Archive for November, 2009

What, Exactly, Is A Charter School?

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
 
What is a charter school? The definition is “a public school operated independently of the local school board”. It sounds simple and straightforward, but the reality is that charter schools are an extremely complex and controversial topic. Charter schools were first introduced in the early 1990’s in response to a nationwide call for sweeping public education reform. Most states passed legislation where they would allow the formation of some publicly funded “experimental” schools to give parents an alternative to the traditional public schools that were under so much fire at the time.
 
What does “experimental” mean? First of all, charter schools are not part of a school district. They are independently run businesses that follow a private school business model, except instead of charging tuition, they get public funds. In a traditional system, the school districts set the curriculum for the schools in their domain, receive money from the state, and distribute it amongst the schools. In the case of charter schools, the individual schools set their own curriculum and receive money directly from the state. Niki Mohr, a teacher at Vaughn Next Century Learning Center, a charter school in Pacoima, CA says "Personally, I think our school is more efficient with money than a school district because we do not have district administration costs to pay, so more money goes directly to the classroom.”
 
The other part of “experimental” is that charter schools are required to have something about them that sets them apart from a regular public school. Every school is unique. Some schools choose alternative teaching methodology that the founders believe will be more effective, such as Montessori or independent study. Some choose distinctive curriculum that they believe will help enrich the students overall education, such as foreign language studies. Most choose a combination of both. And, there are some specialized charters that target specific types of learning problems or developmental handicaps.
 
But wait, don’t magnet schools also offer alternative teaching methodology and curriculum, too? Are magnet and charter the same thing? No. Magnet schools are part of a school district. They teach over and above district criteria. Charter schools simply teach a different curriculum than is found in the local district. Magnet school students consistently do better on standardized test scores and have higher graduation rates than regular public school counterparts. Charter school results are all over the board. Some schools do incredibly well, some don’t. Remember, charter schools are experimental. Some concepts and ideas that sound good in theory don’t always work out as well in reality. Jennifer Simmons, from New Albany, IN, started her daughter at a Montessori charter school in kindergarten. “The school was across town” she says “and with driving across town twice a day, I felt like I wasted half my day. And the school wasn’t all that good. The older students were teaching the younger kids, and sometimes they would teach my daughter to spell a word wrong. My poor daughter would be confused when I would re-teach her things. I wound up pulling her mid-semester and putting her in the local school. I have been happy with the local school. I think the teachers are better and now that I don’t have the long drive, I have time for other things.”
 
How do charter schools come into existence? It starts by a group coming together to form a business plan. Usually the group is made up of teachers and parents within a community, but anyone can form a group. The business plan includes a detailed outline of planned curriculum, teaching methodology, and measuring systems to rate performance that is in line with state guidelines and criteria (in some rare cases a charter may get an exemption from certain criteria if they have a good reason). The plan is pitched to the state. If they approve the plan, the state will issue a “charter” for a certain number of years, ranging between 3 – 15. At the end of the contract, the school’s performance will be evaluated. If the school did well, the charter will be renewed, and if not, the school is closed. It may sound simple, but getting a charter school started is a complex process.
 
In setting up a charter school, a key concern is a suitable campus. Some charters are completely new schools, and they need to be housed in state approved facility. Finding such facilities can be tricky. More often, charter schools are housed on existing school campuses. Either the school was already closed for some reason, or the existing staff decided to break away from the district.
 
Why would a school break away from a district to become a charter? If the school’s parents, teachers and administrators feel that quality of education is being hampered by the district for some reason, a school may try to become a charter in hopes that they can offer a better education by setting their own curriculum. A perfect example is Vaughn Next Century Learning Center. Pacoima is a lower socio-economic community within Los Angeles, with a high number of students that are not academically equipped. The curriculum set by LAUSD wasn’t working for Vaughn’s student population, and with over 650 schools in the district to contend with, Vaughn’s concerns weren’t being heard by the district. In 1993, Vaughn broke away and the school’s performance immediately shot up. Vaughn was awarded the California Distinguished Schools Award in 1995 and the National Blue Ribbon Schools Award in 1996. Vaughn consistently performs better than its LAUSD counterparts within the Pacoima community.
 
