Raising
expectations in urban schools while cutting class
sizes
In state's
Abbot districts, 'small learning communities' proposed for
adolescents, teens
Monday, September 13, 2004 • BY JOHN MOONEY •
Star-Ledger Staff
As New Jersey tries to
improve its urban high schools, the state is preaching a new
message: Smaller is better.
From Jersey City to
Pleasantville, state officials are pressing districts under
the Abbott vs. Burke school equity rulings to focus on
smaller, more personalized programs for older
students.
A state task force
finalized a proposal this summer calling for "small learning
communities" in the Abbott districts' middle and high
schools. They would be in separate schools or within
existing ones, each as small as 250 students.
But hoping to get beyond
numbers, the proposal also demands more individualized and
rigorous academic programs for students, including mentors
or "advocates" for each child and more honors and advanced
placement offerings.
A pilot program following
some of the guidelines is expected to be announced this fall
in four yet to be determined districts, officials
said.
"The message we want to
send is the importance of personalization in the schools,"
said Gordon MacInnes, assistant state education commissioner
overseeing the Abbott mandates, which required the state to
improve the quality of education in its 31 neediest
districts.
"These are adolescents and
they need adults to talk to, and not just about school work
but just how they are doing," MacInnes said. "That kind of
relationship is more assumed in a smaller learning
community."
The push for smaller
schools has been around for years, but only gained momentum
in high schools over the past few years. New York City and
Philadelphia made it a focus of reforms, and the Columbine
shootings in 1999 also highlighted the impersonal nature of
large high schools.
Several New Jersey high
schools already are moving toward smaller
settings.
Paterson has a series of
small academies, including the Panther Academy, which opened
this month in collaboration with NASA.
Elizabeth High School, by
far the state's largest with 5,300 students, will be split
when the district builds three high schools, each of which
will be no larger than 1,000 students. The smaller schools
also likely will be divided into smaller
"houses."
Jersey City this fall will
try to extend the success of its selective McNair Academy
High School -- consistently among the highest achieving
schools in the state -- by creating small honors academies
in all its high schools.
At Jersey City's Lincoln
High School, an honors academy opened last week with a dozen
freshmen and the school is opening a separate building for
freshmen this winter. Lincoln also has specialized programs
in legal studies, cosmetology, math and technology, among
others.
"You can't negate the
research and literature that this works," said Michael
Winds, principal of the 1,200 student school. "It's just
natural. And especially with at-risk students and the issues
they can face, you especially want those benefits of a
smaller setting."
But Lincoln is also proof
of risks and limits of the approach. Half its students still
fall short on most state tests, and Winds said small
learning communities are no miracle cure. They also
typically require more staffing, as well as staff
training.
"You can't think it will
be successful without training for the teachers," he said.
"You can fix the numbers all day, but you need the staffing,
classrooms and resources."
In a recent legal studies
class that is part of one of the magnet programs, students
raised their own questions. One boy had been accepted to the
exclusive McNair Academy but opted for the larger Lincoln
High School so he could play football without having to
travel between McNair and Lincoln.
One girl said more dynamic
and advanced courses would help. A friend said counselors
don't always encourage students to even try more challenging
courses.
"I like to be challenged,"
said Zuley Rigo, 16. "Just because I'm from the city or I'm
Hispanic, it doesn't mean I don't want to go to
college."
That is where the second
piece of the Abbott proposal comes in. The state's task
force wants a culture change in urban secondary schools,
including raising expectations and demands on
students.
Michelle Fine, a professor
at City University of New York, has led efforts to create
small schools in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago and said
the smaller communities help raise attendance and lower
drop-out rates.
"But that's not the same
as rigor," said Fine, who served on the committee of
educators and academics pulled together by the state
department. "You can't confuse hugging for
calculus."
She and others said it
means not just more AP classes but also Algebra I classes
that truly teach algebra and not just serve as a catch-all
freshman class.
"When you teach what
standards require, guess what, they'll learn it," MacInnes
said. "So much has to do with exposure, and instruction and
expectations, and that hasn't always happened."
The hardest part remains
in trying to dictate such changes, and officials said they
hope to learn more through the pilot districts. David
Sciarra, director of the Education Law Center and lead
advocate in the Abbott case, said it will take years of work
both in schools and within the state government
itself.
"There has to be a culture
change in how the schools operate and a culture change in
how the state operates," he said. "This has to be seen as a
larger initiative that focuses on high schools and middle
schools statewide."
John Mooney covers education. He may be reached at
jmooney@starledger.com or (973) 392-1548.
Copyright 2004 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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