Metis and the Metrics of Success

"Metis and the Metrics of Success" is Ernesto Cortés Jr.'s chapter in "I Used to Think... And Now I Think...", in which he draws on his IAF-founded Alliance Schools work to argue that education reform's fixation on standardized metrics has crowded out the practical, relational wisdom that communities need to truly transform their schools. "Superintendents best serve their districts when they engage the people in the school community—teachers, parents, and community leaders—who have what the Greeks called metis, or local knowledge," Cortés reflects. Thomas W. Payzant, Professor of Practice, Harvard Graduate School of Education, praised the book as "a must-read for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers."