Prospering Early

I reviewed Karin Chenoweth’s (2010) article, “Learning from Success:  Love Meets Best Practices at a New Orleans Elementary School,” and wanted to document the resources it led me to.  This article is about her visit to one of the schools that was selected by The Education Trust to receive the 2010 “Dispelling the Myth Award” that honors “schools that serve large numbers of children of color and those from low-income families that educate their students at high levels”.  I was first drawn to this article because of its title wondering what it would say about what love can do to make a school successful.  After reading, I was truly inspired by the article, mainly because it depicts a school in just about the worst conditions a school could exist—extreme poverty and crime—yet “just about all the students meet or exceed state standards”.  The answer the principle gives for their success is that the teachers and staff at the elementary school “love our children”.  Chenoweth concludes from her visit that they indeed “love their children enough to teach them”.  This quote stayed with me.  She gives examples of how the teachers and staff at this school “educate without humiliating” and go the extra mile, inconveniencing themselves if they must, to see that their children are encouraged, “motivated and engaged”.  The article really sums up the inevitable success that comes when teachers and administrators are selflessly united and committed to the best for their children and when they actually believe that their children, regardless of the environment in which they live, can succeed.

Here are some of Karin Chenoweth's books that are getting national acclaim and I want to check them out:

It's Being Done: Academic Success in Unexpected Schools (2007)

How It's Being Done: Urgent Lessons from Unexpected Schools (2009)

Some other resources I got into this week:

themindtrust.org 

This one is an Indiana based, non-profit organization that supports educational reform through informing educators and leaders about issues and also offering grants to entities with achievable ideas about changing education.

waitingforsuperman.com/action

 This resource kind of goes along with the one above, education reform and calling people to action.  It's associated with a movie, "Waiting for Superman", that has really made a buzz in this country about the state of our education system.  I haven't yet seen the movie but I definitely want to.