DESCRIPTION
The toughest job for our schools today is coping with change — change in American families, and change in their expectations of the school’s role in raising their children. So says Rob Evans, an organizational psychologist who served as the closing speaker at the NAIS 2004 Annual Conference in Montreal. Evans argues that a widespread loss of confidence and competence among parents increasingly anxious about their children’s success is changing the function of schools, leading them to take on many of the responsibilities of childrearing — the “family matters.” Evans argues for limits and leverage, allowing schools to be accountable for what they do best, but also offers schoolbased solutions to the growing conflict.

TOPIC
Teaching and the Educational Environment