Stories tagged: charter schools
Something that can be said for districts
Submitted by Len Rieser on Thu, 02/11/2010 - 13:09 Posted in Education law corner | Permalink
To the blizzard (oh, just a word that came to mind) of questions being asked on these pages about the Renaissance School plan, I’d like to add a legal worry. It has to do with the enthusiasm for spinning schools off to become charters or “contract” schools, operated by private managers.
One can say lots of justifiably critical things about school districts, and about this one in particular. But to those who believe the response to failures by this (or any) school district should be to remove schools from its control, I suggest some caution.
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What's been tried already
by Dale Mezzacappa and Lynne Blumberg Posted in February 2010 | Permalink
School "turnaround" is not a new concept. Faced with evidence that schools weren't working well, especially for impoverished Black and Latino students, educators here have tried many things to "turn them around."
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Charters: Social innovation hit or miss?
Submitted by Samuel Reed III on Tue, 01/05/2010 - 11:10 | Permalink
The proliferation of charter schools has had a significant impact in educational reform during the past decade. The trend of charter school growth should continue into the next decade.
According to the Center for Education Reform, there are more than 4,900 charter schools in 40 states and the District of Columbia, enrolling over 1.5 million students. President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have made increasing the number of charter schools a significant part of their agenda, making the flexibility of states’ charter school laws a criterion for the $4.35 billion Race to the Top competitive grants from the economic stimulus package.
At the SRC
Posted in December 2009 | Permalink
At its November meetings, the School Reform Commission:
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Youth groups push for voice in national education tour
by Jenny Seng Posted in Winter 2009 | Permalink
Members of the Philadelphia Student Union and Youth United for Change protested the kickoff of a national “Listening and Learning Tour” by U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Reverend Al Sharpton, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in Philadelphia in September.
The goal of the trio’s tour, which started at Mastery Charter School in West Philadelphia, and later made stops in New Orleans and Baltimore, is to engage communities and gather feedback around the issue of education reform.
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KIPP: Donde aprender es un derecho que se gana
por Nicole Gervasio Posted in Invierno 2009 | Permalink
“Dedicarse de verdad al aprendizaje” dijo el CEO de KIPP Filadelfia Marc Mannella, “significa lograr que los estudiantes adquieran el hábito de ganarse las cosas.
En las escuelas KIPP, los estudiantes se “ganan” todo, incluso las camisas de uniforme, el asiento en el salón de clase, y las giras anuales de la escuela. El sistema de disciplina se basa en recompensas, confianza y segundas oportunidades, pero también es sumamente estructurado y se destaca por tener consecuencias inmediatas al romper las reglas.
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KIPP: Earning the right to learn
by Nicole Gervasio Posted in Winter 2009 | Permalink
“Getting down to the business of learning,” said KIPP Philadelphia CEO Marc Mannella, means getting students into the habit of earning.
At KIPP schools, students “earn” everything, including uniform shirts, seats in class, and annual far-flung field trips. The discipline system is based on rewards, trust, and second chances, but is also highly structured and characterized by swift consequences for breaking rules.
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Mastery-Shoemaker: Sweating the small stuff
by Jenny Seng Posted in Winter 2009 | Permalink
Erica Hall remembers attending Shoemaker Middle School in the days before it converted to a high school under Mastery Charter three years ago.
Students ran the halls, even burning bulletin boards. They disrespected teachers, who in turn seemed not to care whether the students learned anything.
“It was the type of school that you would just be there to be there, and you would pass without even doing anything,” said Erica, now an 11th grader.
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Montessori Charter School is challenged by requirements of test prep
by Rose Howse Posted in Fall 2009 | Permalink
At the Philadelphia Montessori Charter School, children as young as three can choose what they want to do for the day.
They can play with colorful counting beads. They can read a book – or make one. They can match letters in the alphabet box with little objects that start with the letter: A is for astronaut. They can draw a map.
It is the picture of high-quality early education, with active and engaged children exploring in a literacy-rich environment and learning academic and social skills with an expert teacher.
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Charters outpace District schools: Let's give ALL schools more flexibility
Submitted by Eric Braxton on Tue, 09/15/2009 - 08:36 | Permalink
School-by-school PSSA scores were released recently. The Inquirer reported that 73% of Philadelphia’s charter schools made AYP compared to only 41% of District schools.
Some of this may be attributed to the fact that charters have a tendency to attract families that have it together enough to search for the best schools for their children, and some concerns have been raised about whether charters push out students they do not want. There is a lot of debate about whether charters engage in this kind of “creaming.”
Putting that aside for the moment, I think the main reason that many charters are successful is that they have much more flexibility to do innovative things and to make decisions that work best for their students and staff than District schools.
The real question we should be asking ourselves is how do we get that flexibility for all schools?
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Renaissance School provider applicants await the first cut
by Dale Mezzacappa
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