Education

Columbia’s “The Charter Explosion” is the primary project regarding schooling but several others dealt directly or indirectly with education.

• Children of Immigrants Face Struggle

  The children of immigrants in California carry the legacy of their parents’ sacrifices and the promise of a better future for themselves and the state. But breaking free from cycles of poverty is a debilitating struggle. Latino youth in both Los Angeles and the iconic farm worker city of Delano face rigid barriers to social ascension.

• Arab-Americans Education Their Own
  With a mission to maintain students’ Arab and American identities, Star International Academy reflects the conservative values of Dearborn Heights, Mich.
• Bailing Out on Charters: Those That Left Mosaica
  Mosaica is one of the nation’s bigest for-profit charter school management companies, but with no hard evidence that its signature curriculum is effective, does it have what it takes to survive the marketplace?
• The Mosaica Way: 2 Strategies in Michigan

  Click through the photos to look inside two Mosaica schools in Michigan — Richfield Academy in Flint, and the Arts and Technology Academy of Pontiac — and see Mosaica’s signature Paragon curriculum in action.

• No Classrooms or Grades in a Minnesota School
  The Minnesota New Country School is a project-based school, where the students decide their own curriculum. The model has been spreading through the country, with the help of grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
• Teaching Pipeline Runs Straight Out of New Orleans
  In New Orleans, the demand for teachers outweighs the local supply. Programs like Teach for America have moved in to fill the gap. Now, some say, these out-of-towners clog the pipeline.
• Rebuilding New Orleans from the School Up

  Hurricane Katrina washed away most of New Orleans’ traditional public schools and cleared the way for a new “open-choice” system dominated by charters. These schools draw students from all over the city. What happens when communities are fractured and new ones emerge?

• Special Ed in Charter Schools
  Charter schools do not do enough to serve students with special education needs, according to some public school educators. In the District of Columbia, one student and his parents found this out firsthand, when he was expelled without a special education evaluation.
• What's In a School Name? Potential in New Orleans
  In New Orleans, charter schools are replacing more than the old, brick and mortar school buildings wrecked by the storm. New schools trumpet new missions, colors, songs, mascots and names. Where some are skeptical about re-branding what was familiar and sentimental, others welcome scrapping the failing, decrepit institutions for something completely new.
• Newark Up Close: Tale of Two Charters

  In Newark, N.J., two very different charter schools iare competing for similar resources, space and students. One is rooted in the community of Newark; the other belongs to a national network. One is led by Newark educators, the other by out-of-town Teach for America alumni. One has plans to stay small, the other has aggressive plans to expand. One wants to change how children learn, the other aims to prepare them for life. One needs money, the other — not so much.

  Together, Discovery Charter and the KIPP middle schools frame a debate percolating beneath the charter school explosion.

• Are For-Profit Schools Dead? Not in Cyberspace
  For investors in the education sector, memories of the trials and tribulations of Edison Schools and other early education management companies may still be fresh. Even though doubts may linger, though, for-profit education management companieshave grown steadily over the years. Indeed, reports of the death of education management organizations have been greatly exaggerated. They are alive and thriving in a new realm: cyberspace.
• Behind the Newark Charter School Fund
  When the Newark Charter School Fund was announced in April 2008, it certainly created a splash. True, Newark schools had been getting increased attention with the election of its young, Ivy-educated mayor, Cory Booker. Several Newark schools had been commended on their own merits. But the creation of the $20 million fund placed Newark squarely on the education reform stage, primed to attract big private money. Since then, Fund officials have immersed themselves in the Newark education scene, getting to know the players and the schools and ascertaining needs.
• One Less Bell to Answer: Auditing Charters

  It’s been four years since the New York State Legislature authorized the State Comptroller to audit all public schools, including charter schools. And almost two years since the charter schools began their constitutional challenge to that legislation.

  Now, the charter schools have an answer. Sort of. Yes, the New York Court of Appeals said, the charter schools were right. They don’t have to be audited by the state comptroller. For now, but that could change.

