From: Peter Steiner [p.steiner@aon.at] Sent: Mittwoch, 03. November 1999 17:22 To: Franz Fiala Subject: Fw: Charter schools -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: Peter Steiner An: Hans Gruber Datum: Mittwoch, 15. September 1999 19:08 Betreff: Re: Charter schools ich habe versucht, den artikel, den kollege neuwirth ausgegraben hat, zusammenfassend zu übersetzen. im folgenden der US-artikel New York startet die erste Charter-Schule von Anemona Hartocollis In diesem Artikel wird der Start einer neuen Schulform beschrieben, die die Mängel des öffentlichen Schulsystems ausgleichen soll, die Charter school (vielleicht am besten mit "zugelassene, beurkundete Schule" zu übersetzen) auf Volksschul- und Hauptschulniveau. Diese Schule wird mit öffentlichen Geldern finanziert, aber privat betrieben, d.h. sie ist den Gesetzen und der Kontrolle des NY-Unterrichtsministeriums entzogen und ebenso der Kontrolle der Gewerkschaften. Betreiber sind private Geldgeber, die eine Zusammenarbeit mit anderen eingehen. Als Beispiel wird in dem Artikel ein milliardenschwerer Wall-STreet-Tycoon angegeben, der ein Gelände einer Baptistengemeinde in der South Brox angemietet hat. Die Baptisten geben der Schule ihre Reputation und haben sich für die Errichtung der Schulen eingesetzt. Diese neue Form einer privaten Schule (3 existieren in NY) befindet sich in sozialen Krisenbezirken. Eine der drei neuen Schulen in NY, Sisulu, ist so eine. Sie hat sich zum Ziel gesetzt, besser als die öffentlichen Schulen in der Nachbarschaft zu werden. Sisulu wurde vom Mitbesitzer einer Investment-Firma gegründet, "in einer Kombination aus altruistischen und unerschrocken kapitalistischen Motiven". Die Aufnahmeprozedur erfolgt über eine Lotterie, wobei die Aufgenommenen per Los aus allen BewerberInnen ermittelt werden. Die Schule ist zwar privat, soll für die SchülerInnen aber nichts kosten. Das wird über die Einstellung relativ schlecht bezahlter LehrerInnen erreicht, eigentlich Lehramtsneulinge, die in einem Kurzstudium ausgebildet wurden. Sie unterrichten nach einem Lehrplan, der auf populären Büchern, die sogenanntes Kern-Wissen beinhalten, beruht. Außerdem unterrichten sie nach der Methode der "direct instruction". Dabei wird den LehrerInnen fst für jede Minute vorgeschrieben, was sie zu tun oder zu sagen haben. Die Schulen sollen so effizient und profitabel wie Mc Donalds werden. Die Schule soll die Mängel des öffentlichen Schullebens beheben und gute LehrerInnen, bessere Testergebnisse, Disziplin und Sicherheit bieten. Die Charter schools in NY gelten als Schulversuche. Ihre Entwicklung wird über drei Jahre vom US-Unterrichtsministerium, nicht vom NY-Unterrichtsministerium, beobachtet. Seit 1992 gibt es Charter schools. Die erste war in Minnesota eröffnet worden. Nun sind es 1200 in den ganzen USA. Die Bandbreite reicht von solchen, die wegen finanzieller Unregelmäßigkeiten geschlossen und untersucht wurden, bis zu anderen in Boston und Los Angeles, die für ihre innovative Kraft gerühmt werden. In New York wurde das Gesetz zur Zulassung von Charter schools relativ spät, nämlich im Dezember 1998, beschlossen. Neben profitorientierten Charter schools gibt es auch gemeinnützige, nicht gewinnorientierte. Die Klassengröße ist etwa 20 im Kindergarten und 25 in der ersten und zweiten Klasse. Die SchülerInnen müssen Navy- oder weiße Uniformen tragen, um die Erziehung zu gutem Benehmen zu unterstützen. Der Vertrag mit der Stadt NY sieht Kosten von 3.110 US-Dollar pro Kind und Jahr vor. Darin sind die Lehrergehälter, die Schulbücher und Hilfsmittel inkludiert. Die gleichen Kosten in der öffentlichen Schule liegen bei 3.500 US-Dollar. Der Lehrplan ist darauf angelegt, die Kinder auf die standartisierten Test vorzubereiten. Bei der Direct Instruction folgen die LehrerInnen einem Skriptum, Wort für Wort und Geste für Geste. Eine Trainerin trainierte die LehrerInnen sieben Tage lang vor Schulbeginn in standardisierten GEsten und Sprüchen, die bei der Direct Instruction angewendet werden, um die SchülerInnen durch den Unterricht weisen. "Get ready", sprachen die Neu-LehrerInnen immer und immer wieder nach und versuchten die Betonung der Trainerin exakt zu kopieren. "Core Knowledge", das Kern-Wissen, wurde von Dr. Hirsch von der University of Virginia entwickelt und definiert kulturelle Grundlinien von Kinderreimen bis zu historischen Ereignissen. Tja, so weit die der Artikel. Es lebe die SCHÖNE NEUE WELT. Falls einE englisch-lehrerIn den artikel zur gänze übersetzen würde, wäre ich sehr dankbar. Ich bin nämlich nicht so sicher, ob ich alles richtig "erwischt" habe. Peter Steiner öli-ug -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: Erich Neuwirth An: lehrerforum@ccc.at Datum: Freitag, 10. September 1999 16:17 Betreff: LF: neuer schultyp in new york >als information darueber, was bei schulinnovation alles passieren kann > > September 8, 1999 > > > New York Begins Test of Charter Schools > > By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS > > > > This summer, Annie Harris, a P.T.A. vice president at Public School 65 >in the South Bronx, put her daughter's name in the lottery for New York >City's first charter school, a new kind of experimental school that >supporters portray as the salvation of public education. > >The only person she told was her husband, a limousine driver, and she >swore him to