Eastern Washington University to Reid School: Drop Dead!

I’ve written before on the ongoing debate about what to do with the Robert E. Reid Laboratory School. It’s located on the campus of Eastern Washington University but operated by the Cheney School District under a joint agreement. It’s also a building sorely in need of some upgrades that EWU doesn’t want to provide.

And it’s frankly obvious that Eastern doesn’t know what they have in Reid. Consider these comments from David Rey, a spokesman for EWU:

But the university no longer sees Reid fitting into its educational parameters as a resource in training teachers. Most of the university’s education majors get their classroom experience at other schools within the district, or other nearby districts. Rey said only 12-15 students use Reid for such training each year. Furthermore, economic conditions make it impractical in spending $4.3 million – more with inflation factored in – to fix up a facility used by 116 or so students.

“I know there’s a lot of passion about Reid school,” Rey said, adding that many people have put lots of time and energy into making the school a little “jewel.”
But Eastern faces other needs that are more relevant to its mission of providing higher education, such as renovations to its major classroom building Patterson Hall, as well as future expansions to on-campus residence halls, and the Science Building.

“The property it’s (Reid) on is of much more use to us than the building itself,” Rey said.

And there, in the last paragraph, you see the real reason why Eastern doesn’t want to support Reid the way they should. If this is a land grab it’s a profoundly stupid one; they’d be better served to go after some of the dilapidated apartment buildings that ring the campus, or build up by the Red Barn and the football field where there is plenty of open land.

The piece that’s really annoying to me is the giant opportunity that Eastern is missing here. If they look at Reid as only providing training for 12 to 15 student teachers a year, then they’re certainly not getting the full picture. Reid also hosts practicum students, students who need their observation time, and whole classes of beginning teachers who can sit up in the crow’s nest and watch instruction take place. For any student in the education department, it’s a great tool to have so close.

Consider, too, the synergy possible when the ivory tower is so close to the primary classroom, like to see with Reid. A professor of education at Eastern can walk out of their office and walk to the Reid School without ever stepping out of doors—the buildings are adjacent and connected. There are opportunities there for intervention and authentic action research that you’ll find nowhere else, and just because the school hasn’t been used with the efficiency that it could have been is no reason to disregard it entirely.

A decade ago the education department at Eastern was floundering. The department chair was woefully unsuited for the position, the Dean of the college was on his way out towards retirement, and while there were some excellent professors (Marilyn Carpenter) there were others who were so clearly disconnected from what really happened in the classroom that their classes were rendered meaningless.

I’ve seen a turnaround, though, from a number of perspectives. As a teacher who hosts practicum students and student teachers in his classroom I’ve been gratified to see the emphasis that Eastern has been putting into getting the kids more authentic classroom time. As a student in their Masters and Administrative programs I’ve been impressed by the leadership that I’ve seen from people like Les Portner, Jane Liu, Harvey Alvy, and many more. They’ve turned the corner, and they’re on their way.

So celebrate that fact! Tear down the old Reid School and build a new one, two stories tall. Staff it with the best teachers you can find, create the ideal classroom environments, put in all the special programs you can, then step back and see what happens. There is no other Education program that I’m aware of that has a laboratory school in such close proximity—this is a perfect opportunity for Eastern to get itself on the forefront of the reform movement and make a splash with the potential to resonate for decades down the road.

The direction that they’re moving towards with their Education Department is to make it just one more program in the University. Why not try and make it something special?