New Haven Independent

Posted by: ST | July 23, 2007 2:41 PM

The seduction of low expectations:

As a private tutor I've had probably a dozen students from Wilbur Cross High. All were bright and came from middle class or upper middle class families. And all except one were terribly unprepared academically for college. Their SAT scores were really low for students of their socio-economic backgrounds, grade point averages, and class rank. Wilbur Cross High teachers had asked so very little from these students that all of them but one had coasted along thinking they were doing just fine. They were doing very well in comparison to the non-college bound students at Cross, but in no way were they able to compete with students from public high schools in Greenwich, Darien, and Weston -- places my other students come from.

Here's one horror story: one student missed an entire year of sophomore geometry because the teacher was out with a longterm illness. No substitute was ever provided. So the kids went to the classroom and sat there doing whatever. This was fine with the Cross High administration, as long as none of the students wandered the halls or caused a disruption.

Here's another story: I was at a party where I met a Cross High history teacher who told me that he didn't require his students to actually do assigned homework, since they came from poorer families and many of them were working at Stop&Shop or other places to pay for their things. This teacher would then spoon-feed the students the homework assingment in class, thus discouraging any student to complete the homework at home, since it was simply part of the lesson plan the next day. The pace of learning was therefore pretty slow. Then I went to another party (a baby shower) for a neighbor, and her niece, a Cross High student, told me the same thing, except she also told me that she was paying for a new car, jewlery, going out, etc. Her working-class parents paid all the necessities but thought it was fine that she did almost zero homework and worked for pay instead. "Hey, as long as her grades are okay and she stays out of trouble," her mom told me.

Low expectations reap low achievement. Let's name that hyprocisy at urban high schools like Cross and stop kidding ourselves that our city children are getting an education that compares favorably with that offered at high schools in wealthy towns. Only the exceptionally talented, driven, and hard-working students at Cross are able get a first-class education. The rest don't even know how much they are missing. And neither do their parents.

Posted by: AJ | July 23, 2007 11:18 PM

If the comment above has any truth to it, and the article quotes the new principal of Cross saying "It's the top academic school in the district, and I want to make it even better.",
what does that say about the rest of the schools in the district?

Posted by: Good to Great? | July 24, 2007 9:15 AM

The Fonz: "Don't you understand, your brain is clay and I gotta *squeeze* it!"

BC might want to lose the Fonzie nickname; not so cool to be named after a juvenile delinquent - high school dropout - motorcycle gang banger.

REGGIE'S WORLD

The superintendent of schools tries to shine the bruised apple that is the New Haven Public Schools system

by Ryan Kearney - May 25, 2006
The New Haven Advocate

..."these two K-8 schools do have something in common: Their kids are among the lowest performing in the district. Last year, President Bush's education-reform initiative, No Child Left Behind, required Hill Central and Jackie Robinson (which has since merged with the Martin Luther King School) to restructure from the top down for failing to make adequate progress for six years straight.

These schools aren't anomalies: Test scores district-wide are among the worst in the state. As the city marches on with its $1.5 billion school reconstruction program, questions are mounting about the quality of education even within the more impressive buildings.

Uncomfortable questions like: Why do so few public schools in New Haven excel academically? Why, at nearly all schools, do white students vastly outperform their black and Latino counterparts?

The New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) administration says it has made significant strides in recent years, but if the district is to grow, as its billboards say, from good to great, then more drastic measures are needed.

In some cities, "drastic measures" means replacing the top dog. Hartford is looking for its 10th superintendent since 1991, and Bridgeport's had four in this decade alone (including acting superintendents). New York City, meanwhile, cycled through five chancellors in 12 years before hiring Joel Klein in 2002.

No such turnover in New Haven. Dr. Reginald Mayo, 61, who began working for NHPS nearly 40 years ago as a teacher, has presided over the district since 1992--an unusually long tenure, especially in a struggling district. As the highest-ranking black official in the city, he's also a tremendous political asset for his boss, Mayor John DeStefano, who says Mayo has "done a terrific job."

Has he? Mayo's been a rock, no question, but is he the innovator the district needs--someone who keeps abreast of the latest school reform efforts and brings challenging new ideas to the table?