Are charters a school of choice or are they an assigned local school? That is a good question, and the answer varies from school to school. Some charters, particularly ones that are converted from existing schools, are required to take neighborhood students. Parents from outside the neighborhood (but within a certain zone as determined by the charter) can apply for any seats that may be left once the needs of the immediate neighborhood are met. Some charter schools are only schools of choice and every parent has to apply. In all charter schools, if there are more applicants than seats, students are chosen by lottery. This is another major difference between charter and magnet schools. All magnet schools are schools of choice, and while some magnets do choose students based on a lottery system, most have academic requirements and won’t take students with behavioral issues.
 
More to come! How to determine if a charter school, private school, or home schooling is right for your child.
 
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Christi Grab is contributing editor and writer for Parentella. She is a native of Southern California. After graduating from San Diego State University, she went on to be a successful business woman. In April of 2007, she and her husband decided to put their careers on hold and travel the world for two years. Ms. Grab has recently returned from her travels and is currently writing a book about their adventure. For more information on the trip, visit http://kosmos.liveflux.net/blog.
 

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Is a Magnet School the Right School for Your Child?

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
Magnet Schools began to be widely implemented in the mid-1970’s as a political tool. At the time, public schools were trying to desegregate to comply with a Supreme Court ruling, but found parents resistant to sending children outside their normal school zone. Educators realized that if they created superior, specialized schools, students would volunteer to go out of zone for a better education in their field of interest.
 
Magnet schools are open to any child within the school district, though not all school districts offer magnet programs. Parents have to apply, and children are chosen based on criteria set by the school. Up until 2007, race was usually a component in the selection criteria, however, in a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court reversed their decision on mandatory desegregation, so in most cases, race is no longer a consideration. Magnet schools get the same amount of district funding as regular schools, and also qualify for special federal funding, as well. On average, magnet schools spend about $200 more per student. Performance wise, students tend to do better academically in magnets than their counterparts in regular schools, with higher graduation rates.
 
Each magnet school has a particular focus, usually thematic, but sometimes instructional. Examples of a thematic focus include humanities, science, math, performing arts, foreign language, and athletics. An example of an instructional theme is Montessori. Outside the specialty field, magnet schools follow the same curriculum as the rest of the district, but have a more advanced curriculum within the area of specialty. For example, Ms. Buckmaster teaches at a performing arts magnet elementary school. Every child at their school studies visual arts, music, and dance. Violin and piano lessons are also offered as an extra option. I personally went to a humanities magnet high school, and instead of regular history and English, we had college level English and history, plus philosophy and art history, as well.
 
If your child particularly enjoys/excels in a certain subject, you may want to consider a magnet school (assuming you live in district that offers them). Chances are your child will enjoy school more if (s)he gets to focus on the subjects (s)he enjoys. Likewise, the more advanced material will keep him/her from getting bored in subjects that come naturally for him/her.
 
If your child doesn’t seem to be responding well to the instructional style at the local school, you may want to check to see if there are magnet programs available that offer a teaching style that is more effective for your child. Charter schools also offer alternative teaching styles, which we will discuss further in the next installment of this series.
 
There are downsides to magnets, though. It is rare that you get lucky enough that the magnet school your child would enjoy is in your neighborhood. More often than not, it is a long commute, which, as we discussed last week, can be problematic for several reasons. Ms. Buckmaster’s school is open to all students in Guilford County, NC, which is 650 miles big! In high school, I had friends who had a 2 hour commute each way. They couldn’t participate in after school activities and I almost never saw them outside of school.
 
Some argue that the importance of a “local community” is offset by the belief that, while kids may not be making friends in their own neighborhoods, magnet students will in theory have more friends at school. After all, they are surrounded by students with similar interests. For example, a science obsessed child may be viewed as a “nerd” at the local school, but he may be seen as “cool” in a science magnet.
 
Sometimes the physical locations of magnet schools are in “less than ideal” neighborhoods. Magnet programs tend to be placed inside existing facilities with low enrollment numbers, wherever that may be. My magnet school shared a campus with a regular high school in a community where gang violence was a problem. But since I wasn’t into the gang scene and knew to stay clear of people who were, it was never a problem I, nor any of my magnet friends, faced.
 
