Paulo Freire Freedom School: Where Real Learning Matters

At Paulo Freire Freedom School (“PFFS”), a middle school charter in Tucson, Arizona, we believe that real knowledge comes from experiences that are authentic and engaging.  Young people learn when learning is connected to the real world they live in and to the issues they care about. 

Across the country, students and parents, principals and teachers alike, express growing concern that public schools are narrowing their curricula to only those bodies of content and skills that can be measured effectively through standardized testing. They worry that this narrowing of focus at the expense of powerful teaching and learning puts students at risk of not understanding deeply the 'big ideas' in science, math, and social studies, or critical 21st century skills, such as collaboration, creativity, communication, and critical thinking that are needed in today’s workplace.

At PFFS we have adopted Project-Based Learning (PBL) as our pedagogical and curricular focus.  PBL is “an instructional approach built upon authentic learning activities that engage student interest and motivation.  These activities are designed to answer a question or solve a problem and generally reflect the types of learning and work people do in the everyday world outside the classroom.”  (http://pbl-online.org/) The term PBL can be used to describe a variety of experiences, including problem solving, group work, service learning and expeditionary learning.  At PFFS we use PBL in two different ways: as an integral part of the regular classroom curriculum and as experiential learning experiences outside the classroom walls.

In the classroom, our students are regularly asked to work in teams to solve a problem or investigate an issue. These projects involve real world situations that quickly engage students because the relevance of their work is immediately apparent.  For example, in our 8th grade Humanities curriculum, a final project asked students to work with a partner to create their own Political Party addressing critical topics studied throughout the year such as the role of government, civil rights, and economic policy. After detailing their Party Platform, students then had to try to “sell” their party to other students by using political ads and slogans. An election was held that demonstrated how effective their marketing had been.

Many of the projects at PFFS are interdisciplinary, such as our “Barbie Bungee” exhibition. Students are first asked to recreate life-size Barbies using the same scale as the Barbie doll. Then they researched and reported out on a social justice issue connected to the doll (i.e. the manufacturing practices at maquiladores along the Mexican border with the United States, or the impact of unattainable images of beauty on adolescent self-worth). The project ended with students 'bungee jumping' Barbies from a balcony to estimate, measure, and analyze velocity.

Sometimes our projects take on a life of their own as happened last year when the entire school was transformed into eight different biomes. In small groups, our entire student body researched biomes on the planet to get a real sense of each biomes' ecosystem. Students then recreated an ecosystem (minus humans) to scale in different parts of the school building with charts and posters explaining their pristine dioramas. On the third day we introduced humans.  Students had to return to their research, assess the impact humans have had historically on different biomes, and then create governments and economic systems to meet the respective needs of their biome civilizations.

While we fully embrace the concept of PBL, we know and have seen that too often what is called project-based learning is little more than students doing prolonged group work.  Sometimes these projects include extended periods of “art time” (e.g. hours spent decorating dioramas). While perhaps enjoyable, these activities might not push students into higher levels of learning. Thus, any PBL at PFFS must be designed with an eye to what are the desired student learning outcomes and how effectively and efficiently the project supports those outcomes.

The other area where PBL is used is outside the classroom through experiential learning. These experiences are not necessarily about working on solving or analyzing real life issues in an extended project that culminates in a student created demonstration.  Experiential learning at PFFS consists of students being exposed to a panoply of outside environments aimed at building their background knowledge and establishing relevancy and motivation.

We create a special week of Intersession programming two times during the year, when teachers work exclusively with approximately a dozen students to explore an area of passion in depth. Teachers propose topics based on their passions/expertise and students then rank their choices.  In the past we have offered a diverse mix of experiences including Space Exploration, Backpacking in the Rincons, The Story Behind Stuff, Upcyling, Circus School, Let Freedom Sing (the use of freedom songs as part of civil rights movements), Love Not Borders (border study), Move It (dance and political expression), Building with a Conscious, and Political Musical Theater.

Expeditions, which take place every Friday for a third of the school, are one day field experiences. These range from going to the University Arizona medical school to conduct sunscreen experiments, to volunteering at a homeless shelter, to attending student matinee performances put on by the Arizona Theater Company.

The rationale for exposing students to learning outside the classroom walls lies in research showing that building background knowledge significantly helps students in their academic studies and helps students make connections between what they are learning in classroom with the larger world to motivate students to learn.