This much is known: Whatever's been done since 1992 to improve student performance hasn't worked. Change is long overdue."

http://newhavenadvocate.com/gbase/News/content?oid=oid:156437
(dead link, maybe the Advocate still has the rest of this article online somewhere else)

http://edreform.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html

Posted by: DAR | July 24, 2007 2:41 PM

My daughter attends Wilbur Cross and tells me many teachers let the "smart ones coast" because they have their hands filled with the troublesome students. I know my daughter is smart, but I did question some A's she received, I didn't think it would be an A somewhere else and I don't want her shocked when she enters higher education. I say that because 2 of my babysitters graduated with honors from Cross and had trouble in college, one transfering to a much lower rated school and was angry she was so unprepared especially in English and writing.
I believe you can get a wonderful education there but you have to be diligent and not take the grades at face value...as a parent, look at the work also and demand your child get the education they deserve!

Posted by: teacher17 | July 30, 2007 10:11 PM

I am a former teacher from Cross. I can also confirm all of the afore mentioned criticism. The expectations are VERY low as far as homework, study habbits or any other academic responsibility. I learned very quickly that homework was not common practice and it was simply not done. It is absolutely true that "smart" kids tend to "coast" because if teachers know that they are competent, energy is turned to the behavior issues, or the students who are so far behind because apparently, expectations have always been low.

As for students being unprepared for college, I think that this is in part due to the fact that mechanics and formal writing is DISCOURAGED in English and History classes. Further, I know English teachers who teach short stories instead of novels. There is rarely ever assigned reading at home. They are not exposed to the level of difficuly and culture that would prepare them for college. Instead, we are encouraged to teach them how to discuss issues, which I am here to tell you does NOT work. The idea is to ellicit thikning, which is a great idea in theory, but we need to teach them how to articulate thoughts properly. The basics, like proper English and mechanics ARE important because they serve a higher purpose.

Cross boasts a very successful honors group- these students come from homes where academics are important. But for the ones that do not, we need to provide structure and routine because the school setting might be the only place that this occurs. Many teachers fail to do this. Furthermore, consequences for problem students are usually negligible. Rarely can you count on a principal (and we had 6) to come to your aid.

Good Luck, Ms. Coggins

Posted by: BJR | August 1, 2007 7:59 AM

I went to a Catholic School but had friends that went to Wilbur Cross. What I didn't understand was why the honor students weren't given more work to do, no summer reading (I had 5 books and reports) no real homework, etc. The top of the class, usually ECA students and ones that can take advantage of college classes, seem to do okay, but I had a good friend, thinking he was an A student, have to leave his college this year to take classes at a lower tier state school. He struggled even in math which was a good subject for him and wasn't a partier. His school was small and he thought a good fit. He hadn't read half the books his classmates had, his essays were C's and the amount of work, overwhelmed him.
I think it's a shame that even students that are given "honor" status, aren't challenged by their teachers...why are they there?

Posted by: Gary Doyens | August 1, 2007 9:48 AM

This first hand accounts of what's actually taking place in our schools is both discouraging and disgusting. My children go to NH public schools; they're bright, smart and get good grades. We are looking at Cross for my son -- and these reports scare the hell out of me. In today's world, there is no room for slackers and a half ass approach to education. If this is what we're doing at Cross, and this is one of the best high schools, it explains why our test scores are in the basement and why Super Mayo and others seem to celebrate an improvement in the degree of failure. From the top to bottom, there are low expectations paired with lofty verbage and hot air.

In New Haven, we are approaching a half a billion in annual spending on our schools in terms of operational budgets for some 17,300 kids. For the same money, we could send them to Foote or Choate or any of the finest private schools where history shows, they get a very good and rigorous education. In addition, we are spending another $1.5 billion - which is 35% over budget from original projects to build monuments to education with soaring ceilings, custom artwork, two story atriums and more. While most of these costs are passed on to taxpayers across the state which includes all of us here, there is a large and growing debt - more than $500 million on its way to $650 million in the next couple of years that falls squarely on New Haven taxpayers.

In the budget this year, Mayor DeStefano trumpeted another $5 million for NHPS. For what I ask? For this type of performance? For failure nearly system wide? I'd like to know what the hell is going on and why.

