Small Schools: David vs. Goliath?

I attempted to post a comment directly on The Quick and the Ed, but alas, the software hates me. When Google Help waves its magic wand, I'll be back there commenting!

Chad Aldeman at The Quick and the Ed posted an intriguing article this morning entitled "The Truth about New York City's High Schools." In his post, Aldeman discusses a recent report on the impact that New York City small high schools are having on the larger schools, and he argues that the report is being misused and misinterpreted.

This blog entry caught my eye because the criticisms against NYC small schools are so similar to the rants our small schools have endured from other district teachers and administrators, as well as from uninformed members of our school board.

Like the NYC small schools, we've been told that our high achievement comes as a result of creaming students, and other administrators have gotten almost personally angry when their best students finally receive a coveted spot in a small school (although they're strangely silent about the wealth of underperforming students who choose our school). Our admission system is not nearly as complicated as that in New York, but it does require families to be involved enough that they can complete and return the 1-page application (basic information - grades and behavior aren't counted) before the lottery deadline; because of that simple requirement, we're unlikely to get families who refuse to involve themselves in education. That's the only distinction between accepted students and those who are placed on the wait list.

John Thompson, who posts on ScholasticAdministrators' This Week in Education, commented on Alderman's post. He suggests that "creaming" is not the best term, saying "can't we agree that choice inherently results in creaming?" If this is true, than the obvious response is to make every school an excellent choice, so that students can choose the programs that best fit their interests and needs.

Before you start yelling, please notice that I said obvious, not simple. Smaller schools have more flexibility and are better able to fit students' needs...but isn't that the point? Thompson argues that the "default" schools face tougher challenges, "require additional resources, and aren't necessarily amenable to the methods of the charters/small school/magnets[....]" But if these "default" schools are facing all these problems, shouldn't we work on reforming them, rather than tearing down the small schools? Let's continue the conversation about how to make those large schools an excellent choice for students who excel in that environment, and how to provide more non-traditional choices so that every student fits somewhere.

In truth, small schools aren't David to the large schools' Goliath. We have no desire to topple them and cut off their heads with their own swords; the very idea of "us" and "them" is counterproductive to our common goal, which must be to provide an excellent education to every student. School choice should allow students and their families to choose from a variety of options, unrestricted by paperwork, language, economic status, location, or any other prejudicial barrier to success.

Year in Review: Sept, Oct, Nov, and Dec 2008

I'm only to September? Really? I have a lot of work to do.

September 2008. Checking the google calendar to see what happened then, because honestly, I don't remember. The first 3 months of the school year blurred together, and the overhanging feeling is one of frustration and not accomplishing the amazing things I had planned.

Oh, yes, that was the month of the Golden Bell award visit. Two years previously, we had earned the California Designated School award. That was (and continues to be) a pretty big deal, especially since we earned it the first year we were even eligible to apply. We spent the whole year writing the monstrous application and preparing for the visit, and when we won, the whole school rode an excited wave of accomplishment that lasted well into the next year.

So, the California School Board Association has this award called the Golden Bell. The application is about a page and a half, and we were nominated by the same people on our school board who were actively trying to kill the spirit of our school, so it wasn't that big a deal to anyone but the principal (I'm sure it's the first item on her resume now...). Of course, everyone likes winning awards, but the culture of our school was already so degraded that we couldn't really get excited. When the principal decided to start the 8th grade promotion in June with a "ceremonial ring of the Golden Bell" (yes, they actually sent us a bell), it was all we could do to keep from laughing.

The most frustrating part, besides the principal's taking credit for how awesome our school is when she had only been there a month, was the lack of reflection. When we applied for the Distinguished School award, everyone took a part in putting together the application, and a few people spent hours and hours writing the responses. It was a great time for us newer people to learn the history of the school, and for those who had been around to see how much we had change. We all had in-depth conversations about different components of our program, and the application process, though tedious, made ours a better school. The Golden Bell application didn't require the same collaborative reflection, which could have helped to solve some of our problems.

There's not a lot else on the calendar, but the few things there just serve to remind me of how much hair we tore out as we learned new, frustrating characteristics of our Dear Leader. For example, she spent hours talking about Constitution Day lesson plans and hounding people for their written proof that they had taught about the constitution on this particular day, regardless of relation to their content area standards, but she didn't take the time to plan all-school rallies, which, in the past, have been vital for maintaining the school culture.

The whole review won't be griping about the principal, but the first few months were so frustrating that I'm sure complaints will be a common motif for a while.

October 2008. Hooray for Midterms! Okay, maybe not, but by 7th grade, the kids have taken 3 midterms and 3 finals, so only the new students were at all fazed by them. Better monitoring in advisory improved the quality of only a few review sheets; I'm not sure why kids don't study for exams, and it seems that we will always struggle with preparation. We also started the Exhibition research report, which has also become something of a standard procedure. The 7th grade team worked together really well on this exhibition, and it went fairly smoothly, although there is always a lot of room to improve.