secrecy. > > Although P.S. 65 is a failing school, Ms. Harris felt guilty about >deserting it. She is a leader in the effort to fix it, and proudly >confides that she is on a first-name basis with Chancellor Rudy Crew. >But Loretta's future, and the chance to put her in a privately run >school with public financing, came first. > > No matter that the new school was in a church building in Harlem that >is on a street as forlorn as any in the South Bronx. Its promise >transcended geography. > > "One of our kids is making it out of the Bronx," Ms. Harris said, >overjoyed when Loretta won the lottery. > > This week, about 1,000 schoolchildren, Loretta among them, will enter >the first three schools to be created under New York State's new charter >law. Two are in New York City, and one is in Albany. They are publicly >financed, but free of the Board of Education control and union rules. > > A year ago, Ms. Harris and the other families, many of them among the >state's poorest and most disadvantaged, would have had no choice but to >go to traditional public schools. They switched because they are >searching for new hope for their children, and because educators and >politicians have given them faith that charter schools can cure >everything that the stereotype says public schools lack: good teachers, >higher test scores, discipline and safety. > > It is far too soon to say whether charter schools will work or be one >more broken promise for families who feel they have been betrayed >before. > > But the dreams of parents and educators are just one face of the >fledgling charter-school movement. As Loretta's new school, the Sisulu >Children's Academy, opens today, a day ahead of other New York City >public schools, it is also the story of millions of taxpayer dollars >going to a private start-up company with no track record anywhere. > > The company, Victory Schools Inc., is run by a Wall Street financier >better known for his billion-dollar leveraged buyouts than for his >educational credentials. It promises to outperform surrounding public >schools not by spending more, but by using novice, relatively low-paid >teachers trained in a packaged curriculum, based on the popular "core >knowledge" books by E. D. Hirsch Jr. and on another method, direct >instruction, which dictates what teachers will do and say almost every >minute of the day. > > Victory intends to propagate schools as efficiently -- and if its owner >realizes his ambition, nearly as profitably -- as McDonald's makes >hamburgers. > > Along the way, it has struck an informal partnership with a major >institution in Harlem, the Canaan Baptist Church. By renting the >church's nearly unused community center, the school is helping to >rejuvenate the church. For its part, the church, led by the Rev. Wyatt >Tee Walker, who lobbied for charter schools in Albany, is lending the >school its credibility. > > A decade ago there were no charter schools anywhere in the country. >(The first was in Minnesota in 1992.) Now there are more than 1,200, >from schools in Arizona that have been investigated for financial >improprieties to schools in Boston and Los Angeles that have been widely >praised for their innovations.> > What they have in common is that they are run by private organizations >who have petitioned a governmental body for a charter to operate a >school for a set period of years free from many union and civil service >rules. These organizations must spell out what they propose to >accomplish and, in New York's case, face monitoring by the State Board >of Regents, not the City Board of Education. > > When New York passed its charter school law last December, it entered >the scene fairly late, becoming the 34th state to allow them. > > The law, pushed by Gov. George E. Pataki but initially opposed by the >Democratic-controlled Assembly and the teachers' union, imposes a limit >of 100 on the number of charter schools that can be created. (An >unlimited number of existing public schools can convert to charter >status, but they gain less relief from existing rules.) > > Sisulu is among three new schools approved for this fall by the State >University of New York board of trustees, which shared approval power >with the Board of Regents. One other, the John A. Reisenbach School, is >also in Harlem, but as a nonprofit institution, modeled on an existing >small public school, it is less of a challenge to the status quo. > > The third, New Covenant, is in Albany. It is a partnership between the >Urban League and Advantage Schools Inc., a private company that runs >schools in other states. Like Sisulu, it will be intended to make a >profit. > > Sisulu, for one, has promised to do even better than other public >schools in the neighborhood, which are among the lowest-performing in >the city. Even if the school fails to meet its test-score targets after >three years, there is an escape clause: if 70 percent of the families >approve of the school, the contractor may remain. But if it does not >meet its targets within five years, Klinsky said, the state can revoke >its charter. > > Since the school goes up to only the second grade, children will not be >required to take state tests, which begin in the third grade, this year. >It is to expand by one grade each year. > > Sisulu is the creation of Steven B. Klinsky, a partner in the >investment