By Chelsea Clinton
Rock Center special correspondent
Central Falls, Rhode Island may seem like an unlikely standard bearer for a reading or public school revolution – it is the poorest district in the state with more than 85% of its students on free or reduced lunch plans. And, the city itself recently went bankrupt. Yet, a remarkable collaboration between The Learning Community charter school and surrounding non-charter public elementary schools continues to demonstrate that students are hungry to learn and that, in the words of The Learning Community credo, poverty is not a barrier to success. The collaboration is part of what is called the Growing Readers Initiative – an effort to share best practices between teachers from different systems to turnaround some of the lowest reading scores in the state.
Walking the vibrant halls of The Learning Community – where the reading program began – watching the younger students proudly use their reading strategies to read books one and two grade levels ahead and listening to older fifth grade students engage with one another on questions of friendship, racism, loyalty, it is clear that The Learning Community is a remarkable place. Indeed, in 2009, Learning Community students exceeded the expected performance for a school with its level of poverty by 25% in reading and 45% in math.
Visiting nearby non-charter Veterans Memorial Elementary School and observing The Learning Community teachers working with the Veterans teachers to share the reading methodology charter school teachers saw work so well in their school, it is clear that something special is happening. Kids gather on the rug to learn reading strategies, back at their desks, students practice their strategies independently and with one another. I felt like a giant sitting in a 2nd grade desk chair when the students were explaining their books to me! All the teachers we met share a deep commitment to their kids and an understanding about what will best help their kids read, learn and thrive – and a willingness to continuously how best to do that. The effects of that dedication are clear at Veterans and across the Central Falls district. In the first year of the partnership between The Learning Community and the school district, reading scores district-wide increased 29 points – an amazing achievement and a tribute to all the teachers and their students.
Although collaborations between charter public schools and non-charter public schools are rare, so too are collaborations between non-charter public schools themselves. One of the teachers we spoke with said the only thing that catches readily in schools during flu season (when we were there), was the flu. Yet, she and her colleagues were proving that sentiment wrong day after day. The school district had hoped to expand the collaborative effort through fifth grade this year but put those plans on hold fearing the impact the city’s bankruptcy filing and potential state cuts would have on education dollars. Now, facing $1.5 million in cuts to the 2012-2013 school year budget, the superintendent of schools in Central Falls says funding for the Growing Readers Initiative is in peril, jeopardizing the ongoing collaboration and shared learning between the teachers that has clearly been key to their students’ successes.
Late last year, Sean F. Reardon, a Stanford University sociologist, published a study that showed the achievement gap between children from high- and low-income families (from the top 10% of family incomes and the bottom 10% of family incomes) has grown by 30-40% among children born in 2001 versus those born 25 years earlier. Reardon’s work was recently highlighted in the New York Times, as was work by Susan M. Dynarski and Martha J. Bailey, both of the University of Michigan, which showed that the disparity in college completion rates – the single most powerful predictor of future success – has grown 50% between kids from wealthy families and those from poor families – since the 1980s. There is much to be concerned about in those statistics and even more in the challenges confronting kids and families across the country. There are also signs of hope that poverty does not need to imprison consecutive generations. One of the places that gives meaning to this hope is Central Falls, Rhode Island.
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This is an absurd, political story obviously funded by Gates to keep the charter school movement moving. The story suggests that there is no need for charter schools and regular schools to be in competition, and yet that is the whole point of the school choice movement. Charter schools do take resources from regular public schools and most recent research indicates that the vast majority of charter schools do no better or worse in terms of academic achievement than regular public schools with which they compete. I am glad to see these teachers cooperating, but they could be doing it in a regular public school. Just take the yoke of No Child Left Behind off all teachers, not just charter school teachers, and you will see vast improvement. Deal with poverty outside of school and you will see vast improvement. Despite Gates' attempts to privatize schools, charters are not the answer.
Couldn't agree more. It's a national shame we're throwing good money, time and energy on charters when they aren't producing the results that quantifies their existence.
Poverty is the biggest driver of education outcomes in this country, not union teachers. As long as the wealth gap continues and the middle class fails, our children will pay the price. Simple.
