Reply to DCPS can't handle 'Middle Schools'? This is why Kaya Henderson needs to go

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here, I've lived in a few different cities in this country and am a middle school educator. [b]It's not that hard.  Really[/b]. Even with socio-economic diversity, with neighborhood boundary issues etc....we can do this.  Partly it's making it a real priority and not just shrugging when it looks difficult.  I agree that some charters can do it well, but what are they doing?  What could DCPS learn?  Part of the issue is a complete lack of middle school planning and a complete lack of understanding what middle school students actually need.[/quote]

No, really, it is that hard.

If it wasn't there would be scores of success stories around the country of turn arounds instead there are few and those get the media attention because they are so few. If it was a common occurrence, it wouldn't make the news.

[b]The schools can not compensate for a child's upbringing and life circumstances.[/b]

The reason schools with upper middle class students do well is that those schools do not need to split their energies. They only need to focus on education. The other schools need to split their focus on education and social services.[/quote]

Exactly. Well said.
At the elementary level, the kids are still little and highly supervised so that behavior doesn't spiral out of control. 
Middle school is another story entirely. The same kids have more freedom and are expected to have some age appropriate self-discipline. This is where the rubber meets the road and many kids from lower ses situations cannot keep up. This is when the behavior spirals out of control because the kids are bigger and the nature of middle school is that kids are more responsible for themselves. 
Melissa Kim understood this and set up a system without too much wiggle room, but enough to allow the kids to find their independence. In the case of infractions, she put in clear disciplinary policies with actual consequences for the kids and maybe more importantly, the parents. 
Let's talk about the missing piece here, kids from poverty may need to learn more life skills, let's help them.  [/quote]

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