Progressive vs. Traditional – Who’s right, who’s wrong (12-17-08)

There I was, sitting in the kitchen at an antique wooden table staring at a giant page of numbers. Rows and columns filled with digits jumped off the paper, screaming at me where only an hour ago my mother’s turkey loaf had done the same. The multiplication table was my nemesis (no different then the turkey loaf). I don’t remember what grade I was in or who my teacher was, but the sound of my father’s voice reaming into me about how important it was to master this matrix of data from one through twelve still resonates in my head. As the family embarked into the living room to watch one of the classic Star Wars films on the latest and greatest technology, laser discs, I was stuck at that antique wooden table, staring at numbers and for the one and only time in my life, wishing it was the turkey loaf instead.

School didn’t have to make sure I mastered my multiplication fluency, my family did. In fact, there are a lot of things school didn’t have to do for me.

Here are just a few examples

• How to act around professionals: My father always had business colleagues over at the house.
• How to advocate and negotiate: I learned this through compromising with my mom from an early age.
• How to speak using professional language: It’s all I heard from birth through adulthood.
• How to persevere in difficult situations: That’s all I saw. No one around me ever folded growing up. There was no task that couldn’t be accomplished. From starting companies to getting patents approved…anything and everything was possible.

Now let’s go back to that pesky multiplication table. My personal experience strikes at the heart of the national debate between progressive and traditional math instruction. The reality is that not all students from the multitude of backgrounds that we teach need the same thing. In fact, providing them with the same instruction is a complete disservice. To argue for Saxon math (the most traditional drill and kill curriculum I’ve ever seen) or Interactive Mathematics Program (IMP – the most inquiry, discovery based curriculum available) is a ludicrous notion if the students that the curriculum is going to serve aren’t taken into consideration.

The bottom line…I don’t think it mattered what curriculum my math teachers used during my middle and high school years. Regardless, I was going to have my math fluency down…not much of a choice when your father is an engineer. However, when I consider the students that I’m teaching, impoverished minority adolescents entering 9^th grade with only 8 % demonstrating grade level proficiency, it’s clear that my fate as a numerically literate individual is not the same for the clients I serve unless our school does what my family and my school were able to do for me.

It’s no secret that every “beat the odds” school I’ve visited across Colorado and the country uses direct instruction as their primary means of delivering information. Their thinking…we have way too much to cover because we’re already two to three years behind. There is no choice but for the teacher to own the content and for the students to sponge it up. As a result, you don’t see collaborative groups working through open ended projects at their own pace. You don’t see spiraling curriculums in place where the teacher moves on even though the majority of the class hasn’t shown mastery because they know that the topic will come back sometime before the end of the year or maybe next year. In fact, what you see is the opposite. A consistent push for mastery of specific learning outcomes that are the foundation of mathematics understanding.

Coming out of college all I could think about was getting students to see relevance in their mathematics and engaging them in exciting, dynamic learning experiences. I wanted them to discover the big ideas of mathematics with my facilitation, but I didn’t want to force or rush it. I taught with little to no urgency. In contrast, the schools that are preparing our most under serviced youth in this nation, poor, minority students, for college and beyond teach as though every minute was a last breath in an effort to resuscitate a drowning victim. These schools recognize the Lisa Delpit perspective that so cautions us of worrying so much about engaging and encouraging our “behind grade level” students that we fail to teach them the rules of the game.

Her argument is framed around writing and literacy, but its message resonates in the world of math education just the same. If all we worry about is engaging our students in mathematics thinking and we fail to teach them function-notation or the various ways to write a ratio then we are not preparing them for life. There is a way the game of life is played and grammar, punctuation and sentence structure all play a role. Just because a student is able to organize some creative thoughts on a piece of paper doesn’t mean we’ve gotten them ready to compete. Those thoughts need to be presented with a commanding understanding of formal English language if we want them to be taken seriously and accepted when they enter the global economic workplace. Math is no different.

We can’t simply pat our students on the back for finding a pattern in a sequence of numbers. They need to be able to use the professional terms associated with such mathematics. I found the “recursive routine” and the “starting value” is ________ and the “rule’ that gets you to the next “term” is ___________. Students need to engage in the fundamentals and formalize their understanding using the same mathematics language that will be presented to them when they enter college. If we want them to become successful college students then we have to treat them as such from early on. This includes not only our interactions with them, but the way in which we deliver content and what we deem as acceptable mastery before moving on to the next piece of content.

In the end, the debate between progressive and traditional math instruction is one that we all know the answer to, we’re just not talking about it. Picture it as a possible 100 % combination. Meaning, in a perfectly balanced classroom we would see 50 % of one mixed with 50 % of the other. In my case, having been pounded with “math facts” from an early age I would have thrived regardless of the ratio, but it’s clear that a progressive leaning combination might have served me better, say a 70 % progressive/30 % traditional ratio. On the other side of the spectrum, if my students are provided with the same 70/30 split then it is unlikely they would ever really catch up and be able to compete with their middle and upper class counterparts. An ideal ratio for my 6^th and 7^th grade 9^th graders would be the inverse, a 70 % traditional/30 % progressive ratio. As I emphasized earlier, not every child needs the same education and to provide them with the same, even at a high quality, would be doing a great disservice.

There is no singular solution to this national debate between Progressive and Traditional math instruction practices. Both have a place in the American classroom. However, both can’t have the same amount of weight in different classrooms serving different students. We must look at who is producing results, for which students and with what practices. The Avon, Connecticut’s and Cherry Creek, Colorado’s of our nation will most likely prosper regardless of curricular and instructional practices decisions. The same can not be said about the Newark, New Jersey’s and Oakland, California’s. Education reform in the world of schools and math must consider the assets and deficiencies of the clients they are serving if they are to be truly effective.

As the “beat the odds” schools in our country are living and dying by the motto “every minute counts” so too must our push for delivering appropriate and necessary math instruction to our under serviced students. It’s not ok to simply engage in mathematical thinking and to share ideas. It’s a great start, but it doesn’t get kids who are four and five grade levels behind to catch up. If our philosophies clash with our realities then we must waive “bye-bye” to philosophy and “hello” to reality. Results are the only thing that matters and instead of thinking like education reformers lets think more like venture capitalist. What’s the bottom line?

Two weeks till break…two years till radical change (12-7-08)

I’m currently reading a book titled “No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning,” and I can’t help but feel that I should be using the title as a guiding motto for the next two years of my life. In this upcoming week I have two important meetings scheduled, one with the Colorado League of Charter Schools and the other with a representative from Get Smart Schools. I’m hopeful that both organizations will play pivotal supporting roles as I look to open an ECE – 8^th grade public charter school housed right in the Manual Facility. The school opening date is fall 2010. From this point until that date I would like to follow the no excuse life model.

