I promised I'd have a slew of thoughts when I started going through the massive pile-up of posts in my Google Reader, but I didn't expect to find so many so soon. I think all of these are from just the past 24 hours.
-Jay Matthews writes that less well-known small schools often provide a better education than big-name or Ivy League schools. I have no research expertise in this subject, but I do have practical experience -- and I couldn't agree more. I'd strongly recommend that any student looking at colleges give a lot of thought to attending a liberal arts college or someplace similar that emphasizes small classes, good teaching, and strong community. Ben Miller says The Princeton Review ratings are lacking, but on the right track. Their lists of the schools with the best classroom experience and such are always littered with liberal arts colleges.
-Miss Eyre shares my frustration with policy wonks whose solution is to blame teachers. I was once a teacher-blamer, and then I tried my hand at it -- it's not as easy as it looks. She's upset with Kenneth J. Cooper for faulting teachers and unions too heavily, though I'm not sure I agree with the critique. He falls into the trap of believing that just because teachers are the most important part of a school that they're the only reason our schools are failing, but he also argues that unions are at fault b/c they should've negotiated higher pay.
-I've written before (I'll try to find the link later) about a speculation of mine -- that teachers enjoyed school more when they were kids than does the average student. For this reason, I fully support people with slightly different experiences becoming teachers. Jay Matthews has the story of one teacher wannabe who was removed from the Stanford teacher training program because he was too acerbic. I don't know the facts, so I'm not going to pass judgment. But his description sure makes it sound like it's a shame.
-Debra Viadero has a good piece wondering whether people are paying too much attention to think tank research and not enough attention to the work of more neutral researchers. You'll get no argument from me, and I don't think the problem's unsolvable by a long shot. One of my pet peeves with education research is that too little research filters down to schools and policymakers -- and I blame the researchers more for this than the schools and policymakers. The fact is that academia takes far too long to churn out a high-quality piece of research, and when they do it's written in language incomprehensible to most of the general public. I hope to make a small dent in that problem with this blog.
-Speaking of things that interest only researchers, my fellow ivy tower dwellers might want to check out this piece, also by Debra Viadero, on discussions of the Institute for Education Sciences board regarding future directions, and publicity, of research. I'd score this battle as Easton 1, Hanushek 0. I think IES spends too much time analyzing interventions, and arguing that other things aren't "researchable" is thinking too much like an economist, and not enough like somebody trying to improve our education system.
-
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Charter Schools Unionize . . . And then What?
The NY Times has a piece this morning about charter school unionization that's worth reading.
It starts thusly: "Dissatisfied with long hours, churning turnover and, in some cases, lower pay than instructors at other public schools, an increasing number of teachers at charter schools are unionizing." Randi Weingarten strikes a similar note, saying that the unionization of some big-name charter schools this year is a "precursor" of things to come.
Meanwhile, one charter school advocate says “They’ll have a success here and there but unionized charters will continue to be a small part of the movement.”
I'm not sure that last part is true. I don't know, maybe he's right -- maybe unions and charter schools will rarely interact -- but for a lot of these schools it makes quite a bit of sense that teachers would eventually want to unionize. A lot of the so-called "no excuses" schools rely on recruiting bright, young teachers (often with no families) who are willing to work crazy hours for a few years before moving on to something bigger and better -- rather like joining the peace corps, in other words.
But what happens when some of these teachers get a little older, get married, have kids, tire of working 80 hour weeks, but still believe strongly in the mission of their school? “I was frustrated with all the turnover among staff, with the lack of teacher input, with working longer and harder than teachers at other schools and earning less,” says one teacher. And I can see that turning into a recurring theme.
We can only have so many schools relying on overworked young idealists before that labor pool will start to dry up. And a school can operate with such a staff for so long before the staff starts to age. And both occurrences almost have to lead to more unionization.
Charter schools are so new that nobody knows what will happen with them over the next five years, yet alone the next fifty. I can't imagine unions playing that big of a role in the next five years, but I can in the next fifty. What happens if, fifty years from now, the vast majority of charter schools are unionized? Will it ruin the charter school movement? Save the charter school movement?
