-
Middle Schools: What Successful Charters Do [KIPP, Paul and Washington Latin PCS are mentioned]
-
DCIAA Football ‘Really a Disaster’ for Openers [KIPP and Friendship Collegiate Academy PCS are mentioned]
Middle Schools: What Successful Charters Do [KIPP, Paul and Washington Latin PCS are mentioned]
The Washington Post
By Bill Turque
September 8, 2011
At Wednesday’s D.C. Council roundtable, several leaders of public charters with far more success than most DCPS middle schools described the elements they believe make their programs effective.
Susan Schaeffler, founder and CEO, KIPP DC (Wards 2 and 7, 1,000 middle school students in three schools, AIM, KEY and WILL. Average DC CAS reading proficiency: 62 percent, math 77 percent)
The foundation to KIPP’s model is the extended day, which runs to 5 p.m. It gives students about 35 percent more instructional time per year than DCPS, which knocks off at 3:15 p.m. It also costs an additional $1,100 per student per year, a shortfall that KIPP makes up with private fundraising. Schaeffler says KIPP and other schools with longer days deserve more money from the city.
Public charter schools, which are open to students from across the city, are frequently accused of “creaming” the best students from traditional public schools, a practice they consistently deny. In response to questions from Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), Schaeffler said KIPP would be willing to consider opening a school under contract with DCPS in which students from the surrounding community would have the right to attend.
Schaeffler said the issue is not about serving a specific community, but about other factors that come with partnering with DCPS, including limits on their ability to hire, fire and evaluate teachers. Nearly all charter schools employ non-union teachers.
“There are a lot of factors that keep KIPP from entering into a contract,” Schaeffler said.
Jami Dunham, Head of School, Paul PCS (Ward 4, 600 students, grades 6-9, 64 percent reading proficiency, 72 percent math)
Dunham said their model revolves “intentional messaging,” a team approach to student support and a well-rounded program.
“Students hear every day and in every classroom that they are merit scholars, that they are being prepared to go to college, that they are being prepared to succeed in life,” Dunham said of the messaging. “It is developmentally appropriate for adolescents at this stage of development to question, to demand a rationale and to resist authority. We counter this with consistently providing the rationale that what we are expecting our scholars to do will prepare them for the next stage in their lives.”
Paul’s team approach involves developing small groups of students with teams of teachers. The teachers meet weekly to analyze student data, address student concerns and create individual plans for kids experiencing academic or behavioral challenges.
Dunham also stressed the importance of a diverse, well-rounded program of academics and extracurriculars. “Finding a place to belong is critical for middle schoolers,” Dunham said. “We have scholars who would label themselves as a techie, an artist, a dancer, a jock, a bookworm, an aspiring politician and an environmentalist.”
Martha Cutts, Head of School, Washington Latin PCS (Ward 4, 575 students, grades 5-12, 77 percent reading, 84 percent match.
Cutts cited careful hiring of teachers, low class size, clear expectations for behavior and school-home communication.
“Hiring is the most important thing I do,” said Cutts. “My goal is always to hire teachers who have not only expertise in and enthusiasm for what they teach, but also a genuine love of and interest in working with young people. Successful teachers will be able to communicate to their students their desire to know them as individuals and their commitment to seeing each of them succeed.”
Cutts said that while some research minimizes the importance of class size and student load, she believes they matter. “I don’t believe, for instance, that an English teacher can grade weekly essays or writing assignments and give substantive feedback for 150 students. I am uncomfortable if a teacher has more than 90 students to teach,” she said.
Staff members oversee small groups of students (10 to 12) so that there is “at least one adult overseeing a student’s school experience, both academic and social," Cutts said. That includes regular meetings in homeroom or during an advisory period and strong lines of communication with parents. “The goal should always be to have students connect with at least one adult at school whom they feel they can trust, ask for advice, or go to with a concern or question,” she said.
Staff takes time at the beginning of the school year to establish clear expectations for behavior, with a code of conduct that stresses character and values. “Taking time to discuss these issues is just as important as teaching reading an mathematics,” she said.
DCIAA Football ‘Really a Disaster’ for Openers [KIPP and Friendship Collegiate Academy PCS are mentioned]
The Washington Post
By James Wagner
September 8, 2011
The first time the Ballou football team had a game canceled this season — two weeks ago because Theodore Roosevelt didn’t have enough eligible players — senior Dontray Crawford was understandably upset. Colleges interested in the 6-foot-4, 200-pound receiver wanted to evaluate film of his first three games before possibly offering him a scholarship.
