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Voices in Urban Education
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Small Schools and Race
VUE Number 2, Fall 2003
| VUE Home | Archives | Order Print Copy |
From the Editor
By Robert Rothman, Principal Associate & Editor of VUE, Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
> Complete bio
In the last few years the idea of creating intentionally small high schools has captivated the nation's attention. Spurred by research that suggests that small schools produce a range of positive outcomes, policy-makers and funders have launched a number of initiatives to create new small high schools or break down the size of large schools.
Yet even as these initiatives advance, there is concern that they may be insufficient to improve educational opportunities, particularly for children of color. Without explicit attention to issues of race and culture, some educators contend, small schools may end up as previous reforms did, leaving African American and Latino children behind.
In an effort to bring together leading voices from the small schools and equity communities, the Annenberg Institute for School Reform and other organizations convened a meeting at the University of Washington in June 2001. Although a daylong meeting is unlikely to resolve complex and contentious issues, the meeting aired concerns from both communities and found some areas of common ground.
This issue of Voices in Urban Education is an attempt to expand the conversation from the 2001 meeting to a broader group. VUE was created by the Annenberg Institute for just such a purpose: to bring together researchers, community organizers, educators, and public officials to present a range of perspectives on critical topics and to invite readers to join the conversation on our Web site.
For this issue, we have invited several of the participants from the Seattle gathering to contribute essays and present their perspectives. The essays share the conviction that smallness is not an end in itself; the goal is improved educational opportunities for students who have been poorly served by urban schools. But each of the authors provides a unique perspective on the conditions needed for success.
In an impassioned essay, Theresa Perry reflects on her own experience and that of young people she has known to suggest that despite the evidence pointing to the effectiveness of small schools, such schools may be the wrong answer for some young people. She suggests some additional indicators of success and resources that might make schools more responsive to and effective for children of color.
> Excerpt
Patricia A. Wasley, one of the authors of a comprehensive study of small schools, places the idea in perspective by outlining a framework of "authenticity." Only with authentic equity, authentic learning, and authentic relationships – which small schools can foster – can reform succeed, she argues.
> Excerpt
Thomas Toch takes us inside a small school – the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center (the Met) in Providence, Rhode Island – to show how the school creates bonds between adults and the student body, which consists largely of youths of color.
> Excerpt
A strong connection between schools and the community is essential for schools to succeed. Wendy D. Puriefoy, the president of the Public Education Network, outlines ways in which local education funds have forged such ties by launching effective small schools.
> Excerpt
Finally, Warren Simmons, the executive director of the Annenberg Institute, draws on lessons from previous reform efforts to consider the conditions that need to be in place for small schools to become an effective strategy for urban education reform.
> Full Text
Archives
Small Schools and Race
VUE Number 2, Fall 2003
| VUE Home | Archives | Order Print Copy |
From the Editor
By Robert Rothman, Principal Associate & Editor of VUE, Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University> Complete bio
In the last few years the idea of creating intentionally small high schools has captivated the nation's attention. Spurred by research that suggests that small schools produce a range of positive outcomes, policy-makers and funders have launched a number of initiatives to create new small high schools or break down the size of large schools.
Yet even as these initiatives advance, there is concern that they may be insufficient to improve educational opportunities, particularly for children of color. Without explicit attention to issues of race and culture, some educators contend, small schools may end up as previous reforms did, leaving African American and Latino children behind.
In an effort to bring together leading voices from the small schools and equity communities, the Annenberg Institute for School Reform and other organizations convened a meeting at the University of Washington in June 2001. Although a daylong meeting is unlikely to resolve complex and contentious issues, the meeting aired concerns from both communities and found some areas of common ground.
This issue of Voices in Urban Education is an attempt to expand the conversation from the 2001 meeting to a broader group. VUE was created by the Annenberg Institute for just such a purpose: to bring together researchers, community organizers, educators, and public officials to present a range of perspectives on critical topics and to invite readers to join the conversation on our Web site.
For this issue, we have invited several of the participants from the Seattle gathering to contribute essays and present their perspectives. The essays share the conviction that smallness is not an end in itself; the goal is improved educational opportunities for students who have been poorly served by urban schools. But each of the authors provides a unique perspective on the conditions needed for success.
In an impassioned essay, Theresa Perry reflects on her own experience and that of young people she has known to suggest that despite the evidence pointing to the effectiveness of small schools, such schools may be the wrong answer for some young people. She suggests some additional indicators of success and resources that might make schools more responsive to and effective for children of color.
> Excerpt
Patricia A. Wasley, one of the authors of a comprehensive study of small schools, places the idea in perspective by outlining a framework of "authenticity." Only with authentic equity, authentic learning, and authentic relationships – which small schools can foster – can reform succeed, she argues.
> Excerpt
Thomas Toch takes us inside a small school – the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center (the Met) in Providence, Rhode Island – to show how the school creates bonds between adults and the student body, which consists largely of youths of color.
> Excerpt
A strong connection between schools and the community is essential for schools to succeed. Wendy D. Puriefoy, the president of the Public Education Network, outlines ways in which local education funds have forged such ties by launching effective small schools.
> Excerpt
Finally, Warren Simmons, the executive director of the Annenberg Institute, draws on lessons from previous reform efforts to consider the conditions that need to be in place for small schools to become an effective strategy for urban education reform.
> Full Text
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