Katherine Merseth: The Purpose of Schools

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Katherine Merseth is Senior Lecturer and Director of Teacher Education Programs at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In the recently published book, Inside Urban Charter Schools: Promising Practices and Strategies in Five High-Performing Schools, Merseth and her co-authors raise provocative questions about the purpose of K–12 schooling in the twenty-first century and what it will take to enable all schools—whether charter or traditional—to successfully educate all students.

“Quite honestly I think ... the reason we are not gaining traction, is that we don’t have a fundamental agreement about the purpose of schooling.”

The Purpose of Schools and the Problem with Mathematics

Katherine Merseth visited Carnegie in May and challenged our thinking on what makes a good school. Merseth was able to flesh out rich and colorful portraits of daily life in schools, leaving us with both questions and answers about what makes a successful school. She also introduced us to her thinking about math education.