I think that largely depends on two things: how unions interact with the administrations of individual schools and how many charter schools are shut down when they stumble. While I'm largely skeptical of any claims that unions are the only reason anything is wrong with American schools, if enough schools unionize there are bound to be some where poisonous administration-staff relationships severely hurt the performance of the school. If this becomes the norm, then the charter school movement might be stopped in its tracks. But, if charters that struggle are quickly closed then all bets are off.
Personally, my guess is that unions won't strangle the charter school movement. I tend to believe that in most schools the lack or presence of a union has more subtle effects than many would believe. Particularly if individual charter schools negotiate many aspects of the contract with the teachers only in that school, I don't think things will change all that much -- which, of course, given our lack of knowledge on charter schools, we can't be sure is good or bad.
It starts thusly: "Dissatisfied with long hours, churning turnover and, in some cases, lower pay than instructors at other public schools, an increasing number of teachers at charter schools are unionizing." Randi Weingarten strikes a similar note, saying that the unionization of some big-name charter schools this year is a "precursor" of things to come.
Meanwhile, one charter school advocate says “They’ll have a success here and there but unionized charters will continue to be a small part of the movement.”
I'm not sure that last part is true. I don't know, maybe he's right -- maybe unions and charter schools will rarely interact -- but for a lot of these schools it makes quite a bit of sense that teachers would eventually want to unionize. A lot of the so-called "no excuses" schools rely on recruiting bright, young teachers (often with no families) who are willing to work crazy hours for a few years before moving on to something bigger and better -- rather like joining the peace corps, in other words.
But what happens when some of these teachers get a little older, get married, have kids, tire of working 80 hour weeks, but still believe strongly in the mission of their school? “I was frustrated with all the turnover among staff, with the lack of teacher input, with working longer and harder than teachers at other schools and earning less,” says one teacher. And I can see that turning into a recurring theme.
We can only have so many schools relying on overworked young idealists before that labor pool will start to dry up. And a school can operate with such a staff for so long before the staff starts to age. And both occurrences almost have to lead to more unionization.
Charter schools are so new that nobody knows what will happen with them over the next five years, yet alone the next fifty. I can't imagine unions playing that big of a role in the next five years, but I can in the next fifty. What happens if, fifty years from now, the vast majority of charter schools are unionized? Will it ruin the charter school movement? Save the charter school movement?
I think that largely depends on two things: how unions interact with the administrations of individual schools and how many charter schools are shut down when they stumble. While I'm largely skeptical of any claims that unions are the only reason anything is wrong with American schools, if enough schools unionize there are bound to be some where poisonous administration-staff relationships severely hurt the performance of the school. If this becomes the norm, then the charter school movement might be stopped in its tracks. But, if charters that struggle are quickly closed then all bets are off.
Personally, my guess is that unions won't strangle the charter school movement. I tend to believe that in most schools the lack or presence of a union has more subtle effects than many would believe. Particularly if individual charter schools negotiate many aspects of the contract with the teachers only in that school, I don't think things will change all that much -- which, of course, given our lack of knowledge on charter schools, we can't be sure is good or bad.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Lifetime Learning?
One thing I often wonder about is the value of learning things that you're not going to remember. I'd have to guess that I've forgotten at least 90% of what I've learned in my time in school. As far as I can tell, one can interpret this two different ways:
1.) Everybody needs different skills and knowledge bases later in life, so we should teach everybody everything and they can use what they need
2.) Our teaching has largely failed, there's little reason to learn something that will be forgotten later anyway. If most of what is taught is later forgotten, then it needs to be taught better the first time.
I guess I'd land somewhere between these two schools of thought. On the one hand, we shouldn't narrow the curriculum so much that everything will be remembered by every student because everybody will miss out on a lot. On the other hand, I would know a lot more today if there was a little less breadth and a little more depth (and later reinforcement) in my education. One book that I read claimed that a valid final exam for a class is one that's given a year after it's taught. I'm not sure I disagree.
What jogged my mind about this? This cartoon I saw yesterday:
1.) Everybody needs different skills and knowledge bases later in life, so we should teach everybody everything and they can use what they need
2.) Our teaching has largely failed, there's little reason to learn something that will be forgotten later anyway. If most of what is taught is later forgotten, then it needs to be taught better the first time.
