Rude Awakening

Renaissance Academy will graduate its first senior class in exactly 25 days and I have begun to worry that they are not even remotely prepared to take on the real world. We are supposed to be a college preparatory school and I believed it, at first. But when I started working with the senior class on college applications and things of that nature, I started to panic. The highest SAT score in the school was a 1080, and that 's for all three sections of the exam. I remember my own classmates in high school sobbing hysterically about having a score like that because it meant they wouldn't be able to get into the school they had hoped and that was when we only took the math and verbal sections. We also had 18 of our 39 seniors take the biology HSA last week because they still needed to pass it. It's APRIL of their graduating year and nearly half of them still haven't passed this test?

And then there were the bridge projects: a good idea in theory but a nightmare in practice. There have been multiple incidents of students paying their classmates to do them, teachers doing the projects for students, and plagiarism of accepted projects. Everyone is getting desperate and panicking because a low graduation rate for our first senior class would be devastating to everyone involved.

But are they really ready for the next step? The expectations have been lowered so many times to accommodate the vast rates of failing students that I don't think we have adequately prepared them to succeed on their own. We lowered the passing score to a 60. We give students who don't even attend class a 50. We give bridge projects if they can't pass the HSA even though there is no way to prove that the students themselves have learned anything from the projects at all. We send the message that if something is difficult, it's not worth trying because eventually, they will make it easier. Life will not make it easier.

Are they really prepared for college as we promised they would be? We practically threw a party for Mr. 1080-on-the-SAT but that score isn't anywhere close to what he would need to get in to the schools he initially wanted to (Princeton, Georgetown). Though he is certainly the most gifted student in the school, he is also one of the most immature and I worry that we have inflated his abilities so much that when he does go off to college in the fall, it will eat him alive. And he is our best and brightest. What's going to happen to all the others that have been very successful within our small school but just don't stack up nationally or even regionally?

Our seniors are in for a rude awakening.

Poor Leadership/ Failing School

Poor leadership is the main culprit for many unsuccessful schools. Leaders set the tone and standards of a school. It is not enough just to be “in charge. “A good leader does so by example, enthusiasm, accepting challenges that promote progress, and enforcing high expectations of themselves and all stakeholders. It is the responsibility of school leaders to maintain qualified teachers and equip them with the necessary tools and training. In order to be successful, it is necessary for school principals to transition from building managers to instructional leaders. For many this becomes difficult because of insufficient principal training programs on that transition. It should not be assumed that because a leader has had administrative courses that he/ she will automatically do well as a school principal. Far too often this has not been the case which results in low performance of teachers and students. The instructional leader must develop a supportive mind set as well as model, support, motivate, teach, and implement strategies that will enable teachers to prepare students for academic success both in school and beyond their school years. In order for this model to work effectively, the principal’s ability to support staff is of paramount importance.
Numerous authors suggest that professional development is the appropriate forum for cultivating the school culture, discussing needs of improvement that are specific to the school, providing teachers with new experiences and teaching strategies, self renewal, creativity, and respect. Professional development is usually focused on teachers: but it should begin with school leaders.

Extended School Year

Years ago the school year was determined by the needs of society. Times have truly changed. It is no longer necessary for the school year for students to be affected by timely agricultural responsibilities or lack of air conditioning school buildings. In today’s society, students’ learning is greatly influenced by a wide variety of issues and other circumstances outside of school. In order to help students reach their potential, it is necessary to try different strategies.

For many years the extended school year was accessible of students with disabilities. However, it has become increasing obvious that most students would reap similar benefits. Many regular education students do not retain what was taught in the previous school year after spending approximately two months of non instructional time during the summer. In other situations, students do not acquire the necessary skills and are in need for supportive instructions and services that were given during the school year.

Extending the school year also cuts back on the teachers’ loss of instructional time at the beginning of the school year. Although there are students who reluctantly participate in these programs, many return motivated because they realize that they learned skills that they needed, and their self esteem has been elevated.

I am in total agreement with extended school year programs if they are not punitive (do not follow a traditional grading system) and utilize strategies that will make learning interesting, hands on, and motivating.

Johnstonmay

Charter/Magnet/Choice/Small schools

I went home to Minnesota for a wedding last weekend and due to timing had to stay through Monday. With all of the talk of charter and small schools recently in our class, I decided to visit my high school, a “choice” school for 400 total 11th and 12th graders in a suburban school district of the Minneapolis area, called the School of Environmental Studies. I have not been there in 12 years since I graduated in 1997. In fact, my now married friend and I were members of the first full class at SES, so I convinced her to come with me. It was interesting to see what had become of the school after 14 years of experience now, and to look at it from a teacher’s viewpoint. While the school has evolved some, its mission and core values have remain unchanged; the school has found its niche in the community to be effective. I had a great experience there and thought that I gained much more than I would have at my traditional high school that I opted out of.

