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.

The Journey Begins...The Learning Continues (10-26-08)

Tommorow is a big day. I'm heading to Washington DC to begin a week long research trip on urban education and the impact that the new "Paternalistic" schools are having on impoverished students of color. Starting with the SEED School, an inner-city boarding school in the heart of DC's poorest community and moving through Baltimores' Talent and Development High School and onto a group of schools in NYC including KIPP Harlem, I am anxious to begin my adventure.

A mere four years ago I was introduced to the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) and soaked up as much knowledge as I could about the works that started with Ted Sizer and spread across the country like wild fire. Progressive and democratic, the schools created within the CES network opened my eyes to anothe way of "doing school." A way that involves student voice in decision making, a personalized education for all, inquiry and discovery based classrooms with a focus on depth over breadth and whole school communities centered on teaching and learning. The 10 principles laid out by the CES group still impact my teaching career and won't soon be forgotten. The works of Sizer, McCarthy, Meier and many more are astonishing and the effect they've had and continue to have on students across the country are endless.

Tomorrow, however, turns over a new leaf. The new movement of "Paternalistic" high schools that dictate how students dress, talk, behave and "do school" are succeeding and although they are in no way liberal environments run as democracies, they are showing significant results. These schools, which at the core focus on two essential items, love and acheivement, are "no-excuse" schools with extended days (sometimes 7:30 - 5:00), three to four week summer programs for all students, and a drive for succeeding that could only be matched by a young Bill Gates. Although it's at times hard to imagine working in a school with this type of intense focus, it's also becoming hard for me to imagine the opposite. Knowing what's out there and working and not using it to improve the lives of my students.

Our educational philosophies are constantly evolving as we question what's best for students, but I must say that mine has never been questioned in such an extreme way. The bottom line is that I want my inner-city, impoverished black and hispanic students to compete with middle-class, predominantly white America. What I have to do now is put aside some of my engrained beliefs on what school and classrooms should look like and open my mind to what's out there and is really making it happen.

The journey begins tomorrow and I can't wait to engage in new learning that may forever change the way I view what's best for urban education in our country.

100 % success – The impossible dream? (10-24-08)

Some days you walk into the classroom with more enthusiasm than others. On especially enthusiastic days you may even feel invincible. “Every single student in my class is going to learn today.” I had nearly an entire week of these so-called “invincible” days and let me tell you…I’m exhausted. As teachers we all make commitments to our students that we will do everything we can to help them learn and succeed in our classes. However, the realities of our mortality and humanity often keep us from living up to this commitment. We can’t all be as strong as Abraham in our conviction, willingly throwing our sons down on a slab of concrete to be sacrificed. Nonetheless, there are times in all of our careers, days, weeks and sometimes months, where we are working with undeniable force to ensure student success. The question is; how do we sustain it?

Take Tuesday for example. Moving from class to class, group to group, and student to student, I worked endlessly with each member of my classes doing whatever I could to get them to reach our learning outcome. “Students will be able to create and solve a proportion in order to find whole populations from samples.” A straightforward and explicit learning outcome, it would seem that getting 100 % of kids on board wouldn’t be much of a task. What a false assumption. Regardless of the clarity in the outcome or in its preconceived simplicity, achieving 100 % student success is a dream that all too often doesn’t come true. You can try and try and try and you’ll get close, but like the Patriots of last season, defeat will come. More so, after the days where you seem so close to tasting victory you come back the next day to discover that half of the students who demonstrated mastery yesterday may be unable to do so one day later.

In no way I am suggesting that you stop striving to achieve ultimate student success. In addition, I’m not arguing that one day of instruction on a new topic ensures life long understanding. I’m simply saying that this work is hard.

Beyond the math and the eternal optimism I’ve tried to bring to the classroom this week, we’ve had an abundance of student issues that eventually take an emotional toll. Even Jaws from the old James Bond movies would shed a tear or two if he saw some of the atrocities that we have the pleasure of witnessing on a regular basis. (and he was one tough guy…his mouth was made of metal). From fights to gang activity to arrestings to domestic abuse to harassment…at times it can become overwhelming to maintain your passion for student academic achievement while trying to deal with their personal lives. How can I ensure that my students have happy and healthy lives with strong financial futures including agreeable salaries, full benefits, and a retirement account? As teachers we often discuss the successes and failures of our classrooms. How often do we have the tough conversations about what we’re doing to make sure that these students live rewarding and meaningful lives?