It's no wonder certain members of the BOE hide out West or worse, can't be troubled to show up at their own meetings, or the mayor either for that matter. I wouldn't want to associate my name with such low expectations and performance either. It may be time for all these people in the Central Office and the NH BOE to resign and let's get people in here who are motivated, concerned and smart enough to educate our kids. We're damn well paying enough for it.

Posted by: NLG | August 1, 2007 5:13 PM

This is an interesting debate, and it seems to be one that has been taking place for a very long time in this community. I graduated from Cross in the mid-1990s, went on to attend two top schools for a BA and MA, and now have a career in public service. So, was I prepared at Cross for the challenges of higher education? After much thought, I think the answer is "Yes," but as much as I loved my high school experience, I must sadly admit that some of my success was perhaps in spite of Cross and not necessarily because of it. I was an independently motivated student who took it upon myself to extend my education thorough outside opportunities (which as an "urban" student were many), and this paid off in spades for me. However, graduating from a school like Cross put me at a distinct advantage with college admissions over equally qualified applicants from less diverse public schools. It's a game many play, and I am not embarrassed that I played it to the max.

Even in high school, my friends and I debated mightily whether or not we were being challenged enough. We still debate this! In reality, it was relatively difficult to know at the time since none of us had any other options available (like private education), few had parents who were advocating actively for us, or any means of comparison. Looking back, I find that my education truly varied teacher by teacher, class by class and year by year. I had many truly inspiring, brilliant and dedicated teachers throughout my experience in the NHPS system. I think about the great influence they had on me, and I wish that someday my own children might benefit from their excellence. I also had some teachers that might have been, or were, practically non-entities. I imagine this is how many teachers thought of their students as well though.

I got greater perspective on the issue as I continued with my education in private institutions and met people from diverse economic backgrounds and all kids of preparatory schooling. I will admit many of my colleagues' levels of exposure particularly to languages, history, literature, and specialized subjects at such a young age is something that I envied, and still feel like I missed (Note: There was not a robust AP schedule at Cross at the time, and the Board was "experimenting" with doing away with tracking). However, I did gain something that was worth more than any top-notch formal education. I learned to be responsible and serious about education from a young age because it was a means to set myself apart from everything difficult around me. And perhaps this is cliché, but I did learn to work hard for what I wanted, and to not take things for granted. There were too many privileged, "brilliant," private-school bred screw-ups to count in college and beyond. However, I really don't know of any "scholarship kids" who messed up so handily. Struggled, yes, but they just had to work a but harder on the outset. The only drawback I can think of personally is that perhaps I would have had a little more initial direction and confidence if I had the benefit of excellent private secondary schooling and guidance, but it's questionable.

So where did this inspiration come from? At Cross, there were so many students doing amazing things despite some real challenges, and I was enthralled by all of the opportunities there were participate in the community: play sports or write for the newspaper or to take college classes (with out first being an Olympic swimmer, a Pulitzer Prize winner or a card-carrying genius). My parents - like most students - were blue collar types who had little advice to give on the topic of going to college and choosing a career- so rather I learned everything there was to know about success from my fellow students. They showed me how to succeed, how to challenge myself, how to "navigate the system", and how to uncover opportunities and take advantage. I know a lot of kids from my time at Cross who are amazingly successful and happy in so many areas of their lives. To this day, I am inspired most by many of the people I met almost 20 years ago. And yes, we had shootings in the cafeteria, three principles in four years, and metal detectors too.

So there are no easy answers, but I applaud all the educators and parents asking these hard questions on behalf of their kids. I think the truth may be that irrespective of the quality of education that Cross (or other such schools) offers, you have to know your own kid. Will they thrive in a challenging environment like Cross? Or are they bright, but lazy, and willing to do just enough to get by? Perhaps this is the real core of the debate.

I honestly believe that a 14-year-old kid is old enough to understand to some degree the ramifications of not doing anything in high school. I have to wonder why these "bright" but "struggling" students post-Cross were so O.K. with being lazy thought out their high school years. It sounds like they cheated themselves more than Cross cheated them. And frankly it doesn't sound they were so "bright" after all.