• Newark: Welcome to the Renaissance City
  Since riots racked the city in the 1960s, Newark has endured several aborted attempts at revival. Recent developments, though, are leading residents and visitors alike to believe that they may now be witnessing a rebirth with traction, stemming from an unlikely place. While investment opportunities in real estate and business have certainly caught the attention of glitterati, it’s the city’s charter schools that have captured the imagination of philanthropists and policy wonks alike.
• Gimme Shelter: Story of a Moving School
  Money lies at the heart of the battle between charter schools and their public school counterparts, and in New Jersey, the lack of money for school facilities is on the front line. See how one school in New Jersey solved its facilities problem.
• Upper Peninsula History: American Indian Education

  Since the European arrival in the United States, formal education has been a sorrowful experience for many American Indians. The results? High high-school dropout rates. Click on the time line to track the beginnings of the problem and then learn how education has evolved and improved over time for this population. Hear Upper Peninsula tribal historians describe their local educational histories.

• Money 101: Financial Literacy Courses Take Root
  Much can be learned from a crisis. In classrooms around the country, first-graders learn from Sammy Rabbit that saving is a habit. Middle-schoolers manage bank accounts and high-schoolers develop personal financial plans. In New Jersey, education officials are vetting changes in the K-12 core curriculum, to require more comprehensive instruction of financial-literacy concepts.
• Newark Schools Fight Back Against Charters
  Challenged by a growing number of high-performing charter schools within its bounds, the Newark, N.J., public school district announced an ambitious plan to turn around its schools to create a system that is bolder, more accountable, more transparent and more innovative.
• A 14-Year-Old's Life on the Ojibwe Rez

  Leah Carrick, 14, is a member of the Ojibwe Indian tribe and grew up on the Bay Mills Indian Community in Brimley, Mich. Leah takes us inside her home to show us what she loves about rural life on the reservation and hints at her hopes for the future.

• Refuge on the Michigan Reservation: 3 Teens Up Close
  Educators have long worried about the grim statistics surrounding American Indian high-school students. Dropout rates in particular have remained stubborn and high, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Fifteen percent of American Indian kids nationwide drop out of school, a rate second only to Hispanic students, at 21 percent.

  American Indian tribes in Michigan are trying to lower these dropout rates by creating their own reservation charter schools. Hear three American Indian teens talk about their experiences in these schools.

• Latino Kids Show Grit to Gain Education
  Building Success turns the tables on most stories about Latinos and education, focusing on programs in Phoenix and Tulsa, Okla., that have won national recognition for helping Latino students close the achievement gap. A Flash video introduces the project, which is then told through video, using a unique player that allows the user to access stories, graphics and data without exiting the video.
• The Charter Explosion: Mapping the Trend

  A multimedia map, infographic and timeline capture the explosion of charter schools from zero to 4,600 over the past two decades while providing a history of the charter school movement and overview of major trends.

• Charter Schools: Reshaping Community
  From ethnic schools in Minnesota to tribal schools in Michigan and Catholic schools in Washington, D.C., demographic groups are transforming their relationships with public schools. Videos, maps, photos and text stories.
• A Tapestry of Charter Schools Around the USA
  Charter schools across the country take different approaches to learning, ranging from character-based to technology-focused education, as evidenced by schools in Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., New Orleans, New Jersey and Michigan. Video, text stories, photos.
• Unchartered Territory: Schools Rich, Poor and Virtual

  Some charter schools are cash poor, but others, like virtual charter schools in Pennsylvania and elite charter organizations such as KIPP and Uncommon Schools, get enormous amounts from private donors. Text stories, video and photos.

• New Orleans, the Charters after the Storm
  When New Orleans teachers were fired en masse in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a new generation of teachers converged on the city to teach its returning students. For the most part, this new corps is young, white and affluent. Videos, graphics, text stories.
• NYC Charter Schools in Depth
  Charter schools have grown rapidly in the city, with notable effects on the public school system. Enrollment data shows that Harlem’s zoned public schools, for example, are now educating more children who live in poverty and more children whose first language is not English. Text stories, photos, graphics, video.
• Soldiers Refine Skills Using Video Games

  The earliest videogames by the Atari Company lay down a rule: No player could ever harm a “human” character. Things have changed. Halo and Call of Duty simulate war and killing, and they sell millions of copies a month. The U.S. Army has adopted many videogame-style technologies to train soldiers in battlefield procedures and rules of engagement. Soldiers at Fort Campbell in Hopkinsville, Ky.,say that while these simulators look like games they’ve played, it’s very different for them now.

• Louisiana Educators Take Crash Course in Mac Basics
  Teachers at The Dunham School in Baton Rouge, La. spend an intense three days learning how to use Apple computers. They’re eager yet apprehensive about taking on the role of student. One teacher reflects on her experience on the “Val Cam.”