Focus on School Turnarounds
October 2011 Vol. 19 No. 2
After a positive experience at Universal-Bluford last year, Katrina Dear (right) was excited for her daughter Kristina Holder to begin her 6th grade at the Renaissance charter this September.
Keeping it in the neighborhood
by Benjamin Herold
For the Notebook’s October print edition on school turnarounds, we took a comprehensive look at the city's initial group of seven Renaissance charter schools.This article looks at the extent to which the schools remained neighorhood schools . You can also read more about test score gains at the schools.
On her daughter's first day of 5th grade last year, Katrina Dear was nervous.
Since her chatty little girl was in kindergarten, Dear had sent her to a charter school with strong academics, a structured environment, and motivated families.
But after learning that the charter planned to hold her daughter back for the 2010-11 school year, Dear transferred her into the public school in her West Philadelphia neighborhood, Guion S. Bluford Elementary.
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Lessons from King
by Bill Hangley, Jr.
Told that Martin Luther King High's multimillion-dollar charter school deal ran aground on a reef of Philadelphia politics, Jeffrey Henig could only joke: "I'm shocked! Shocked!"
Henig, a professor at Columbia University's Teachers College, specializes in urban education reform. He won't say that cronyism and corruption are inevitable where charters and other "turnaround" models are concerned. But the risk is always there, he said, and the antidote is transparent, accountable governance.
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Turnaround: Get it right
We're into the second year of the School District's Renaissance Schools plan. At 22 long-struggling schools, drastic action has been taken to turn things around – clearing out the old staff and either bringing in a charter operator to manage the school or making it a District-run Promise Academy.
At some Renaissance schools, data and personal observation show dramatic improvements. District officials and outside providers are proclaiming success, citing preliminary numbers that show improved attendance, discipline, and test scores. Some charters boast double-digit gains.
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Table of Contents
Theme articles
- Keeping it in the neighborhood by Benjamin Herold
- In Philadelphia, 22 schools targeted for overhaul
- Philadelphia is top recipient of federal turnaround grants by Katrina Morrison
- Nationally, no verdict yet on turnarounds by Dale Mezzacappa and Katrina Morrison
- Where is all this heading? by Dale Mezzacappa
- Providers follow similar models by Deborah Good and Eva Gold
- Nothing worth saving? by Benjamin Herold
- Web Exclusive A lost year at West Philly High
- Lessons from King by Bill Hangley, Jr.
- District wants School Advisory Councils everywhere by Paul Jablow
- Lessons from the School Advisory Councils' first year by Eva Gold and Deborah Good
- Quicktakes: How do you like attending the Promise Academy at Germantown High? Interviews by Avi Wolfman-Arent, Photos by Jason Lozada
Other news & features
- Ackerman's legacy debated by Dale Mezzacappa
- Ackerman's tenure in Philadelphia: 2008-11 key events by Erika Owens
- School-closing announcements loom by Benjamin Herold
- Budget crisis: No end in sight by Paul Socolar
- Confession of a cheating teacher by Benjamin Herold
- Turning the Page for Change at UArts
- Herold joins Notebook staff in partnership with NewsWorks
- Clearing the record
Member profile
- Profile of Harold Jordan, Notebook member by Avi Wolfman-Arent
Cartoon
- October edition cartoon by Eric Joselyn
In our opinion
- Turnaround: Get it right
- SRC: Get it together
From our readers
- How shall we choose our leaders?
Eye on special education
- Students with disabilities must know rights in face of School District budget cutbacks by Jennifer Lowman
School snapshot
- King High School's Seeds for Learning
Activism around the city
- Youth center launches campaign responding to anti-gay bullying by Avi Wolfman-Arent
- Immigrant parents organize to maintain language services by Willie Colon Reyes
- Youth-organized campaign helps save accelerated schools by Jeniffer Valdez
News in brief
- Gov. Corbett taps Pedro Ramos to fill one vacant SRC seat by Avi Wolfman-Arent
- Legislative fight over vouchers may come to a head quickly by Paul Jablow
- 2009 study on cheating released, prompting further investigations by Dale Mezzacappa
Sports stories
- Setting an example by Benjamin Herold
En español
- Se avecinan los anuncios sobre cierres de escuelas por Benjamin Herold
- Distrito quiere consejos de asesoria escolar en todos lados por Paul Jablow
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