Urban charter school has 100% graduation in first class

[hunter5]

Chicago's Urban Prep Charter Academy has a mission -- for its students to graduate and succeed in college. Now, for the first graduating class at the high school, it's mission accomplished.

All 107 seniors were accepted to a four-year college, a significant accomplishment considering they are from one of the toughest neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago.

These are not so-called gifted kids at a private school. The public high school is open to all, choosing students by a lottery.

"It doesn't just happen that public urban schools graduate all of their students and get them into college," said Tim King, the school's founder.

Just four years ago, when King started the school, only 4 percent of the class was reading at grade level.

So how did they overcome the odds? King created a school that excused nothing -- and expected everything.

Each new freshman starting school gets his own wristwatch to keep track of time.

"Kids would be late and say they didn't know what time it was," King said. "Part of our creed reads [that] we make no excuses, so we wanted to remove that excuse. ... There was no excuse for me being late. "

Students attend school from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30pm. That's 72,000 more minutes in high school than most other students -- almost an extra school year.

"They are in a double period of English each and every day," King said. "Four years of math, four years of science, four years of social studies, three years of foreign languages."

"It's an eight-hour day so it's basically preparing us for having a job," said Ahmad Wright, a student at the school. "I think that's a plus and a motivation."

"If that's what it's going to take to get to where we want to be," student Marlon Marshall said, "then I am willing to deal with it."

Urban Prep Charter Academy was the first all-male charter school in the country. It is all male to eliminate distractions from female students.

The school isn't limited to African American students, but it reflects the makeup of the neighborhood.

"Data in Chicago show 2.5 percent of African American boys will make it through college," King said, adding that he's painfully aware of the challenges the students face.
Uniforms for Respect

The young men at the academy wear suit jackets and ties as signs of respect.

"It distinguishes us. We stand out in the crowd," said student Jerry Hinds. "Freshman year, maybe, people had problems with it at first. But after a while, you see the bigger picture. ... These uniforms show that, oh, he's wearing a tie; oh, he wants to do something with himself."

And the first graduating class has a ritual: When students are accepted to college they receive a special tie of red and gold for their accomplishment.

The school's budget is supplemented by private donors to pay for extra expenses like uniforms. But for the students, the next hurdle is the cost of college.

"Students paying for college is one of the big potholes," King said.

To help with the challenge, the school has each family fill out financial aid forms and requires them to attend workshops.

"They have thus far received over $2.2 million in scholarships and grants," King said.

"We defied odds," Marshall said. "We proved statistics wrong and we made so many people proud of what we decided to do and the life we decided to live

"Four years from now, we will be celebrating their graduation from college," King added.

ABC news

[Iosef Cross]

Apparently they got really lucky.

[Phantasee]

Or they did something right? If they're putting them in school longer, making sure they have the basic tools they need (like the watches), and end up with a 100% graduation rate, I don't think that's all luck.

[Akhlut]

Or they did something right? If they're putting them in school longer, making sure they have the basic tools they need (like the watches), and end up with a 100% graduation rate, I don't think that's all luck.

Well, it was lucky for the kids chosen by lottery to be in the school, at least.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Seems they had a social psychologist working for them too. Using the particulars of their uniforms to make the kids think(correctly) that people were expecting good things from them. Social expectation is a REALLY powerful motivator.

[Darth Wong]

Apparently they got really lucky.

Is that really the extent of your intellectual analysis of this situation?

[spaceviking]

I wonder how much of the school's methods were dependent on private donor money. It’s a good story, but I wonder how replicable and or sustainable it is.

[Drooling Iguana]

I wonder how much of the school's methods were dependent on private donor money. It’s a good story, but I wonder how replicable and or sustainable it is.

How could that be? Everyone knows that increasing funding for schools is just "trying to solve a problem by throwing money at it" and that poor performance of cash-starved schools is entirely due to student lazyness. Obviously this school being better funded than others couldn't possibly have had any effect on its success.

[spaceviking]

Ya cause I was clearly saying that the poor performance of inner city schools was due to Student laziness (sarcasm). All I'm saying is it be interesting to see how much of this schools performance is due to private donation, since that money is not guaranteed to continue or be available to other school that wish to follow their lead.

[Dominus Atheos]

There are a few things wrong with this story:

• First off, the title is incorrect. According to this report they have a 4% dropout rate and a 6% transfer-out rate per year, so only about 65% of the kids who signed up in freshmen year would have graduated. But everyone who did graduate got into a 4 year school, although don't forget this is a college prep school.
• In order to get in, you have to apply. This is not a traditional public school that takes everyone from it's school district; the only kids who go there are the ones who want to go there, and no one is forced to go there if they don't want to be there.
• The school gets a lot of private donations. They received a one million dollar ($1,000,000) donation in 2008, another $250,000 from Oprah Winfrey. Add to that another 4 million in actual budget from Chicago Public Schools. Not bad for a school with 500 students.