Posted by: teacher17 | August 1, 2007 10:16 PM

There is one stone I left unturned. Much of the problem with an "honors" classes is that they consist mostly of white students whose parents push to get them into these classes for fear that they will be exposed to inferior students. For some parents, this will mean not white. For others, it is the stigma that comes with an urban school and the regular tracked students. I know many teachers who simply did not want to deal with these parents once their kids did not do as well as expected, most likely becuase they did not belong there in the first place. When that happens, the teacher often accomodates these ill-placed students and the others get short-changed. I've heard horror stories of students who did not belong in an honors class when the parent was totally clueless. Or worse, did have a clue and would rather muscle the kid's way through.

I even taught an AP class and had students that I would not even put in an honors class. Now, with AP that is NOT the norm- I can speak highly of this program at Cross. But somehow there are one or two students who slip through these cracks for three years.

Cross is not all bad- I know some excellent teachers, but get your kid involved with as many extra-curricular courses as possible in order to be truly challenged- and the AP program when appropriate.

Posted by: GO GUVNAHS! | August 2, 2007 10:57 AM

I went to Cross, and was in the small AP, ECA group. For many of the reasons noted above, despite our involved (racist?) parents, and our considerable personal motivation, this SCHOOL did NOT prepare us well for college. Some of the AP teachers and courses were good but what about the classes where a burnt out teachers main goal seems to be to get the class over with asap rather than to inspire or challenge the students?

The highly motivated bright student is the exception and some will probably do well in spite of the limitations of the school, but what about the rest of the students, the majority?

A couple of private school students insisted that they transfer to Cross so that they could be with their AP friends. I asked their parents, in hindsight, what they thought about that decision; one wished her child had received a much better education at Cross (especially as compared to the sibling that stayed in private school) and the other said that despite the academic limitations at Cross she was impressed with how our group fed each other intellectually.

Despite the best intentions of their peers, New Haven High School students still need to be fed by trained educators, aka teachers and advisers, and NHPS students need a much better educational foundation BEFORE they get to high school, or do we just want to stoop to the excuse that the children are cheating themselves? Pretty lame to blame the children.
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2007/07/cmt_scores_give.php#comments


ST, a private tutor with "probably a dozen students from Wilbur Cross High" wrote:
"Only the exceptionally talented, driven, and hard-working students at Cross are able get a first-class education. The rest don't even know how much they are missing."


Reporter Ryan Kearney wrote:
"... is (Mayo) the innovator the district needs--someone who keeps abreast of the latest school reform efforts and brings challenging new ideas to the table?

This much is known: Whatever's been done since 1992 to improve student performance hasn't worked. Change is long overdue."


DAR, a parent, wrote:
"My daughter attends Wilbur Cross and tells me many teachers let the "smart ones coast" because they have their hands filled with the troublesome students."


TEACHER17 wrote:
"I am a former teacher from Cross. I can also confirm all of the afore mentioned criticism. The expectations are VERY low as far as homework, study habits or any other academic responsibility. I learned very quickly that homework was not common practice and it was simply not done. It is absolutely true that "smart" kids tend to "coast" because if teachers know that they are competent, energy is turned to the behavior issues, or the students who are so far behind because apparently, expectations have always been low."


BJR, wrote:
"What I didn't understand was why the honor students weren't given more work to do, no summer reading (I had 5 books and reports) no real homework, etc."

"I think it's a shame that even students that are given "honor" status, aren't challenged by their teachers...why are they there?"


Gary Doyens wrote:
"It may be time for all these people in the Central Office and the NH BOE to resign and let's get people in here who are motivated, concerned and smart enough to educate our kids. We're damn well paying enough for it."


NLG wrote:
..."I must sadly admit that some of my success was perhaps in spite of Cross and not necessarily because of it."

..." rather I learned everything there was to know about success from my fellow students. They showed me how to succeed, how to challenge myself, how to "navigate the system", and how to uncover opportunities and take advantage."

Posted by: Been Called Worse | August 3, 2007 9:22 AM

Another fellow Cross alumni here ('94). The comments left by other definitely rings true when I think back on my high school years.