Our students perform well on their standardized tests, but we believe this provides only a limited snapshot of what they know and can do.  We look forward to the new performance based-assessments that will be coming soon with the Common Core which promise to measure a larger part of student achievement.  Arguably, our most important performance metric is that our students are excited about coming to school and they love learning. In a survey given to our 6th and 7th graders at the end of last year, 100% said they enjoyed coming to school. We believe that this evidence is at least as significant as making AYP on our annual report card.

JoAnn Groh, Co-Founder and Co-Director, Paulo Freire Freedom School
www.paulofreireschool.org

Find Paulo Freire Freedom School on the Public Charter Schools Dashboard.

Learn. Serve. Change the World: One Student at a Time

NAPCS is using the Charter Blog to feature public charter schools that prepare students for college using a range of instructional strategies. NAPCS asked school leaders to tell us in their own words how they use different instructional methods to create a “college-prep” focus. By combining data on instructional strategies from a national survey with on the ground stories of the work of charter schools, NAPCS wants to show the scope of possibilities in how charter schools can provide great learning environments for students.

At New Foundations Charter School (NFCS) we believe that all students can be lifelong learners and stewards of their communities. It is this belief that pushes our students, families and staff to strive for the highest levels of success in academics and beyond. The “beyond” in our school community is what sets us apart from other public schools, giving every student a chance become part of a caring community and to serve in a variety of ways.

At NFCS, kindergarten students have taken on the issue of pollution in our oceans by collecting plastic caps to be made into cosmetic bottles. Fifth grade students partner with the Fairmount Park Commission to maintain and rehab Pennypack Park next to their school. Tenth grade students spend two days shadowing a career of interest and then take action on a career related issue of their choice. These are just a few examples of how NFCS uses the teaching and learning strategy of service-learning to enhance our curriculum and give students an opportunity to develop important life skills while impacting their community.

All members of our school community have seen the impact of service-learning on our students’ academic, social, and emotional growth. We have watched shy students gain a voice, low performing students improve academic skills, classes work through the decision making process, and families find new ways to spend time together. The positive outcomes of service-learning go well beyond our academics, although it’s definitely worth mentioning that NFCS’ PSSA (Pennsylvania’s standardized tests) scores soar beyond the School District of Philadelphia and the school has made AYP for the past 4 years.

With the addition of our new high school in 2010, NFCS was able to develop a program that integrated service-learning into our focus of developing students that are college and career ready. We take a unique approach to college and career readiness by engaging students in a variety of activities that expose them to The 16  Career Clusters, allow them to explore careers of interest, create a sense of personal responsibility to their community, and prepare them for a successful life post-graduation. Through a comprehensive career development curriculum, students not only learn about their interest and skills, but they also have a chance to work with professionals from a variety of fields to give back to their community through service-learning.

Service-learning is not a one man (or woman) job. Teachers and specialists work together to plan units that meet academic standards and promote social and emotional growth. Support staff and AmeriCorps VISTA members provide resources on social issues and outreach to build partnerships.  Our administration and Board of Trustees are supportive and understand the importance of service-learning in the development of a whole child. Most of our families understand the purpose and see the benefits of this approach on their child(ren), providing additional hands as needed.

At NFCS, service-learning is not an extracurricular activity, an after school club, or something extra that teachers take on. It is part of what we do. It is the way we teach. It is our method of instruction. It is the way that we ensure that our students learn to be responsible adults in their communities.

Shira Woolf Cohen, Vice Principal, New Foundations Charter School
www.nfcsonline.org

Find New Foundations Charter School on the Public Charter Schools Dashboard.

What Can We Learn from the Best?

With the Olympics in full swing, perhaps you spend a little time each day checking in on the medal counts. The Olympics, without a doubt, inspire and entertain. It’s hard to not get swept up by the stories, the drama, the spectacle. The athletes are at peak performance, and there are regular displays of spectacular individual and team feats. The medals are a proxy for the tremendous amount of training, preparation, commitment, talent, and resources devoted to each sport.