We also had the Learner-Led Conferences, which are a staple of our school. Every student is required to lead a conference after every Midterm week, and each parent signs up for a specific time. The rubric requires students to present, with passion and energy, their work (do you like how I used the plural there so that I could avoid the whole gender-specific pronoun thing?) and accomplishments. Oh, yeah, and they are responsible for completing the whole conference within 15 minutes. :). I've been to schools where only a few parents show up to an open-house style mess, and this is much more effective. Parents are more comfortable because it's their kid presenting, rather than a teacher talking at them, and the kids are encouraged to use their home language. (side note: I learned a lot of Spanish this year!). Kids aren't so comfortable, because there are at least two and sometimes four or five adults listening to them all at once, but it's worthwhile because they build confidence and learn how to talk to their parents about their grades. We gain some side benefits, too: the parents learn that they are welcome in the classroom, and they learn that their younger kids are welcome, too, because the teachers make a point of saying hello and having crayons and paper out for them. Students see that their parents and teachers (usually) have common expectations and talk to each other, and it makes the conversation easier if I have to call home two weeks later because someone didn't turn in math homework.

Because of conferences, and the beginning of long-term projects, the last two weeks of October tend to be the most productive, even with that sugar-laden interruption known as Halloween!

November: This month was more difficult than usual. Along with the previously-mentioned frustrations, long-term projects, and reawakening provided by conferences, we had the upset that comes when a teacher is out on long-term medical leave. Also, a family issue left me emotionally drained (fried, strung-out, practically stoned, with no illegal substances involved), so much of my teaching was robotic...on autopilot.

December: By the 2nd week of this short month, I had decided that allowing personal problems and an incompetent boss to prevent me from doing my best was total crap, and I began to come out of hibernation...just in time for the hell week that always happens just before the exhibition. Except, it wasn't hell week...it's nice when kids know what they're doing! The exhibition went well, and we were ready for Christmas Break when it arrived. Happy New Year!

Summer Reading for Teachers

Having just returned from a family reunion and a field trip to Washington D.C., I can finally sit down and check my google reader to see what I've missed.

Lovely.

I've opened the interesting articles in new tabs, saved a few PDF's to read, skimmed through and closed the underwhelming pieces...and I still have too many windows of things I want to remember and implement this year. Okay, then. Here we go.

1. A 92 Percent Homework Turn-in Rate, http://teachers.net/wong/SEP06/

• I've finally organized paperwork to the point where this could actually be useful!

2. Eighth-grade graduations might signal how low we set the bar http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/46864477.html

• We have this discussion every year, and our conclusions are the same: non-existant. Any ideas?

3. Educational Professional Development http://www.educatorsprofessionaldevelopment.com/

• A good resource, although it's wishful thinking in my district. They'd rather have us attend the "unpaid professional development opportunities" that are poorly-run and uninformative.

4. 12 Things Teachers Should Do Over Summer Break http://learnmegood2.blogspot.com/2009/06/12-things-teachers-should-do-over.html

• Too late for about 1/2 the items, probably won't do another 1/4, but I'm SO going to trivia night when my friend is in town!

5. Here’s My Top Five Mistakes Made By New Bloggers — What Are Yours? http://theedublogger.edublogs.org/2009/06/27/here%E2%80%99s-my-top-five-mistakes-made-by-new-bloggers-%E2%80%94-what-are-yours/

• Maybe I'm not such a terrible blogger after all! I'm surprised there's not an item that says "don't be insanely boring."

6. The Best Sources of Advice For Teachers (And Others!) On How To Be Better Bloggers http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2009/06/03/the-best-sources-of-advice-for-teachers-and-others-on-how-to-be-better-bloggers/
7. How to Motivate Your Students http://teachers.net/gazette/MAY01/wong.html
8. How to Start a Lesson Plan http://teachers.net/gazette/AUG03/wong.html

9. Self Education http://selfmadescholar.com/b/. It's cool.

This is just a start. Wish me luck!

Oh, yeah...what else should I read?

explanation of random short posts

In case it's not as self-evident as I originally thought...

I was on a field trip with 8th grade students to Washington DC, and I didn't want to carry around pen and paper everywhere I went. So, every time someone thought of a good idea, I posted it here from my cell phone.

If you have any other excellent ideas regarding preparation for and implementation of a DC field trip, please comment! We sometimes found it difficult to keep the students interested and respectful throughout the long days.

Note to self: read Damaged by mike mason

Get veterans to come and talk to the kids

Library of congress=sensory overload and a renewed thirst for knowledge.

Next year: raffle tix to those who correctly answer questions about the tours. Give prizes at the end of each day. Prizes could be...simple? Souvenirs?

Today: williamsburg and jamestown. Next year, build interest. Exhibition? Model?

So we're here at the airport waiting for the field trip to start. This was the first flight for some of our kids. I wonder what they thought of kansas...