National Network for Educational Renewal (NNER)

The National Network for Educational Renewal (NNER) grew out of the work of the internationally recognized educator John Goodlad and the Center for Educational Renewal, which Goodlad and his colleagues established at the University of Washington in 1985. The underlying argument of both the NNER and the Center for Educational Renewal is based on Goodlad's 1985 book A Place Called School, which begins with the statement that “American schools are in trouble” and ends with a call for re-envisioning the purpose of American education.

American schools, the NNER contends, must focus not on job preparation and economic advancement but instead on preparing individuals to be thoughtful and informed participants in our democratic society. In naming the organization, Goodlad and his colleagues deliberately chose the term renewal over reform, believing that the latter suggests a finite beginning and ending, whereas renewal reflects the ongoing nature of educators' work.

The Center for Educational Renewal provided the research component in this reexamination of American schooling, and the National Network for Educational Renewal laid the groundwork for implementation by inviting institutions of higher education and their PreK–12 school partners to join the NNER in furthering the four primary goals of the organization's Agenda for Education in a Democracy: (1) providing young people with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to effectively participate in a social and political democracy; (2) providing all students with access to knowledge that will allow them to effectively participate in the democratic process; (3) encouraging educators to engage in nurturing pedagogy in their classrooms; and (4) promoting stewardship of the schools by all members of the community.

Lying at the heart of the NNER agenda is the concept of “simultaneous renewal,” the belief that schools and schooling will not improve without the combined efforts of both the PreK–12 schools and the colleges and universities that prepare educators for those schools. Thus, institutions of higher education expressing interest in joining the NNER must demonstrate that they have established viable partnerships with local PreK–12 schools and that those partnerships have taken meaningful steps toward implementing the four primary goals delineated in the Agenda for Education in a Democracy. In addition, the NNER also posits that the college/university faculty engaged in the work of the NNER must include faculty not only from colleges of education but also from colleges of arts and sciences, because it is the “tripartite” work of PreK–12, education, and arts and sciences faculty that shares in the responsibility of preparing future educators and renewing America's schools.

In focusing on the preparation of future educators, the NNER identified 20 conditions that must be in place for simultaneous renewal to occur. These 20 “postulates” set a high standard for institutions of higher education and their partner schools, including a call for teacher preparation programs to be recognized “as a major responsibility to society and be adequately supported and promoted and vigorously advanced by the institution's top leadership” and given “parity with other professional education programs, full legitimacy and institutional commitment, and rewards for [Page 638]faculty geared to the nature of the field.” In addressing both the significance of real-world classroom experiences and the quality and quantity of teacher candidates, the postulates further note that “programs for the education of educators must assure for each candidate the availability of a wide array of laboratory settings for simulation, observation, hands-on experiences, and exemplary schools for internships and residencies,” and “they must admit no more students to their programs than can be assured these quality experiences.”

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