Dansville Schools Superintendent Mike Simeck is entrenched in a three-week Fulbright administrative exchange program in a community about 40 miles north of London.
"I am gob smacked," he said last week during a trans-Atlantic phone interview, conveying in local terms that he's been blown away by his travels.

He has been touring Peterborough's schools, talking with education leaders and gaining expertise in system that encourages accountability, more standardized testing and a strictly enforced national curriculum. Simeck thinks the knowledge he's gaining will improve his administrative skills and help the district adapt to Michigan's move toward a statewide curriculum.

"I'm focusing a lot on how their system functions and trying not to compare the two so much," Simeck said. "It's a terrific opportunity."

There are a lot of differences to recognize. Peterborough lacks superintendents, for example, and students take 45-minute lunch breaks. Funding is similar, with schools reliant on a governmental body - in this case, the United Kingdom Department for Education and Skills - for most of their funding. Simeck has been keeping Dansville school board members informed of his findings.

Source: Lansing State Journal, 7.2.06