On: How the Other Half Learns

Episode: N/A

Date: May 2020

Background: Author and teacher.

Key Subjects:

• Discussion about the Success Academy Charter School in New York City.
  • Charter school = public school (no tuition, open admissions).
  • Government funded, privately run.
• Factors driving Success Academy’s uniform culture and student out-performance:
  • Select the parents.
    • First step is a lottery.
      • Only motivated parents enter.
    • Followed by more explicit “parent” selection process.
      • Mandatory meetings, paper work, reading requirements, etc.
    • Process requires high level of parent commitment.
      • Mostly selects parents that are married, employed, religious, ambitious.
    • Creates culture of motivated parents and high expectations.
      • Similar edge as in more wealthy neighborhoods.
  • Discipline the kids.
    • No excuse culture.
      • School uniforms, classroom behavior.
      • Demonstration of high expectations (“We’re serious about this”).
    • Broken window theory.
      • Small disorder leads to large crimes.
    • Creates the conditions for learning.
• These factors (parent selection, no excuse culture) are difficult to scale.
  • Not all parents have enough time or are sufficiently motivated.
  • Not all kids are suited to a disciplined learning environment.
• Generally, a consistent culture is difficult to scale.
  • Almost always requires above average leadership.
  • Sometimes requires above average employees.
    • Would be easier to scale if employees with “average” skills are sufficient.
      • McDonalds: requires a reasonably skilled manager to expand franchise, not an exceptional one.
      • Teaching: often requires above average skills (no set curriculum, little guidance on what or how to teach).
• Other factors that may be easier to scale:
  • Curriculum.
    • What to teach.
    • Having an established curriculum saves teachers a lot of time and effort.
    • In most other cases, teachers have to construct their own.
  • Teacher training.
    • How to teach.
    • How to run a class-room, planning to teach the lesson instead of planning the lesson.
  • Test prep.
    • Championing mastery.
    • Mastery in one domain may lead to mastery in other domains.
  • Engagement.
    • Kids need a reason to go to school.
    • Balance reading and math with arts, music, etc. (subjects that kids tend to care more about).
  • Exposure.
    • Broad versus narrow knowledge.
      • Narrow: reading is learning to decode words on a page, etc.
      • Broad: reading is about shared background knowledge, and vocabulary.
    • Window versus mirror.
      • Directing attention out the window, instead of reflecting on what they already know.
      • Exposure wide variety of topics to pique interest, curiosity.
  • Reading.
    • High volume reading (background knowledge, vocabulary).