The second time Ballou had a game canceled — last week because a doctor wasn’t scheduled for its matchup against KIPP — Crawford walked out of the cafeteria at the Southeast Washington school, where he and his teammates met, mad at his coaches and with thoughts of quitting football. “I had to keep my composure because I’m a captain on this team,” he said.
The first two weeks of the football season in the D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association have been an experiment in scheduling and competition — a black eye for a league often chided by outsiders for its problems. Two of last year’s DCIAA semifinalists, Ballou and Coolidge, have yet to play a game. Theodore Roosevelt and Cardozo canceled their season openers because of a lack of eligible players. Nearly half the games involving DCIAA teams weren’t played and only one school, Wilson, played two games.
The first two weeks “were really a disaster, to be honest with you,” longtime Cardozo Athletic Director and Coach Bobby Richards said. “It’s a number of reasons: A lot of changes, changes in the athletic office, changes in policy and the demographics in the city, with some schools having more than enough players and some schools are struggling.”
When teams did play, the results were lopsided losses; DCIAA teams lost all seven games they were involved in last week by a combined score of 308-21. H.D. Woodson, the three-time defending DCIAA champion, was defeated 48-0 last week by Martinsburg (W.Va.), a state title winner, thanks in part to four turnovers. A fight in the fourth quarter of DCIAA finalist Dunbar’s season opener last week ended a game it was losing to Dunbar of Baltimore and resulted in the Crimson Tide forfeiting its league opener as punishment.
In the past two weeks, athletic directors and coaches have been adjusting to new leadership and rules. Hours before the first DCIAA football game, an emergency rule allowing fifth-year seniors to play this season was circulated to principals and athletic directors. D.C. Public Schools interim athletic director Willie Jackson, on the job for barely more than a month, has been trumpeting an effort to strictly enforce rules.
“It’s a transition period,” Dunbar Athletic Director Johnnie Walker said. “It really is. I think for so long, people thought we were the league that couldn’t shoot straight, where anything was allowed from fifth-year kids to having kids playing on teams [when they] didn’t live in the city.”
This is all happening as the popularity and strength of football at D.C.’s public charter schools grows. Seventh-ranked Friendship Collegiate Academy is perhaps the city’s best team (and one that has earned national attention) but, like all charter schools, can’t compete for a DCIAA title. Maya Angelou and KIPP are fielding their first varsity teams this fall, while Options started one last season.
Jackson said he isn’t concerned by the results of the past two weeks. (“It’s not about the outcome, it’s about the experiences,” he said.) But, he said, the fact that players have missed out on games is troubling.
“It’s not embarrassing for me,” Jackson said. “It’s unacceptable that we have folks in leadership that are not doing what they need to do to get kids on the field. That’s unacceptable. . . . We’ll take our lumps the first few weeks if that’s what it takes to make sure everybody is on the same page and operating on the same playing field.”
Many of Cardozo’s 25 players joined the team when school started two weeks ago and hadn’t practiced the necessary days in full pads to be allowed to play, thus forcing the Clerks to forfeit their season opener against Options on Sept. 2. They also changed Friday’s game against Anacostia into a scrimmage. Roosevelt had only 15 eligible players instead of the required 18 to play its Aug. 26 opener against Ballou because of grades, missing report cards and physicals, Jackson said.
Smaller DCPS high schools such as Cardozo and Roosevelt don’t draw as many football players as Ballou or Wilson, so filling a full and eligible roster is a frequent challenge. The problem is further amplified because of the DCIAA’s policy of out-of-boundary transfers that allows students to apply to change schools for any reason.
“In a couple of years, we’ll have that competitive balance that we used to have,” Richards said. “I think it’ll come back with the renovations and modernizations of all the schools.”
Ballou’s second game was canceled because the Knights’ matchup against KIPP wasn’t on the DCIAA master schedule, Jackson said, which meant that no doctor was scheduled for the Sept. 2 game as is required for all league games.
After hearing the reason for the cancellation, Crawford said he calmed down and refocused. Having to wait to send colleges, such as Maryland and West Virginia, the film of his first three games will hurt him some, but he hopes he can recover from the lost time.
A week from Friday, Crawford will suit up again and, if all goes well, play a game for the first time this season.
“I’m looking forward to playing Coolidge,” Crawford said. “I’m tired of hitting my teammates.”