Low-Hanging Fruit: Three Things To Do Before We Say We're Doing All We Can...

Andy Rotherham:

Hang around the education debates long enough and you'll hear many times that schools are basically doing all they can to meet the needs of students, especially high-poverty students, so we should ease up on the pressure to do more. I don't think that's the case and you see a lot of variance in how well schools do with similar students.

In that spirit, here are three examples of ideas, some more more substantial than others - happening in some places but far from commonplace - that we could do to reach more students and families. It's hardly an exhaustive list but it makes the point.

24-hour school: Many of our cities, and not just Las Vegas and New York, are 24-hour towns these days. Yet other than night school we still don't engage students or parents that are on a 24-hour schedule. It would be absurd to make every school a 24-hour option but providing that option in places where many older students are, especially those who have left school, are working alternative schedules would help reach kids who are disconnected today. They are doing this in Vegas. And in this case what happens in Vegas, shouldn't stay there.

Back-to-school day: I recently heard a school superintendent, a generally progressive guy concerned about equity, congratulating all the parents taking part in a "Back-to-School Night" style event in his community for being the kind of involved parents the school system needs to be successful. Problem was, the event was at 8pm and a not-small proportion of parents in that community were beginning their work days around that time, not wrapping them up. Back to School nights are an evergreen feature of our schools, and necessary for many parents who work a traditional 9-5 schedule. But for many parents, and not just those working nights, a chance to visit during the day would make school engagement more accessible. If we were really serious about meeting more parents where they are, "Back to School Days" (in addition to 'back to school nights') would be a lot more common than they are. And even easier thing to jettison would be policies that limit parent-teacher conferences to just a few minutes in some places.

Responding to parents:

Related: Wisconsin Schools Superintendent Tony Evers: Wisconsin education chief: Governor's new report cards not 'ready for prime time'.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at March 24, 2013 3:25 AM
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