New Haven’s teacher of the year put on a “phosphorescent” shirt and lit up an Omni Hotel ballroom with a challenge to a school reform crowd: Let teachers be leaders without forcing them to leave the classroom, the New Haven Independent reports. David Low, the New Haven Federation of Teachers’ vice president of high schools and this year’s teacher of the year, made those remarks Thursday night at the opening session of the 7th annual Yale School of Management’s Education Leadership Conference at the Omni. Low took part in an opening panel moderated by state education chief Stefan Pryor. Low took a seat on stage in the ballroom beside Michael Sharpe, CEO of FUSE, a Hartford charter school operator; Rae Ann Knopf, director of the Connecticut Council for Education Reform; and Steven Adamowski, a former Hartford superintendent…
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Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.
Gay rights ‘social justice teach-in’ ‘hit home’ for students
Picture this: You’re changing in the locker room. Another student, who is gay, walks into the room. What do you do? That’s how the script began in an unusual class at High School in the Community, the New Haven Independent reports. By the time it ended, the script would prompt some real-life revelations. The class was part of an all-day “social justice teach-in” held recently at the magnet school–which this year has adopted law and social justice as its theme while it undergoes a broader experimental transformation. The day gave students a chance to learn from outside practitioners and from not-for-profit groups; and it gave teachers a chance to share causes they’re passionate about that might not come up in the classroom…
…Read MoreTurnaround school takes history class to the streets
Students led their teachers out of school, onto a city bus, and to a housing complex they call “Skittles,” as they got a start rewriting a local history book with on-the-street scenes from New Haven neighborhoods, the New Haven Independent reports. The 11 students from High School in the Community (HSC) took the trip Thursday as part of a “Discover New Haven” class. The class has been taking walking tours to explore the city and updating an outdated history text about New Haven’s neighborhoods. They started out close to home, downtown and in Wooster Square. Teachers Jack Stacey and Matthew Presser rounded up students at lunchtime Thursday and set out for a first destination a bit farther away: the banks of the Quinnipiac River in Fair Haven. As they stepped out the door, students got the chance to teach their teachers something: How to take the bus…
…Read MoreTeens get to assign their own homework
Solanlly Canas had to tackle some tough math problems at home—and she had herself to thank, the New Haven Independent reports. Canas, a senior at High School in the Community (HSC), assigned herself the homework, factoring polynomials, last week. She brought her work into Riley Gibbs’ Room 208 at the Water Street magnet school, where a new experiment is taking place to reimagine high school education. It was a new breed of math class—one where kids assign themselves their own homework, learn at their own pace, and take tests only when they’re ready. Gibbs is one of the first teachers at HSC to take the plunge into “independent pacing”—which re-invents the idea of a normal “class” where a teacher guides all students at the same speed. The new method, which all teachers are expected eventually to adopt under an HSC “turnaround” plan, is part of a quest to end the factory “assembly line” of high school education…
…Read MoreUnion President blasts ‘not credible’ data dump
New Haven’s teachers union president Wednesday boycotted the unveiling of new school data that he called a glossing-over of serious problems—and that district officials hailed as a sign of success, the New Haven Independent reports. The union president, David Cicarella, avoided a press conference Wednesday at Ross/Woodward School where top officials gathered to announce results of annual “school climate” surveys taken by parents, teachers, students and staff. The district initiated these surveys as a key way of evaluating the success of New Haven’s ambitious school reform drive. (Click here to view school-by-school results.) Superintendent Reggie Mayo announced that all of the city’s 43 schools and transitional programs scored “satisfied or better” on the district’s rating scale. Satisfaction scores “rose significantly” in 18 schools this year, and dropped significantly in four schools, he announced.