There are so many reasons why the school won’t open on its scheduled date. Whether it’s the fact that I have no expertise in early childhood education or that I just had my 27^th birthday two days ago, or that I’ve never done any fundraising in the private sector; it’s easy to see the shortcomings I bring to the table. However, I’m going to acknowledge all the possible deficits that I have, do whatever I can to fix them by either improving myself or recruiting human capital, and move forward. There are “no excuses” for why this school won’t open on time and do exactly what it says it’s going to do. Eliminate the achievement gap and prepare impoverished minority students to compete with their middle and upper class counter parts.

As the text I’m reading states, “indifference to minority children who arrive in kindergarten already behind and continue to flounder is no longer an option for schools.” (Thernstrom 3) It’s no longer an option for our communities and it’s no longer an option for our country. I am frustrated, to put it nicely, with the students who walk into my 9^th grade classroom three and four grade levels behind their peers. I think about my own peer group, law school graduates, commodities and insurance salesmen, bankers, accountants, small business owners, and I can’t help but think about whether my students can compete with them. Do they have the academic, social and cultural capital necessary to thrive in our competitive country? Simply stated…no. That’s not to say they’re not able to develop these assets or that they have less innate ability then my friends did at their age, I simply mean that should the school not ensure the attainment of these assets then the students chances of success in our global economy are dire.

For those wondering how I define success I will put it in non-financial terms and simply define it as the ability to do whatever you want in this world without being held back by your deficits. When I think about the quality of some of my students writing and what a cover letter on a job application would look like I quickly see a deficit that could hold them back from achievement. When I say good morning to a student and put out my hand only to receive a barely audible voice in response with a weak hand shake and no eye contact I once again see a deficit that could stop one of our students from getting what they want in this world.

As the “beat the odds” schools are proving and as all research that I’ve been reading states…we must develop the human capital of our students which includes everything from writing engaging, organized and grammatically correct text to shaking a persons hand, looking them in the eye and confidently saying “good morning.” This is the backbone of inner-city academic institutions that are changing the odds for our most underserved student population and this will be the back bone of Make it Happen Academy, an ECE – 8^th grade charter school that will open in fall of 2010 and will ensure that minority students living in poverty can and will compete with my peer group. There are “no excuses.”

Geoffrey Canada and "Directors of Change" (11-25-08)

I'm almost done reading Paul Tough's whatever it takes and with each page I find myself more and more engaged in the work of Geoffrey Canada. Last night in particular, as I worked through the chapter titled "Conveyor Belt" I was struck by his sediments. The passage that really hit me read as follows.

"Here's the problem with everything that we've been doing in this field," he told me. It was a chilly February morning, and we were sitting at the small round meeting table in his office. "For the last thirty or forty years, all of us have chosen to work in places where kids are behind, with the thought that we would be superheros and we would go in and save these kids." The superhero method was often emotionally rewarding for those who practiced it, Canada said, even if it was also usually personally exhausting. It meant you were engaged in battle in the most hopeless neighborhoods, teaching or mentoring or otherwise rescuing desperate kids whom the system had written off, and if you were good at your job, it meant that you regularly performed miracles.

Canada had felt the sense of triumph that came with those successes. He knew it well, in fact. It could be exhilarating. "But the problem with that approach is you will always have more business than you can handle," Canada said. "You will never solve the problem. You will only save some small number of kids who are on their way to the dark end of things. We've all done it, and we all still do it, and we need to keep doing it. But it is what I've come to think of as the old-fashioned way of working in these communitis."

What the conveyor-belt idea represented to Canada was the hope of a new alternative. "The question is, can you build a system where kids in middle school won't need these kinds of interventions in order to be successful?" he said. "And my bet - I could be wrong, but this is my bet - is if we start with kids very early, and we provide them with the kind of intense and continuous academic rigor and support that they need, then when they get to the middle school and high school level, we're not going to need those superhuman strategies at all."

Whatever it Takes - pg. 196

What Tough pulls out of Canada's philosophy on solving issues of poverty is the exact dilemma that I've been facing since the start of my career and most recently, since helping to re-open Manual High School. How much can we really do when we start with 15 year olds? We know from the studies of economists, sociologist and brain development psychologists that much of our cognitive abilities have already been established by the time we reach the ages of 15 or 16 years old.

The nobel prize winning economist James Heckman does a great job of synthesizing this idea. In essence, intervening with a 16 or 17 year old is too late. "A person's cognitive abilities are fairly stuck in place. But the same level of intervention at an early age can make a very big difference in a child's life." He goes on to illustrate his point. "If you intervene in a child's life early, later intervention wil have more to build upon, which means that they will pay off more as well. But if you don't start early, the reverse happens: each year it gets harder and harder to have an effect on a child's development." (Tough 193)

Where does this leave me?

Simple...Manual High School, regardless of its "Superhuman" efforts, will never save all of its students. We're certainly giving them a way better chance to succeed in life and I'm confident that we will in fact have a lot of successes. However, as Canada stated, we'll only be saving a small number kids. My solution...stop putting so much effort into a solution that doesn't work (or at least doesn't work nearly as effectively as others).

Instead, I propose turning the Manual High School facility into a mini-version of the Harlem Children's Zone. The facility would include everything needed to take a newborn baby from birth through college (the whole notion of Canada's plan in Harlem).

• Baby college
• Intense Toddler Support
• Health Clinic
  
• Early Childhood Education
  
• Elementary, Middle and High School
  
• Alumni Support
• Mentor Programs
  

Canada's entire philosophy is grounded in the fact that if students of color growing up in poverty are given the right, intensive supports through out their life that we can in fact eliminate the achievement gap and in many ways, never see it in the first place. By turning Manual High School into an interwoven community facility, a conveyor belt of programming that works with kids at each stage, our chances of successfully preparing our neighborhood's kids to compete with upper and middle class society will grow exponentially.

To make this vision a reality, one that I believe many would love to see, it will take a few entrepreneurial leaders (amongst millions of dollars and an overly dedicated staff) with time, energy, passion and some serious know how. Human capital is the essential ingredient to any start up company and the same is true for any efforts on the non-profit, educational side of the world; especially one trying to create major social change. What we need to do is find people with specific interests in each of the sections of the conveyor belt. Someone needs to lead the charge on early childhood education. Another individual needs to run our Baby College. Yet another needs to head the health services clinic. The question is, what pieces of the conveyor belt need to be implemented first? It's clear that getting all of these support systems in place at once would be a nearly impossible challenge. Therefor, which ones are top priority for not only future success, but short-term, temporary success as well?

