How to improve a low-performing school

In his Still Left Behind piece on education in the November 26, 2006 New York Times Magazine (subscription required), Paul Tough does a great job of describing what the most successful charter schools serving typically low-performing communities are doing. The most successful schools follow three practices, he writes:

"First, they require many more hours of class time than a typical public school. The school day starts early, at 8 a.m. or before, and often continues until after 4 p.m. These schools offer additional tutoring after school as well as classes on Saturday mornings, and summer vacation usually lasts only about a month. The schools try to leaven those long hours with music classes, foreign languages, trips and sports, but they spend a whole lot of time going over the basics: reading and math.

Second, they treat classroom instruction and lesson planning as much as a science as an art. Explicit goals are set for each year, month and day of each class, and principals have considerable authority to redirect and even remove teachers who aren't meeting those goals. The schools' leaders believe in frequent testing, which, they say, lets them measure what is working and what isn't, and they use test results to make adjustments to the curriculum as they go. Teachers are trained and retrained, frequently observed and assessed by their principals and superintendents. There is an emphasis on results but also on 'team building,' cooperation and creativity, and the schools seem, to an outsider at least, like genuinely rewarding places to work, despite the long hours. They tend to attract young, enthusiastic teachers, including many alumni of Teach for America, the program that recruits graduates from top universities to work for two years in inner-city public schools.

Third, they make a conscious effort to guide the behavior, and even the values, of their students by teaching what they call character. Using slogans, motivational posters, incentives, encouragements and punishments, the schools direct students in everything from the principles of teamwork and the importance of an optimistic outlook to the nuts and bolts of how to sit in class, where to direct their
eyes when a teacher is talking and even how to nod appropriately.

The schools are, in the end, a counterintuitive combination of touchy-feely idealism and intense discipline."

Now that's really a great summary of what KIPP and other similar schools are doing, and these topics deserve much more attention from parent leaders and allied organizations working to improve low-performing schools. We need to recognize, discuss and debate the following issues:

1. Are many college-educated middle class educators reluctant and/or afraid to aggressively teach values and behavior the way KIPP and similar schools do? Should they be?  Are middle class educators sometimes afraid of the kids they teach? Do educators sometimes feel guilty about their good fortune and does this guilt make them reluctant to "crack down" on poor behavior when poor kids are the ones behaving poorly? Is KIPP laying critical cultural groundwork to enable learning or is it  engaging in a form of "cultural imperialism"?
2. Do we expect enough of our principals with respect to "leading teaching and learning" in our schools? I keep running across parents who say "Our school has a great principal," but when I probe deeper, they mean that the principal is good at building community. They have no idea if the principal really understands instruction or leads teachers through a process to discover the most effective ways to teach the school's children. Shouldn't we be expecting more from our principals?
3. And what about that longer school day, especially for disadvantaged kids? Is it really realistic to fit in a strong basic academic program, and a strong enrichment program in six or six and a half hours? Isn't it time to get realistic about this, and to commit the funding that it will take to lengthen the school day so that we can fit everythig in?

I'd love to hear from you with your thoughts on these issues — leave a comment here or drop me a line at bjackson@greatschools.net.

Comments

[Bill Alston]

I just joined and I am reading for the first time some comments made earlier this year specifically those Posted by: Mary Pat Correro | February 17, 2007 at 08:53 AM

Myself and another gentleman in the Sacramento Area have been working with SOI for about five years now. Originally in a Charter School but for the last three years in a Waldorf Methods Public K-8 called John Morse.

We have recently begun discussing taking the program district wide with high level staff at Sacramento City Unified School District, those the same school district where my wife and I first met in kindergarten.

We have fully developed programs for K-8 students for both foundational skills and remediation issues including overcoming learning disabilities (these are are drug free options)
The programs have also been shown to be effective with special needs students and adults.

We also made the same discovery about SOI and have been using it in conjunction with principles and techniques taken from Dr. Frank Belgau's work.

I would love to share notes with you or anyone else who wants to see a program that
1)Can build foundational skills through physical activity and movement.(Its called Play)

2)You don't need to speak the same language as your students to teach the skills because it is all demonstrated visually. (Think of the import of this factor alone)

3)Can be used throughout the day indoors or outside. Most kids actually will do the exercises without being prompted and during recess thereby effectively extending the school day without changing anything at all in any schools that still have recess.

4)Implementation is $2000-$5000 per campus (for teacher and staff training, is ideal for use with parent volunteer groups)and after initial set up runs virtually cost free if properly implemented.

We may be demonstrating it for folks in Guatemala this summer.
Anybody want to go?

[Annerose]

These comments have been invaluable to me as is this whole site. I thank you for your comment.

[Rosie]

I thank you for your comment.

[Stephen Cook]

Here's a great education site I found for college and highschool students: www.careersandeducation.com

[Mary Pat Correro]

High property taxes for good schools,good teachers;more laws to supposedly assureefficient learning and academic success even though IDEA and ADA have been around for many years before NCLB! School reform has been a great issue for a very long time. Maybe we need to start looking at school reform and helping children reach their potential from a different perspective since we are still in the same whole despite millions of dollars spent on programs. tutoring and laws!