While there aren’t many medals given out in the education reform field, we do regularly point out when public charter schools are honored for best practices and exceptional performance. While we like to highlight the rankings, there are also lessons that can be learned from exceptional schools. Here are resources that compile the experiences of high performing schools:

• U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon School Profiles: Check out the profile of the North Star Academy Charter School of Network, honored with a Blue Ribbon in 2010.
• EPIC Gold and Silver Gain Charter Schools: EPIC catalogued more than 50 case studies from charter schools with the highest achievement gains, which can be accessed here.
• Broad Prize for Public Charter Schools: YES Prep Public Schools was the inaugural winner of the prize in 2012 and in the upcoming academic year, researchers will visit the schools and document best practices.

Photo: 2012 London Olympic Medals, via Google Images

NYC Charter Schools Show Gains on 2011-12 State Tests

YES Prep Awarded the Inaugural Broad Prize for Public Charter Schools

Public Charter High Schools Measure Up on National Ranking Lists

As a nation, we sure do love a rankings list. Three major news outlets annually rank public high schools: US News & World Report, the Washington Post, and Newsweek. Even though public charter high schools make up only 6% of the total number of public high schools nationwide, they are well represented on each of the lists of the best high schools nationwide.

In case you missed the lists this year, in the table below, we list the charter schools that made it onto at least one of the lists (in the top 100 for the first three). Six charter schools were listed in the top 100 on all three major lists: BASIS Tucson, Pacific Collegiate Charter, Preuss School UCSD, Signature School, Sturgis Charter Public, and Westlake Academy.

Charter schools make up 17 percent of the top 100 schools on the US News & World Report’s Best High Schools list, 25 percent of the top 100 schools on the Washington Post’s High School Challenge Index list, 19 percent of the top 100 schools on Newsweek’s America’s Best High Schools list, and 60 percent of the top 25 schools on Newsweek’s Transformative High Schools list.

As the charter sector convenes in Minneapolis to celebrate its 20th Anniversary and highlight exemplary practices in the field, let’s commend these high quality charter high schools and continue the hard work to improve student learning. 

Ranking Lists’ Methodology:

US News & World Report: Schools were ranked on the following requirements: a) School has 12th grade enrollment; b) School has sufficient performance data from 2009-10; c) All students in school perform better than statistically expected for average student in state; d) Students in subgroups (Black, Hispanic, low-income) perform better than average for similar students in state; e) College readiness index, based on the school's AP or IB participation rate (the number of 12th-grade students in the 2009-2010 academic year who took at least one AP or IB test before or during their senior year, divided by the number of 12th graders) and how well the students did on those tests.

Washington Post: The number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or other college-level tests a school gave in 2010 is divided by the number of graduating seniors.

Newsweek, America’s Best High Schools: Self-reported survey results by principals and superintendents (2,300 schools submitted). Rankings based on the following categories (weight in parentheses): a) Four-year, on-time graduation rate (25%); Percent of 2011 graduates accepted to college (25%); AP/IB/AICE tests per student (25%); Average SAT and/or ACT score (10%); Average AP/IB/AICE exam score (10%); AP/IB/AICE courses offered per student (5%).

Newsweek, Transformative High Schools: Same methodology as above, but rankings also take into account: a) Percentage of students who qualified for free- or reduced-price lunches; and b) Schools that restrict admissions based on academics were ineligible.

Congratulations to the first-ever U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools!

Public Charter Schools Comprise 60 Percent of Newsweek’s Top 25 Transformative High Schools, Including the Top Three Slots

Newsweek recently released its list of the Top 25 Transformative High Schools, and public charter schools represented exactly 60 percent of the list, including the top three highest ranked schools. Within the Top 25, the charter schools hold the rankings of: #1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and 23.

In terms of its methodology, Newsweek notes:
    “It’s no secret that schools in poor neighborhoods often struggle. But some achieve a remarkable amount in relation to the poverty of their communities. Newsweek calls these Transformative Schools, and for the second year in a row, we have created a list of the top 25.

    “To compile the Transformative list, we took the scores from Newsweek’s top 1,000 schools and factored in the percentage of students who qualified for free- or reduced-price lunches—the most reliable measure of socio-economic status in American high schools. Schools that restrict admissions based on academics were ineligible; the purpose of the list is to highlight schools where enthusiasm is the only defining metric.”

NAPCS commends the tremendous impact these public charter schools are making in the lives of its students. This is another proof point for what can happen when great leaders are given the flexibility to be innovative. You can more about the #1 ranked Preuss School UCSD in our newest issue brief.

Urban Prep Achieves 100% College Acceptance Rate

Seeing is Believing