Pacts: the Coalition for Change: How One District's Effort to Change Could Help You Build a Better School

Publisher Marketing: "PACTS: The Coalition for Change" offers a case study chronicling the efforts of one urban high school district in Northern California to change its curriculum. It quantifies surveyed responses solicited from parents, administrators, curriculum leaders, teachers, and students in the district. It also assesses their level of agreement on issues relating to mathematics reform. These agents of change constitute the PACTS Coalition. As a group, they generally agree that mathematics is a tough subject and that it should be fun; however, their level of agreement vacillates when the investigation turns to issues such as ability level grouping, the incorporation of diversity, and the question of inclusion. In general, members of the alliance believe that the effect of reform efforts has been deleterious to the overall quality of mathematics education at their school site and in the district. Many respondents cite poor communication, ineffectual leadership, and a lack of direction as chief deterrents to effective mathematics reform; additionally, most agree that cohesion, unity, and morale among the mathematics staff in the district have suffered as a result. Author Bill Collins shows that the varying perspectives of the PACTS Coalition is key to recognizing the complexity of educational issues while revealing the vision needed for lasting education reform. Contributor Bio:  Collins, Bill Bill Collins is currently a semi-retired wedding photographer. He was formerly a full time pro weddings-only photographer serving the Indianapolis-Cincinnati-Dayton, Ohio regional wedding markets, with 45-years experience as a wedding photographer. Bill was born in Connersville, Indiana and graduated from CHS in 1963, with almost double the number of credits required to graduate, while managing to skip his Junior year. He was a top wedding photographer in Connersville for over twenty years. In the 1980s, he moved to Richmond, Indiana, where he owned and operated Bill Collins Photography, at 315 NW L Street, for more than a quarter of a century. During the final fifteen years of his career, he only photographed weddings, averaging a wedding a week year around, by serving mostly big city brides throughout Indiana, Western Ohio and Northern Kentucky. Bill was formerly a Professional Photographers of America member for many years, who studied at Winona International School of Professional Photography, which is owned by the PPA. He received training by several of the top Master Photographers in the United States throughout his career, in order to make sure his style and abilities were always up to date. Bill is currently living in Greens Fork, Indiana, with Sue, his wife of many years, and their two pet cats.