This is the question that I would like to pose to a board of directors that I've fittingly titled the "Directors of Change." Such a group would oversee the effort on all fronts and ensure cohesion between the different sections of the "conveyor belt." The Directors of Change would be the leaders from each intervention effort, i.e. the principal of the Middle School, the Director of the Baby College, etc. as well as CEO's from successful private and non-profit entities in the Denver Metro Area. Beyond answering the question stated above, the board would lay out a mission statement, organizational charts, a detailed plan for staffing, child/family recruitment, and facility usage , and all other necessary endeavors needed to bring the vision to life.

At the end of the day we must stop relying on our "superhuman" efforts to save 15 and 16 year old kids. It's time to stop using what Canada refers to as a "traditional method' of solving our problem and move towards a set of intervention solutions that when tightly woven together actually stand a chance at creating real change. On his march to the White House Obama carried a message entrenched in the notions of hope and change. He wasn't saying that he alone was going to be the change...he was simply planting and motivating seeds so that we could all stand up and act. The timing couldn't be more right for this effort. Let's make it happen!

Input vs. Output (11-16-08)

I used to love editing video in college. Whether a news story for our weekly broadcast or a highlight video for the sports teams to use for recruitment; The editing room is an exciting place where you can combine creativity and hard work to make a product that you can be proud of. The beauty of editing is that when you're done you get a finished product and your input (time, effort, imagination, etc.) has a direct correlation to the output (the quality of the video).

The world of urban education, however, does not follow this simple input/output model. Many educators in schools in Denver and around the country are inputing a great deal of time, effort, innovation, dedication, etc. and are still not seeing a quality finished product (results). What's the problem? The problem, as I see it, is that we're putting way too much time and energy into a system that doesn't work. The teacher in a comprehensive high school of 2,000 kids who's working insane hours to catch kids up that are 3 or 4 grade levels behind is deserving of great accolades and praise, but how much of an impact can that teacher have? What if we gathered handfuls of these overachieving educators and had them put all of their energy into the early ages of child development?

As I discovered in Paul Tough's "Whatever it Takes," kids coming from poverty are already at a tremendous disadvantage by the time they are 3 years old. Children at this age from a professional family have an average IQ of roughly 117 and a vocabulary of approximately 1,100 words. Their impoverished counter parts score an average of 79 on the same IQ tests and their vocabulary is roughly half with an average of 525 words. Talk about an uphill battle. By the time these same kids reach the high school level it's no wonder there is a significant "achievement gap." That is why our efforts need to shift...not in the energy level and dedication we're inputing, but in where we're putting it.

If the same group of highly intelligent and dedicated urban educators shifted their focus to the birth though 5th grade population we could see some significant results. Maybe our input might start matching our output. This isn't to say that we don't need highly qualified and passionate teachers working at the secondary level. We obviously do and those kids deserve our best efforts to turn things around. However, recruiting a new group of educators and taking some of the current work force to focus in on the age levels where we can really make a difference and ensure that a gap never starts seems to me as the only way to make a dent in this giant social dilemma.

As Geoffrey Canada, founder of the Harlem Children's Zone states so clearly, we must "transform every aspect of the environment that poor children are growing up in." This is why they've created an endless chain that takes kids from birth through college. There are no breaks in the chain. My suggestion is to take Mr. Canada's idea and run with it. We must focus far more energy on the formative years of childhood so that the gap between poverty and middle class never starts in the first place. Let's gather our great educators, those passionate for change, and open more ECE - 8th grade programs, more baby colleges, and more of anything that's going to give our kids a chance to compete with their middle and upper class counterparts long after they leave our schools.

My new "Paternalistic" Classroom (11-11-08)

"If you don't want to be successful, go to college and work hard every minute of every day then you don't need to be here. There are no excuses in this classroom. We are all here to work together and support one another in learning. There is nothing else. When you walk in the door it's game on! Every day!" I don't think I've ever been so blunt with my students, but my new vision of how class needs to run is a far cry from my progressive, constructivist roots. After visiting schools across the east coast that are making it happen for impoverished minority students, reading "Sweat the Small Stuff," and currently working on Paul Tough's "Whatever it Takes," I no longer have ignorance as an excuse. I know what needs to get done in the classroom and in our school to ensure that our students can compete with middle class America when they leave. Having said that, the transformation of my practice has been both exhausting and rewarding.

Class itself is now comprised of a series of learning activities none of which last more than 25 minutes. Pacing has gone way up as the intensity level and sense of urgency has increased exponentially (I use a timer on my board as often as humanly possible whether it's for 1 minute or 12) Every piece of work done in class is directly related to the day's learning outcome and even when I think I have a good idea about a side activity that could be engaging or interesting if it doesn't do anything to ensure specific learning of the day's outcome then it gets cut out. Moreover, we now have weekly learning outcome assessments that are very much traditional in their format. If a student fails to demonstrate proficiency on their weekly quiz then they have mandatory overtime the following week on Wednesday to receive additional instructional support for over an hour after school. At that point they may re-take the assessment in an attempt to prove a sufficient level of understanding. If they still don't show enough evidence of the essential learning then more support will be provided in the form of lunch and after school support. The classroom continues to move forward with new content being delivered and weekly mastery being shown.

The affect of such a change in my classroom has been noticeable to date. Students are spending more time on task and a greater number are engaged in learning for a higher percentage of time. This phenomenon is also transferring to my teammate's classroom as Ms. Frazier, our social studies teacher is finding that students are less reluctant to start tasks and are exhibiting more on task behaviors through out class. As far as data is concerned, I am not particularly excited about the results of our first week in this new learning environment. Part of the problem lies in an attendance issue as students who were in class Monday through Thursday were far more likely to succeed on the assessment. In addition, students who missed Friday obviously didn't take the assessment and in turn are currently considered "In Progress." Nonetheless, having the data is certainly beneficial as I now know exactly which students need what support. Moreover, the goal of increasing student accountability of learning has been simultaneously heightened as their grades are tied nearly entirely to their prove of understanding on these formal assessments. It's not that I disagree with the notion of examining a students "body of evidence" to prove essential learning, it's that I'm not sure that it's best for my students. They're coming in 2 to 4 grade levels behind and in their time with us we have to prepare them for not only entering, but finishing a four year college. My progressive vision of assessment and examining the whole child over an extended period of time might just not be enough to get the job done.

Please see the graphs at the top of this post to see our first week's data set of both our mad minute (the number of problems we can complete in a minute on a specific skill, i.e. adding + and - integers) and our learning outcome proficiency levels. Both are discouraging at first look, but knowing that this is a new process/system that I've put in place I am confident of few things.