Opening charter/magnet/choice/small schools is visibly on the agenda of BCPSS. We will have 27 charter schools in Baltimore City by next year when the first opened in only 2005. However, the validity of charter/magnet/choice/small schools is questioned because of the students that they attract, and the individual differences that makes them succeed or not. As Sara Neufeld reported in the Baltimore Sun, charters do tend to attract students from better backgrounds. As Teresa Mendez writes in the Christian Science Monitor, small schools cannot be blanket labeled as effective. I agree, we cannot take the effectiveness of charter/magnet/choice/small schools as gospel, but need to critically evaluate what is and is not working for them.

Nonetheless, charter/magnet/choice/small schools represent evolution in education, something that we desperately need. American students, especially those in Baltimore City, are lagging behind the rest of the world in achievement, a detail that we cannot afford to ignore. We must find ways to improve our schools. Evolution on the smaller scale of a 100 student per grade charter/magnet/choice/small school is easier to implement and refine than in a 500 student per grade monstrosity. Meeting the needs of our different students in every community is at the core of the issue. If we must differentiate instructional methods to meet the needs of individual students, then we should also differentiate individual schools to serve the community as a whole better. Implementing more charter/magnet/choice/small schools is the logical step to accomplishing this.

Recently, I read two articles, one in the USA Today and the other in the New York Times, about the graduation gap between large urban cities and their surrounding suburbs. The articles displayed the graduation rates for our 50 largest cities. The study was conducted by the America’s Promise Alliance, a non-profit organization which is an advocate for children’s education, health, and safety. Colin Powell and his wife, Alma, are the co-founders of the alliance. The data in the USA Today was for the class of 2004. The graduation rate listed for Baltimore City was 34.6% and the suburban graduation rate was 81.5%. The gap was 47 points.

Some researchers have referred to the failing city schools as “dropout factories”. If that is the case, Baltimore City has a lot of “dropout factories” and the number of “factories” is increasing. Marguerite Kondracke, the executive director of the alliance, says that the urban-suburban gap is because teacher quality is not the same from classroom to classroom. I agree that there are some teachers who are partially responsible for the high number of students dropping out of school.

If you examine the staff of some of Baltimore’s failing schools, you will find a lot of low performing teachers who have been shuffled from school to school. One of the reasons our low-performing schools have become lower-performing schools is because they have become the receiving grounds for “reject” teachers. The students’ at theses schools deserve better. Research says that low-achieving students need the “best” teachers. Now, that our city’s schools have been spotlighted nationally for our low graduation rate, maybe some changes will be made. I suggest using some of the stimulus money to offer incentives so that our “best” teachers will be eager to go to low-performing schools.

Alive and Free

A few days ago, NPR showcased an extremely interesting documentary by a journalist named Ellis Cose; the piece was entitled, “Nerds in the Hood,” and dealt with issues of academic success in impoverished urban areas.  The documentary examined the types of negativity messaged through media, music and peer pressure for some adolescents growing up in the inner city and took a close look at an organization that is trying to combat the idea that smart = weak.  The Omega Boys Club/Street Soldiers (not affiliated with the Boys and Girls Club of America) is a not-for-profit organization that was started in the mid-1980’s by a man named Dr. Joseph E. Marshall, Jr.  The main ethos of the Club is to treat violence like a contagious disease – spread through negative human interactions.  The ‘cure’ that they tout is something that they call the “Alive and Free” Prescription, which is a set of life rules which seek to keep kids alive and free from incarceration and mental manipulation (by gangs, etc).  The rules are as follows:  

1) There is nothing more valuable than an individual’s life. (never kill an enemy.)

2)  Respect comes from within.

3)  Change begins with the individual.

*4)  A friend will never lead you to danger. (a healthy person stands alone.)

 The Omega Boys Club recognizes that youth living in economically depressed urban areas need extra support and constant counter-messaging in order to “get out.”  On the Alive and Free webpage, it says that negative behaviors present as a “technique for survival…when in fact the opposite is true.”  In thinking about the students that we teach in Baltimore City, it might be useful to attempt to message this ‘violence as a [curable] disease’ idea as the need arises.  I know that a lot of teachers in the City see violent acts, hear violent and negative speech and see the glorification of illegal and destructive behaviors [I’m thinking of a student of mine who has worn a skirt to school every day since getting on an ankle box] every day and feel pretty helpless against the sense of empowerment that it seems to bring the students.  The Omega Boys Club believes that positive role models and messaging, fruitful after-school activities and a sense of security (whether at home or elsewhere – school?) can help to counteract the false message that violence=survival.

