UA in midtown NYC
Thanks to Ann Cook, Don ?? and two UA students for giving their holiday time and expertise so freely to explain our many questions so well and offer challenge. NY schools were on holiday today so we could not see the schools in action, but both students were excellent ambassadors.
This time 6 schools occupied one very large building which also houses a heath clinic, infants centre and teachers’ centre, with shared facilities otherwise unavailable to small schools such as swimming pool, 1500 seat auditorium. The complex was created to replace a very large dysfunctional and violent high school in the mid 90′s . All schools are small, 4 are high schools.
Of interest;
• Each school is autonomous but HTs meet weekly and the building is managed by a shared manager and building council
• Each school has a different emphasis and intake
• UA runs an inquiry curriculum assessed by ‘performance assessment’ (portfolio presentation?), specially allowed out of the NY testing regime
• Emphasis on close relationships, students can phone teachers, teacher contacts parents
• Teachers work in teams and school decisions are based on consensus (20 staff +HT)
• All staff teach except the 1 secretary
• All teachers have responsibilities above teaching (typical teaching load c50%?) but unclear about any financial reward for such
• Teachers adapt curriculum to group / school need to support students’ needs – plan in teams of 5/6
• Have 3h/w planning time – students offsite on community learning (work experience?)
• Mixed age classes – peer pressure supports and keeps individuals in line
• Key feature of success: emphasis on instruction, school culture (no personal attack, etc)
• Adviser has 18-20 students
• 40 small schools network for support and development
• staff student photo exercise reinforced small school culture
• start academic year with 2 week project to orientate / induct students
• 2 week musical project (similar to Durham Johnston)
• not all classes have 2 adults, use interns (student teachers) where possible
• strong support from parents – ‘time out from testing lobby
• staff selection important – not simply a teacher
Potential impact on WTC thinking?
• Student adviser – does it have to be a teacher?
• Teaching teams – how many teachers / support staff? Planning time? Scope of decision making? How flat should this team structure be across a school? Do we need eg 3 KS3 teaching teams with 1 leader of each reporting directly to the head of School?
• How can the TLR structure best be developed to serve the needs of students?
• Head of school is exactly that for D,G,S? generic support management?
• How to develop rapport with confidence for students to phone staff?
• Can we align peer pressure to support the D/G/S culture
• 2 week orientation / induction at start of academic year within red weeks?
• How do we lever up parental engagement?
• Rethink staff selection to match new staffing model
• Student card exercise
Urban Academy – what a place? Who in their right mind sets up a school to take students that are struggling to cope with education in other high schools. The criteria for entry is that you have to have failed or be struggling somewhere else. The headteacher here is a force to be reckoned with and has the political knowledge and drive to create something that goes against the New York education system and some how get them to support the idea. An interesting location for the school with some students seeming to come from the local rather wealthy neighbourhood. To work in this school, as with the others, would have to be a clear choice, this is not for your average run of the mill teacher.
The structure was very much about small financial rewards for teachers with money being used to support a reduced teaching load. I am not sure how this would work within an educational system such as the one we have in England where teachers are looking for promotion opportunities throughout the system.
Some academies are creating just what you saw Jacqueline, an emphasis on paying teachers to be better teachers, i.e. no TLR structure.