1.) Students will begin to take class more seriously as the expectation levels around demonstrating mastery on a weekly basis have increased dramatically.
2.) Students who show up everyday and work hard will see results and that momentum will spread through out the classroom.
3.) Students who use the additional support and resources provided to help them reach mastery will find a feeling of success that they may have never experienced before, thus giving them drive to push forward.
4.) There will always be a challenge in taking students who are well below grade level and demanding that they show mastery of at grade level skills and knowledge. However, such a demand must be placed on students if they are to get caught up and truly compete with their middle class counterparts.

We have no choice, but to move in a direction that places more urgency on both teachers and students alike. There is no doubt that the effort needed on my end has increased alongside of my students, but what choice do we have if we are to really "beat the odds?"

Williamsburg Collegiate – Balancing rigor and joy (10-30-08)

“We’ve just wasted 65 seconds,” announced Ms. Ely. “I don’t feel like we’re ready for math class today…let’s start again.” As the students read out the number of problems they got right on the day’s mad minute for the second time it was hard to not notice the highly valued commodities of efficiency and urgency. (For those who don’t know, “mad minute” is a timed computation test in which students complete as many arithmetic problems as possible in a minute. The goal of the process is simply to increase automaticity and fluency) In fact, the entire time I observed the class in action I didn’t notice a single dip in learning engagement. Even when students were in transition between activities, a time when side talk is common, the students were instructed to “write their 8’s” and then their “7’s.” (8, 16, 24, …), which they quickly obliged. The agenda on the board read like a presidential to do list, filled with 9 items all set to a time limit of no more than 20 minutes. The high stakes, “we’ve got things to get done and we’re going to get them done now,” environment was palpable with Ms. Ely leading the charge. You could think of the urgency as Peyton Manning pushing his team down the field with time expiring needing one last touchdown to clinch victory. This class was all business!

Simultaneous to the intense, highly structured environment was a room of 5^th graders who wanted to be there. Constantly raising their hands (it wasn’t uncommon for all 25 kids in the class to shoot their hands to the sky upon being asked a question) and going along with whatever was being asked, the students almost looked like they were part of a gang.

That’s how the school gets it done. A 5^th – 8^th grade middle school with 250 students, Williamsburg Collegiate is an amazing blend of structure, discipline, urgency and fun. Their Special Education expert refers to this mixture as a balance between “joy and rigor.” The school is comprised of 60 % Hispanic students and 40 % African American. 85 % of the student body is on the free and reduced lunch program and 14 – 15 % of the students are supported through special education. The school is part of the Uncommon Schools network, a CMO that acts as the umbrella to other schools including North Star Academy in Newark and Leadership Prep in New York.

What do they do to ensure success?

First off, students arrive between 7:15 and 7:45 daily and don’t leave until 5:30 at night. The staff, an intensely dedicated group, has the same contractual day as the students, with every teach participating in additional student support through the extended day. In addition to the extended day, incoming 5^th graders attend a 3 week orientation sessions.

Beyond the use of time, every individual in the building teaches at least one class, principals included. Thackston, the Director of Operations teaches a math class, while the school’s principal, Julie teaches a science class. Beyond teaching, members of the administrative team meet with every teacher for at least one hour per week. These meetings focus on reviewing lessons, student performance, and classroom observation. The sense of urgency felt in the classroom permeates at all levels of the school.

Interim Assessments – Finding out where students are and doing something about it

Each 6 weeks every student in the school takes an interim assessment to see if they’ve mastered the content from their core classes. The tests are a combination of open-ended, constructed response questions and multiple choice problems. On Monday and Tuesday the tests are administered and on Wednesday the whole faculty assembles to assess the open ended, constructed response problems from the tests. Upon gathering the data from the constructed response problems the remainder of the tests are scanned using a scan-tron and the data is then transferred to a spreadsheet that breaks down each individual student with their level of understanding on each learning objective. This massive, data based document is than given back to the teachers by Friday morning so they may spend the day analyzing it and planning next steps. Many schools are similar to Williamsburg Collegiate in their ability to collect data on student learning, however, this particular 5^th – 8^th grade “no-excuse” middle school does some amazing work after they’ve broken the data down.

There are three major streams of effort that teachers use once they’ve analyzed their data.

1.) Re-teaching the class – If 80 % of students in a particular class fail to show mastery of a specific learning objective then that teacher will make plans to provide a lesson or lessons focused on the weakness of the students. In addition, if a smaller percentage of students are struggling with a particular learning objective then the teacher might include problems that address the student weakness in their “Do Nows” for a series of weeks. (Do Nows are the “warm up” problems that start each class).

2.) Small Group/Individual Tutoring – Since school goes to 5:30 on a regular basis there is already built in time for additional instruction and support. If 20 % of students in a particular class are struggling with the same learning objectives based on their interim assessment then the teacher may have all 20 % work with him or her in a series of after school tutoring groups. By doing so, the class remains on track with its content while students who need it receive additional support to fill in missing chunks of learning.

3.) Pull out interventions – If certain students are really failing to thrive in the classroom environment and are demonstrating little to no understanding on the interim assessment then the school may use pull-out, one on one, or small group time during the school day to provide more intensive instruction.

Regardless of which stream of effort is used, it is clear that an approach in which no child is overlooked and explicit next steps are taken is a model for all of us to follow. In this school it is not ok to not master essential content. Instead, if you show that you are not proficient in essential areas the school does everything it can to get you back on track and ready for your future education, most notably, college.

The College Dream

At Williamsburg Collegiate each student is assigned to an advisory in 5^th grade when they enter. Their advisories are named after college alma maters and their graduation year is based on the year that they should receive their undergraduate degree. In 8^th grade there is a huge emphasis on the college-bound track. Students learn how to calculate their GPAs, take trips to college campuses, and start to examine what a good college application looks like.

On Fridays of each week the whole school gets together for what’s called “base camp.” During base camp students participate in a variety of activities, but everything is framed around “the mountain climb to college.” The school’s transparency about students attending college certainly doesn’t guarantee that every 8^th grader will get there and stay there, but it definitely sends a clear message that such high expectations are common place and simply the way we do business.

What can we learn from Williamsburg?

If you want to see a class where every minute counts then I highly encourage you to visit this “uncommon school.” Their teachers demand the highest productivity rare that I’ve ever witnessed in a classroom. In the past I’ve always taught my students about productivity gaps, the difference between what you could accomplish and what you actually accomplish. The productivity gap for the majority of students in my classrooms has fluctuated from high to low depending on the day, my planning and student attitudes. At Williamsburg Collegiate it seems like the productivity gap says at consistent 0. There is no gap between what could get done and what does get done.

