welcome to usaapay.com

2020-

2020-10-24 b
Anarchy in the Classroom

Submitting to Unrule

Two charter school networks are walking back their behavioral standards.

With discussions of racial injustice dominating headlines, some of America’s most successful elementary and secondary schools are caving to progressive pressure and renouncing what sets them apart: high behavioral standards.

As America’s largest and arguably most successful charter school system, KIPP serves more than 100,000 students at 242 schools. In July, however, it renounced its revered slogan: “work hard, be nice.” The justification? It fosters “inequitable discipline practices” and places too much value on being “compliant and submissive.” Uncommon Schools followed this lead in August, posting an open letter detailing its intention to loosen behavioral norms.

KIPP led a once-bipartisan movement to reshape American education. Uncommon perfected the craft and published bestselling books detailing its behavioral and academic methods—few teachers remain unaware of Doug Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion. KIPP and Uncommon are among America’s most influential schools; their apparent turn against themselves signals a loss not just for their students but also for the thousands of schools inspired by their example.

In How the Other Half Learns, scholar Robert Pondiscio describes how he spent a year observing one of these no-excuses charter schools. He relates stories of children sent home for wrong-colored socks and children walking down the hall in absolute silence. It’s hard to argue with the results: 99 percent of students score proficient in math, compared with 33 percent nationwide. The figures are similar for reading, history, and science.
...
Some schools maintain their commitment to appropriate discipline. Katharine Birbalsingh of Michaela Schools and Eva Moskowitz of Success Academy remain staunch advocates of high standards, even as advocates, journalists, and education ideologues condemn them and their practices. But millions of disadvantaged schoolchildren are consigned to academic mediocrity, emotional abuse, and physical threat in the name of “equity” and restorative justice. It is tragic that KIPP and Uncommon, two excellent charter networks that have provided a life-saving education to underserved students, seem to be submitting to this program of despair. (read more)

______________________

Permission is hereby granted to any and all to copy and paste any entry on this page and convey it electronically along with its URL,
______________________