Killer Innovations: reblog

In today's Wall Street Journal, Chris Whittle (registration required) makes a compelling appeal for a disruptive approach to education. Whittle--the CEO of Edison Schools--argues that the United States needs a national-level R&D effort to address the problems of primary and secondary education. Whittle asks:

So where are our national policy makers? Where are the Bell Labs, Xerox Research Parks, Ford Test Tracks, Strategic Defense Initiatives and NASAs of education? Why is America so slow to arrive at the inevitable conclusion that schools are a national security priority -- and that federal funding of R&D investment in them would serve as, shall we say, Homeland Offense?

He compares today's education system to a highly fragmented industry, implying that a degree of consolidation--at least for the purpose of innovation--is required. He says, "our national political leadership must fund a whole new level of educational innovation."

Whittle calls for a new type of educational experience, freed from the resources, processes, and values of the "old design." The way that Whittle describes this new educational structure comforms well to the defnition of a disruptive innovation as "an innovation that cannot be used by customers in mainstream markets." The US education system, which grew in an organic way along with American settlement and economic development, is structurally unable to innovate in needed ways. The mainstream markets--in this case the public schools--simply cannot innovate sufficiently on their own.

The implication of Whittle's piece is that disruptive innovation theory could provide a pathway to educational reform. Those interested in improving America's schools should read The Innovator's Solution along with Whittle's new book.Chris Whittle Op-Ed