A lesson from the Bronx

I recently visited two schools in the Bronx in New York. Both are in very challenging communities where crime, drugs and unemployment are prevalent. But both are out performing other local schools.

The Harriet Tubman Charter School is very much a community based school with many parents either working in the school or volunteering to do so. It is their belief that the students in the school are the future and will be the change agents for the community. From the outside it may be a converted supermarket, but inside it is described as a ‘haven’ where pupils and staff alike relish coming every day. It has an inspirational leader and a passionate workforce, who major on making learning relevant. It is an all through school where students understand the relevance of why they are being taught subjects rather than simply slavishly following the curriculum.

The other was a KIPP Academy, where life begins at 7.30am each week day, with breakfast available at 7am for those that need it, and most do. The teaching day ends at 5pm, but 2 hours of homework follow. The teaching staff are provided with mobiles and students are encouraged to call them if they have any difficulties with their homework; on average 20 calls a night are received by each teacher. Teachers are paid 20% more than the norm but it is taken as read that they need to be available for longer hours than the normal school day.  For example every other Saturday there is morning school and during the long vacation there are two summer camps. These have been introduced because it has been proven that the student’s retention rate declines during the summer. Celebrating success is high on the agenda and rewards are also a strong motivator with a high reliance on regular assessment. Performance is rewarded by KIPP Dollars to spend on trips, but deductions are made for poor performance or disruption in class. Parents are interviewed at home to ensure that they are prepared to sign up for this regime; they do so because they want their children to be successful and they are! In Maths 95% passed compared with 55% locally and 69% in New York City. In English 90% passed compared to 51% locally and 60% in the city. 80% of the students go onto college compared with 18% locally.

I left with a sense of humility.  £80 million is being spent on my two Academies and there can be no disputing that the areas of Darwen and Falmer are much less deprived than the Bronx, they have achieved so much more from less.  A group of sixth form students and staff from the Darwen Aldridge Community Academy are visiting the schools later this month, and I hope they find their visit as illuminating and inspirational as I did.

My overall conclusion of the visit is that support from the home and community are vital and a more pragmatic approach to teaching the curriculum is essential. However, above all there is no substitute for hard work. With all these ingredients in place anything is possible.