Hello there. I have just returned from a school visit to the Community Charter School of Cambridge with a few of my friends from the Students for Education Reform club. Before I give you a summary of that visit, let me just update you on what is going on in my life. I have just applied to enroll in a few courses at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. I hope I get into one! Here are the classes that I was looking at:

Charter Schools

In this course, students will explore the role of charter schools in the U.S. education landscape and examine what is known about their impact – both the promising and the distressing – on public education.  The course begins with an overview of the central elements of the charter movement’s history from both policy and practice perspectives.  Following this, the focus shifts to more complex questions surrounding charter schools including issues of equity and access in American schooling and the role and responsibility of charter schools as public schools with special attention to issues of instruction, governance, finance, special education, leadership, community needs, and accountability. 

 The course encourages all points of view about charters and promises active, engaging interactions with substantive presentations and informative sessions from a variety of speakers who cover the broad range of views about charter school.  In-class activities, such as small group discussions, simulations, small section meetings and case discussions will be typical of the class.  The course offers an option to design your own future charter school or develop knowledge though original research to prepare you as thoughtful researcher/policy analysts on the subject. 

Whether a student is interested in starting a charter school after graduation, developing policy about school reform at the local, state, or federal level, or wondering what the movement is about, the course will contribute significantly to each student’s knowledge about important issues related to K-12 schooling and what it will take to enable all schools – whether charter or traditional – to successfully educate all students.

State Education Policy

States play a central role in contemporary US education policy.  In the complex intergovernmental partnership that comprises US public education, the states play the lead role in establishing local systems of schools, establishing goals, assessments and accountability mechanisms for those systems, and in regulating and financing the schools.  For the past two decades, states have assumed an even larger role with the advent of standards-based, systemic school reform, a set of policies that originated in the states.  It is impossible to understand current education policy without a thorough grasp of the role, responsibilities and challenges facing state governments in the execution of their leadership role in education.

 This course immerses students in the realties of state governance in education.  It begins with a thorough consideration of the state role in education and state education policy. Weekly, students will examine a number of current education issues and the role of state policy in addressing these issues.  While the course will focus on a number of states and on state policy generally, Massachusetts, one of the nation’s leading school reform states, will serve as the laboratory for students. Students will form into small groups for the purpose of serving as consulting teams to various education policy-making entities in Massachusetts. The team consulting projects are designed to give students first-hand experience with the practice of doing policy development work in the context of state government. 

Students should conclude this course with a clear understanding of the state role in education, a sense of the strengths and weaknesses of policy solutions at the state level, an understanding of the constraints imposed by politics on the development of policy, skills in the development, articulation and advancement of a policy agenda, the capacity to write clear and effective policy memos for the purposes of advancing change, and a working knowledge of several leading issues in the field. 

Urban Education

How are race and class inequality reproduced from one generation to the next? How do urban school 
contexts influence this process? How can research, policy, educational practice, and the agency of 
students, parents and communities be brought together to challenge the reproduction of race and class
inequality in urban schools? This course will provide students with tools to examine urban education and
to understand and address social inequality. A core focus of the class will be to examine how race and
class stratification are perpetuated and/or challenged in urban school contexts, primarily in the United
States. To this end, we will examine the relationships between the educational system and other social 
institutions such as the workplace, family, and community. We will also examine educational policies and 
community engagement as contemporary efforts to respond to urban educational challenges. After 
completing this course, students will be better able to understand the significance of various structural, 
cultural, economic, sociological, historical, and political factors that impact teaching, learning, and
educational outcomes in urban schools. They will also be better able to critically analyze current efforts to 
transform urban schools and to assess the potential efficacy of these efforts in addressing issues of 
education inequality. 

I will let you know which class I will be enrolling in. Fingers crossed for State Education Policy! Which one is your favorite? I also applied to the Breakthrough teaching internship for the summer. For 8 weeks, I would live and work as a real teacher- have control of my own classroom, design my own curriculum, teach a core subject and an elective, attend professional development meetings, attend teacher meetings, be under the training of a mentor teacher, etc. It would really give me a taste of the educator life. Also, good news- I am running again without any pain! Tomorrow is the last day of my internship at UP Academy. It has been a great time and I have learned so much. I will be sad to leave my kids! I am so glad that I met Jacquie. She is a great teacher and I plan to remain in contact, and maybe teach an enrichment course at UP Academy later this year?

