Kenneth D. Jenkins

Total Quality Education: Refining the Middle School Concept.

It takes little intellectual effort to realize that the publics perception of the quality of public schooling is less than laudatory. One need not leaf through too many newspapers or popular journals to recognize that many people regard their public schools as merely adequate at best. The 1994 Gallup Poll on attitudes towards public schools (Elam, Rose, & Gallup, 1994) reveals a decade-long con sistency regarding these perceptions. In 1984, approxi mately 64% rated the nations schools as average (C grade) or worse. In 1994, about 72% rated the public schools as adequate or worse. In another item, respon dents were asked if they thought the public schools had improved, deteriorated, or remained the same. Less than a fifth felt the schools had improved, while a majority felt schools had deteriorated. Authorities acknowledge that perceptions of school quality, nationally and locally, differ dramatically. They also acknowledge that the basis for perceptions often lies in sensationalized media treatments, misrepresented fac tual data (Berliner, 1994), and, in too many instances, an uncritical examination of the stories and rumors generat ed about -public institutions. However, accepting those premises does little to improve the perceptions of schooling. It only gives those inside the system a ratio nale for explaining away their accountability. The fact remains that the public at large tends not to hold public schools in high regard. Perhaps more damning is a pervasive sense of resig nation that adequate may be the best schools are going to be. A decade-long emphasis on school improvement has produced some notable initiatives at reform, but, public schools are essentially as they were. The social conditions that surround schools tend to mitigate the dramatic turnaround being called for by reform-minded public servants, educational leaders, and the public. Even a seemingly innocuous change such as shifting the focus of schooling from inputs to outcomes has met with fierce resistance in some areas, even costing reform-minded superintendents their jobs (Chion-Kenney, 1994). At a time when schools are surrounded by fresh and innova tive thinking about structure and purpose, educators still find themselves trying to make do with antiquated tech nologies, anemic and ineffectual training, and an eroding trust relationship between themselves and parents, once their greatest source of emotional and political strength.