“Feedback is getting stronger, and it’s getting better,” Mayo announced…
New school ‘culture’ takes root with college summit curriculum
Cheers arose for a new effort to get high school seniors into college—cheers, though as of yet no hard data to prove it’s working, the New Haven Independent reports. Those cheers arose from officials last week at an event honoring high school seniors who spent a year counseling classmates to get to college. They did claim success in changing school “culture.” They said they were not ready to release data demonstrating whether they’ve succeeded in getting kids into more, and better, colleges. College Summit, a private outfit hired by the school district, convened the awards luncheon last Thursday for 68 seniors who have served as “peer leaders” for their classmates under the program. College Summit runs similar programs in 42 districts nationwide. As part of the College Summit curriculum, rising seniors at three city high schools enlisted in college-going “boot camp” last summer. Then they returned to their schools to help fellow students apply for college. The program launched as a pilot at Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School in 2010; it expanded last year to include Metropolitan Business Academy and James Hillhouse High School…
…Read MoreHow to have more teachers ‘clamoring’ for low-performing schools
As Obama’s top school official came to a city turnaround school Tuesday, he popped a question: How do we get more Tamara Raifords “clamoring” to teach in low-performing schools? Reports the New Haven Independent. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan heard several answers directly from New Haven teachers as he took part in a discussion Tuesday morning at the Brennan/Rogers School in West Rock. Duncan didn’t come to town to give a speech. He played the role of interviewer in a 90-minute talk with school staff, students, union leaders and politicians in the school library. After a full half-hour of congratulations between politicians, mostly focused on New Haven’s 2009 teachers’ contract that paved the way for new teacher evaluations and turnaround schools, teachers were invited to join the conversation in front of a bank of TV cameras…
…Read MoreBreakfast in the classroom changing student performance
In the first month of a new experiment inside a Dixwell school, the number of kids eating breakfast shot up by 75 percent—a swift change that officials hope will help students learn math and read books, the New Haven Independent. The eating took place at Wexler/Grant School, which serves 378 kids in grades pre-K to 8 at 55 Foote St. The school, which is in the first year of a turnaround effort designed to boost failing test scores and improve the school climate, is now home to the experiment in childhood nutrition. On March 5, as kids began their annual high-stakes standardized tests, they tried out a new way of fueling up for the day. They grabbed a morning meal not in the school cafeteria, as was their routine, but in the classroom. In doing so, they followed the latest thinking in school meals, which concerns not just what kids eat but where. Studies show when kids are offered meals in the classroom, “they’re more likely to eat it,” said Sarah Maver, school wellness dietitian for New Haven Public Schools…
…Read MoreSchools find time for art amid test prep, education reform
Arts leaders who fear that testing is squeezing out creative learning may find some hope in an after-school program in the Hill–and the reaction of one 4th-grader who refused to leave the classroom, the New Haven Independent reports. Elena Brennan was one of 11 students who stayed after-hours at the Roberto Clemente Leadership Academy last week to take part in an arts program run by a local not-for-profit called Arte, Inc. When her mom showed up 40 minutes early to pick her up, Elena refused to go–she was having too much fun penciling in the eyes on a self-portrait in the style of Chuck Close. The art session at the K-8 public school at 360 Columbus Ave. came on the heels of a discussion two weeks ago among 200 artists and arts convened at the Congregation Mishkan Israel. The group raised concerns that standardized tests dominate more and more classroom time and drain arts funding in the era of school reform, hurting kids’ chances to learn about the arts and grow into well-rounded adults…
…Read MoreSchool targets achievement gap through methods of Socrates
Should the rich fix failing schools by donating more money? Should moms keep better tabs on their kids? Eighth-graders debated those solutions to the achievement gap—as part of a student-led seminar aimed at closing that very same gap, reports New Haven Independent. The discussion took place in a Socratic seminar, a hallmark of the Ross/Woodward Classical Studies Interdistrict Magnet School, which serves 530 kids in grades pre-K to 8 at 185 Barnes Ave. The seminar was one factor that propelled the school to become one of 65 schools nationwide named as 2012 magnet schools of distinction by the Magnet Schools of America. The award is based on “commitment to high academic standards, curriculum innovation, successful desegregation/diversity efforts, specialized teaching staffs, and parent and community involvement.”
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