Alright, now on to the Community Charter School of Cambridge. We took the subway two stops from Harvard to get there. It was a fairly quick and simple walk, right next to the Breakthrough school. One word I have to describe my whole experience at this school– speechless. It is an amazingly run school, from what I could see. The neighborhood did not seem to be a “bad” neighborhood, but the principal told me that students were bused in from all over. CCSC is a public, tuition-free, college preparatory charter school. They received their original charter in 2004, and in January, 2010, their charter was renewed.  CCSC serves approximately 300 students in grades 7 through 12. “CCSC engages each student in meaningful work inside the school and in the larger community through required internships and rich academic experiences. All CCSC students will be prepared to succeed in college and gain the confidence and skills to be leaders in their communities.” The principal told us that every single student that has graduated has gone to college! The culture of this school was extremely high-achieving. When I first walked in, I noticed that the school looked very new and clean. Its architecture was very modern. I remember being confused because the hallways were so silent. The students walked very quietly from class to class, some even entering single-file. All of my fellow SFER members went to observe Humanities and Math classrooms (their interests). I went to science classrooms by myself. While the principal was writing down the classes that I should visit, we talked a bit about the school. She said that science teachers are always needed and was glad that I was interested in teaching that subject! It was great to hear this from a gruff principal who seemed pretty overwhelmed that there were so many of us visiting. She was very kind after she got over her initial annoyance, and I kept graciously telling her about how great her school was, even giving examples of great teachers. Apparently this school is very used to people observing its classes. Okay, here are my observations/thought:

  • Each teacher has about 12 students that they advise throughout their entire time at the school. I love this idea but I think that teachers should also get very involved in the lives of their students in their current class.
  • The students have long blocks of class time– concentration is needed, and it is delivered.
  • They all wear uniforms.
  • If a student is at a high enough level of math, then they are able to take Spanish.
  • When I went to a 9th grade physics classroom, I noticed that the classroom was a bit cluttered, but with student projects– one was a group project of roller coasters to test and measure different energy levels. The kids seemed very hands-on. They were working on their projects in groups, and everyone was on task.
  • Students do not have desks, but rather lab and conference tables with moveable chairs.
  • Students were using laptops to enter data, and teachers had their own personal laser printers in their rooms. Materials were abundant. How does this school have so much money?
  • Teachers were young and extremely energetic/engaged.
  • One Chemistry class was playing Bingo with the periodic table (fun way to teach!). The students knew more than me! I have to brush up on my middle school science.
  • Teachers had posters of their college attended in their classroom to encourage students.
  • Classrooms had Do Nows for the kids to do as soon as they enter the room- and they do it! Silently! They also have exit tickets to test comprehension at the end of a lesson. UP Academy uses the same techniques.
  • I dropped by a math class, and the teacher was teaching by writing on a projector. The only problem was that he was sitting down, which made him seem less engaged even though he was. And also, another older woman (teacher?) kept butting in when he was teaching, which kind of undermined his authority and influence.
  • Inspirational posters in hallways
  • They have college navigation seminars for 11th graders
  • Students were very helpful and volunteered often for answers. Although some teachers did not call on those who volunteered, but rather random students, in order to keep everyone on the edge of their seats.
  • One teacher called on a student to answer a question and he said that he did not feel like answering, as a result, when they were working on independent practice, she wrote him a note on a sticky note about his behavior. For the rest of the class, his behavior significantly changed!
  • This school uses merits and demerits like UP Academy, but doesn’t really have to use them as much.
  • There was this one boy who looked like he was in 5th grade, and was in 8th grade. He was definitely the teacher’s pet. It was adorable.
  • So many different methods of teaching were used- projector, board, powerpoints, worksheets, videos, students writing on white boards, independent practice, etc.
  • Students are so high-achieving and motivated!!!
  • The teacher that had the most control over her class was Ms. Zarecki- 7th and 8th grade physical science (what I would love to teach).
  • When working independently, students were absolutely SILENT.
  • No time is wasted- always counting down seconds to limit the length of certain activities.
  • One teacher engaged her students so much that she had them write the notes on the projector (fill in the worksheet) for the whole class to see while she talked about it and walked around the classroom. She would also put students’ work on the projector and then the whole class would check it together.
  • A lot of papers are handed out- Do Now, notes, independent practice, engaging activity, homework
  • The teacher did not just lecture; there were many different methods/mediums of teaching- kept switching to keep students engaged.

All in all, this school was amazing. I was in awe the whole time. The school culture, students’ behavior, teaching methods, building organization, and abundance of materials was extraordinary. Those who get in from this school’s lottery are very lucky. They are given everything that they need for success. This is truly an example of how every student can learn if placed in the right environment. I wish that I could get more involved with this school. Hmmmm…..what do you think?

Much love,

Lanya