I guess I'd land somewhere between these two schools of thought. On the one hand, we shouldn't narrow the curriculum so much that everything will be remembered by every student because everybody will miss out on a lot. On the other hand, I would know a lot more today if there was a little less breadth and a little more depth (and later reinforcement) in my education. One book that I read claimed that a valid final exam for a class is one that's given a year after it's taught. I'm not sure I disagree.
What jogged my mind about this? This cartoon I saw yesterday:
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Teaching: A Thankless Job?
As I was procrastinating/reading the news yesterday I couldn't help but notice some positive news regarding Metro Nashville's schools -- test scores improved just enough for the district to make "safe harbor" and avoid state takeover. But I found some of the comments written by readers more interesting.
Says one reader (gregoryjohn):
And another (Lforcommunity) in response:
I heard similar reactions when test scores shot up one year in NYC -- the chancellor's office rejoiced that their new initiatives were working while teachers wondered if they shouldn't receive the credit. And I can't tell you how many teachers at my school wondered why they'd never been told "thank you" or "good job" by one of the administrators in the building.
I'm not going to argue that teachers never receive thanks (or always deserve thanks), and I'm not even sure that their job is any more thankless than the average person's, but it's pretty clear to me that quite a few teachers feel slighted. And I think that's important to take into account when we analyze and propose policies. It's awfully easy for somebody who's removed from the day-to-day stresses of teaching to criticize or blame teachers for the ills of society, but even if they're right I'm not sure how productive that sentiment is.
Regardless of whether you believe teachers to be overly defensive, they're not irrational and they are human beings -- and we in the policy world should treat them as such.
I'll step off my soapbox now and move on to other things -- I have 634 unread ed policy blog posts queued up in my google reader, so I'll have plenty of thoughts on those over the next week or so.
Says one reader (gregoryjohn):
As a Metro teacher, I just received an email from Dr. Register (the superintendent) about the results. There is a line in the email that pretty much sums up the problems at most schools. It says for teachers to "support your principal." No where in the email does it mention that teachers need to be supported by the district or their principal. I can tell you that not once did my principal say thank you for the work I do. Instead, at our last meeting of the year, she told us that we need to step up and do more. I spent $3,000 of my own money, 50 or 60 hours a week working and planning and tutoring my students so that the kids in 2nd grade could go from reading 10 words a minute to reading 90 words a minute and I need to give more? How about the district support those of us doing the work instead of standing in our way?
And another (Lforcommunity) in response:
Even Connie Smith's (a district administrator) own words leave out the personnel who work with the students...."the switch to data-driven decisions in curricula, improved communication and a sense of urgency." What about the work of the teachers and students, or don't they count?
I heard similar reactions when test scores shot up one year in NYC -- the chancellor's office rejoiced that their new initiatives were working while teachers wondered if they shouldn't receive the credit. And I can't tell you how many teachers at my school wondered why they'd never been told "thank you" or "good job" by one of the administrators in the building.
I'm not going to argue that teachers never receive thanks (or always deserve thanks), and I'm not even sure that their job is any more thankless than the average person's, but it's pretty clear to me that quite a few teachers feel slighted. And I think that's important to take into account when we analyze and propose policies. It's awfully easy for somebody who's removed from the day-to-day stresses of teaching to criticize or blame teachers for the ills of society, but even if they're right I'm not sure how productive that sentiment is.
Regardless of whether you believe teachers to be overly defensive, they're not irrational and they are human beings -- and we in the policy world should treat them as such.
I'll step off my soapbox now and move on to other things -- I have 634 unread ed policy blog posts queued up in my google reader, so I'll have plenty of thoughts on those over the next week or so.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Be Back in a Week or So
No, I haven't abandoned you. I've been busy doing yardwork, coaching swimming, entertaining guests, and readying conference proposals. All that should be over in the next week, as should my hiatus.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Today's Random Thoughts
-The next part of the series on what we should learn from Promise Academy should be out tomorrow night. I was out of town at a workshop most of the week and haven't had a chance to finish it yet.
-Why is there an inverse correlation between the price of a hotel room and the availability of internet? All of the budget and mid-priced hotels offer free wireless, but all of the nicer hotels charge at least $10/day.
