Selected students have been assigned to write a 500-word response essay that digs deeper into issues raised in A Smarter Charter by Richard Kahlenberg and Halley Potter. Feel free to draw on any of the reflection questions further below, or devise your own. Also, be prepared to pose questions to the authors during our video conference from 8-8:30pm.
When students post essays (using the WordPress category), they will appear below:
- A Smarter Charter: Self-Selection Biases in Charter School StudiesAlyssa Glanzer
- Charter Schools and The Issue of Scalability: An Unexpected ConclusionLeib Sutcher
- From Shanker to “Superman”: What Happened?Ali Felman
- KIPP Schools: The Exception to the RuleSarah Seo
- On the Development of Charter Schools: Changing the Paradigm and the Purpose of Schooling?Emma Kemler
- Ratios and Rewards: A Discussion of Integration in Charter SchoolsJessica Carlson
- Teaching Unions: Will they Build or Destroy Education in Charter Schools?Alix Liss
- The progression of the charter school concept away from teacher experimentation and collaborationRachel Unger
1) Given that the charter school concept was invented by teacher union leader Al Shanker in 1988, how did today’s charter movement grow so far away from the interests of teacher unions?
2) According to the authors, what factors diverted charters from their original mission of racial and economic integration into schools that, in general, tend to be highly segregated? Do you see supporting evidence of these factors in Cotto and Feder’s Choice Watch report?
3) Look closely at the author’s summary of evidence on the academic outcomes of charter schools versus traditional public schools. Do they adequately account for the “selection bias” issues described in Bob Bifulco et al.’s 2009 article, or Kevin Welner’s critique of charter school sorting practices?
4) On what grounds to the authors argue that stronger teacher unions lead to better schools for students? As counter-evidence, the authors quote Geoffrey Canada, founder of the Harlem Children’s Zone charter schools in New York, for stating that teacher unionization “kills innovation; it stops anything from changing” (p. 151). Evaluate the persuasiveness of both points of view.
5) What are the authors’ most persuasive policy recommendations for making charter schools more integrated, and with stronger teacher voice?
6) The authors argue that charter schools have a self-interest in reforming themselves on student segregation and teacher unionization. What’s their argument, and evaluate whether or not it is persuasive for charter school operators? Do they have a compelling reason to change?
7) Is the charter movement so far gone from its original vision that it cannot be turned around? Should the authors have written a different book (perhaps titled Go Away, Stupid Charters!) to criticize its dangers, rather than engaging with and seeking to reform this movement?
8) Dream up some design ideas for a web essay and/or data visualizations to help persuade broader audiences of the key arguments in this book. What might a digital edition of A Smarter Charter look like? What would it feature for Connecticut audiences? For ideas, start with Kahlenberg’s presentation slides from his December 2014 keynote address to an audience of Hartford-area magnet school administrators.