Disagree with both of your comments. The story was about great teaching in both the public and charter schools. America needs some friendly competition in the area of education. Yes, public school teachers as well as charter school teachers could collaborate within their own buildings but is that the real world. We have competition and collaboration in all other professions and it helps to move things forward and create innovation. Why should education be any different?
I hate to break the news to you, but No Child Left Behind applies to charter schools too! PS: Charter Schools are held to higher standards of accountability than public schools. If the the charter school does not meet its academic goals in terms of student learning and achievement, the state comes in and shuts them down. Also, if this collaboration is possible in traditional public schools, then why is it NOT happening? U N I O N S. If traditional public schools were so successful, why is the United States falling further and further behind its global counterparts? Public school education has not changed or adapted since....it NEVER has. This is due largely in part to the unions refusal to adapt and change because it would mean more demands/work on its members.
PS: unions will be a thing of the past as more and more people begin to figure out that competition is a good thing and people should EARN their jobs based on performance, not some bogus contract and immunity protections.
Ah, here comes the the supporters of the Teachers Union with their drivel "Charter schools don't do this and that" - sorry, they work. People are getting wise to your Unions that do nothing but protect bad teachers.
I have never seen a group of people so afraid of competition, and having to work to keep your job....
I just want to point out that the reason the U.S. "falls behind other countries around the world" every year in testing is because we insist on testing everyone. No Child Left Behind, of course, made the problem even worse. Other countries only test their top students, because they cull the herd at regular intervals to ensure that they are only spending money on education for those students who are the best and the brightest.
We should take note and do likewise - it would definately help with our debt problem.
We teach to the lowest common denominator. Foriegn schools teach to the highest. It's that simple.
Fantastic story! Teachers know what is best for their students. How wonderful to see public school teachers working hand-in-hand with charter/private school teachers.
I also want to comment on Ms. Clinton - not to anyone's surprise , she has become a smart, sensitive and beautiful young woman. I only hope that she follows in her parents footsteps!
That is wonderful that students are improving their reading, but the method being used was created by Lucy Calkins. It's called Reading Workshop and has been used by many teachers in many areas of the United States. Students having a mini-lesson, independent practice, one on one with teacher each week, students choosing their own books and share time...this is not new. Give credit where credit is due...not a charter school in Rhode Island. Kudos to the teachers working together to help improve student achievement, just give credit appropriately. Chelsea Clinton...research a little deeper before reporting.
Yes! Reading Workshop! I couldn't remember the name of it, but that is exactly what it was and what I was referring to in my comments. It was awesome. I loved teaching then.
THANK YOU, Tara! I was thinking the same thing! We've used this approach in our district for nearly a decade!!
Thank You Tara! Chelsea Clinton was set up. I believe she took the Bill Gates bait. These strategies have been used for years in NY state schools. If Bill Gates really wants to know what the problem is in public schools he needs to start talking to the teachers. They are the ones in the trenches every day. He should go substitute in a midwest school,big city or southern schools(they wouldn't recognize him). Teach elementary on up to find out what the real problems are.Everyone is not gifted like he is!!!! The current discussion in the nation on teachers and public schools is so negative that it will set ours schools back 10 years. And if Chelsea Clinton wants to be a creditable reporter she should investigate and do her homework first. Otherwise no one will believe her in the long run.
Maybe I am mistaken, but the point of this story should be the "strategies" that help the students learn to read, not the collaboration between teachers. The very best thing to keep kids in school is to help them to be successful. And to be successful, reading is absolutely essential. If the collaboration came up with the "strategies," that point was not clearly made or even inferred. If collaboration is the story, what other aspects of that collaboration bore fruit. Really, you should redo the story and give it a point.
I viewed the segment. The point was that a school with several excellent teachers in its employ, in a bankrupt city with high poverty, is providing its students with an outstanding educational experience. This educational experience is made possible by the teachers who collaborate with public school teachers. The collaboration is undoubtedly mutually beneficial. Collaboration between charter and public schools is not commonplace.
Teacher collaboration > _________________
I am very excited to see that schools are using this approach to reading. It is very successful and a wonderful way to get kids engaged in reading. I know from experience. This is the same way that I and other teachers at the school where I was teaching in the late 80's were teaching our students with great success. (We were buying those classroom libraries with our own money because there wasn't any extra at the time, but the same strategies were used. ) It was an exciting way to teach, and exciting and successful for the students. My students were all English Language Learners and they succeeded as well. I am glad to see we are back on the right track in education.