-I'm still in shock about the fact that a number of high schools in the South still have separate proms for Black and White students (read about it here). The proms are paid for privately, but still. One White student admits that it's "awkward," but says that “It’s how it’s always been. It’s just a tradition.” Two which a Black student responds: “You’re 18 years old! You’re old enough to smoke, drive, do whatever else you want to. Why aren’t you able to step up and say, ‘I want to have my senior prom with the people I’m graduating with?’ ”
-Why is there an inverse correlation between the price of a hotel room and the availability of internet? All of the budget and mid-priced hotels offer free wireless, but all of the nicer hotels charge at least $10/day.
-I'm still in shock about the fact that a number of high schools in the South still have separate proms for Black and White students (read about it here). The proms are paid for privately, but still. One White student admits that it's "awkward," but says that “It’s how it’s always been. It’s just a tradition.” Two which a Black student responds: “You’re 18 years old! You’re old enough to smoke, drive, do whatever else you want to. Why aren’t you able to step up and say, ‘I want to have my senior prom with the people I’m graduating with?’ ”
Monday, May 18, 2009
What Should We Learn from Promise Academy? Part 1
Note: In lieu of a Sunday Commentary, I will be running a multi-part discussion of the recent controversy surrounding the Promise Academy. What follows in part 1.
Last week, I wrote that David Brooks' interpretation of the results reported from Harlem's Promise Academy was "flat-out irresponsible." But I didn't discuss much exactly what we should learn from the results of Dobbie and Fryer's working paper.
Before I begin, I want to reiterate what Aaron Pallas wrote last week -- that it's too early to tell whether results from Promise Academy truly do show some sort of "miracle." Though results on the NY state test seem fantastic for 8th grade students in math, they're significantly less so (though still quite good) in reading and in 7th grade math. And the results on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills are substantially less impressive still. Are good things happening at Promise Academy? Probably? Are miracles being worked? We don't know yet.
But let's assume for a second that something very good is, indeed, happening at Promise Academy. If this is the case, it stands to reason that we might want to learn from what they're doing and maybe even replicate these results. So let's take a look at a few aspects of Promise Academy as described in Paul Tough's book and how they relate to Dobbie and Fryer's analysis and see if we can figure out what might be leading to their success. Here
high rates of spending
By my calculation, the Promise Academy spent $18,073 per pupil in 2006-07 and $15,330 per pupil in 2007-08. I e-mailed the Harlem Children's Zone to see what all this entails, but have yet to receive a response. My best guess is that this does not include the after-school and Saturday tutoring programs and possibly some other programs as well. As Ken Hirsch reported, the school has raised about an additional $5,000 per student each of the past two years.
Dobbie and Fryer write that "The schools provide free medical, dental and mental-health services (students are screened upon entry and receive regular check-ups), student incentives for achievement (money, trips to France, e.g.), high-quality, nutritious, cafeteria meals, support for parents in the form of food baskets, meals, bus fare, and so forth, and less tangible benefits such as the support of a committed staff" (p. 7).
extended school day/year
Students start arriving at 7am and many don't leave until dinner time, not to mention that many come in on Saturdays as well. The school runs 11 months of the year. I've read different estimates that students spend between 50 and 100% more time in school than does the average student.
integration with the community
The Promise Academy is not only part of a designated 97 block area known as the Harlem Children's Zone, but Geoffrey Canada's stated goal is for all of the programs in the area to lead to a type of positive contamination across the neighborhood. In this way, he wants the neighborhood to influence the school and vice-versa.
Tough writes that "the motivational strategies used by schools like KIPP's, Canada knew, often had the effect of establishing a separation between the KIPP kids and the other kids in the low-income areas where they lived . . . KIPP students often became isolated from their community . . . And this situation -- a blighted neighborhood producing a select group of high achieving kids who manage to accomplish great things and succeed beyond their peers -- was exactly the one Canada was trying to avoid when he set up the Harlem Children's Zone. If Canada's model was one of contamination, in which positive ideas and practices spread within a family and throughout a neighborhood, the KIPP model sometimes seemed by contrast to be one of quarantine, walling off the most promising kids from a sick neighborhood's contagion" (p. 162-163).
small class sizes
According to the school's report card, class sizes in 8th grade have averaged around 18 students each of the last two years. The average class size appears to be about 27 students per class for 8th grade general education classes (here's all the data on class sizes).
focus on test-prep
Tough writes that "The students who were furthest behind had been assigned to remedial classes three mornings a week, from 7:00 to 7:45 A.M. Then, for more advanced students . . . there was a separate class on Saturday mornings, from 9:00 to 11:00 A.M." (p. 137).
