Lesson from the Road
8 Developments in School Practice
Over the past two months, our team had a chance to visit schools in Boston, Mississippi, Houston, New Orleans, Washington, New York and my hometown of Nashville. We try to to stay sharp and make it out to visit one charter market every two or three months, but this is the first prolonged period of school visits we’ve undertaken since I participated in the Building Excellent Schools Fellowship in 2010. This is a limited view (only 6 cities), but I’ve catalogued a few of the most promising practices I witnessed during this most recent round of visits. It’s a random list by design:
8. The Maturity of the New Orleans Charter Sector
Back in 2011, I visited KIPP Central City, Sci Academy, 4.0 Schools and Kickboard Headquarters. My observations from that trip are here. In returning two years later, every institution I previously visited was palpably stronger. KIPP Central City has a tight student culture, super strong results and is beginning to leverage blended tools in smart ways. Sci has grown from one awesome school to a network of three schools (now called Collegiate Academies) — while maintaining its unique culture (sort of like a mix of surfer and no-excuses culture). Back in 2011, we were one of Kickboard’s only customers outside of New Orleans. Now, they are growing exponentially, attracting tons of investment and serving customers all over the country.
These institutions are fueling incredible gains for New Orleans students. Around 90% of the 42,000 scholars of New Orleans attend charter schools. Since Katrina, those scholars have moved from the 3rd percentile of academic performance in the state to the 48th percentile.
7. The Relay Graduate School of Education National Principal Academy (New York)
For the past two years, I was principal of Nashville Prep, but our organization’s growth (more schools and more grades in the next two years) prompted me to move from Principal of the school to Executive Director of the organization. Anthony Fowler, our former 6th Grade Chair and Dean of Students took over as principal last May after going through an internal training and vetting process. We knew our process was incomplete, so we took advantage of an invitation from the Relay Graduate School of Education to send Fowler through the first ever Relay National Principal Academy. This program brought together 100 principals (half charter public and half traditional public) for a summer training (and some shorter trainings throughout the year.
The program is exactly what you would expect if you have previously attended an Uncommon Schools (a cousin of Relay) training: some of the best instructors in the business, heavy emphasis on practice, laser-like focus on techniques and habits that drive student achievement, and a accountability for verifiable gains. On the latter point, Fowler taped his data meetings upon return to Nashville Prep and submitted those to Relay for feedback and future practice. We will definitely send future leaders through this program.
6. Homework at Excel Academy (Boston)
No institution has shaped Nashville Prep’s trajectory more than Excel Academy in Boston. We believe in imitating before innovating, and Excel was our model. I could write an encyclopedia about what makes Excel an incredible institution. On my most recent visit, I noticed something I hadn’t examined closely before: their homework. I was sitting in the back of a 7th grade English class, watching Excel founder Yutaka Tamura deliver a lesson, when I peeked over the shoulder of a scholar as she received her homework back with feedback. The homework was super rigorous (textual analysis with questions requiring evidence and explanation of how the evidence supported the claim), the quality of the work was better than almost any in-class assignment I’ve seen at even the best public schools, and the feedback was thoughtful and integrated into class practice (students had time to incorporate the feedback in class). I know there is a fierce debate about the effectiveness of homework generally, but this homework was without a doubt driving achievement. I think of it as an old school flipped classroom model. Much of the hard work is being done at home, but there aren’t any high tech tools driving this process.
There isn’t much to say here other than the Boston Charter Sector is by far the strongest sector in the country. Almost every charter in that city is top-notch: Edward Brooke, Excel, Roxbury, MATCH, Boston Prep . . . . That’s why it’s no surprise that the results have been staggering. According to Stanford’s CREDO, the MA charters provide an education equivalent to an additional 12.3 months of reading and 12.9 months of math per year.
4. Uncommon Schools High School (New York)
Uncommon Schools is the San Antonio Spurs of networks. Nothing flashy. This is a system in the Nick Saban sense. No one person is central to the organization, though they attract and grow some of the best. Their high school is the site of some of their most promising old school innovations. They are pushing a model of two high school classroom prototypes. In one seminar style classroom, scholars participate in deep and meaningful discussions while the teacher gives feedback to the participants based on a rubric. There is also a lecture style class, where scholars work on three skills: note taking, listening stamina and question creation. The goal is for these classroom models to mimic the college environment, so scholars had practice before entering the high stakes college world. Almost all classes at Uncommon High School seem to flow through these models. Almost every educator I talk to struggles with releasing structure in upper middle and high school, and this school seems to be a big step in the right direction.
4.0 is the creation of Matt Candler, a former KIPP Vice President and general charter veteran. Tom Vander Ark recently summarized their work here. 4.0 incubates innovative schools and ed tech companies. Vander Ark makes a compelling case for why every city should have a 4.0:
“1. They understand blended learning and can support teams in organizational design and tech integration (few shops are good at both);
2. As a nonprofit, they are focused on impact, they take a longer view than accelerators, and will work on big problems;
3. They build an innovation ecosystem by connecting educators and entrepreneurs; and
4. They are the one organization that a superintendent, charter executive, chamber executive, and foundation executive could all get behind.”
On point three, 4.0 has become a hostel of sorts for reformers and ed tech entrepreneurs in the southeast. During our most recent visit to Nola, Matt lent our team some white board space. In the span of a day and a half, dozens of folks from 10+ organizations filtered through — holding retreats, trainings, meetings and receptions. 4.0 has become more than a space or an organization. It’s a catalytic community.
2. The MATCH Teacher Residency (Boston)
In every city we visited, school leaders raved about teachers from the MATCH Residency, an innovative rookie teacher training program. We’ve continually heard that MATCH graduates are the strongest first year teachers organizations hire. In our most recent visit to Boston, we had an opportunity to sit down with Orin Gutlerner, the CEO of the program. Orin and his team emphasis verifiable excellence. They rely much less on traditional education classes and spend the bulk of their time in simulations and live tutoring. What makes this program different than Teach for America? Thankfully, MATCH summarizes it for you here.
Essential to MATCH’s model is their belief that not everyone will make it. Their assessments are rigorous, and they transparently coach people to make a “healthy exit” if they don’t have what it takes. The results have been super promising. We hope they expand.
Named the 2013 Education Reform Organization of the year by the NewSchools Venture Fund, Unlocking Potential has transformed four underperforming Massachusetts schools (2 in Boston and 2 in Lawrence) since 2011. It was founded and is run by Scott Given, formerly of Excel Academy. When Scott and his team inherit a school, they run all grade levels at once (in contrast to some, who do one grade level at a time, which is how many charters (like us) and some takeover/transformation organizations work). These schools have super-colossal gains.
These schools look like the highest performing charters out there, but they are in zoned neighborhood schools. If we were figure skating, Scott and his team would earn a 10.0 because they have attempted a feat of the highest level of difficulty and nailed it. When we were leaving UP Boston, Scott asked me what my takeaway was. I told him, “UP has changed what I previously thought was possible in education reform.” We will be making frequent trips back there.
Email me when Ravi Gupta publishes or recommends stories