Every time we have an election, it seems that we are all told that schools are failing and we need to do something different. Imagine where education would be today if the successful schools, teachers and programs were allowed to continue instead of being lumped into a failing group of schools. The good gets thrown out with the bad every time. Someone who has no idea of what is really going on is making decisions.
No one ever suggests that the problem with test scores might just be the test. The tests never tested retelling or sketching, etc. which are much more useful skills than the ones they tested. We really need to look long and hard at those tests. Assessment is good, but not all assessments are good.
The lesson to be learned here is that success happens when teachers are allowed to teach instead of being told what to do, and are given the resources to carry out those good ideas that they have. I was lucky enough to get to teach during a time when teaching was still creative and fun. It was a wonderful job. I retired when under NCLB all of the fun and creativity and success was sucked out of education. I am encouraged to see that we are beginning to turn that around.
Excellent points C. Clark! We the people need to make our voices heard so that the insulated politicians making these decisions are informed!
Watching this evening's story about charter school teachers working collaboratively with public school teachers, didn't explain where or how the teachers in the charter schools learned the skills to set up the learning model, which is responsible for the increase in children's reading scores. I work for a non-profit organization called CLI (Children's LIteracy Initiative), based out of Philadelphia, which sends literacy coaches (like me) into both public and charter schools in cities like Newark and Camden, NJ, Philadelphia and other areas of low economic status, to train teachers on the model shown on tonight's piece. Teacher's are taught how to teach children about the processes involved in reading and conversely writing so that children learn how to think about thinking and engage in the process. Watching classrooms function in this manner is amazing! Even kindergarten children are learning how to read and write in ways that are hard to believe.
It's good to watch teachers collaborate, learn and grow because it's of dire importance if we want to teach this next generation to compete in tomorrow's world. Send Chelsea Clinton to Philadelphia to watch it in the making!!
Camera-in-the-box web video was disappointing. I expected to get an idea of the type of camera used, its installation, etc. Instead we see a weak talk from a tech and some extra footage from the story that was broadcast. Very poor and waste of my time.
When was this on? I thought it was on Mondays, but now I think it was on Wednesdays. Please NBC. I would have watched this show if I know when.
I SO wish NBC would keep this program in the same time slot, on the same night. I would have watched it. Thought it used to be on Monday nights. Now it's on Wednesdays??
We study the great educators across the country: Donna Santman, Lucy Calkins, you know who they are. Sharon Taburski will be teaching us in April. No big secrets or magic here. We are just willing to share what we learn and then the tools we develop in our classrooms (units of study, lesson plans, other tools) with other teachers. As opposed to going to a huge conference hall fo a K-8 workshop. Our professional development is in classroom and targeted at grade level. If you are interested in learning more about us: www.thelearningcommunity.com We love public schools.
Mr. Brian Williams, I want so badly to believe that you are a supporter of education, but it is hard to do so when you air such an incredibly irresponsible story. First, you need to remind your viewers that in February, 2010 the school board of Central Falls, RI fired all of its teachers and then spun the story to make it look like the teachers wouldn't negotiate a contract that was good for children. In reality, the teachers wanted a good program for their students (like most teachers do.) They didn't accept the district's initial offer because the district did not have an educational plan for improving student learning. They would have accepted a longer work day, they just wanted the district to implement an effective program for that longer work day. They were in the middle of trying to bargain in good faith when the district went public with a story about "how teachers are unwilling to work hard for their students" and then fired them all.
Now you air this story that makes it look like public school teachers can't teach well without the help of charter school teachers. I have to tell you, the district I work in has adopted the same reading program-Teachers College Reading and Writing Project from Columbia University, without the help of the Gates Foundation or charter schools. In fact, unlike charter schools, we are having great success with the program while educating ALL students, including those that don't show up every day, our English Language Learners, and our Special Education students. (In California, to boot, one of the most underfunded states in regards to public education.) In fact, just last year we used the same reading strategies to help further the education of a newcomer ELL and he made great progress. However, this school year, after 5 months attending the charter school down the street, he is being recommended for retention. When his parents asked why he wasn't being provided with English Language Development they were told that the charter school just didn't have the money to provide ELD.
