Can a No Excuses Charter Teach Students to Think for Themselves?
'Several years ago, Achievement First, a charter school network serving primarily low-income black and Hispanic students, got an unpleasant wake-up call: Its students had done well on tests, but fewer than a third of its high school graduates were earning college degrees on time. That was better than the 14 percent national college completion rate for students from low-income backgrounds, but it was far below the network’s hopes.
And it raised a question: Was the schools’ highly structured, disciplined approach to behavior and learning giving students the tools they needed to succeed at the next level? . .
In response, Achievement First’s leaders set about designing a new school model that they hope can maintain their high expectations and strict rules, while letting students develop independence and a sense of identity.
Some think it will be difficult. “There is a real dilemma confronting ‘no excuses’ charter networks as they shift their instructional model to encourage deeper learning,” Shael Polakow-Suransky, the president of the Bank Street College of Education, said in an email. Their focus on discipline, he said, “can undermine the autonomy and student voice so critical to developing independent thinkers.”'>>>
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/11/nyregion/can-a-no-excuses-charter-teach-students-to-think-for-themselves.html?
No shit, sherlock.