Back in 1993 former US Senator/Sec. of Labor Bill Brock spearheaded numerous national reform efforts on education. In 1995 he created Bridges Learning System which utilizes the Structure of Intellect paradigm in identifying and developing students multiple intelligences. It is a program found in thousands of schools in our country. It solves the core issues of learning and attention difficulties not just the symptoms. Integrated into the regular school curriculum it prepares students to learn in the first place;creates "learning abled students", helps them reach their potential! Schools that use this system have seen their standardized test scores increase significantly, and referrals for special programs decrease dramatically.SOI is based on 50 years of scientific research and has specifically identified the cognitive brain skills as well as perceptual processing and sensory integration skills which are absolutely necessary for students to be successful, capable learners.why hasn't our gov't and our school administrations pursued this solution? And it is!

Ileft public school educations 5 years ago to find a way to actually solve kids learning problems and am the only one in in this state using it! We need to start focusing on the kids preparedness to learn and stop just giving them crutches which dont create independent life long learners! And stop blaming the teachers! It's about the learning process not the teaching! Get the foundation skills developed and strengthened and the rest will follow! Especially with those high functioning "silent strugglers" and "gray area" kids!

[JMommy]

As a parent in a school district that is discussing which changes will help us continue to make AYP in the coming years, and as a person working in Special Education, the conclusion I've come to is that the success or failure of any changes made will depend on the attitude and effort directed by everyone involved-administrators, teachers, aides, & parents. Anything people have a bad attitude about implementing will not work, they will be spending all their energy into why they shouldn't have to work harder/change their techniques, rather into just working harder or changing their methods.

[Brett Hodus]

I agree with the steps laid out above in improving a low-performing school. However, I think there is one other thing which is the most significant to mention: students have to be motivated to succeed. A low-performing school is the product of low-performing students. Underestimating their ability to change is a huge mistake. They need help to realize that a change in their attitude is necessary. Character posters hanging on the walls are not enough. Student success, at some level, is the responsibility of each student -- but these students need to be stimulated by the curriculum. When they are home, they choose to play sports, video games, etc... lets bring that into the classroom in an educational way so that school becomes a place they want to be. Then, integrating more traditional curriculum can be done with success. Motivating these students to learn is the responsibility of the teacher, and is the first step in changing a school. Teaching for tests and adhering to No Child Left Behind is NOT the way to inspire students. In order to achieve success in these low-performing schools, the attitude of students regarding learning needs to be changed. Inspiring students with curriculum built around their interests makes school fun, and can change the lives of students, who then inherently change the environment in whihch they learn. Only once you get these students to be a part of this cooperative effort, and buy into learning, can the school really change. (www.scobre.com)

[BettyB]

I agree with Dennis that most of the time poor performance in school goes back to the parents. The longer school day concerns me because it takes family time away from those parents who are doing thing right.

[Jennifer]

Having children in a charter school, I am daily frustrated with the lack of good character and interest in learning some of the students (and even a few teachers) display. There is a need for extra emphasis on good behavior and values. If that means a longer day for these kids, I say "yes!" I am under the impression that some of these kids may not have a parent(s) that take the time to teach values. Yes,learning to read, write and do math are important, but if you graduate without knowing how to respect authority or possess honesty and integrity...one may not hold a job for very long.

[Linda Pelella]

I am a Special Education teacher. I moved to Dutchess County two years ago. As an educator with a backgroud in psychology, special education and laws already in place for those with disabilities. It is upsetting to find that special education services are not listed as a "category" to make a statement. Everyone is so worried about No Chil Left Behind, they are forgetting about the IDEA law that has been in place since 1974. Where is the accountability and set standard for children with special needs? When I see a child that has the potential to be a Bill Gates, Steven Hawkins and I don't see the community and educators fighting for their own children, I may just go back to the "city" where they provide quality care & education to children that were once pushed aside

[robert Freedman]

i have jut read a news article about your school and i can not beleive you required a teacher to remove a christmas tree made out of construction paper. christmas is a national holiday not a religios one. this is political correctness run amuck.
i am jewish and i am offended when this happens!

A teacher in Kentucky was forced to remove a Christmas tree-themed display from her classroom bulletin board because diversity nazis thought the phrase "Santa's Helpers" would be offensive to non-Christian kids who don't celebrate Christmas or believe in Santa Claus, accourting to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

The teacher at Brandeis Elementary made the tree out of construction-paper cutouts of children's hands. Above it, it said: "Santa's Helpers." The teacher removed the offending phrase and put up the more inclusive one, "Happy Holidays."

Aukram Burton, the Jefferson County Public Schools' multi-cultural expert, said the district's policy calls for holiday displays that don't favor one religion over another.

"We want to include everyone and not to exclude anyone," he said.

i hope you all come to your senses and have a merry christmas.

robert freedman
happy valley oregon

[Dennis]

There is a lot to digest here.

On issues #1 and #2 (educators teaching values and longer school day), if parents taught values in the home would we need the longer school day? Don't get me wrong, I think what schools like this are doing is very good but it eventually seems to come back to the parents and what they are willing to bring to the table. The programs at these schools seem reveal this by putting together programs that are almost like nanny programs and 'college-educated middle class educators' may be reluctant to become nannies.