The Turnaround at Evander Childs: A NYC Small School Trick?

Eduwonkette nails 'em

Run, do not walk, right on over to eduwonkette. We told you from the first day there was dynamite on that blog.

Leonie Haimson writes on NYCEducation News Listserve
Check it out – strong refutation of the notion propounded by the DOE spin machine that they have engineered a real turnaround at the small schools – whereas much of their success is based on excluding the kids who are neediest and hardest to education. Much more material on the blog than included below

New York's Fund for Public Schools, which has raised substantial funds for NYC's reforms, has launched a new ad campaign called "Keep it Going New York City." One ad showcases the successful creation of new small schools within large high schools. Watch this ad called "Evander Childs Turnaround" - the main idea here is that Evander Childs, a high school in the Bronx, was failing, dangerous, and a poor environment for learning. Enter Bloomberg/Klein, the Children First reforms, and five new small schools, and Evander is reborn - teachers say it's different, students say they like going to school there, and a principal beams that the graduation rate has increased from 30% to 80%. Evander certainly has received a lot of attention - Joel Klein visited the school to deliver his spring statement on small schools' superior graduation rates. A NY Times Editorial praised new small schools for increasing graduation rates. The final line of the ad: "The building may be the same, but the school is very different." Should we be cheering?

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