Award www.EDUCATIONUPDATE.com Volume VII, No. 4 • New York City • DECEMBER 2001 Winner FOR PARENTS, EDUCATORS & STUDENTS The State of Special Education U.S. POSTAGE PAID U.S. POSTAGE NEW YORK, NY Permit No.633 PREST STD. Courtesy of the Melmark School 2 Award EDUCATION UPDATE I FOR PARENTS, EDUCATORS & STUDENTS I DECEMBER 2001 Winner GUEST EDITORIAL PRAYER FOR EDUCATION UPDATE SMALL SCHOOLS OFFER REAL HOPE SEPTEMBER 11 Mailing Address: By LUCY FRIEDLAND 276 5th Avenue, Suite 10005 FOR COMMUNITIES OF COLOR New York, NY 10001 Will the sun ever shine there again? email: [email protected] By DR. AUGUSTA SOUZA KAPPNER Public Agenda confirms that the majority of Will the sky ever be blue there again? www.educationupdate.com Not long ago, I traveled to Seattle to join a America’s parents and teachers do not place Will the grass ever grow green there again? Tel: 212-481-5519 group of multicultural scholars and practi- school size high on their lists of educational There where people worked with purpose— Fax: 212-481-3919 tioners and the nation’s leading small concerns. Small school reformers are now rec- Will laughter be heard there again? schools (K-12) scholars. We were meeting to ognizing the need to reach out to leaders in PUBLISHER AND EDITOR: discuss the potential benefits of small communities of color and welcome them into The giant towers were the redwoods in the Pola Rosen, Ed.D. schools reform for minority communities. small schools efforts. forests of steel and glass ASSOCIATE EDITORS: On at least one point we were unanimous: for I recognize the honest concerns some have In the great city called NewYork. Heather Rosen, Adam Sugerman, urban centers and communities of color, about small schools. Many fear small schools Rob Wertheimer most high schools are failing. The news out may be prohibitively expensive. Some oth- They were the pride of those who built them, of our high schools is bleak: ers– many from African-American or other Of those who worked there, ASSISTANT EDITOR: • High dropout rates continue to plague com- underserved communities–worry that overly And of those who visited there. Marylena Mantas munities of color. sympathetic teachers in highly personalized PRODUCTION MANAGER: • African-American and Latino students are learning environments, in recognizing the Men built them, Rosalyn Bacani retained (required to repeat a grade) at alarm- disadvantages faced by their students, may Other men destroyed them. ing rates. not hold students to sufficiently high stan- GUEST COLUMNISTS: • Students of color continue to trail their dards of achievement. Now there’s talk of debris. Stevanee Auerbach, Ph.D., Matilda peers on achievement indicators. The evidence gives us confidence that these Hey! my brothers and sisters lie in that debris. Raffa Cuomo, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Leaders, both within and outside minority concerns can be surmounted by a thoughtful, Move that debris ever so gently, Dr. Carole G. Hankin, Dr. Augusta communities, have been searching desperately coherent and diligent approach to the creation Aborted lives are to be discovered there, Souza Kappner, Martha McCarthy, for answers. But surprisingly–at least from my of small schools. We have seen that small This is the Pompeii of the 21st century. Ph.D., Assemblyman Steven Sanders, perspective–few have embraced a strategy that schools can be affordable for even the poorest Jennifer Ward offers a tremendous amount of promise: small communities. (Research by Fruchter, Stiefel et We will never forget those heroes, these patriots, STAFF WRITERS: schools reform. al. shows that the cost per graduate is actually Oh say can you see, Jacob Appel, Joan Baum, Ph.D., Small schools work. And they appear to lower in small schools than in large.) We have It’s still the land of the free. work particularly well with disadvantaged found that most small schools hold high expec- Lucy Friedland is a retired NYC high school Sarah Elzas, Tom Kertes, Katarzyna students. Last year, Bank Street College of tations for their students. Small school popula- teacher who is now living in Los Angeles. Kozanecka, Sybil Maimin, Chris Education’s study, Small Schools: Great tions, like large school populations, generally Rowan Strides, chronicled the success of small reflect the ethnic makeup of the communities EDITORIAL INTERNS: schools reform in numerous Chicago public they serve; where integration is the goal, small Tune in to Education Update Marie Holmes, Jessica Shi schools. The average school size nationwide schools are often more likely to be able to every Sunday evening from is 741 students, and it is not uncommon for achieve diverse populations. In systems that BOOK REVIEWERS: urban children to attend elementary schools establish clear, progressive guidelines, small 8-8:30 pm on the Lewis Harris Healy, III, Merri Rosenberg, with more than 1,000 students and high schools are actually less likely to be segregat- Frumkes Show: WPAT 930AM Lillian Shapiro, Selene Vasquez schools with 3,000 students. By contrast, ed than are larger schools. COMICS: small schools in the Bank Street study Interestingly, some minority leaders have Bruce Wotring enrolled between 200 to 400 students. The recently spoken out in favor of charter schools difference between the small schools we and voucher plans. Their explanation has been IN THIS ISSUE MEDICAL EDITOR: examined and their larger counterparts was not so much an embrace of these strategies as a Herman Rosen, MD Editorials & Letters . 