This actually only describes the first year of operation -- test-prep became increasingly intense with each passing year. He writes that while test-prep was intense for a couple months in the spring the first year that it was running full-speed by mid-September in the second year.
expulsion
Some charter schools find ways to get rid of kids -- for example, by suggesting that they will fit in better elsewhere or threatening to hold them back if they remain. I think it's fair to ask about the expulsion tactics of any charter school before comparing its results to those of traditional public schools. In the case of Promise Academy, the record is decidedly mixed.
The book emphasizes time and time again that Canada very much wants to educate every kid in the neighborhood, especially those who are the most resistant or the lowest achieving -- indeed, he seems to be the only one at times who doesn't argue in favor of getting rid of a group of "bad apples" the principal thinks is ruining the school.
At the same time, one of these "bad apples" is expelled three weeks after the group receives a stern talking-to (p. 183). Perhaps more importantly, the notion that kids who don't want to behave can choose to go to their neighborhood instead if they don't want to put forth the effort, or will be expelled if they don't cooperate, is definitely pressed at points by the staff. At the beginning of the third year of school (fall 2006) the new principal tells the students on the first day of school that "if you find by the end of this week that you're not prepared to do what we're asking you to do, it's very important that you let someone know so we can make other arrangements for you, because we have a very long waiting list of students who would love to be here at the Promise Academy." And the new Dean follows that up by saying "If you would rather go to public school, that is really your option . . . if you decide to stay, you better recognize: This is not the place you once thought it was . . . we are going to the top this year, with or without you" (pp. 178-179). And perhaps most importantly, they essentially expel the entire 8th grade class in the spring of 2007.
While the cohort sizes dwindle noticeably (the first two go from about 100 in sixth grade to 68 and 81 by eigth grade), it's unclear how much of this attrition is voluntary. Dobbie and Fryer argue that student stability is about equal to what it is at other schools. Perhaps the bigger factor is that students who leave don't seem to be replaced by new students.
a no-nonense approach to schooling
Particularly with the installation of a new principal in year 3, the school seems to make a concerted effort to run a tight ship -- especially given that all involved seem to agree that discipline problems were the largest hindrance in the first two years. Tough describes some tough rhetoric from the Principal and Dean but doesn't go into detail regarding the extent to which this strategy permeates the daily workings of the school.
personal connections
It seems only natural that a school with dedicated staff working long hours with small groups of students could achieve deeper levels of personal connections than the average school. Consider this passage in Tough's book:
"'Why should I care about this test?' [the child] demanded. 'No one cares how I do on this test. I don't care, either.' 'But I care how you do,' [the teacher] replied. And with those words, tears sprang to the boy's eyes and started running down his face. 'Why do you care?' he asked. 'Because this is your future, and I care very deeply about you.' It was the X factor, the magic ingredient that could outweigh all the careful calculations behind Promise Academy's stratgey for success: on top of the hours and hours of cognitive training, what made the difference in many students' lives was a personal connection that was impossible to measure and difficult to replicate" (p. 186).
Coming later this week: the conclusion of this list, some analysis of the Dobbie/Fryer paper, discussion of what others have written on the topic, and some thoughts to tie everything together.
Last week, I wrote that David Brooks' interpretation of the results reported from Harlem's Promise Academy was "flat-out irresponsible." But I didn't discuss much exactly what we should learn from the results of Dobbie and Fryer's working paper.
Before I begin, I want to reiterate what Aaron Pallas wrote last week -- that it's too early to tell whether results from Promise Academy truly do show some sort of "miracle." Though results on the NY state test seem fantastic for 8th grade students in math, they're significantly less so (though still quite good) in reading and in 7th grade math. And the results on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills are substantially less impressive still. Are good things happening at Promise Academy? Probably? Are miracles being worked? We don't know yet.