Here are some interesting websites hosted by the Omega Boys Club:

 

http://www.stayaliveandfree.org/

http://www.street-soldiers.org/contents.htm

 Here is the documentary from NPR:

 http://elliscose.com/against-the-odds/nerds-in-the-hood/

Bridge plan... bridge to...what?

I echo the concerns of the previous writers concerning the bridge plan. The class of 2009 is the first who must fulfill the HSA requirement. Students who do not pass are allowed to do projects, one of which counts for approximately 20 points on the HSA.
I have served as a bridge monitor and a scorer for biology, and I have been disappointed by the process. Individual schools have been responsible for obtaining the projects, materials, and teachers in order to help students satisfy the requirement. Unfortunately, many schools suffered from disorganization and lack of clarity from MSDE.
My main concern is that the projects are too difficult for students to complete. Please do not misunderstand- no one in Baltimore wishes this were the case. We would all prefer our students to read and write on grade level (and to have passed the exams), but they largely don’t. Therefore, completing bridge projects becomes an overwhelming mass tutoring event designed to score enough points.
Are students therefore more prepared to graduate? I see the bridge plan as exhausting, having spent many afternoons and Saturdays assisting with the same shark, etc. projects. I have witnessed students with special needs struggling for three hours a day to read and complete a project because there are no modified projects. If the purpose of the plan was to increase student achievement, it failed. On the other hand, if it was designed to drain more time and money out of departments that can spare neither, the project was a roaring success.

Wild Card: The McKinsey Study

An editorial by NY Times columnist Thomas Friedman cited a recent study on the  affects of education on the US G.D.P.  The study, conducted by the consulting firm McKinsey, concluded that the US’s inability to close the achievement gap has cost us $1.3 to $2.3 trillion dollars.  The study also showed that the longer US students stay in school, the further they fall behind their international peers.  In science and math, the United States’ test scores ranked 24th and 25th respectively (out of 30) in industrialized nations.  

Friedman argues that there are “huge numbers of exciting education innovations in America today,” including “new modes of teacher compensation” and “charter schools” that have shown improvements in school districts.  While I agree certain programs like KIPP have raised student achievement, I don’t think these programs alone can close the achievement gap.   Arne Duncan continues to advocate for universal accountability in all schools, but I think we should also be looking to invest our money not only in the schools themselves, but early childhood programs that give kids the noncognitive skills they need to achieve.  Paul Tough writes in his book Whatever It Takes that the achievement gap is already present when children are twelve months old.  If this is true, then schools who are forced to measure up to schools in more affluent areas will most likely fail.  Teacher turnover rates will continue to be high, principals will be recycled, and failing school will never hit their stride due to instability.  

I think it’s time we seriously look at federally mandated early childhood development programs.  Making sure all of our students enter school with a chance to succeed should be our highest priority.  This game of catch-up, which has been perpetuated for decades, is, to at least some degree, a lost cause.  Despite the extraordinary achievements of institutions like KIPP, getting underperforming students up to grade level is a Herculean task.  President Obama continues to encourage philanthropists to invest in programs like the Harlem Children’s Zone, which emphasize early childhood programs.  Maybe it’s our duty as educators to advocate for such programs.  The Friedman piece should be read by every CEO in the country.   I don’t expect highly successful businessmen to understand what is happening in our schools, but perhaps the numbers in the McKinsey study could encourage them to get involved.

Whose job is it to link research with practice?

I am a graduate student in a social science department that emphasizes the importance of basic research, I admire my professors' work, and I would aspire to become a professor one day. That said, the activist in me is constantly frustrated with the lack of impact that most researchers, especially education researchers, have on student achievement.