Your story claims to further cooperation between public schools and charter schools when in fact it was a very shallow piece of reporting that once again demonizes public education and simplifies an incredibly complex issue. I am very disappointed in you. (Please imagine me saying that in my Kindergarten teacher voice.)
And, Mr. Williams, you need only to look in your own backyard to see great teaching and collaboration. Four teachers from my site in California just visited 2 public elementary schools in Manhattan to collaborate with them about implementing this same reading program. Collaboration that was teacher driven and funded, in part, out of our own pockets.
Ms. Tracey, how right you are! Thanks for remembering the debacle that befell the high school when each educator was fired. What an uneven bit of reporting by Ms. Clinton.
It tight economic times everyone needs to work together for the future, and children are the future. IT is good to see it can be done...
I can't wait for her investagative report on MEDIA MATTERS! When pigs fly? Haha!
This is a wonderful story! What I took away from it is collaboration that it works and is centered on student learning. I applaud the teachers who were in this piece for being brave enough to say that they are happy with how the partnership has worked out. As I read the comments, I saw one from Ms. Tracey. Unfortunately you are misinformed about the happenings of February 2010. Since this story has nothing to do with that I will not say anything further on that topic. This is a story about student success. Although many adults want to make this political and negative it isn't. It is about teachers teaching well and students learning. KUDOS!
It was a delight to read this story. I have long believed that the fact that poverty is a barrier to childrens' success has been greatly exaggerated as a means to secure more funding for schools rather than a better education for the kids. Poverty does have an effect but our children are more capable of overcoming this given the opportunity. Money will not buy the necessary opportunity. It would help, though, if we'd stop telling them they're defeated right out of the gate!
I have never been content with the fact that the United States is the second biggest spender on education in the world and our education quality is ranked 14th in the world. That points to a problem that more money will never solve.
your comments "as a means to secure more funding for schools rather than a better education for kids" makes little sense to me. If a school gets more funding what do you think they do with that money that doesn't improve education for kids? More funding for schools leads to more programs for kids; more teachers for kids; better-qualified teachers for kids; and newer and better textbooks. That leads to better education, doesn't it?
stanfrombrooklyn,
Party!!! Come on. Get real! Education is an activity in this country that does not reward success.
If student testing at the beginning of the next school year provided the basis for a bonus to their prior teacher, our education system would rapidly improve. Teachers and administrators would stop thinking about teaching to test. Teachers would think of every way they could provide the best education for each child's future since their bonus depends upon it.
Of course government worker teachers would hate this. They just want to get the most money possible. They want it now.
Well, let me tell you this, the amount of money teachers get today IS quite impressive to tens of millions coming out of our latest financial crisis. Teachers may still think they are paid poorly, but many of the past entrepreneurs and other small business people are struggling. Over the long-term a teachers salary looks darn good right now!
Because igniting this fire won’t get us in trouble with the police (Maybe they’d join? That would ROCK because national education reform requires ALL of America!), let's PLEASE become a Facebook wildfire that CONSUMES our America on Facebook’s “E Cubed Alliance - Expecting Educational Excellence”!!!!! ;-)
...CAN Facebook! ;-)
If more funding leads to better education, then why is it that the U.S. spends more on education than all but a couple of other countries and yet ranks 14th on academic achievement overall? Doesn't this support what Dave-in-WY stated when he said: "That points to a problem that more money will never solve."
Re: Stanfrombrooklyn
I would like to know how you would explain the fact that the U.S. spends much more on education than most other countries and yet ranks so low on academic achievement.
BTW...I really liked the comment by Janie Thomas regarding MSNBC reporting on MEDIA MATTERS....when Pigs fly!
Very nice article. It gives us hope that economic hardship in a community need not be a barrier to good teaching, good learning, and good schools and school districts. It's all about academic leadership and responsible parents.
