SCHOOL FOR THOUGHT

Not only can it be done, it is being done - and here’s how

Continuing with Wendy Kopp’s inspirational book about schools that offer new hope for disadvantaged students, here are a few quotes from Brett Kimmel, the school leader of the Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School (WHEELS) in New York.

“Many of the schools that are ahead of us are well established and make no bones about being selective at their front door. They are only taking in the kids they want to. We are just four years old and we are taking everyone who shows up, and we’re on our way to outperforming those schools.” (p 52)

“Our mission is to prepare our kids to excel in college. We work backwards from that. Being ready for college informs the whole school curriculum – what we study, how we study it, what study and life skills we emphasize. And when we work backwards from that, we realize that kids have to leave eighth grade ready for a rigorous college-preparatory high school experience. That’s a critical mile marker along the way of our planned path to college preparation, and that’s where we are this year with the eighth graders. We bust our tails to get them there by the end of the eighth grade because then they can embark on our rigorous high school curriculum as we built out our high school. Every decision is steeped in college preparation methodology and philosophy.” (p 54)

“Everything starts with teacher quality. There are many factors at play, but I’m dead in the water if I don’t have great teachers. It all comes down to the two-sided coin of teacher recruitment and retention.” (56)

“We’ve been really purposeful – very thoughtful about mapping out the structures, policies, and procedures that generate the school culture.” (p 63)

And for dessert, here’s a thought-provoking quote from Reid Whitaker, the director of the very successful YES Prep charter school in Port Houston, Texas.

“I believe in data – I believe in its impact on kids’ lives. When I first suggested that as a school we commit to weekly progress assessments, some teachers were taken aback. They said, ‘But that’s going to take away instructional time.’ But I assured our team that if we do this right, the data from those weekly assessments will be so valuable for instruction. If we don’t know each week what kids have and have not understood, then so much of our instructional time is wasted. We simply have to know whether a student got this concept or did not get this objective. Now, today, our whole team is so into it. I think everyone sees the value of those weekly assessments to their instruction, and the teachers, not me, run the whole system.” (p 67)