Finally, just because you apply for a magnet, does not mean your child will be accepted. Most schools get more applications than seats available, and sometimes schools turn away as many as 90% of applicants. Critics complain that magnets tend to only take the best and brightest, instead of the students that would benefit most from the specialized education. For example, a student who is artistically gifted but not interested in academics would probably flourish in a visual arts magnet, but if his grades in academics aren’t good, may not be accepted. These critics argue that rather than focusing on a few “super” schools with extra funding, the districts should focus on making all schools better. Some even purport that all schools should be turned into magnets so that every child can go to a school that they find especially interesting.
 
More to come! The pros and cons of charter schools, private schools and home schooling.
 
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Christi Grab is contributing editor and writer for Parentella. She is a native of Southern California. After graduating from San Diego State University, she went on to be a successful business woman. In April of 2007, she and her husband decided to put their careers on hold and travel the world for two years. Ms. Grab has recently returned from her travels and is currently writing a book about their adventure. For more information on the trip, visit http://kosmos.liveflux.net/blog.
 

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Is the Local School the Right School?

Thursday, November 12th, 2009

I was listening to a talk show a few weeks ago where the host shared a personal story that struck me. When his kids were school aged, they lived in an area with a great school district. But, none of his three children did well in the assigned public schools. Even though the schools were high ranking, they didn’t use a teaching method that his children responded to. Each of his children learned in different ways, and he wound up choosing different education methods for all three children, carefully matching the style of teaching with each of his children’s manner of learning. His eldest child went to an all boys private boarding school, his middle went to a charter school, and his youngest was home schooled. Each of them flourished once they were in the right environment for them. “Wow”, I thought “talk about extremes. Ship one kid off to boarding school but keep one at home with you.” Ever since then, I have been mulling over how to figure out what kind of teaching style your child responds to best, and how to find the school that utilizes that particular style. It seems like a daunting task.

Today, there are more choices than ever as to educational styles offered in the classrooms. Since this is a national publication, we can’t get into rating individual schools, but we can discuss the pros and cons of each of the types of educational systems out there. Let’s start with the most obvious choice: the assigned local school.

A big pro of the local school is convenience.For most, it is a short walk or car drive, making pick up and drop off easy. It is simple for parents to go to the school for extra-curricular activities like back to school night, field trips, parties, special performances, PTA meeting, and awards ceremonies. Let’s face it, the farther away parents live from the school, the harder it is for them to be physically involved. The longer the commute for a child, the less time parents have with them before and after school. Another aspect to consider is extra-curricular activities. Will your child have to miss out on fun activities, like sports and clubs, because of transportation issues if you send him out of the local zone?

A second reason to choose the local school is that your child will make friends within the neighborhood. That means it is easy for your child to get together with their peers for class projects and that they have friends nearby to play with on weekends and over breaks.

More importantly, being at the local school likely means a community you, as a parent, can rely on. For example, there is probably a trusted parent nearby that can pick up your child and baby sit if you have some unavoidable delay. There are probably other parents to carpool with for extra-curricular activities. Says Jenny Foley, a San Diego parent “I wish I could send my two boys to the local school, but our school has poor standardized test scores, so I send them to a school 6 miles away. Even though it isn’t far, I still feel like I am not fully integrated in the school’s community. I shop at different stores and have different neighborhood concerns than they do, so sometimes I feel like the odd person out in group conversations. Play dates with the kids are more effort for me than the rest of the parents, too.”

The local school understands the needs of a particular community and tailors the curriculum and teaching style to meet those specific needs. For example, in parts one and two of the interview with Mr. Franklin, he explained that his community is primarily immigrants of a low socio-economic status. Since many students are “academically challenged”, extra programs have been instituted to help slower students get up to speed, particularly with English language skills. In part 2 of the article with Mr. Winters, he mentioned that since his community is so close to Mexico, many parents want their children to be bi-lingual, so his school instituted a dual language program to meet that local need.

As many benefits as there may be to the local school, sometimes parents decide that the local school isn’t right for them. The reasons vary wildly. As in Jenny’s case above, sometimes the school doesn’t meet your educational criteria. But more often than not, the local school is perfectly fine, there just happens to be better choices available, too. So what are the other choices? Stay tuned for more articles exploring the alternatives.
The article is by Christi Grab, contributing editor.