[Drooling Iguana]

Ya cause I was clearly saying that the poor performance of inner city schools was due to Student laziness (sarcasm). All I'm saying is it be interesting to see how much of this schools performance is due to private donation, since that money is not guaranteed to continue or be available to other school that wish to follow their lead.

I was using your post as a jumping-off point rather than trying to rebut what you'd written.

My point was that if the school's success is due to it being better funded than others then it merely points to the fact that we can generally improve school performance by increasing funding to education, an idea that is sadly fairly controversial in some circles.

[spaceviking]

Ah misinterpreted what you meant, sorry.

[hunter5]

Ya cause I was clearly saying that the poor performance of inner city schools was due to Student laziness (sarcasm). All I'm saying is it be interesting to see how much of this schools performance is due to private donation, since that money is not guaranteed to continue or be available to other school that wish to follow their lead.

I was using your post as a jumping-off point rather than trying to rebut what you'd written.

My point was that if the school's success is due to it being better funded than others then it merely points to the fact that we can generally improve school performance by increasing funding to education, an idea that is sadly fairly controversial in some circles.

It proves if the money goes directly to the students the problem most people have with increasing school funding is we don't see results because most of the money is pissed away on administrators who do nothing but keep chairs warm in some office away from school buildings. I would like to see how the per student spending compares between this school and the average public school in the area.

[Broomstick]

It's a lot easier to get a 100% graduation rate if you can cherry-pick your students.

Note the stats on drops-outs and transfers - not everyone who starts this school finishes.

Also the Chicago school system is multi-tiered - it has some very fine charter and magnet schools the provide a stellar education. The trick is, you have to apply for admission and if you don't get in to one of those you're in an underfunded, neglected, overcrowded, possibly unsafe public school. So yeah, the city likes to hold up the high performing schools like crown jewels - just ignore the kids shuffled off to the discard piles.

[hunter5]

It's a lot easier to get a 100% graduation rate if you can cherry-pick your students.

Note the stats on drops-outs and transfers - not everyone who starts this school finishes.

Also the Chicago school system is multi-tiered - it has some very fine charter and magnet schools the provide a stellar education. The trick is, you have to apply for admission and if you don't get in to one of those you're in an underfunded, neglected, overcrowded, possibly unsafe public school. So yeah, the city likes to hold up the high performing schools like crown jewels - just ignore the kids shuffled off to the discard piles.

This school was open to all they just had a lottery because there are only so many spots. However I would love to see if they can try to apply this model to the rest of the school system.

[Broomstick]

No, they can't.

People still had to enter the lottery. Right there is a filter - only those interested and motivated (which also would include the families) will apply to the lottery. If you try to extend this to the whole school system you'll be adding the disinterested and unmotivated to the mix. They will not be nearly so cooperative, and you will not have 100% graduation rates.

[hunter5]

No, they can't.

People still had to enter the lottery. Right there is a filter - only those interested and motivated (which also would include the families) will apply to the lottery. If you try to extend this to the whole school system you'll be adding the disinterested and unmotivated to the mix. They will not be nearly so cooperative, and you will not have 100% graduation rates.

The school started with only 4% able to read. As a charter school they are under the same restrictions as other public schools they can't just kick someone out. I see it as potential for success why does everyone keep trying to explain why it can't work?

[Broomstick]

Yes they CAN kick people out. Regular public schools can kick people out. In Chicago they go to "alternative" schools for troublemakers. Where the hell did you get the idea a student can't be kicked out of public school?

And go back and re-read the article. They did not start with "4% able to read", it was 4% able to read at grade level WTF is up with the lack of reading comprehension in people? Maybe you aren't reading at grade level, either. The kids in question could read, they just couldn't read as well as they should have.

[Spoonist]

it was 4% able to read at grade level .

Could someone explain "grade level" for a foreigner, please? To me it doesn't sound like what you imply.

[White Haven]

If you are in eighth grade but you read roughly equivalent to what a fifth grade student is expected to, you are reading below grade level. Pretty simple. Also pretty common; my experience was that ~80% (totally unscientific) of my fellow students when I was in school couldn't read worth a damn. It was downright embarrassing when a teacher would make them read something aloud.

[[R_H]]

If you are in eighth grade but you read roughly equivalent to what a fifth grade student is expected to, you are reading below grade level. Pretty simple. Also pretty common; my experience was that ~80% (totally unscientific) of my fellow students when I was in school couldn't read worth a damn. It was downright embarrassing when a teacher would make them read something aloud.

Didn't your school have programs to encourage students to read on their own time? Hell, the municipal public library had a summer reading program which was basically a contest for elementary students, in addition to a reading buddy program.

[Spoonist]

If you are in eighth grade but you read roughly equivalent to what a fifth grade student is expected to, you are reading below grade level. Pretty simple.

