Just got back from a week in Chicago. Left very impressed with the work of Tim Knowles and Linda Wing at the University of Chicago’s Center for Urban School Improvement. They present a very interesting alternative to traditional avenues for supporting instruction. Although there is a lot of talk about moving teacher education to the medical school model, Tim and Linda are one of the few walking their talk.
Danger Will Robinson! WaPo releases an article calling for teachers to assign easier texts or potentially “dumbing down” reading instruction. Clearly texts should be accessible to students, but there are other ways to enhance accessibility without assigning comic books. Touchstone and Paideia provide alternative ways to support struggling readers without eliminating challenging content and sacrificing critical thinking opportunities. Short, profound texts are accessible to students and honor their natural intellect, even if the students lack basic literacy skills. The October 2006 issue of Educational Leadership, “Reading, Writing and Thinking,” offers several ideas for how to accelerate literacy achievement by developing the critical thinking skills of struggling students, instead of dwelling on their academic deficiencies.
A recent study of DC public schools finds that for every 100 high school freshman, only 9 go on to complete a college degree within five years of enrolling in college. DC already spends nearly $12,500 per student, the highest in the nation. The result - a district of 65,000 students only produces 400 college grads per year. That’s not even enough college grads to staff the vacancies each year in the public schools.
Another way to think about this. With an $811 million budget, DC Public Schools spends roughly $2 million per college grad each year. While less money is clearly not the answer, this is blood-in-the-water for fiscal conservatives who want to defund public schools and a cautionary tale for “throw-money-at-the-problem” Democrats.
DC is not alone here. Recent reports from Chicago show an 8% college completion rate. Our own research shows similar numbers out of Los Angeles, and there is no reason to expect other large districts are faring any better.
This is a civil rights crisis of epic proportions. It’s become trendy to say high schools are the top priority thanks to Bill and Oprah. And districts are slowly getting into the action by hiring Assistant Superintendents of Secondary Education, breaking up comprehensive high schools into small schools, creating freshmen academies, etc. But it’s hard to justify incremental change against a problem of this magnitude. Seriously. Has anyone seen Jesse?