But let's assume for a second that something very good is, indeed, happening at Promise Academy. If this is the case, it stands to reason that we might want to learn from what they're doing and maybe even replicate these results. So let's take a look at a few aspects of Promise Academy as described in Paul Tough's book and how they relate to Dobbie and Fryer's analysis and see if we can figure out what might be leading to their success. Here
high rates of spending
By my calculation, the Promise Academy spent $18,073 per pupil in 2006-07 and $15,330 per pupil in 2007-08. I e-mailed the Harlem Children's Zone to see what all this entails, but have yet to receive a response. My best guess is that this does not include the after-school and Saturday tutoring programs and possibly some other programs as well. As Ken Hirsch reported, the school has raised about an additional $5,000 per student each of the past two years.
Dobbie and Fryer write that "The schools provide free medical, dental and mental-health services (students are screened upon entry and receive regular check-ups), student incentives for achievement (money, trips to France, e.g.), high-quality, nutritious, cafeteria meals, support for parents in the form of food baskets, meals, bus fare, and so forth, and less tangible benefits such as the support of a committed staff" (p. 7).
extended school day/year
Students start arriving at 7am and many don't leave until dinner time, not to mention that many come in on Saturdays as well. The school runs 11 months of the year. I've read different estimates that students spend between 50 and 100% more time in school than does the average student.
integration with the community
The Promise Academy is not only part of a designated 97 block area known as the Harlem Children's Zone, but Geoffrey Canada's stated goal is for all of the programs in the area to lead to a type of positive contamination across the neighborhood. In this way, he wants the neighborhood to influence the school and vice-versa.
Tough writes that "the motivational strategies used by schools like KIPP's, Canada knew, often had the effect of establishing a separation between the KIPP kids and the other kids in the low-income areas where they lived . . . KIPP students often became isolated from their community . . . And this situation -- a blighted neighborhood producing a select group of high achieving kids who manage to accomplish great things and succeed beyond their peers -- was exactly the one Canada was trying to avoid when he set up the Harlem Children's Zone. If Canada's model was one of contamination, in which positive ideas and practices spread within a family and throughout a neighborhood, the KIPP model sometimes seemed by contrast to be one of quarantine, walling off the most promising kids from a sick neighborhood's contagion" (p. 162-163).
small class sizes
According to the school's report card, class sizes in 8th grade have averaged around 18 students each of the last two years. The average class size appears to be about 27 students per class for 8th grade general education classes (here's all the data on class sizes).
focus on test-prep
Tough writes that "The students who were furthest behind had been assigned to remedial classes three mornings a week, from 7:00 to 7:45 A.M. Then, for more advanced students . . . there was a separate class on Saturday mornings, from 9:00 to 11:00 A.M." (p. 137).
This actually only describes the first year of operation -- test-prep became increasingly intense with each passing year. He writes that while test-prep was intense for a couple months in the spring the first year that it was running full-speed by mid-September in the second year.
expulsion
Some charter schools find ways to get rid of kids -- for example, by suggesting that they will fit in better elsewhere or threatening to hold them back if they remain. I think it's fair to ask about the expulsion tactics of any charter school before comparing its results to those of traditional public schools. In the case of Promise Academy, the record is decidedly mixed.
The book emphasizes time and time again that Canada very much wants to educate every kid in the neighborhood, especially those who are the most resistant or the lowest achieving -- indeed, he seems to be the only one at times who doesn't argue in favor of getting rid of a group of "bad apples" the principal thinks is ruining the school.
At the same time, one of these "bad apples" is expelled three weeks after the group receives a stern talking-to (p. 183). Perhaps more importantly, the notion that kids who don't want to behave can choose to go to their neighborhood instead if they don't want to put forth the effort, or will be expelled if they don't cooperate, is definitely pressed at points by the staff. At the beginning of the third year of school (fall 2006) the new principal tells the students on the first day of school that "if you find by the end of this week that you're not prepared to do what we're asking you to do, it's very important that you let someone know so we can make other arrangements for you, because we have a very long waiting list of students who would love to be here at the Promise Academy." And the new Dean follows that up by saying "If you would rather go to public school, that is really your option . . . if you decide to stay, you better recognize: This is not the place you once thought it was . . . we are going to the top this year, with or without you" (pp. 178-179). And perhaps most importantly, they essentially expel the entire 8th grade class in the spring of 2007.
