Numbers don't lie.

That's the truth. So why do we continue to perpetuate these terrible policies?

I'm back!

I really have no excuse for being gone this long. In August, I took a job teaching GED classes to adults and it's incredibly rewarding and far better (for me, at least) than teaching high school students. I guess maybe I was using that change in my life to justify not writing about K-12 education, but that's a stupid reason, especially since if K12 ed were better, there would be no need for GED classes.

And then after a couple more months, I figured "well, I've stopped for this long. Might as well stop entirely," but that's an even dumber reason because that's essentially quitting for no good reason. So I have wised up, and here I am again.

I'm sure you're not asking what the catalyst for my return is, but I'll tell you anyway. I read this feel-good article in WaPo today about a student from Anacostia High (probably the worst school in the District) getting a full ride to Georgetown and my initial reaction was, "Awesome! Good for her!" But then I stumbled upon this article and thought, "Oh yeah, good point. High schools (especially those in urban areas) really need to ramp it up."

Finally, I read this article from The New York Times, and the TL;DR version of it is is that students from lower-income families have a lower chance of graduating from college which often has more to do with the culture shock and motivation required in college, not finances. A professor at UT-Austin is trying to figure out ways to help them graduate.

It's no secret that schools in "poor" areas are not as good as schools from wealthy areas, but I thought all three of these articles did a great job of pointing out the psychological endeavors students must go through when they transition to college, which lower-income students struggle more with. These are things you cannot measure. But these are things that are critically important to be aware of, and then attempt to fix.

As Rashema points out in the first article, "[E]ducation is the only way out [of poverty]." If an 18 year old understands this, why don't the people who make the decisions?

Different perspectives

Last time, I posted a link to an article that discussed an initiative at Dunbar High School in the District, called ninth grade academies, that dramatically helped their students achieve. The article asked why this initiative took so long, and when will the rest of the District follow suit.

Well, that has now happened. Because Dunbar's program was so successful, DCPS is now making ninth grade academies mandatory in every DC high school. 

As a result, this DC teacher, while working on the same initiative herself at her own school of her own volition, has brought up an interesting point about district-mandated policy changes. She claims the ninth grade academies as working well at Dunbar (and now her own school) because they were teacher-created, not administration-created. They work at Dunbar because those teachers know their students and could therefore craft policy around students whom they already serve.

However, Ms. Fuchs points out, ninth grade academies will only work if teachers are invested. Therefore the mandated policy from up on high is not a "magic pill." Not all schools are the same. Not all policies will work the same way at every school, even two in the same neighborhood.

In that vein, politicians may be beginning to understand that cookie-cutter policies do not work. This article clearly delineates the new federal education bill passed Friday. Besides the last two points, things definitely seem to be moving in the right direction. Finally.

Reforming schools in DC

This article discusses why a good idea should be instituted earlier. I agree.