Model Schools

I looked at Little Red Schoolhouse & Elisabeth Irwin High School In New York (http://lrei.org/midschool/index.html) and KIPP schools across the country (http://www.kipp.org/).

To compare the two schools, I looked at KIPP and was immediately stricken by the “Word hard. Be nice.” motto at the bottom of the homepage. Isn’t that what we want from all of our students? Effort and a general kind atmosphere? I like how simply put it is and how appropriate for the educational environment.

They have student focused instruction: “balance rigorous curriculum with the joy of learning”. In public education, at least in my school, we have sucked the fun out of everything we do. Because of budget cuts, we have eliminated all the programs that are not “necessary” (read:tested). These programs, including shop and a wilderness survival program were some of the only things keeping some kids showing up every day.

“Over 90 percent of KIPP students are African American or Hispanic/Latino, and more than 80 percent of KIPP students are eligible for the federal free and reduced-price meals program.”
How is it then that our public schools can blame poor test scores and poor engagement on our lower socioeconomic status? My school is very low in terms of socioeconomics. What is the discrepancy here? How can their kids want to be at school and be succeeding, while my students hate coming and resent the fact that they are forced to (even in 5th grade)? I believe that it has something to do with their high expectations. The kids preparing for college have higher expectations placed on them than students meandering through public education just to get through. I want to say that I have high expectations in my class, but what other messages do my students get throughout the rest of their day?

The Little Red School house's Mission statement: “Our goal is to educate students to become independent thinkers and lifelong learners and to pursue academic excellence and individual achievement, in a context of respect for others and service to the community.” Sounds very much like KIPP’s motto of “Word hard. Be nice.” Both programs seem to appeal to getting kids ready for their ultimate role in life, productive citizen. The most surprising thing about this school is that it was considered progressive in 1921 and by contemporary standards it is still so. It is a little alarming to me that in the past 90 years we have not made all that much progress in public education. It still feels somewhat oppressive and kids are just expected to go and “do their time”. No wonder behavior issues arise and people are unhappy in the school environment. It makes me think of how many new teachers, fresh out of college, leave the teaching profession after three years. I always thought this was a high statistic and that I would never consider it. I am working on my third year of teaching and I can understand where they are coming from!

Looking through the basic curriculum outline, I am noticing that there is a focus on engagement through hands on activities. Science and social studies are subjects that kids focus on (which have been all but eliminated from our school due to lack of testing). I like that the lower elementary curriculum focuses on building a community. Without a strong foundation, things can’t be built on top of it. In my school we seem to jump into academics and then try to build community as an afterthought. It doesn’t work and we are banging our heads against the desk wondering why.

The things that the two schools have in common is an authenticity in their education and a high level of expectation from all students. All students are expected to participate and more importantly, they WANT to because of how engaging the activities are! The overall atmosphere of the buildings sounds positive and inspiring and like a place people want to be. This is something that is missing, at least in my school. Both schools offer a wide variety of extracurricular activities such as gymnastics and woodworking, and more academic time like summer school and school on Saturdays. It appears to me that these schools are doing something right and we should be modeling ourselves after them more and more.