So its a relative concept to the class level? So when they say "4% able to read at grade level" they mean that 96% of the students where below expectation relative to their "age"?

[Darth Wong]

Yes they CAN kick people out. Regular public schools can kick people out. In Chicago they go to "alternative" schools for troublemakers. Where the hell did you get the idea a student can't be kicked out of public school?

It's true that bad students can get kicked out, although people often get the impression that they can't be kicked out because administrators are extraordinarily reluctant to actually do this.

In my way of thinking, you want to keep the kids who are there to learn (or who are at least capable of behaving), and dump the rest. Ideally, put them on an island somewhere, like Australia. Or perhaps some kind of northern gulag, which we could set up in the frozen tundra and use as a base for mining operations in the area (the only kind of job you would want these retards doing anyway). But most teachers and administrators think they're there to "rescue" kids from themselves, not just nurture the good ones and get rid of the rest as I would tend to do if I had my way.

[Wing Commander MAD]

If you are in eighth grade but you read roughly equivalent to what a fifth grade student is expected to, you are reading below grade level. Pretty simple.

So its a relative concept to the class level? So when they say "4% able to read at grade level" they mean that 96% of the students where below expectation relative to their "age"?

Bingo, though I make that relative to their age and the education that they should have recieved up to this point in time.

[Broomstick]

If you are in eighth grade but you read roughly equivalent to what a fifth grade student is expected to, you are reading below grade level. Pretty simple. Also pretty common; my experience was that ~80% (totally unscientific) of my fellow students when I was in school couldn't read worth a damn. It was downright embarrassing when a teacher would make them read something aloud.

Didn't your school have programs to encourage students to read on their own time? Hell, the municipal public library had a summer reading program which was basically a contest for elementary students, in addition to a reading buddy program.

I've seen such programs everywhere I've had contact with a public school or library - Missouri, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, West Virgina, Tennessee.... presumably they're everywhere. The problem is getting kids to participate.

I was fortunate to grow up in a home filled with books, where everyone read and read a lot. For me, it was a normal activity of daily life. Later, when I grew up, I met people who had NO books in their house - none. Kids might have school books for required reading, but nothing else, and at the end of the semester or school year such books were thrown out in the trash. Books had no value. Reading had no value. It's not impossible for a child in such a home to grow up to be a good reader, but it is unlikely as reading is simply not valued in such a family.

In fact, when I go to my in-laws I don't take reading material. Reading is seen as a selfish, anti-social activity. Sure, you read if you need to (instructions, part of school or a job) but otherwise they interpret reading as an act of anger and hostility - why wouldn't you be gossiping on the back porch with everyone else unless you were pissed off at the family? Activities such as crafts... not see in the same light, because you're producing a tangible article.

How strong a reader do you think will come out of that household? The only reason my Other Half learned to read so well is because he was an invalid in childhood, and books were seen as an acceptable diversion for a boy who couldn't walk, much less run and play with the other children.

So, that's part of what you're battling. The attitudes are slowly changing - it's nearly impossible to get ANY sort of job if you are truly illiterate, at least these folks are seeing it as a necessary tool in life, even if they aren't enthused about doing more than the minimum. But such families aren't going to encourage children to enter a reading contest, they're going to encourage them to join in sports and other such activities in the summer time.

If you are in eighth grade but you read roughly equivalent to what a fifth grade student is expected to, you are reading below grade level. Pretty simple.

So its a relative concept to the class level? So when they say "4% able to read at grade level" they mean that 96% of the students where below expectation relative to their "age"?

Correct.

Of course, they don't specificy beyond that. The kids could be reading 1 level/grade below expectations, or 5, or 10. There's a HUGE difference between being behind 1 grade level and being behind 5.

Yes they CAN kick people out. Regular public schools can kick people out. In Chicago they go to "alternative" schools for troublemakers. Where the hell did you get the idea a student can't be kicked out of public school?

It's true that bad students can get kicked out, although people often get the impression that they can't be kicked out because administrators are extraordinarily reluctant to actually do this.

It's easier to get kicked out of a Chicago charter or magnet school because you're just bounced back down to the "regular" schools. It's kicking kids out of regular school that administrators are reluctant to do.

In my way of thinking, you want to keep the kids who are there to learn (or who are at least capable of behaving), and dump the rest. Ideally, put them on an island somewhere, like Australia. Or perhaps some kind of northern gulag, which we could set up in the frozen tundra and use as a base for mining operations in the area (the only kind of job you would want these retards doing anyway). But most teachers and administrators think they're there to "rescue" kids from themselves, not just nurture the good ones and get rid of the rest as I would tend to do if I had my way.

Ah, but that would be a meritocracy and we can't have that in the US! Instead, kids are stratified largely by socio-economics. The wealthier neighborhoods have better schools, and the mess continues.