I was disappointed in your story by Chelsey Clinton. It was slanted to appear that the instructional methods being used by the charter school were NEW, and as if the public schools were in need of the "innovative" teachers at the charter school to lead the way. I and my public school teacher colleagues in Colorado have been using those methods for at least 8 years. Yes, they are very successful, and collaboration of teachers is MOST instrumental in developing more effective teachers, whether from one school to another, or within one school. If THAT had been the emphasis of the story, and that in that district both charter and public school teachers were working together as EQUALS, it would have been a more truthful story. Ms. Clinton admitted to her ignorance of "retelling" what has been read as a teaching strategy, and it was obvious there were other areas of ignorance about her topic. I would have thought that someone at RockCenter would have helped her with her background research before presenting the story. Yes, it is not common for charter and public school teachers to work together closely. THAT was a good story; to say that the teaching methods demonstrated in the story are innovative, when they have been around for many years, is just not accurate. To portray the charter schools as being more creative than public schools is slanted journalism. Had she wanted to look, there are MANY creative public schools as well. Why not present both circumstances for a well-rounded story?
It's interesting to "note" that we are even looking at Poverty as
a way to "judge" another person -- "in the old days" we used to
call out someone by Name or by the Deeds they had done to serve,
protect or create ...... that word that's hardly spoken (or used) anymore
Community - was common and it was where we held our Truth.
It's never been the job of a System to take care of a child, teen, adult or
elder -- only the Community.. We've been lost in the many lies of
being "the Individual", the super Achiever, etc.
Still Certified to Teach, but I lost interest in a politicized principal or
Superintendent and even worse a Unionized core group because of
the former... Students WANT to learn, we just need to get out of
their way ... many wise teachers have used this method and we
have 1000s of years of proof that it works.
For those of you that need to feel better about yourself
for helping the poor, quit ego-tripping, they have a Heart
Soul Mind Body and Spirit working all together just on their
own... a Divine and Beautiful part of creation even without
our intervention...
Sometimes it is "survival" that drives people into action and
that's what we need to remember --
As for those of you who believe that Modern Schools are the
only Public Schools that have been in N. America, the Cherokee
and others in the many Civilized cultures had public education
for 1000s of years before any euro, afro, asio anything showed
up. You see this is a part of History that the "ego folks" want
to forget that the cultures that got destroyed were Community
based.
It's a problem when the individual is more important than the
Community, because that is usually the "end of" the Community.
It's important that we do NOT lose this lesson in our lives, that
every step we take on this path that we have declared as
"our own", that we recognize that the "higher path" is the one
that works WITH a Community.
Blessings to everyone here who's Heart this did touch...
May your Spirit remember this --
C_P
Marlene - I appreciate your comments, and to be transparent, I work at the charter school featured. I agree that what is innovative is the kind of relationship these schools have formed in a time when many schools (of all kinds) are being absorbed in a culture of competition. The Central Falls school district contracted with the charter school to help them overhaul their early reading program to include: Reading Workshop (which as you suggest is not new, but remains unknown in many districts), new quarterly assessments and support for teachers in really using data, hiring and training new Reading Specialists and developing a system for them to work in concert with teachers to support struggling learners, and ongoing in-classroom coaching and debriefing. The short window that NBC had to convey all of this could not do the work justice -- classrooms, as you know, are really complex places and great teaching is a truly an art form. What we are most proud of about this work is that instead of blaming teachers and bringing in a scripted curriculum, as many urban districts have done, in Central Falls we have been able to nurture an environment that respects the professionalism and intelligence of teachers to use nationally-known techniques and to work together as a whole-school team on behalf of students. While this might not sound radical to some, there are still many places that do not listen to the voices of classroom teachers and honor what they know about their students. This is a particular challenge in cash-strapped urban districts facing mounting poverty rates. Charter schools should be places that can innovate and share, not separate districts that compete. I think that overall point was the reason NBC was interested in this story, as it is one of only a very few places in the country where charter-district collaboration is happening in a deep way. There is more about this work here: www.thelearningcommunity.com Thank you so much for your thoughtful comment -- it is clear from what your wrote that you are a passionate educator. - KC
American schools, like other social organizations, exist based on a combination of politcal power (elections) and money. Follow the power and the money, and you will have a better understanding of our schools. For the most part, our schools are local. Therefore, one needs to look at local political power and money sources to appreciate the reasons for both success and failure (this is a variation on the old 'truism' that "all politics is local."
At the present time it seems that the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Our system generally produces record numbers of criminals. Therefore, it is reasonable that obviously atypical school systems such as in Central Falls are both remarkable and remarked on. Since there is a local lack of 'wealth,' an analysis of the local politics/society that produces such an 'inappropriate' outcome might be of value.