To make myself feel better about what I do, I have been going to a few academic job talks at a school of education. The presenters are trained in education research, a supposedly interdisciplinary field of study, surely these people would know more about linking research with practice. On the contrary, the talks have only made me more frustrated with the problem of NOT using research to improve practice. In a nutshell, the job talks provide a space for candidates for an assistant professor position to impress distinguished professors and graduate students with their ability to conduct quantitative education research using dazzling (if not dizzying) statistical modeling techniques and Greek letters. Though some of the candidates have had some K-12 teaching experience, I don't recall that any of them had shared any kind of concrete policy recommendations or recommendations for practitioners to improve their classroom strategies (even when asked about them after their presentation.) Okay, I get it, academics don't have to make policy recommendations, many, if not most, academics conduct research purely for the sake of basic scientific knowledge. But the problem is, most of these researchers are using tax dollars to conduct research, don't they sort of owe it to the taxpayers to produce some impact? It has become more and more apparent to me that researchers and practitioners don't particularly care to initiate meaningful discussion between the groups to figure out a way to really use research to improve education. Researcher are too far removed from the classroom and teachers don't have time to translate statistics and Greek letters into changes in their lesson plans. Should schools of education be doing more to link the two worlds? Should school districts be doing more to make the connection between research reports and their schools' performance?

School Reform Means Doing What's Best For Kids

Well thank you Arne Duncan for those inspiring words. However, I hate to think that there is a teacher or Administrator out there that is plotting what they can do to do the worst for kids. Point blank bad teachers and administrators are either ignorant of their lack of talent or just so apathetic there isn't much that can faze them. But I don't think these teachers are trying to do their worst, maybe I am wrong. In the Wednesday April 22 edition of the Wall Street Journal our Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan wrote and oped and our CEO Dr. Alonso felt it necessary to share these wise words with the teachers of the city. I believe it was more of a pat on the back that he is doing what the big dogs expect of him. There wasn't much useful information in the article beyond a brief outline of how the The Race To the Top and Innovation What Ever Works Funds $5 billion will be allocated to states, districts and non-profits that aggressively advance reform. He walks through the same old... "We need a culture of accountability in America's education system if we want the best in the world. No more false choices about money versus reform, or traditional public schools versus charter. No more blaming parents or teachers. We need solid, unimpeachable information that identifies what's working and what's not working in our schools. Our children deserve no less." While I agree with all of this and realize that this is just an op-ed piece, I want more from my Secretary of Education. I want to know how he is going to affect this change. The problem with Education is that no one has the ultimate answer, because if we did we would package it up (as many believe we can) and ship it out across the country and everything would be fixed. It is obvious to me that this Fund is meant to not just stimulate the economy but to stimulate Education reform. We are still looking for the solution, and it is obvious that we need data to drive the reform. So let's get cracking, how are you going to evaluate the system Mr. Duncan?

Closing Schools

The upcoming scheduled closing of many Baltimore City Schools in June is a great concern to the students and the staff of these schools. The high schools designated to close are Homeland Security Academy, Samuel L. Banks, and Thurgood Marshall. Some of these schools offered a unique curriculum which will not be duplicated in another school. All of the staff of the schools that are closing must submit a volunteer transfer form or attend the Job Fair scheduled for May 9th. Any school that is closing received a notice from the central office to start packing. Many schools have not started packing because their shipment of boxes has not arrived.
With the looming lay off of 179 people from the central office, the staff of closing schools is concerned with competing for the vacant positions in other schools. Rumors of “bumping” are spreading. “Bumping” would allow a person with more seniority to take a position from someone with less seniority. If at least 130 of the persons to be laid off come back into schools, this should be a concern for the staff of all schools. Most of the persons scheduled to be released from their central office position have more than 20 years of service to BCPSS. The morale of the faculty at all of the schools identified to close is low but yet, they are expected to continue to work diligently to have their students pass the scheduled assessments and make AYP.

Teacher-Created Violence

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/25/nyregion/25school.html?ref=education

A few days ago, at a school in the Bronx, a veteran computer teacher and teacher’s union chapter leader barricaded him in a classroom and made a bomb threat. According to the article, he came to the school after refusing to go to a reassignment center where he had been ordered based on claims of misconduct and corporal punishment. There was no bomb; he is in custody; no one was hurt.

As a teacher, I am torn between disgust and empathy.

Disgust: Why was someone deemed unstable allowed back into the school? How can teachers remain a symbol of guidance, maturity and wisdom for students if individuals like this discredit that important adult role? How can someone with a dozen allegations of misconduct against him continue to teach, getting paid more than $100,000 a year?

Empathy: Was he driven to mental instability because of the difficult demands of his job? Was he retained because no one else wanted his job? How many times have I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs only to have someone up top hear my complaints for once?

It is unfortunate that, so near the 10th anniversary of Columbine, we continue to see violent behavior at our schools. Even more disturbing is that, this time, it was created by the one of the people charged with protecting our students.

When does a student deserve to fail?