Was I challenged by my coursework? Barely. I was one of the AP level students and it was pretty much a given I was college bound, so the amount of leeway I was shown by teachers and administrators was remarkable (such as being allowed to take only 3 classes my senior year in order to work a fulltime job in addition to school). When I got accepted to all 4 colleges I applied for, well, at that point it ceased to matter to any of my teachers if I showed up for class or not - their job was done. I'm not saying this to trivialize the effort made by the faculty. I have come across some very dedicated teachers who went above and beyond what could be expected of them because of their devotion to the ideals of their profession.

Posted by: Annie | August 3, 2007 2:11 PM

"Much of the problem with an "honors" classes is that they consist mostly of white students whose parents push to get them into these classes for fear that they will be exposed to inferior students. ... I even taught an AP class and had students that I would not even put in an honors class."

Though there are definitely problems with the racial balance of honors classes at Cross, more learning does go on there than in the college or basic level classes, and that seems like a perfectly legitimate and believable reason to push for one's kids to get into them. Perhaps the criteria for who gets in are racist, or classist, or just bureaucratic.

At least as much as what actually goes on in classrooms, the general expectation in the school matters. I chose to take classes last year that people told me not to take --because there was too much work, the teacher graded hard--and this was from both students and guidance counselors. Advice like that encourages students to coast.

Also, I question--especially given the low expectations for student performance--these assumptions of which kids are or are not fit to be in honors or AP. I go to Cross, and was in four AP classes last year. The students in all of them had a big range of ability and preparation, but in two of them the teacher put in a lot more effort to bring everyone along, and as a student who has the preparation, it seems to me (without seeing the grade books) that this believing in the students, the openness, and the push benefited everyone in the class.

"Further, I know English teachers who teach short stories instead of novels."

I agree with many of the criticisms here, but not with this one. I am in the writing program at ECA, where we read no novels and barely any writing longer than 20 pages, except for plays. This does not limit our cultural exposure or the intellectual level of our discussion.

Posted by: Catherine Sullivan-DeCarlo | August 7, 2007 12:14 PM

I wanted to weigh in just a bit in this ongoing public dialogue about academic rigor at Wilbur Cross High School. I can't speak as a parent or a student or a teacher (though my husband is an alumna). But I can say, from my perspective as an NHPS staffer, that some of the school system's best news stories emanated from Cross this past school year. These achievements were earned by students of all races, creeds and colors, which to me is a signal that Cross is succeeding in offer lots of opportunities to lots of different students.

For example -many students are enrolled in Advanced Placement classes and doing well on exams. Cross AP Coordinator Linda Powell tells me that in the past three years, Cross has moved from an Advanced Placement student population that was 67% white to 65% minority. At Cross, every student in an AP class takes the AP Exams (rather than being hand picked to insure a high passing rate, as sometimes happens.) This year, Cross students scored 3 or higher on more than 150 of the 270 AP exams administered.

In Jim Brochin's journalism program, 100+ students, many in bilingual classes, were inspired enough to publish five editions of The Proclamation, Wilbur Cross High School's newspaper. Their work earned them a "superior achievement" award for scholastic journalism from the New England Scholastic Press Association.

Likewise, the literary magazine published by Wilbur Cross High School's literary magazine, Crosswords, was rated "excellent" by people who ought to know - the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). "Crosswords" was cited for "extremely high quality of writing; variety of genres; meticulous editing, attractive design and graphics" and the fact that students had strong roles in editorial, production, and business aspects.

Students from Cross also won the statewide Colt Foreign Language Poetry Contest this year, winning more medals than Choate (19 or 20)and every other high school in the state. Bob Mitchell's AP Physics students won 1st place in the state competition this year.

It would be great if some of the hard working teachers and administrators who made these things happen would write in, as well.

Posted by: Josiah Brown | August 9, 2007 10:06 PM

Many, if not most, students exhibit only glimpses of their academic potential. We should expect more, and students in general can work much harder than they often do. (This is a national problem. Data from the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research suggest the weekday homework average for 15- to 17-year-olds was 50 minutes in 2003. Those teens on average devoted two-and-a-half hours per weekday to watching television or doing non-study-related computer activities.)

