Many Schools Find Ways to Close the Achievement Gap

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Karin Chenowith emphasizes staff collaboration. Though she does not say it, her final paragraph indicates that 'weak' teachers can become good via the in-school collaboration process - at any rate, it does not appear most of these schools removed teachers, though some had new principals.
This suggests also that the Secretary of Education Duncan's "Race to the Top" which demands firing principals and teachers or turning schools over to private companies, but which does not strong emphasize helping schools develop collaborative cultures, is misguided. And since these schools emphasized collegiality but not a cookie-cutter approach, that suggests again the answer is not only a supportive culture among teachers but an emphasis on working together to strengthen their knowledge and skills.
The college enrollment data is also encouraging for the few for which she provides it. Since standardized tests measure so little of what is important, we need a lot more info than just test scores to know if a school is successful. (Karin I think agrees with that, from the one time I talked with her.)
It is the generalization part that is hard: one can readily find a few examples, but how to find many? Can the many learn from the few? There has not been much impetus or support for that to happen. For example, a primary argument for charters is for them to try innovations that can be spread, but very little of that has been done systematically. Nor are large school systems set up for principals and teachers to learn even from effective educators in schools that are in the same neighborhood working with similar children. Too often districts push cookie-cutter approaches or intensify central office dictates, rather than create conditions for educators to work together.
For more on testing and critiques of 'Race to the Top," go to http://www.fairtest.org.

Monty Neill of MA 11:31AM December 23, 2009

And, for the life of me, I have never understood why we've had cheap audiotaping capability in America for 30 years, yet the daily presentations of the best teachers are not audiotaped and shared with (or forced upon) other teachers.
I believe that to some extent, enthusiasm and creativity can be taught and "caught". I also believe some teachers would be completely astonished if they heard the classroom sessions of others.
They keep saying they're going to someday base teacher pay on performance of the students. But, they're not. There will never be a day when two second grade teachers in the same building are SIGNIFICANTLY apart in pay except for reasons of "degrees attained" and years of experience or seniority. Yet, some teachers are literally worth twice what some others are worth. The answer is to challenge the duller ones by exposing them to what live wires are doing.

Muser of NM 8:14PM December 18, 2009

I have seen this happen for years but it doesn't make the headlines. I really enjoyed this article and receiving it just before the holidays makes it all the more special. Thank you. I would like to become a supporter.

Karen Schmidt of AZ 2:12PM December 18, 2009

We spend so much of our time talking about the abysmal state of public education in this country – and by any standard our system is broken – that it is heartening to be reminded by Karin Chenoweth that there ARE schools out there who are closing the gap. Schools who serve the same low-income and minority students who our country has so often given up on. Schools without additional resources. Schools working within the confines of “the system.” Schools who are led by dedicated principals and teachers – not super-humans – but educators who are unwilling to settle for mediocre.
There is a growing movement across this country of educators, politicians, civil rights leaders, faith-based leaders, business leaders, activists, parents, teachers, students, and concerned citizens who are banding together to improve our schools, bring equity to our public education system, and ensure that EVERY student has access to the high-quality, public education our country is built upon.
I am the director of the Education Equality Project (www.edequality.org). A national, bipartisan advocacy organization focused solely on closing the racial and ethnic achievement gap in public education. We are building a MOVEMENT for we know we are so much louder and more powerful as a group than as individual voices. Please join us! Become a supporter at www.edequality.org; become a fan at http://www.facebook.com/EdEquality, and follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/EdEquality.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Thank you, Ellen Winn (Director, Education Equality Project)

Ellen Winn of NY 10:11AM December 18, 2009