As inner city educators our jobs extend far beyond the content we preach. The new paternalistic schools as amazingly described in Tough’s “Sweath the Small Stuff” illustrate the need to not only teach courses, but character, values, and cultural capital. The KIPP’s and Cistro Rey’s of our country are successfully and purposefully pushing middle class values on impoverished students of color and as a result, enrolling them in 4 year and 2 year colleges and equipping them with the tools necessary for achievement in a highly competitive global economy. I admire these schools while simultaneously cringing at the thought of what it really takes to educate a disenfranchised youth from the community from which I teach.

My unachievable goal this week of 100 % student competency of specific learning outcomes seems miniscule compared to the goal of preparing 100 % of our students for a successful life. Does one lead to the other? Perhaps, but my suspicion is that only 30 % of middle class family parents can’t create and solve a proportion to find a whole population from a sample. Simultraneously, nearly 100 % of these families have access to quality jobs and quality lives (ignoring our current economic crisis).

Where am I going with all of this…I’m not really sure. I suppose our hopes just seem overwhelming at times and it helps to put them in writing. Our students deserve great futures…I just want to make sure we’re setting them up.

"Grow up Count Chocula, Peter Pan..." (10-5-08)

Teaching to ensure deep understanding and covering content are more different from one another then a 65 year-old conservative Republican living in South Carolina and a 24 year old liberal Democrat living in New York City. It's so easy to teach students terms, procedures and algorithms. What's not easy is making sure that each student can take that knowledge an apply it to a meaningful and complex situation. Here's a simple example that brings my dilemma to light.

Consider the mathematical concept of measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode). These measurements provide us with insight into data-analysis and what's really happening with the data's distribution. In addition, they are used everywhere from describing housing costs to corporations using them to recruit new employees. We hear it all over..."The average (mean) salary of an employee working with our firm is $ 78,000, or the median household value of a single-family home in our neighborhood is $ 245,000." The problem with all of this information is that there are factors behind the numbers that most people don't consider. Is there an outlier in the data that may be skewing the average? Who collected the data? From where? With what purpose? Questioning information is part of being a responsible adult. Unfortunately, most adults in our country don't have a strong enough grasp of major mathematical ideas such as the simple one described in this anecdote to really wonder what the numbers they see represent. Literacy is not the same as critical literacy, the ability to synthesize and evaluate what we're reading, not just surfaced level comprehension. So what's my point in this rambling? What should our goal for a 9th grade student be?

To be able to calculate mean, median and mode when given a data set or to be able to think flexibly and apply knowledge and skills related to mean, median and mode?

Consider the following two questions that could be used to assess a student's level of understanding with measures of central tendency.

1.) The following data set represents student's beats per minute during our 1st block class.
- 65, 72, 88, 87, 76, 77, 89, 95, 98, 90, 82, 67, 80, 83
Using the data set, calculate the mean, median, mode ands range.

2.) A data set of student's beats per minutes was collected by a doctor providing physicals for student athletes. The doctor has misplaced some of the recorded data, but knows the following information. Pulses were taken from 14 kids in total and the median beats per minute was 76. The range of data was 31 with a minimum value of 63. The average beats per minute of the students was 82. Using the known information from the collected data, construct a set of data that could represent the 14 student's pulses.


The two questions are both assessing the same content...calculating measures of central tendency. Although not an exceptionally exciting or meaningful problem, the second question asks students to use provided information in addition to their knowledge base of the content to derive a solution. It puts their skills and knowledge to the "test" by asking them to apply what they know to a real "thinking" problem. The first question, on the contrary, simply asks students to follow a procedure that they have previously practiced over and over.

The issue...which question should be our baseline. Is it enough if all of the students can answer the first, or should we raise the bar and demand that all of our students can do the second. As a follow up, were we to choose the second of these two options, where would we find the time to ensure this kind of deep understanding of essential content for all of our students.

If your thinking aligns with mine (even in a small way) then you may be considering using the second question as our benchmark for true content mastery. It would make sense that in an ever changing global economy that places a premium on critical thinking, creativity and problem solving that we would make this choice without question. However, knowing this simply adds to the stress and fear of our job as teachers. We know our student populations and for many of us who teach in the urban environment it's easy to dismiss our ambitious agenda as a dream that can't possibly come true. Quoting Owen Wilson in one of his finest roles a colleague may look at us and passionately cry "grow up Peter Pan, Count Chocula, I want to be cowboys from Arizona or pimps from Oakland, but it's the fourth quarter of the big game" and you're talking crazy.

So my question to myself and perhaps more importantly to you...how do we get students to all engage and successfully conquer question number 2 and move past question 1 where the uneducated adult society currently resides.