Both inspiration and preparation matter. Educators, parents, peers, and students themselves--as well as the broader community of taxpayers providing accountability and resources--share responsibility. No one should be complacent about the troubling status quo, about achievement gaps that reveal a generation of young people falling far behind and seeing their potential unfulfilled.

The article and postings above mainly concern Wilbur Cross High School, with some allusions to broader trends. I, too, will try to touch on both below in what admittedly will be more long-winded than some readers may have patience for!

Impressive is the dedication of the New Haven Public Schools teachers with whom I work in the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, a curricular and professional development partnership that the district and the University jointly established in 1978. The Institute aims to support the district's continuing effort to attract, develop, and retain well-qualified educators. More than 200 current New Haven teachers, out of 1000 plus in the system, have successfully completed the Institute at least once. The program is voluntary and inclusive rather than exclusive. It depends on teachers' requests for seminars that address their and their students' needs in the context of district curricula. Each seminar meets over several months and is led by a Yale faculty member in a collegial setting. Each participating Fellow writes a curriculum unit for his or her students and becomes a member of the university community.

In the coming weeks, I'll notify the NHI about curriculum units the 2007 Institute Fellows (New Haven teachers of various grade levels and subjects from schools across the district) developed, and about the Institute's 2006 Annual Report, which will soon be available online. For now, what follow are a few examples of work that Wilbur Cross teachers specifically have recently produced in the Institute.

Chris Willems is a 1985 Wilbur Cross graduate now on the science faculty of his alma mater. This year he taught his Cross students the curriculum unit he prepared as an Institute Fellow in the 2006 seminar on "Engineering in Modern Medicine" that Mark Saltzman (Chairman of the Biomedical Engineering Department at Yale) led. That unit was "The Challenge to Deliver Insulin" http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2006/5/06.05.09.x.html

Ralph Russo, who teaches history and social studies at Cross, wrote two units through the Institute in 2006. One was in a local seminar on "Math in the Beauty and Realization of Architecture" (led by Martin Gehner, Professor Emeritus of Architectural Engineering);
this unit was called "Aqueduct Architecture: Moving Water to the Masses in Ancient Rome"
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2006/4/06.04.04.x.html.
The other unit Ralph Russo wrote in 2006 was in a national seminar on "Native America: Understanding the Past through Things" (led by Mary Miller, Vincent Scully Professor of the History of Art); this unit was "Symbols of Hierarchy: Things of Bling in the Pre-Columbian Americas"
http://www.teachers.yale.edu/curriculum/search/viewer.php?skin=h&id=initiative_06.04.10_u.

Catherine Sullivan-DeCarlo's posting above mentions Jim Brochin, another Cross history/journalism teacher who, it happens, was a Fellow in a 2006 seminar on "Photographing America: A Cultural History, 1840-1970" (led by Alexander Nemerov, Professor of History of Art and of American Studies). Jim Brochin developed a unit on "War Photography: Propaganda, Outrage, and Empathy"
http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2006/1/06.01.01.x.html.

Again, these are just a few examples of what New Haven teachers--at Wilbur Cross alone--have recently accomplished as Institute Fellows working as colleagues with Yale faculty members in the humanities and the sciences. Look for news of more collaboration in the weeks ahead, when the 2007 curriculum units are published and disseminated throughout the district in print as well as online for readers anywhere.

Regarding teacher professional development, expectations, and student motivation, the following might be of interest:
http://www.teachers.yale.edu/publications/index.php?skin=h&page=To_Motivate_My_Students/main

Much remains to be done to close achievement gaps in New Haven, across Connecticut and the country. The challenge is urgent. Let's build on our strengths, including many deeply committed educators--Institute Fellows as well as others--in our school district. We should encourage them and attract more of them to town. From early-childhood education through high school and beyond, our whole community needs to take responsibility for balancing higher expectations with greater opportunity.

Posted by: crosseyed dad | August 13, 2007 6:39 PM

Is the mayor in any danger of losing the election? Is the superintendent likely to be removed? Is anybody screaming bloody murder that we live in one of the poorest cities in the country, next door to some of the richest? That our students are being prepped for low-skilled, low-paying jobs and Iraq? That prison construction firms look at third-grade illiteracy rates to project an increased need for cells?

No? Okay, then. The system is working just fine.