While the cohort sizes dwindle noticeably (the first two go from about 100 in sixth grade to 68 and 81 by eigth grade), it's unclear how much of this attrition is voluntary. Dobbie and Fryer argue that student stability is about equal to what it is at other schools. Perhaps the bigger factor is that students who leave don't seem to be replaced by new students.
a no-nonense approach to schooling
Particularly with the installation of a new principal in year 3, the school seems to make a concerted effort to run a tight ship -- especially given that all involved seem to agree that discipline problems were the largest hindrance in the first two years. Tough describes some tough rhetoric from the Principal and Dean but doesn't go into detail regarding the extent to which this strategy permeates the daily workings of the school.
personal connections
It seems only natural that a school with dedicated staff working long hours with small groups of students could achieve deeper levels of personal connections than the average school. Consider this passage in Tough's book:
"'Why should I care about this test?' [the child] demanded. 'No one cares how I do on this test. I don't care, either.' 'But I care how you do,' [the teacher] replied. And with those words, tears sprang to the boy's eyes and started running down his face. 'Why do you care?' he asked. 'Because this is your future, and I care very deeply about you.' It was the X factor, the magic ingredient that could outweigh all the careful calculations behind Promise Academy's stratgey for success: on top of the hours and hours of cognitive training, what made the difference in many students' lives was a personal connection that was impossible to measure and difficult to replicate" (p. 186).
Coming later this week: the conclusion of this list, some analysis of the Dobbie/Fryer paper, discussion of what others have written on the topic, and some thoughts to tie everything together.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Today's Random Thoughts
-Fascinating article on self-control in the New Yorker (hat tip: Alexander Russo). I still maintain that self-control is one of two major differences I noticed between successful and unsuccessful students while I was teaching. Of course, figuring out how to teach self-control has to be a lot harder than simply figuring out that kids with more of it do better.
-I'm going to hold off on more comments on the David Brooks/Promise Academy/Harlem Children's Zone/No Excuses debate until Sunday. A lot to think through on this.
-Was the "Obama Effect" real? A new study profiled in Newsweek says it might not have been (hat tip: GothamSchools). It should be noted that the new study was done only with only 119 pre-med students taking an MCAT section, and before the November election (but after the Democratic Convention). The authors plan to re-try the experiment soon.
-At some point a couple of weeks ago or so that chapter I helped write on supplemental educational services finally got published (ch. 33). Considering that I wrote the first two drafts in the spring of 2007, it seems like that was long overdue. I'm have distinctly mixed feelings about the way the final version turned out, but I guess you have to start somewhere. Considering the book is $295, I'm not holding my breath waiting for the publisher to send me a copy.
-I'm going to hold off on more comments on the David Brooks/Promise Academy/Harlem Children's Zone/No Excuses debate until Sunday. A lot to think through on this.
-Was the "Obama Effect" real? A new study profiled in Newsweek says it might not have been (hat tip: GothamSchools). It should be noted that the new study was done only with only 119 pre-med students taking an MCAT section, and before the November election (but after the Democratic Convention). The authors plan to re-try the experiment soon.
-At some point a couple of weeks ago or so that chapter I helped write on supplemental educational services finally got published (ch. 33). Considering that I wrote the first two drafts in the spring of 2007, it seems like that was long overdue. I'm have distinctly mixed feelings about the way the final version turned out, but I guess you have to start somewhere. Considering the book is $295, I'm not holding my breath waiting for the publisher to send me a copy.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Today's Random Thoughts
-Can one "bad apple" ruin an entire classroom? Any teacher will tell you that they can. Robert Pondiscio reports on a pair of economists whose findings agree with this observation. I've speculated before about the potentially positive effects of expulsion, and this does little to change my mind.
-I'm not the only person flabbergasted by Brooks' piece on Friday. Claus Van Zastrow had a similar reaction ("What?!?") to the one I did. Diane Ravitch also thinks that Brooks learned the wrong lessons from the Promise Academy's success. Robert Pondiscio thinks Brooks should take some time to read Paul Tough's book that he recommended his readers check out. And a number of readers wrote letters to the editor that weren't exactly glowing.