The sense of urgency developed in the classrooms mixed with the teacher’s use of interim assessments to drive instruction is a valuable combination. When you add on the non-stop push to get students ready for college you have a school where everyone has a common purpose and the community is stronger. “Team before individual” is certainly an underlying motto permeating the halls and classrooms of the building. Everyone is doing their part and as a result the school is a highly functioning learning environment with a mix of structure, discipline and achievement.

The do whatever it takes attitude of the school is everywhere you look and their director of operations is no exception. As he says, “you get in the building and we’ll do everything possible to keep you here and convince you that this is where you need to be.”

Baltimore Talent Development High School – “It’s not magic.” (10-29-08)

“Attention all travelers, the train departing at 12:47 to New York is delayed indefinitely.” This announcement of course put a small dent in my day, but rather than simply hoping for the best I chose to change my ticket to the 1:30 train that cost a little bit of additional money, but was worth my sanity. Delays are one thing…indefinite delays are a whole different story.

As I was changing my ticket at the Amtrak counter the sales agent and I struck up a conversation. After telling him my profession as a high school math teacher he perked up and told me to share a quote with my students. As my trip is all about learning I told him I’d be more than happy to oblige his request. “Where purpose is unknown, abuse is inevitable.” “I’ll say it again,” as he leaned closer to the glass buffer that separated us, “Where purpose is unknown, abuse is inevitable.” As I walked towards the snack bar to pick out a sandwich his words continued to ring in my head. How did the Amtrak sales representative, with such a simple quote, summarize the core of “beat the odds” high schools. Everything they do is purposeful and as a result they are filled with focused and driven communities of administrators, teachers and students. They are the opposite of the chaotic images of urban high schools that are graphically depicted by Hollywood films.

Without purpose, and constant re-examination of their purpose, none of these schools would be making it happen. Who knew that Amtrak had such an intellectual staff?

Apparently Mr. Jeffery Robinson had the same sales representative at Amtrak over five years ago when he became the principal of Baltimore Talent Development High School.

As he puts it, “we don’t yield or bend” in following our purpose of educating our students in a safe and caring environment. “It’s not magic or out of the box thinking” he continues. “We use good teaching, a strong administration and a curriculum that matches our client’s needs.” Mr. Robinson, dressed in a white button down with a pink sweater vest, is clearly the keeper of the culture along with Mr. Hill and Ms. Carter, the two assistant principals. As Mr. Hill states so clearly, “school climate is everything.” “We greet students at the door every morning and provide them with a school that’s not just a building, but a safe and loving family. These students are my family.”

Following the love and achievement summary that I’ve been using to describe these “beat the odds” paternalistic high schools, BTDHS is no exception. “A lot of our students don’t have a steady family and aren’t loved or appreciated. We make them part of something and that grabs a good percentage of our students.” Hill explains that he and the rest of the administration have open-door policies and are always willing to meet and work with students on any of their mental, social or academic needs. In addition, the school employees a social worker and mental health doctor who are both available four days a week. The nurse’s office includes drug counseling and other support services for students in need of them. With 89 % of their first senior class graduating it’s hard to argue that their “love the kids” focus hasn’t paid off. (For the record, 3 of the students who didn’t graduate are still at school working on meeting the requirements). To put that 89 % number in perspective I have to describe the community the school is situated in.

Baltimore, like many American cities, has some problems, but its problems are more extreme than others and certainly in plain sight. 50 % of the three to four story housing complexes surrounding the school are vacant and boarded up. As the cab driver pulled onto Harlem Ave. into the area of Baltimore where the school is located he quickly rolled my window up and locked the doors. It’s a totally “dead” community filled with gangs, drugs and all of the hardships of poverty. Some cab drivers won’t even come pick you up if you order a taxi in the neighborhood. Despite the community from which the students attend the school continues to succeed. Clearly a “no-excuse” high school, BTDHS once again disqualifies the argument that until an impoverished community is turned around its students can’t be successful.

How do they do it?

Students start with a 2 week “bridge program” in the summer before their freshmen year. The program consists of math, English, science and social studies classes as well as acquainting students with procedures, policies, transcripts and all other components of the school. They also receive their advisors at this time who are in charge of 12 – 15 students. Once attending the school, students are split into teams of 75 – 90 of which four core teachers are responsible for education at each grade level. Groups of students within the team travel with one another to each of their core classes. The teaching teams meet on Wednesday afternoons (half days for students) to discuss student needs and collaborate on instruction. Each team has a lead teacher who is paid an additional stipend for facilitating the group.

Students have 8 conferences with their advisors through out the school year, four for attendance conferences and four for report card conferences. Each conference is a check in with students that may do anything from celebrating their passing of all core classes to discussing what’s stopping them from attending regularly.

Intentional School Culture – What does the school purposefully do to create a safe, loving and focused learning environment?

The first thing I noticed when I walked into the school was a big poster with an illustration of a thermometer. There was a mark at 86, representing the 86 % attendance rate that was achieved during the week of 10/6 – 10/10 and there was another mark at 90 % next to which read “our goal.” Above the poster in large letters was “your attendance counts.” Once the bell rang swarms of yellow polo shirts filled the hallway. Each class in the school is assigned a color and that is the only type of shirt they can wear. The polos have the school name on them and there are also buttoned down shirts.

• 9^th grade – Yellow (golden rod)
• 10^th grade – Black
• 11^th grade – Light, faded yellow
• 12^th grade – light, oxford blue

As Mr. Robinson took me to visit a 9^th grade class a student asked him why they weren’t given a certain privilege, “you’re a 9^th grader,” he responded, “you have no rights.” At BTDHS your privileges are earned over time and through achievement.

The stairwell that takes you from one grade level to the next (each grade has its own floor), is separated by a division down the middle. “UP” is for the right side of the stairs and “DOWN” is for the left. Although the separation was already there when the school open it’s just another detail in maintaining an orderly and safe school climate. There’s no fighting to get through a crowd as you walk up and down the steps…it’s like forced etiquette.

An additional component of the intentional culture places great emphasis on the student. For example, if they are removed from class they must fill out a form in the office explaining what behavior or incident occurred that got them removed. Then, upon meeting with an administrator they may be “reinstated” into class or further consequences may occur depending on the infraction.

Students who arrive out of dress code, regardless of their excuse or whether or not they’ve come with a note from their parent or guardian are immediately sent home to change. “My dryer broke” is not an acceptable excuse. In fact, there is no acceptable excuse. As Mr. Hill puts it “This (being a student) is a job, you’re responsible for dressing and acting a certain way. Your employer when you’re older isn’t going to accept the excuse that your dryer broke so why should we.” BTDHS really is a “no excuse” high school.

