Guest Blogger Candice DePrang

I heard it said recently, “There is no silver bullet.” And while Weldon denies that could be true for a certain program or specific initiative, he made something else very clear in his recent WaPo opinion article. He wrote,

“We must also consider how best to sustain health-care innovation that will serve tomorrow's patients.”

That’s forethought, and maybe it’s the silver bullet.

With the President’s allocation of $650M for an innovation and improvement fund in education as part of the ARRA, our nation could do just that – carefully allot stimulus funding to lay the groundwork for a permanent institute devoted to fostering innovative research that will lead to the accumulation of knowledge and what works.

“Tapping into the considerable expertise of their researchers could also dramatically increase the number and quality of studies.” This institute could promote valid research to develop innovative solutions to persistent problems of practice. It could provide leadership to the Nation, and then serve as a central location for disseminating the research so that it does impact instruction, and ultimately increase student achievement.

A well-designed knowledge and innovation institute, supported with sustainable funding and broad input, is essential for education reform, too. It’s responsibly spending the money today to build an infrastructure that strengthens our children’s future tomorrow.

That’s forethought, and maybe it’s the silver bullet.