“If you get kids to want to read and write” the rest (and tests) will follow
Came across a couple of education pieces, one in print and one an on-line Podcast, that bear scrutiny from school boards, administrators, teachers, parents, students and the broader communities searching for the means to improve learning in area districts plagued by low achievement.
Writing in Sunday’s Washington Post, columnist George Will takes readers inside an Oakland charter school that brooks “no excuses” when it comes to an educational philosophy that “combats the culture of poverty and the streets.” You may not agree with Will’s conservative bent, but his observations are almost always grist for thought and discussion.
Pedro Noguera, a professor with the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development at New York University and a leading authority on urban education, discussed his new book, “The Trouble with Black Boys: And Other Reflections on Race, Equity and the Future of Urban Education” with Leonard Lopate on WNYC, New York Public Radio.
Noguera, coming from what is arguably the opposite side of the political spectrum from George Will, nonetheless pretty much draws the same conclusion about improving education in impoverished schools. Not surprisingly, he says the secret aren’t one-size-fits-all programs that emphasize order and control, but, rather, intense one-on-one learning.
The research demonstrates this philosophy works in the Knowledge is Power Programs (KIPP academies), a charter school movement scheduled to open next year in St. Louis. Reforming a school system one student at a time, is also the gambit of the Big Picture Company Schools, another nationally-recognized effort now in its second year of operation locally in three St. Louis Public Schools.
“There are high-performing high poverty schools across the country. And what you generally see in those schools is a rich, learning environment for kids,” Noguera tells Lopate in a Podcast available on-line. “They focus on getting kids motivated and engaged instead of teaching to the test. And guess what? As a result, tests scores go up. If you get kids to want to read and write they have little problems with the tests.”
We ought to be cautious of the “research” on KIPP. It appears, in most cases, that what we might call research is advocacy rhetoric; robust analysis and critique is still yet to come. KIPP may very well become a model to emulate. Unfortunately, the verdict is far from settled. The heavy toll on students, teachers, and parents from a much-lengthened school week and the extra work that entails remains difficult to gauge and may, as in other high intensity reform efforts in the past, prove to be it’s undoing. We can be hopeful, but not certain, that the escalated roll-out of KIPP programs in St. Louis will become a positive thing.
You can either do one-on-one learning in the schools…or deal with one-on-one corrections in the prisons - take your pick.
I agree with George Will’s column and the ‘no-nonsense’ approach combined with individual interactive learning. The one-on-one, of course, should be happening in the home - but if you don’t have one or both parents (particularly the father), what do you do?
There are several things I YEARN for in the St. Louis Public Schools:
I yearn for teachers NOT to be beholdened to teacher’s unions.
I yearn for teachers to be allowed to teach RIGHT and WRONG - explicitly based upon the Judeo-Christian worldview - the greatest value system in history. If teacher’s aren’t allowed to teach something as basic as this, set up alternative classrooms where these values can be taught. These values affect EVERYTHING they would do - from sexuality to learning to discipline to self-esteem…and on and on….
I yearn for teachers to tell - and DRILL - these kids NOT to poison themselves with MTV - and caustic rap music that pollutes their minds, hearts and souls. They need to know that the practitioners of this ‘music’ could care less about them. Theire desire is to sell CD’s, make money - and nothing more.
Who decide what is Right and Wrong? Is it those consider themselves Judeo-Christians? These are absolutely the religious groups losing the most ground in 21st. C. America. On the other hand, as Michael Lind has pointedly asked, what exactly is Judeo-Christian? Your concern about fathers is important to me, as well. Fathers are mostly absent in white Judeo-Christian families (however we might define this), let’s not forget. So, how do we engage our family-focused white men to stay at home and care passionately about their own children? And, why do you consider MTV as poison? How about the “conscious” rap that finds too little airtime, because of whire promoter’s ideas about what will sell to whites, the biggest audience for rapmusic? Rap music and non-Judeo-Christian ethics are easy scapegoats. Let’s instead agree that rampant capitalism and persistent, pervasive racism have more to do with the difficult strife of urban school students.
I teach middle school in the St. Louis Public Schools. Our school is working hard to create a “rich, learning environment” and to work more individually with students to develop relationships, impress the importance of their education, and constantly monitor their progress and mastery. Our staff has taken the initiative to work in positive ways to establish a culture and high expectations for each of our students. Our principals have given us great support in establishing this educational climate. Several of our teachers, who have had experiences with the KIPP schools, have brought back wonderful ideas and activities which we are incorporating into our daily routines. Regardless of where we got the ideas we are using in our school, the energy, enthusiasm, and commitment made by our teaching staff is truly the source of our successes. We will be setting goals this year to help our student’s learning reflect in their MAP scores. And ultimately, our positive, student-centered environment will reflect the learning that is occurring. Unfortunately, the historic mess that is the district administration, continues to thwart our ideals and objectives. We can only hope that the leaders in our community, those appointed to run the district, those responsible “downtown” for the daily support of our schools, and especially those teachers, who have been so disenfranchised by the historic mess, can find a way to actually return the students to a place of prominence in this district, and let their abilities shine.