Another anecdote of the intentional culture established in the school happened right in front of me in the office. A male student entered Ms. Carter’s office to request that his cell phone be returned to him. “Was it out in class,” Ms. Carter responded. “Did the teacher have to ask you to put it away?” The student acknowledged the question with a simple non-verbal affirmation. “Then it’s mine…end of story.”

The Classroom – What does it look like?

Ms. Davis, a 10^th grade social studies teacher, held up a font page article in the local newspaper regarding high stakes testing in the Baltimore School District and began a discussion on the impacts that such tests would have on the students in the room. She explained to the students that their scores on tests in Algebra, Geometry, Biology and English (both reading and writing) would have to be passed in order to graduate if legislation was approved. “Do you think this is good for you?” she asked the class. A consistent “no” response filled the room. “Hold on a minute, do you know that if Ms. Davis was asked whether or not the testing practice should be implemented she would emphatically say yes.” Breaking down her reasoning to the disapproving class here’s a rough version of what she shared.

“The standards are already to low for you. People don’t think you can achieve. I disagree. We have to change the mentality of our students and the community. Tests are good for you. If you can’t pass these foundation tests than how will you be able to succeed after high school?” Furthermore, she shared some data with the students to encourage them. “In this class last year we had 76 % of students passing the High School Assessments. Do you know that only 43 % of students in the city passed the same tests? Are we beating the odds or what? We can pass these tests!”

Rather than be afraid of state assessments that hold schools accountable for ensuring that all students are learning Ms. Davis is working hard to make sure her students see the need for succeeding on state exams. It doesn’t hurt that she is also part of the state committee who writes the test questions. She describes them as fair and articulates to her students that what they’ll see in college is going to be far more complex so at the very least they need to be able to pass these foundation exams. (It should be noted that students who are close to passing any of the content area tests may complete “rigorous” projects to demonstrate proficiency of their missing areas. In addition, the tests are only taken upon a student’s completion of that specific course. In other words, they’re not just 9^th grade math assessments; they are taken based on the specific course completed)

All of the classes at BTDHS have some commonalities to them. Each board at the front of the room includes the following…

- Date

- Lesson Objective – “At the end of class today students will be able to…”

o Ex. Identify their roles in a political campaign by completing a questionnaire.

- Drill – Starting problem, question or task

- Class work – Description of what students are going to do during class

- Homework – Details about their assignment

Besides these consistencies I also observed some clear differences. In the two classes that I spent time in, Ms. Davis’s social studies class and a fellow 10^th grade teachers Algebra II class the students acted differently and the classrooms had a different feel to them.

Students who were in proper dress code in the first class then kept their jackets on for the second class. The percentage of focused and engaged students was dramatically different between the two rooms and in the second class one particular girl spent a great deal of time text messaging. There are a few reasons for this shift between classes. One is that the first teacher, Ms. Davis, is clearly a die hard keeper of the culture flame. Constantly telling students quiet down with the “shh” sound and asking them to join her in whatever the focus of the class should be she is relentless in her effort to keep everyone on board. She is also the lead teacher on her team. The Algebra teacher on the contrary is new to the team and still in the process of developing his knowledge, understanding and implementation of the culture.

The reason for illustrating the differences between the two classes is not meant to be a judgment of either teacher. The schedule was abnormal as the classes were shortened for the half day. In addition, I spent less than 30 minutes in each class and to see such a small window doesn’t provide enough information to generalize what happens regularly. Having said that, the anecdote does show imperfection. “Paternalistic” schools are human and to assume that things are always in order and learning is focused 100 % of the time is a false notion. Like any good business, schools are a work in progress. Some employees are further along the learning curve than others and so long as everyone is progressing to the same purposeful goal it can be said that the group as a whole is a success. It’s easy to walk into Ms. Davis’s social studies classroom and say this is how all classes should be; Engaged students listening to one another’s opinions, sharing ideas, and producing relevant work. However, it is unrealistic that everyone can instantaneously replicate such a learning environment.

Assessment and Interventions

The school uses two diagnostic tools to track their student’s progress. These assessments are given three times during the year…beginning, middle and end.

- CTBS – Mathematics

- Gates-Megenti – English

At the beginning of the year the student’s scores on these assessments are used to place them appropriately in classes and provide them with additional supports. In addition to tracking students based on their abilities as diagnosed by the assessments there are additional interventions to help get students caught up.

- Students are pulled out of their elective classes to attend lab sessions where they work with different software to intensify their instruction and act as a supplement to classroom learning.

- There are after school work sessions available for all students. It is mandatory for teachers to stay late at least one day during the week, but many stay everyday. Some are also available before school and during lunch.

As far as school wide norms for each subject area with regards to assessment I didn’t discover any particular consistent practice.

THE BIG QUESTION - What can we take away?

1.) We do or are trying to do a lot of the same things as BTDHS

a. Advisory – Just like BTDHS our students have advisory groups facilitated by an adult advocate who encourages attendance, conferences regularly and creates a family like support system.

b. Teaching Teams – Almost identical to BTDHS, we’re split into teaching teams of core teachers that are responsible for approximately 75 students. Meeting regularly to conference around student needs and collaborate on instruction and assessment; we follow a very similar process to BTDHS.

c. Diagnostic Assessments – Using the SRI for students reading levels, our own writing rubric and assessment practices and our own incoming “Algebra readiness” exam, we have certainly started to diagnose our student’s learning levels as they come into school. However, it’s clear that we need to develop these practices further, including the assessments themselves (perhaps we should look into the math diagnostic test used by BTDHS) and use the data we gain in a more efficient and purposeful manner.

d. Attendance goals – We don’t have the public, wall size poster thermometer illustrating our attendance % and the goal we’re trying to receive (which we easily could and should do), but we’re clearly putting a great deal of energy behind improving our attendance. The recent breakdown in advisory attendance numbers that we’ve been sharing with our advisories and our specific goal around attendance in our School Improvement Plan are both ways in which we’re working to improve attendance.

e. Classroom routines – Much like BTDHS, our Do Now, Learning Outcomes, Agenda, and POP’s posted in each room create instructional consistency amongst our teaching force.

f. Student love – family – At Manual High School one of our greatest strengths is creating a caring and loving learning environment for our students.

g. Summer Academy – Our freshmen academy aims to accomplish the same tasks that BTDHS’s “bridge” program works on during its two week, pre 9^th grade program. Diagnosing student strengths and weaknesses in core academic areas, building a “family-like” community and culture and introducing students to policies, procedures and school expectations are all invaluable to our pre-Manual High School program. As we reflect on our first effort to run a summer academy and revise our efforts we will certainly improve in using the time with new students to accomplish the major tasks more effectively and then use that experience to really jump into the school year.

