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.
- First step is a lottery.
- 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.
- No excuse culture.
- Select the parents.
- 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).
- Would be easier to scale if employees with “average” skills are sufficient.
- 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.
- Broad versus narrow knowledge.
- Reading.
- High volume reading (background knowledge, vocabulary).
- Curriculum.