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Testing Our Community

Monday, November 9th, 2009
There was a celebration at my daughter’s elementary school today. They’d surpassed their standardized testing goals, and to celebrate, and to make good on a promise, the Curriculum Director let the kids shave his head! My daughter got to be one of those playing barber since she’d scored a perfect 600 on her Math score.
I’m not a fan of standardized testing, and in years past, I’d say I was quite their enemy! My older daughter had found them so stressful that when she was eight, I almost pulled her out of taking the test. We’ve been to many different schools in LAUSD, and in their own way, each one has put enormous pressure on kids – in elementary school – to perform well. But of course, the kids don’t actually benefit from these tests. The scores don’t even come in until they’ve advanced to the next grade level. The tests are there for the schools, not the students.
Yet, it’s up to the students to score well. And it’s up to the schools to get their students to score well. It’s put schools and students (and their parents) at odds with each other.This school is the first that I’ve seen actually pass on some of the benefits to the students. Their Curriculum Director, I’ll call him Mr. B, had my daughter pumped to do well. She was actually excited the week of testing, getting up early, ensuring she ate a good breakfast and going to bed early. She was eight at the time. She had no stress. Instead, Mr. B had positively motivated them to show off their stuff. And that’s what my daughter, and many of her schoolmates, did.
Today, not only were the students with perfect scores recognized, but every student that had moved up a category, even from Far Below Basic to Below Basic, and every student that had scored in the Proficient or Advanced category was recognized today. The entire community of school administrators, teachers, parents, and students had all came together during testing last year to help the kids do well (with the PTA providing snacks and water for test days), and today, we all celebrated a job well done.
Together, we passed the test of creating a successful learning community.
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April McAffery, single mom to 2 daughters, is an LA Single Parenting Examiner, an LA Moms contributor, and writes her personal blog, It’s All About Balance.
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Preparing Students for the 21st Century Workplace

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Dave Sherman is principal at South Park Elementary School, in Deerfield, IL, which is a suburb north of Chicago. This is his 5th year at South Park and his 14th year as a principal. Mr. Sherman has a blog called “The Principal and Interest” that shares some of his opinions on being a good educator. In this interview, we are discussing and elaborating on several of the pieces he posted on his site. This is part two of a two part series.

By Christi Grab, Contributing Editor

Part I of the interview is here.

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Q: Going back to the “How to Succeed by Really Trying” article, you mentioned the concepts of “teacher-centered instruction” and “student centered learning”. Could you explain for parents what the difference is between them and what the pros and cons are of each?

A: “Teacher centered instruction” is the more traditional type of teaching methodology. The teacher’s desk is up front and all the students face the board so they can see the teacher lecturing. In this methodology, the teacher is seen as the all-knowing expert and students are the empty vessel being filled by the teacher. This style of instruction encourages rote memorization. “Student centered learning” is more interactive. The teacher guides a discourse and encourages questions among the students to help them figure out concepts. This is an active, constructivist approach where students take more ownership in the learning process rather than simply listening in a passive mode. Student desks tend to be set in groups that help facilitate discussions. This type of teaching helps to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills.

Q: So, let me make sure I understand what you are saying. Rather than having the teacher explain 3 + 2 = 5, you have the kids discuss what the right answer might be?

A: You have the concept right, but this is a bad example. Basic math facts are something that we all need to internalize so they are automatic. In this case rote memorization is important. But in most other subjects, and even basic math to a certain extent, when the curriculum is set to a real-life situation, it will have more meaning for the students and thus they will have a deeper understanding. They will “construct” meaning and learn to apply it to other situations. Let me give you a more appropriate example. In 4th grade, the kids study ecosystems in science. A good example of an ecosystem is the Chesapeake Bay, and because it is in danger, we use it to demonstrate Man’s impact on an ecosystem. We teach the general facts such as the plants and animals living there, how they are interrelated, the surrounding geography, the watershed areas, and the pollutants. Instead of giving a test to see if they have “ingested” all the facts, we ask the students to identify problems of the Bay, design a realistic plan to positively impact the Bay, and include the trade-offs of their plans. The students are required to create a multi-media project to present their plans to their peers, teachers, and parents. This project incorporates science, social studies, reading, math, writing, and speaking.