-Speaking of Brooks' suggested reading, let me point out that I do agree with him that both Sweating the Small Stuff (my review here) and Whatever it Takes (I'll have some more thoughts on it in the next week or so) are both worthwhile reads. It's worth nothing that Brooks could've written nearly the exact column that he did referring only the schools in the former book and he wouldn't have been too out of line -- but I still can't get over his reaction to the success of the Promise Academy. I'd love to hear the reaction of Paul Tough and Geoffrey Canada to that column as well. And, while I'm thinking of it, Fordham but a free copy of Whitman's book online earlier this year -- I've lost the link, but I have the pdf if anybody is interested.
-I'm not the only person flabbergasted by Brooks' piece on Friday. Claus Van Zastrow had a similar reaction ("What?!?") to the one I did. Diane Ravitch also thinks that Brooks learned the wrong lessons from the Promise Academy's success. Robert Pondiscio thinks Brooks should take some time to read Paul Tough's book that he recommended his readers check out. And a number of readers wrote letters to the editor that weren't exactly glowing.
-Speaking of Brooks' suggested reading, let me point out that I do agree with him that both Sweating the Small Stuff (my review here) and Whatever it Takes (I'll have some more thoughts on it in the next week or so) are both worthwhile reads. It's worth nothing that Brooks could've written nearly the exact column that he did referring only the schools in the former book and he wouldn't have been too out of line -- but I still can't get over his reaction to the success of the Promise Academy. I'd love to hear the reaction of Paul Tough and Geoffrey Canada to that column as well. And, while I'm thinking of it, Fordham but a free copy of Whitman's book online earlier this year -- I've lost the link, but I have the pdf if anybody is interested.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Today's Random Thoughts
-I've had another 24 hours to think about, and I still think that Brooks' op-ed was sloppy and irresponsible. And I still think that he owes his readers an apology. Actually, the more I think about it the more problems I see with it. To imply that the only important part of the Promise Academy's program is its "no excuses" approach is simply ridiculous. I'm going to take some time to comb back through both Tough's book and Dobbie and Fryer's working paper and will have some more thoughts on this on Wednesday or Thursday.
-I'm also annoyed at the generally sloppy reactions of many to the phasing out of the D.C. voucher program. I can see an argument for maintaining it, but the notion that the program has been proven to work is not one. Everyone needs to understand that the evaluation of the program found found decidedly mixed results. The normally reliable blog on American politics run by the Economist stumbled over this. Kevin Carey, meanwhile, raises a different and interesting argument -- that the voucher program was never going to grow large enough to transform education in the district.
-I always wondered what would happen to alt cert programs if the teacher shortage in high-poverty schools ended. NYC isn't looking to hire many people this year, and it seems much more willing to discourage traditionally certified applicants than it does TFA members or NYC Teaching Fellows. Meanwhile, would people lay off the teachers in the teaching reserve? Yes, some of them shouldn't be teaching anymore but a lot of them are there through no fault of their own. Encouraging principals to hire more of these teachers is long overdue.
-I have a backlog of posts I want to write, but my yardwork is coming along nicely. With a little help (ok, a lot of help) from friends, family, and contractors I expect my yard to look quite nice by the end of the month. I'll try to find time for some interesting and thoughtful posts to find during downtime.
-I'm also annoyed at the generally sloppy reactions of many to the phasing out of the D.C. voucher program. I can see an argument for maintaining it, but the notion that the program has been proven to work is not one. Everyone needs to understand that the evaluation of the program found found decidedly mixed results. The normally reliable blog on American politics run by the Economist stumbled over this. Kevin Carey, meanwhile, raises a different and interesting argument -- that the voucher program was never going to grow large enough to transform education in the district.
-I always wondered what would happen to alt cert programs if the teacher shortage in high-poverty schools ended. NYC isn't looking to hire many people this year, and it seems much more willing to discourage traditionally certified applicants than it does TFA members or NYC Teaching Fellows. Meanwhile, would people lay off the teachers in the teaching reserve? Yes, some of them shouldn't be teaching anymore but a lot of them are there through no fault of their own. Encouraging principals to hire more of these teachers is long overdue.
-I have a backlog of posts I want to write, but my yardwork is coming along nicely. With a little help (ok, a lot of help) from friends, family, and contractors I expect my yard to look quite nice by the end of the month. I'll try to find time for some interesting and thoughtful posts to find during downtime.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)