2.) The biggest take away from Baltimore Talent Development High School must be their “don’t yield, don’t bend” philosophy around school climate and culture.

a. As much as we work to engrain our school’s cultural values in our students it is evident from our constant dress code battles, issues with profanity and vulgar language, high numbers of tardies and other pieces of data, both formal and anecdotal, that we have not yet established the school climate that we’re striving for. This is not to say that a school that’s been around for less than a year should “be there” when it comes to a fully established intentional school culture, but as you consider our school adding an additional 150 students and 8 + more teachers next year the task of maintaining a strong base of students and teachers who are “on board” becomes more overwhelming. Working hard now to make sure that we nail down the expectations of our school with our current student population will take us far when it comes to dealing with the upcoming growth.

b. The “keepers of the culture,” the principal Mr. Robinson and his administrative colleagues, Mr. Hill and Ms. Carter, set a tone of firmness and fairness for the entire school population. Their constant presence in the classroom and hallways is powerful and strengthened more by their ongoing interaction with students. Teachers and students alike witness these interactions and as such I believe become more in tune with the expectations of the school. Teachers who see the assistant principal approach a student about dress code in a “firm” manner while accepting no excuses become more likely to do the same when they find themselves dealing with a student in the same situation. The bottom line is that as the entire school staff and students are accountable for the school climate it is highly evident that the tone is set each day by the constant efforts of the administrative team. Everyone is involved, but the keepers of the flame lead the charge.

The SEED School – An amazing place (10-28-08)

Sitting in a coffee shop in Washington DC I’m not only trying to digest my espresso, but the information I just spent the last few hours taking in at the SEED School. Located in a poor community in the South East section of DC, SEED is a unique place. How many inner-city boarding schools do you know of? Its student population is 99 % African American and almost entirely of the lowest socioeconomic bracket. Despite the fact that students come in well below grade level when they start at the school in 7^th grade, on average, 95 % of students enroll in 4 year colleges upon graduation. The school completely disqualifies the argument that until impoverished communities turn around schools will be unable to successfully educate their children. The SEED School is truly an impressive place.

How do they do it?

Below I will do my best to break down the practices, policies and systems in place that all work to accomplish SEED’s goal of sending each and every one of their students to 4 year universities. Some of the information will leave you with more questions so feel free to respond through “comments” on the Blog and I will do my best to either answer your question or direct the question to the right person.

College Enrollment and Perseverance – Getting them in and keeping them there

There is 2 full time staff at the SEED Foundation (organization that oversees the school and the replication schools that are being developed) and 1 full time staff member at the SEED school all responsible for getting students enrolled and through college. The foundation staff members work with students once they’re enrolled in college to make sure that they have several adult advocates on campus who they can go to for support and who will check in with them. The Foundation staff also ensures that students who need it continue to receive mental health support once on the college campus. Moreover, the foundation and school send care packages and provide students with a stipend program where they receive $ 500.00 during the first month of each semester followed by $ 300.00 for each following month. The Foundation also provides scholarship money to students and the two staff members in charge of alumni support actually visit students at university to check in with them and see how they are doing. The bottom line…SUPPORT, SUPPORT, SUPPORT!

Why do students typically drop out of college? Money and failure. If a student is struggling to pay for books, live a similar lifestyle with their collegiate peers (i.e. going out for pizza on a Thursday night), or struggling with classes and mental health issues it is likely that they may not make it through the four years. This is true about students from all socioeconomic levels. However, students coming from SEED are used to a certain level of support from adults in their lives as the school provides endless amounts of effort to make sure students are successful. At lunch today I asked a student what his favorite part of attending SEED was and he was quick to respond “The support…everyone has your back.” What SEED does is exceptional in continuing to support students once they’ve entered college. Their focus on alumni needs is by far the most comprehensive that I’ve ever witnessed. This ties directly with how the students get accepted to post-secondary schools at such a high rate (average around 95 %). When students complete their applications, which everyone must do for at least 2 schools in order to graduate (they have to apply for at least 2 scholarships as well), they include the types of support they’ll be receiving upon entrance into the college. When you put yourself in an admissions officers shoes you can see why a SEED student is more likely to be accepted. They write compelling essays that tell their life stories (1^st in the family to go to college, coming from a tough background, etc.), have experienced an intensive college prep high school curriculum and succeeded, and aren’t coming to college as a single student but as a student with a support network that has their back. Who would you accept…the inner-city graduate who scraped through high school and now wants to make it in college or the inner-city graduate who made it through a four year college prep curriculum, didn’t score too high on college entrance exams, but comes with a support network who will do anything and everything to make sure the student succeeds? You can see the difference pops out at you. Any college is taking much less of a risk on a SEED student.

Although the school is clearly outperforming schools with similar demographics on state tests and closing the achievement gap between minority and white students the school has not performed all that well on the SATs. Nonetheless, this hasn’t stopped them from sending their students to 4 year colleges as they work with each student individually starting in 9^th grade to get them on a plan to attend college. Everything in the school is college. Students wear t-shirts that say “How will you get to college?” The notion that college isn’t for everybody is out the window as soon as you walk through the front door. You’re going to college and here is how we’re going to get you there.

As a final effort to help students prepare for college entrance the school makes sure that students have a variety of experiences before graduating. Students travel the world on leadership programs, attend outdoor wilderness courses, participate in space camp, and do anything and everything that helps grow the whole student. Combined with decent high school grades, a compelling essay, and a backbone that basically comes to college with you, SEED students not only enroll in university, but make it to graduation.

Now, before they ever get to college applications they start as 7^th graders. How does the school educate its students?

The Education – An overview

Before entering 7^th grade SEED students attend a 3 week summer academy. The academy includes preparing them for life in the dormitories, getting them up to speed on the school’s behavioral expectations, which are intense, and assessing their levels in all core subject areas. Before students ever take a step into the classrooms their teachers know their reading and writing levels as well as their mathematical skills and knowledge. The school then uses 7^th and 8^th grade as intensive catch up years. The intention is to have the college prep curriculum start in 9^th grade so 7^th and 8^th are all about preparation. At the end of 8^th grade students must show proficiency in each “strand” (essential learning areas) as they must pass the “gate” in order to move onto 9^th grade. Quite often students don’t’ accomplish this rigorous task of proving understanding of the essential content in which case they are often asked to repeat 8^th grade.

Interim Assessments – Analyzing student learning

Each class is broken into 6 week courses or units that students then take an interim assessment on the essential content. The assessments are written and graded collaboratively within departments and match the style of the state assessments, a combination of multiple choice, short answer and constructed response questions. Through data analysis of the assessments two things are learned...1.) Areas of mastery and 2.) Student deficits. The tests are completely standards driven and through an item analysis give a great deal of information to the teachers. Once data is broken down a variety of interventions are put in place.