Teachers set their own standards for failure and success in their classroom, but there are two instances where most teachers agree that a student should fail. Those two instances are when assignments are not completed or when the child misses a large percentage of class time not related to a serious issue. A growing number of schools are placing restrictions on a teacher’s ability to fail a student for whatever the reason. In Baltimore, students can’t receive a grade lower than a 50 on their report card. This minimum grade actually helps students. Students can either; (1) not come to class for an entire quarter or (2) come to class everyday and be extremely unproductive, yet they are still in a position to pass the semester or year. The student only needs to make sure that their semester average is above a 60. So if a student decides for a semester to not complete any assignments and they earn a 0, the teacher still has to give them a 50. It’s much more difficult to get that 60 average if you are factoring in a zero as opposed to a 50. What kind of message are we sending our students? In some schools across the country, students are given H’s, for Held, instead of an F to allow the students extra time to correct their poor grades and not ruin their entire semester. In some instances an H would help those students with special circumstances, but I feel that it can lead to other students manipulating the system and continuing to give minimal effort with the knowledge that they will get bailed out at the last moment. Initiatives like these are lowering the standards of our high schools. High schools need to continue to maintain high standards for students and hold them responsible for their actions and behaviors. Students are being coddled today by the educational system and it is not preparing them for experiences like college, joining the workforce, or entering the military. Failing is not acceptable anywhere else, so why is it being accepted and tolerated in our public schools?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,518101,00.html.

Sounds like a small school to me

When I think of the factors which add up to a successful secondary school, I always land on the importance of relationships. If you were to ask me about my favorite parts of high school, I would tell you stories about Mr. G and how he would run around the room and get really excited and crazy about the books we were reading. Or I would tell about an assignment Mr. M gave us which allowed us to use calculus in every day life and in a creative way. Even moving on to college, even though the work was difficult and sometimes almost painful, I look back with fondness on the professors I spent my time learning from and with. The key to my successful education has always been my relationships.
When I read the NY Times article about President Obama's view of education reform and the role of relationships, I couldn't help but tie relationships back to small school reform. If teacher and student relationships are suspected to be key motivators for successful education, I think of strategy to increase these relationships. Instantly, I think of solutions which are within my realm of understanding, such as my school experiences.
I was the product of a small school. My relationships with my teachers were possible because of my small school and the consistent relationships I had with them over the course of four years. My classmates shared the same great teachers over the course of their four years as well, all of them knowing each of us on a personal basis and serving our best interest.
While other variables are in play, such as teacher retention for the four years we were in school, as well as a cohesive culture of excellence in the school community. Both of these variables are more easily developed and maintained in a small environment.
While this anecdote isn't enough evidence for nationwide school size reform, I feel assured our President holds teacher student relationships high on the track to success in education. The strategies to accomplish these relationships will need to continue to be researched and developed, eventually, providing a similar school experience to my students in Baltimore City as I had in high school.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/13/opinion/13brooks.html?scp=1&sq=education%20reform&st=cse

A little madness in the spring... (Dickinson)

As I sit inside my living room on this beautiful spring day working on the Hopkins assignments I have due for this next week, I can't help but wish I could be outside.  It's a feeling that I know my students can sympathize with.  As soon as this spring weather comes in and lights that fire under their little feet, it's harder and harder to keep them in their seats- literally.

That's why I was immediately interested when I read this following article:

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/top/2009/04/22-25/OMalley-Kids-need-more-outdoor-education.html

O'Malley is proposing to increase outdoor education opportunities.  While I don't want to get into the nuts and bolts and logistics of this (as well as the complication it would cause for City schools especially), I think it could be extremely valuable if implemented and supported.  I've learned in my two years in BCPSS just how worldly my students are; they have seen so much more than they should have to see.  At the same time, they're also surprisingly naive about the world that exists outside of the confines of their individual neighborhoods.  I'm from a suburb of Indianapolis, IN, and my elementary school had a Wetlands habitat beyond the playground.  Our middle school went on multiple camping trips.  Our high school had opportunities for field work.  Granted, we had the resources (both monetary and land), but I know that our urban kids would benefit from getting back to nature.  

Our Social Studies IST last year arranged for select students from our school to go on a National Geographic-supervised trip to the Chesapeake Bay to photograph the natural habitat for the magazine.  Needless to say, the kids were thrilled to be chosen, and had an extremely meaningful experience.  They learned from professional photographers how to capture the beauty that exists surprisingly close to Baltimore, and they had a few days just to be out of the city.  All of them told me it was among the most meaningful experiences of their lives.  We owe it to our children to expose them to things they wouldn't otherwise have contact with- isn't that the very definition of education?