firm of Forstmann Little & Co. Klinsky said he started the >school for a combination of altruistic and unabashedly capitalist >motives. > > Quoting Martin Buber, he tells how he believes that everyone was placed >on this earth to accomplish one good thing. "I can't invent a new >medicine," Klinsky said. "But I can do something in education." > > In 1993, he started an after-school program in memory of his brother, >Gary, in East New York, an impoverished part of Brooklyn. That program, >now serving 460 children, is nonprofit. Sisulu plans to use a similar >after-school program. > > But Klinsky contends that, despite the populist veneer of charter >schools, only a big company can overcome the financial and logistical >hurdles needed to open one. Even before the first student has arrived, >Klinsky said, he has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the >school. To make a profit, he needs to achieve economy of scale by >opening other charter schools. > > Klinsky has capitalized on his political connections. The board of >advisers to the school includes Erskine B. Bowles, former chief of staff >to President Clinton, and the Rev. Floyd W. Flake, a former Congressman. > > When Walker proposed to start a school but faced questions about the >separation of church and state, Klinsky came to the rescue by agreeing >to rent the community center, on 115th Street between Lenox and St. >Nicholas Avenues, for $160,000 a year. After the first year, the >business plan contemplates expanding to an adjoining church-owned >building. > > The church has been the lure for some parents. > > "It should be pretty good," said Valerie Banks, whose son, James, will >go to first grade at Sisulu. "It can't be too wrong, because Canaan >Baptist won't let anything go too wrong." > > Anyone living in the city was eligible to enter a bingo-style lottery >for admission. Some parents waited more than two hours for the names of >the lucky children to be fished from a drum. Despite the showmanship, >almost every child who applied found a place. > > The school hired teachers through newspaper ads and word of mouth, >receiving 150 applications and hiring 11. Three of the teachers are >uncertified. School leaders would not disclose the salaries offered, but >many of the teachers are beginners who have never led an elementary >school classroom and will need considerable support to succeed. > > "I left corporate America," said Cathy Inniss, one of the teachers, a >former commercial insurance underwriter. Her previous teaching >experience, she said, was as a mentor to students in her Catholic high >school and as a Girl Scout leader. > > School officials have worked hard to instill a sense of ownership in >the parents. "This is your school," Marshall Mitchell, a former chief of >staff for Flake and a trustee of the school, told cheering parents at an >orientation in August, stressing the possessive. "Congratulations, this >is your school." > > The principal, Berthe Faustin, a petite, authoritative woman, promised >that parents could visit their children's classrooms whenever they >wanted. Some teachers, she said, would even give out their home phone >numbers. > > But in other ways, Sisulu is like any other public school. Class sizes >are larger than those in elite private schools, and about on par with >those in surrounding city schools: 20 students in kindergarten, 25 in >first and second grades. Children are required to wear navy and white >uniforms, on the theory that they will help instill good behavior. > > The contract lists spending per pupil, including teacher salaries, >textbooks, supplies and aides, of $3,110, compared with an average in >Harlem public schools of $3,500. > > The curriculum -- Direct Instruction for reading and math; Core >Knowledge for history and science -- is focused on helping children pass >the standardized tests, leaving as little as possible to chance. > > In Direct Instruction, teachers are expected to follow a script, word >by word, gesture by gesture. A consultant, Jane DeNapoli, spent seven >days before school opened training the new teaching staff in the verbal >prompts and hand gestures that Direct Instruction uses to cue children. >"Get ready," the teachers intoned again and again, copying Ms. >DeNapoli's inflection exactly. > > Core Knowledge, developed by Hirsch, a professor at the University of >Virginia, tries to define cultural literacy, from nursery rhymes to >historic events. Dr. Hirsch is the author of the commercially successful >series of books, "What Your First Grader Needs to," and so on for each >grade. > > > >-- >Erich Neuwirth, Computer Supported Didactics Working Group >Visit our SunSITE at http://sunsite.univie.ac.at >Phone: +43-1-4277-38624 Fax: +43-1-4277-9386 > >-- >Diese Liste wird vom Computer Communications Club (http://www.ccc.or.at) >betrieben. Um sich aus der Liste austragen zu lassen, senden Sie ein e-mail >an majordomo@ccc.at mit dem Befehl "unsubscribe lehrerforum" im >Nachrichtentext. > -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: Hans Gruber An: Peter Steiner Datum: Sonntag, 12. September 1999 23:25 Betreff: Charter schools Liber Peter! Habe meinen Postkasten zu gründlich geleert; dabei ist mir dieser interessante Artikel über die Charter school abhanden gekommen. Könntest du ihn mir bitt schicken? Heftige Grüße Hans Gruber