• Teachers differentiate instruction in the classroom based on the diverse needs of their students.
• Targeted after school instruction is provided at a one on one level and in small groups.
• A period is available each day during school hours where all teachers are available for office hours. (“college like” emphasis on office hours)
• Study hall is available for all students who need more work time.

Upon implementation of interventions students may be re-assessed or they may demonstrate their new understandings on the following interim assessment as all assessments are comprised of both essential learning from the 6 week unit that’s just finished as well as cumulative materials that’s been learned.

The Classroom - Instruction

Like many “paternalistic” schools, the SEED school relies predominantly on direct instruction. The classes are broken down as follows.

1.) Starter question or problem

2.) Direct Instruction – modeling the essential learning outcome. Teachers show/instruct students on how to do a process or task.

3.) Short break

4.) Students practice the learning outcome with teacher support.

5.) Exit Ticket – evidence of student learning during the period.

There is certainly no magic in the instructional practices used by the school. The teachers are highly dedicated and explicit with students in what’s expected from each class period. They run a block schedule not uncommon in many schools and don’t tolerate off task behavior during class. There is a big emphasis on students monitoring other students behavior and teachers always prefer to have the “we don’t act like that” talk come from a peer rather than the teacher. This type of “learning and college is everything” mentality is part of the intentional culture that the school has developed and continues to push regularly.

Creating a Sense of Urgency - Data

The staff uses data to create a sense of urgency for their classrooms. Every other Friday they have the entire day to work with one another and use this time to subjectively analyze their student’s performance. Breaking up discipline data, content area data, attendance data, college entrance data and any other data they can get their hands on the school uses numbers to get “pumped up.” Moving from always talking about student deficits and where they’re coming from, the staff uses data to track and monitor growth and applaud student progress.

Social Workers – Supporting mental health

The school, which currently has a student population of roughly 325 kids, employees 4 social workers during the school day and another 4 during after school hours when students are on campus Monday through Friday living in the dormitories (they go home each weekend). The school isn’t shy about how much effort they put into helping with their students mental health. This is evident in their continuation of working with students once they’ve entered college to continue to seek support in this area should they need it. Mentally and socially healthy students are certainly more likely to be successful and the school clearly puts a lot of its time, effort and money into this component of student lives.

The Boarding Part of it All – Living at school

Each student lives at the SEED School on Monday through Friday and is split into boys and girls dorms. Each dorm is broken into houses (units) of 12 – 15 students that are named after Universities. Today I saw the University of Pennsylvania house. This is once again a push that college is everything. The houses are run by Life Skills Coaches, LSC’s, and work with students on everything from their academic needs to teaching etiquette and professionalism. The school works hard to develop not only academic skills, but cultural capital as well. These houses develop leadership, teamwork and a variety of other “soft skills” that may determine a students level of success or failure upon leaving the school as much as their knowledge of content. The LSC’s act as yet another adult advocate in the students life and work tirelessly with the academic teachers to make sure that students are being supported. Everyone in the school is in constant communication with one another about student needs thus providing endless amounts of support, the cornerstone of the school’s success (from what I can see).

The notion that students are removed from their environments for even 5 out of 7 days each week is essential to providing students with an inviting, comfortable and healthy lifestyle and is clearly an advantage that the SEED School has. Its founders were purposeful in creating this opportunity as they recognized the benefits that could be received should students coming from the toughest backgrounds have opportunities that were equal to the experience of wealthy white students who attend prestigious boarding schools around the country.

THE BIG QUESTION - What can we take away?

1.) We do or are trying to do a lot of the same things as SEED

a. Interim Assessments based on 5 week learning units. We aren’t necessarily doing a great job of the “teach, assess, re-teach cycle”, but we’re on board with the philosophy and have started to develop this process in our own environment.

b. Student Support is a huge part of what we do with our teaming. We also have an advisor in charge of 12 – 15 students much like the LSC’s at SEED.

c. Instruction at Manual follows a similar process to that of SEED with our Do Nows and Proof of Purchases. Not all of our classes are based on direct instruction, but we are certainly explicit about what students need to know and be able to do by the end of class with our learning outcomes. In addition, direct instruction is not the make or break of learning and so long as essential learning outcomes are being taught/learned I believe the process we use to deliver content can be up to us (discovery, experiential type lessons shouldn’t be done exclusively, but certainly have a place in our school)

d. Overtime, frontloading and reading support are all interventions in place to help students who struggle to demonstrate learning of essential content. Although each of our intervention systems needs revision and are currently works in progress they are certainly heading in the right direction.

SEED has been working at their practices, policies and systems for over 10 years so it’s not surprising that they are ahead of us in their success of implementation.

2.) We must learn from their college effort

a. SEED has clearly cracked the code for college enrollment and completion of their graduates. Stealing a lot of their practices would benefit our students a great deal and we shouldn’t wait much longer to start implementing their practices.

b. Calling our advisories by Greek letters is a small step in this direction, but why not be more direct and call them by the teacher’s alma mater.

c. We haven’t laid out how college and scholarship applications might be intertwined with graduation requirements. We should discuss and publicize this to our students now.

d. We need to be developing relationships with colleges now so that we aren’t stuck in a tough spot in 2 years when are sophomores graduate.

e. A plan for how we are going to support our alumni once they’re enrolled in college needs to be developed now so that we not only get accepted, but stay and finish.

3.) We can learn from their work with student mental health.

a. Our social worker is a huge asset to the school community, but as we continue to grow he alone won’t be enough to tackle the issues that our students deal with. We should consider our budget and allocation of funds to ensure that we set aside sufficient funds to afford additional social workers who align with our needs. We may need to raise additional private funds to accomplish this task, but certainly need to do “whatever it takes” to support the mental health of our student body.

A BIGGER QUESTION…

Could (should) Manual become a 6^th – 12^th grade school or possibly a 7^th – 12^th grade school. Rather than trying to play catch up starting in 9^th grade it is clearly a benefit to the SEED School to have their students starting in 7^th grade. With an intense summer academy prior to starting 7^th grade and an aggressive attack on catching up skills that are missing so that all students are a grade level by 9^th grade we stand a much better chance of sending students to college and succeeding on state and national assessments. Rather than blame the system that sends unprepared students from our feeder schools why not become our own feeder?

What would it take to continue to run our high school while starting a 6^th grade class that grows each year until we have a full blown middle school that leads into our high school? Would it be worth the effort? How would the community react? What roadblocks would stop us from doing it? Who should be invited to the conversation?

This “bigger” question may not be a possibility, but it’s certainly worth exploring. Students entering our high school could be on board with our culture, have the foundation skills necessary to succeed in high school and truly be ready for a 4 year college upon graduation.