2 striking. rejection of the status quo. The frustration they Commentary . 2 MODERN LANGUAGE EDITOR: We found that smaller learning communi- feel with the ongoing failure of our urban pub- Spotlight on Schools . 3-9 Adam Sugerman ties diminish school violence, raise academ- lic schools to adequately serve students of Conferences, Workshops & Events . 8 ic engagement and performance, and color is certainly understandable. But what is MOVIE & THEATER REVIEWS: Careers. 9 increase attendance and graduation rates–the needed now is not an abandonment of public Jan Aaron Modern Languages. 10 very issues with which minority communi- schools but rather a commitment to establish- Tutors. 10 MUSIC EDITOR: ties across the nation are grappling. Our ing more effective–and smaller– learning com- MEDICAL UPDATE . 14-15 Irving M. Spitz research affirms the mounting mass of evi- munities. Music, Art & Dance . 12-14 dence of those who have studied small Leaders of color should endorse the small PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR: Children’s Corner . 11 schools over the past decade. Most promis- schools movement within public school sys- Christopher McGuire Special Education . 16-19 ing, small schools reform works within a tems, because small schools offer the poten- COVER STORY . 19 POLITICAL COMMENTARY: public school framework–an important fact tial for quality education, provide educa- Stuart Dunn for leaders of color given that approximately tional opportunities, and foster academic Software & Technology. 20-23 95 percent of African American and 91 per and social success. Small schools may well Book Reviews. 23-24 SPORTS EDITOR: cent of Latino students currently attend pub- provide an answer to much of what ails Colleges & Grad Schools . 25-27 M.C. Cohen lic schools. today’s most difficult-to-reform educational College Directory. 28 Cartoon . 28 WEB DESIGN: Why are there not more leaders from com- systems. Consequently, now is the time for Neil Schuldiner, Rick Sulz munities of color championing small schools leaders of color to propel this movement Museums as Educators . 29 efforts? Why do we allow communities to con- forward. # Movie & Theater Reviews. 30-31 ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT: tinue to build the sort of gigantic schools that Dr. Augusta Souza Kappner has been presi- Camps & Sports. 32 Martin Lieberman, Manager. Rosalyn breed alienation and low expectations? I dent of Bank Street College in New York City Metro Beat . 33 Bacani, Steve Bailey (212) 721-9444, believe that information about the value of since 1995, and was the assistant secretary for Business of Education . 33 Mitchell Levine, Chris Rowan, small schools has simply not reached a broad Vocational and Adult Education for the U.S. Resource & Reference Guide . 34-35 Dawn Clayton, Diane Palmer, Mark enough audience. A just-released survey from Department of Education from 1993 to 1995. Classified . 35 Berge GRAPHIC DESIGNERS: TO Neil Schuldiner, Rick Sulz Education Update Education Update is published monthly by Education Update, Inc. All material is copyrighted and may not be printed FROM Winner without express consent of the publisher. Silver Hill Hospital of the POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Mental Health Excellence in Education Best Education Update Media Award Journalism, 1999—2000 P.O. Box 20005 2000 Columbia University Business NY, NY 10001 Teachers College, Phi Delta Kappa Subscription: Annual $30. Dr. Pola Rosen Award Copyright © 2001Education Update DECEMBER 2001 I EDUCATION UPDATE I SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOOLS SCHOOL 3 Special Approaches to Education: The Importance of Creative Arts By MATILDA RAFFA CUOMO other children, all of whom admired her for her and JENNIFER WARD creativity and dedication. The changes spread. Ali- cia’s grades began to improve, she raised her hand Mentoring USA recog- more in class, and she spoke up when she did not nizes that the value of understand something. She found ways to use the dance, drama and the visu- arts to understand academics — creating dance al arts in these uncertain rhythms to learn addition and solve mathematical times are particularly cru- problems and yoga poses to depict historic events cial. Youth often do not and people. Alicia taught me the invaluable lesson know how to express their of how expression through the arts can profound- inner feelings and many ly change a youth’s sense of self and relation to may not want to speak about their fears and formal schooling. anger. The arts can provide them a less-threaten- Vanessa: She was a high school sophomore, ing outlet to communicate.