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What Defines A School?
By Superintendent Dr. Eva Joseph
Published in the Times-Union, August 2004
Is it the glossy-print postcards,
negative rhetoric, or a multitude of promised successes championed by
the opinion leaders of the charter school movement? We here in the City
School District of Albany don’t think so.
We believe three vital pillars define a
school: progressive programs, talented faculty and staff, and
experienced leadership. However, you wouldn’t know this if the recent
“letters to the editor” from Charter School founders are to be believed.
They only bring forth information that promotes their cause, but they
fail to look at the whole picture.
What defines a school are its progressive
programs.
We maintain a comprehensive instructional plan aligned with state
standards, and that boasts such programs as the Teachers College Writing
Project (a nationally-recognized program in partnership with Columbia
University); Math TrailBlazers and the Connected Math Program (reform
programs validated by research-based success in urban schools);
success-based comprehensive school reform programs to improve teaching
and learning, including Success for All, Literacy Collaborative, ATLAS,
and High Schools That Work; and the district-wide Reading Recovery
program (intensive one-on-one tutoring to ensure every child is reading
by the end of first grade).
These programs have generated real
results in all of our schools. Seven years ago, each of our elementary
schools was rated as “School in Need of Improvement” by SED. Today, they
are “Schools in Good Standing” for their performance in reading and
math. Additionally, four elementary schools (PS 18 & 20, Arbor Hill, and
Giffen) bear state distinction as “most improved,” with Arbor Hill
earning the Business Council’s Pathfinder Award for achievement in
reading and mathematics, one of only 24 elementary schools of 2900 in
the state so recognized.
This past year all of our middle school
students met or exceeded the standards on the state science exam, and
we’ve doubled the number of eighth graders taking and passing Science
Regents exams, from 100 in 2001 to 202 in 2004.
The addition of alternative education
programs such as the Abrookin Career Academy and its Extended-Day
Program and Harriet Gibbons Alternative High School helped 451 seniors
graduate in 2004, compared to 298 graduates in 1999, including a 93
percent increase in minority graduates. We’ve also increased the number
of students taking AP courses by 34 percent over the past three years.
What defines a school are the teachers
and staff.
All of our certified and highly qualified teachers continue to sharpen
their skills through more than 95 professional development courses
offered at Albany. In fact, some teachers accrue more than 130 hours of
intensive training throughout the year.
What defines a school are
experienced educational leaders.
Albany administrators bring new ideas and thoughts to the forefront and
find real solutions to real problems that challenge our schools.
Solutions such as alternative program options at all grade levels for
students who have difficulty succeeding in a traditional school setting:
Harriet Gibbons, the Transitional Learning Center, the Middle School
Alternative Program, the Tutorial Opportunity Program, and the Teenage
Mothers' Program.
We know that the earlier children begin
their education, the better their chances of success. That’s why all of
our kindergarteners receive a full day of instruction and nearly all of
our elementary schools offer pre-kindergarten programs to 450
four-year-olds, a ten-fold increase from 1997, when only 40 students
were served.
At the other end of the spectrum, our
vision for the future includes the establishment of the International
Baccalaureate program at the high school, restructuring the high school
to create smaller learning communities, and creating smaller middle
schools of equitable size, profile, and quality of programs.
At the very root of these pillars are our
students. We serve all of our students—not select individuals, not
small or exclusive cohorts, but all students regardless of their
socioeconomic status or their special needs. We know that our commitment
to them is continued improvement—particularly in raising our graduation
rate, reducing our dropout rate, and raising the performance of our
middle schools.
Some would submit that it is the measured
performance of all of our students that defines a school. Accepted. Test
results, of course, are a key element to determining the degree to which
our students are learning and where improvements can be ma de. But one
test does not tell the whole story. Unfortunately, gross
overgeneralizations about the performance of our schools continue to be
made by critics and charter school advocates based on a single test
result.
We are better able to serve all of our
students when we do not engage in a game of point-counterpoint with
detractors, or become distracted by individuals who may have a sincere
educational interest but no real understanding of what defines a
“school.” Rather, we choose to stay true to the pillars that define our
district, its schools, and the people who have an investment in both.
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