Q: Isn’t memorization of facts the whole point of education? Aren’t you handicapping children by using a student centered learning methodology?

A: As I just explained, the students still learn the same information, but in a more meaningful manner that translates easily to their own lives. I think the 4th grade project I mentioned provides more long term learning than simply having them simply spit back memorized information that they will forget as soon as the test is over. I think my responsibility as an educator is to equip kids to succeed as adults, and adult skills go far beyond rote memorization. I believe that as adults, critical thinking skills are crucial for success in the work place. So is being able to work together as a team. Part of being a good team player means hearing each other’s opinions and respectfully disagreeing when necessary.

Q: By not forcing students to memorize facts, don’t students taught in a student centered learning methodology do poorly on standardized tests?

A: Actually, if kids can think critically, then in theory they should do fabulous on standardized tests. After all, they can take the skills of deduction they learned in class and apply them to figure out the right answers. Of course, standardized tests are another issue in and of themselves. High stakes testing is not going to fix the educational system.

Q: You don’t believe in standardized testing?

A: Standardized testing does have some merit, but I don’t think the tests adequately reflect teaching quality. Remember, you are comparing every child in the state equally, and not taking into account any local issues that may be present. For example, many schools have disadvantaged student populations. In many of those schools, both the teachers and students work very hard and achieve great improvement year to year. However, because the students were already behind to start with, the improvement isn’t recognized. Despite excellent education and hard work, they are still labeled a failing school, which is deflating to the teachers, the students, and the community. I think a more effective alternative is for schools to chart progress relative to the curriculum, showing growth compared to themselves rather than every child in the state.

Q: You have written a series of articles, beginning with The Dell Latitude 2100 – A Review, where you believe that upgrading from a PC lab to laptop computers in the classrooms is a key component in furthering education for your students. How is a laptop any different than a regular PC?

A: What I think is important is that there are computers in the classrooms available for the children to use throughout the day as needed, and it doesn’t matter to me if they are laptops or regular desktop computers. I want computer use to be embedded in their every day work regime. Right now, going to the computer lab is a special event and not a part of their every day learning. Teachers must sign up for their scheduled, weekly 40 minutes in the lab, regardless of whether they are ready to use computers at that moment or not. Having computers in the classroom goes along with the student centered learning philosophy that we discussed earlier. With the computers in the classrooms, students have a powerful educational resource at their fingertips to look up and gather information. I remember back when I was a teacher, I was really excited when I finally got my own class set of encyclopedias. That way, when a student asked a question, we could look up the answer right then and there, rather than me saying “I’ll check and get back to you.” Having the knowledge readily available was empowering. With computers in the classrooms, students have the whole world available to them.

Q: Are you saying that you allow the children to use the internet? Isn’t that potentially dangerous?


A: I view having the children on the internet as a good thing, but I understand the concerns, as well. It can be a scary idea to let children on the internet, but in school, we have carefully structured and specific procedures for use. The children are supervised and we teach them how to find information easily for learning in a correct and appropriate manner. The children are using the internet at home, and sometimes at home they are unsupervised. At least in school we are teaching the kids the fundamentals for proper usage which they will hopefully carry home with them. Giving students access to the internet allows for greater collaboration, which is an important part of how today’s world works and a fundamental skill they will need as productive adults. Through technologies such as wikis, blogs, podcasts, and digital storytelling, children can publish their work for an authentic, real audience instead of just for the teacher to assign a grade. Knowing that many people are reading or viewing their work, even if it is limited to family members and other students, makes them more engaged, excited, and motivated to do best their best work possible.

Q: Thank you so much for allowing Parentella to interview you. It was a pleasure.

A: You’re welcome! And I would like to thank you for this opportunity to share some of my beliefs about education and the principalship.

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Christi Grab is contributing editor and writer for Parentella. She is a native of Southern California. After graduating from San Diego State University, she went on to be a successful business woman. In April of 2007, she and her husband decided to put their careers on hold and travel the world for two years. Ms. Grab has recently returned from her travels and is currently writing a book about their adventure. For more information on the trip, visit http://kosmos.liveflux.net/blog.

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