Here's another interesting read!
Gates "appalled" by high schools
By Alicia Mundy
Seattle Times Washington bureau
seattletimes.nwsource.com
Gates grants support changes in 1,500 high schools, about 8 percent of America's secondary public schools, including several in Washington state. The program aims to reduce high-school populations to no more than about 500 students per school. Hundreds of new schools will be built, and many other large schools will divide into smaller entities within the same structure.
Gates said that he wants to emphasize the "three R's — rigor, relevance and relationships." By that, he means stronger curricula (rigor), better preparation for work and higher education (relevance), and a school structure where students have more support from teachers and counselors (relationships).
In discussing standards and achievement measurements, Gates called on community leaders to demand openness from their school districts. Localities need to know the percentages of students dropping out, graduating, going to college, he said, "and we need this data broken down by race and income."
"He's absolutely right," said Bergeson. "You can't allow schools to hide" this information by aggregating statistics over too many schools. "We need to measure it subgroup by subgroup."
"He really addressed the big-picture problem," said Bergeson. "This wasn't 'Big Education' rhetoric. Whether I agree with all his ideas or not, I think this speech was great."
Gates is a "player now in education," said Michael Casserly, director of the Council of Great City Schools, a coalition of 65 of the nation's largest urban public-school systems. "He's helped shape the conversation about many high-school reforms," he added, "though it's still too new to tell what effect they will have."
The governors, led by Virginia's Warner, welcomed Gates' candid assessment. Warner, who comes from the high-tech industry, has championed the Gates Foundation's efforts nationally, and has begun a governors' initiative to redesign high schools.
That was one reason, Gates told a small group of reporters before his speech, that he had come to address the governors directly. "That's where the resources are, and that's part of their mandate."
In that news conference, Gates said he would not give America's leaders a passing grade right now for their commitment to fixing education.
Gates acknowledged that there is some political resistance to the smaller-high-school campaign. "It's very complex," he said.
"But in many schools you need radical institutional change," he went on. "Any radical change is going to upset people. If you look, most of the pushback is not really against small," he said. He suggested it comes from those who run big sports programs, who are "asking why you're trying to change the status quo."
Asked about one Northwest school that is considering ending its $900,000 small-schools grant, the foundation's Executive Director Tom Vander Ark said school leaders "really need to go back and discuss their goals for their students." North Eugene (Ore.) High School's administrators gave mixed reviews to the smaller "learning academies" concept after visiting Mountlake Terrace High School, according to published reports.
The Oregon school's staff may vote to forgo the remainder of the three-year grant from the Gates Foundation and the Meyer Memorial Trust.
"They need to have a broader conversation with their community about the kind of education their kids deserve," said Vander Ark, noting that though he would be disappointed if the school pulled out, the grant is specific in its intent.
Alicia Mundy: 202-662-7457 or amundy@seattletimes.com |
