A No-Frills Charter School and More
Recently I came across the following bits of information that any teacher-type should find interesting.
» NCTE inbox (6/2/09) had an article from the Los Angeles Times entitled “Spitting in the eye of mainstream education.” The article describes the American Indian Charter School in Oakland, California. This school offers no frills (including no computers), long school days, and a lot of seat work. The only exception is physical education, in which the students actually exercise.
The students are hard-working and disciplined; even the slightest infractions merit punishment, no excuses. For example, getting up during class is a no-no, so is missing a problem on a homework assignment. Each is punishable by an hour detention—for the first offense. The punishment increases after that. How about an hour after school and four hours on Saturday morning? (Is this a charter reform school or what?)
Yet there is a waiting list to get into American Indian and its two satellite schools because the students there excel academically, scoring extremely high on the state tests, right along with the best and the brightest in other parts of California. Students must be extremely motivated and/or supported (pressured?) at home to survive in such a draconian system.
» According to a recent report on public radio, U.S. students in the first years of their schooling perform just as well in math and science as students in other parts of the world do. So why do U.S. students so precipitously lose ground as their schooling continues? One theory is that family and cultural expectations play a significant role in student performance.
In an Asian family, for example, it is expected (demanded?) that the sons or daughters will pursue careers in science, engineering, or medicine, so they work very hard in their math and science courses. Not so in the typical American family. Students here are expected to do as well as they can in school, get into college, and “find” an area of interest, be it anthropology, graphic design, business, art, medicine, or so on.
» An article in New York Times “Health” (5/25/09) entitled “Texting May Be Taking a Toll” provided some surprising information. Some young people may make up to 80 text messages a day. Physicians and psychologists say extreme texting like this may lead to anxiety, sleep deprivation, and failing grades. The article reports that some experts worry it may actually stunt adolescent growth because if young people are in constant contact, they won’t have time (or the interest) to think for themselves—to become their own person.
Not being in constant contact means being out of the loop, which is the last thing that young people want to have happen. That, of course, is the allure or attraction of texting for so many. Apparently, it goes on all of the time in classrooms, even when it is against the rules. Perhaps teachers should collect cell phones at the door before the start of class.
» NCTE inbox (6/9/09) previews a book entitled Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It by Kelly Gallagher. Gallagher defines readicide as “the systematic killing of the love of reading, often exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices found in school.” Gallagher says that schools overteach reading with systematic programs and instruction and with preparation for reading tests. By the time students finish high school, they have little, if any, interest in books because of instruction that eviscerates the reading process. Sounds like a title teachers should put on their summer reading list.
Aside: I have always thought that we spend far too much money on reading programs and place far too much importance on systematic reading instruction. Is learning how to read really all that hard? Many youngsters come to school already knowing how. Perhaps learning to read depends on a student’s readiness more than anything else.
—Dave
Leave a Reply