蜜桃影视

Washington, D.C.

During the year I student–taught in Washington, D.C., I was fortunate enough to observe and teach at multiple public schools, both district and charter. The two charters schools where I spent many hours were vastly different from one another.

Washington Latin Public Charter School had a diverse-by-design student body, a classics-based curriculum and a Socratic approach to teaching. SEED Public Charter High School, on the other hand, was a college-preparatory, residential school located in one of the District鈥檚 poorest neighborhoods. It served a student body that was 98 percent African-American and over 60 percent economically disadvantaged, utilizing a holistic learning model that customized academic, social and emotional mental health services for each pupil.

Despite their differences, both schools were high-performing, and, unlike the district-operated schools where I student-taught, the educators running these schools had the autonomy to design unique learning models and create school cultures that met the specific needs and interests of their students.

Since then, I鈥檝e been fascinated by the extraordinary amount of innovative school models 鈥� STEM, project-based, dual-language immersion, Montessori, etc. 鈥� in the District鈥檚 charter sector, which enrolls nearly 50 percent of the city鈥檚 public school students. This diversity of school designs, combined with D.C.鈥檚 universal enrollment system, has created a variety of educational options so that each student can find a best-fit school.

For this series, I decided to visit schools that were strikingly different from one another and used their unique qualities to do great things for kids. Like many of the public charter schools in Washington, D.C., these five 鈥渟chools of the future鈥� all provide a high-quality education, but the curriculum, teaching style, and school climate vary greatly from school to school. Center City Public Charter Schools Petworth campus has remained intentionally small since its conversion from a Catholic school. Moreover, it has continue to serve students from the community and adapt its service to meet the changing needs of the neighborhood as more English language learners moved to the area.

Inspired Teaching Demonstration School, a diverse-by-design school, serves students from across the District and emphasizes student thinking and creativity with its project-based curriculum. Serving a majority low-income population, Thurgood Marshall Academy (TMA) is the District鈥檚 only public high school without a feeder pattern or entrance exam. Prepared to take all kids regardless of their academic level, TMA has a law-themed curriculum, high academic standards and impressive college acceptance rates. Currently in its first year, Digital Pioneers Academy has implemented a 鈥渃oding for everyone鈥� learning model by integrating computer science class as part of its core curriculum. Lastly, Ingenuity Prep, intentionally located in the area of the District that needs the most additional seats in high-quality schools, uses computer-based learning and co-teaching to maximize the amount of time students spending learning in small groups.

Each of the schools offers a different type of school experience for D.C.鈥檚 public school students. And when students land in the right school, they can flourish in surprising ways. Here are their stories.

Center City Petworth: Inside One of America鈥檚 First Catholic-to-Charter School Conversions 鈥� 鈥業ntentionally Small,鈥� Built Around Character & Thriving

Three rows of second-graders stand facing the front of the classroom. A speaker emits sounds. First, a door creaking. Then, footsteps thudding and a wolf howling, all followed by the unmistakable opening riff of Michael Jackson鈥檚 鈥淭hriller.鈥�

The students put their hands on their knees and take four big steps forward before swinging their arms quickly from side to side. When they鈥檝e finished performing this simplified version of Jackson鈥檚 choreography, many fall to the floor, giggling.

Jordan Daugherty teaches dance at Center City Public Charter School鈥檚 Petworth campus. Today, her second-grade class is learning the difference between improv and choreography.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 great,鈥� Daugherty says. 鈥淣ow face me upstage. That was choreography. Remember, improv is when you feel the music and move with it. Choreography is when you make up the moves in advance to match the song.鈥�

At Center City Petworth, all students take dance year-round as a part of their regular schedule. It鈥檚 an enrichment course, along with STEM and physical education, all components of the school鈥檚 commitment to providing every student with a comprehensive education.

鈥淲e believe that we need to develop good citizens and well-rounded people, as well as scholars,鈥� says Principal Nazo Burgy. 鈥淭o do that, our students need to be socially and emotionally healthy. Play is really important to early childhood, and this is a place where kids can be kids. We have schedules, procedures, and routines, but our hallways are not silent.鈥�

Center City Petworth is part of Center Public Charter Schools, a network of six intentionally small schools operating in four of D.C.鈥檚 eight wards. Each school has between 200 and 270 students in grades pre-K through eight and only one class of about 25 students per grade.

The Center City network began when a group of private Catholic schools, experiencing financial problems, was on the verge of being shuttered. Many of these schools, like Petworth, had occupied an important place in the community for nearly a century.

鈥淔amilies wanted the school to survive,鈥� says June Felix, a kindergarten teacher at Center City Petworth and the last remaining teacher from the school鈥檚 era as a Catholic institution. 鈥淭eachers and parents rallied behind it becoming a charter school.鈥�

In 2008, as part of the first Catholic-to-charter school conversion in the country, the Petworth campus, along with five other Catholic schools, became Center City Public Charter Schools.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been a great change,鈥� says Felix. 鈥淎s a Catholic school, we could not take all students. Our community had started to change, and community members who wanted to come to our school couldn鈥檛 afford it. We didn鈥檛 have the funding to help students with special needs, either. As a charter, we can serve all of them.鈥�

Today, Center City Petworth鈥檚 student population is approximately 45 percent Hispanic and 46 percent African-American, with 60 percent of students designated as economically disadvantaged. Currently, 25 percent of Petworth鈥檚 students are English language learners, a number that has been increasing each year.

鈥淥ur schools are like small neighborhood schools, so they mostly reflect our local community. Our size and the supply and demand of the school lottery, as well as the sibling preference, influences that,鈥� says Alicia Passante, Center City鈥檚 ESL program manager. 鈥淎t Petworth, almost all of our Spanish-speaking students鈥� families come from El Salvador. We also have a lot of families from Ethiopia and the Philippines.鈥�

After the conversion, the schools鈥� new leadership removed all religious elements, but they decided to keep the schools small so that teachers could continue to emphasize character development and relationship-building, in addition to providing a high-quality educational program.

For the past three years, the D.C. Public Charter School Board has awarded Center City Petworth a Tier 1 ranking. Although the overall percentage of students scoring at or above proficiency on state exams is on par with the average score for all D.C. public schools, a larger percentage of the school鈥檚 鈥渁t-risk鈥� and Black/African-American students achieve proficiency than the district-wide average, according to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education鈥檚 newly released school report card system. In addition, Center City Petworth boasts a higher in-seat attendance rate, a higher re-enrollment rate and a lower rate of chronic absenteeism than the district-wide averages.

Following the script 鈥� and not following the script

鈥淏ecause of our size, teachers really get to know students,鈥� says Hannah Groff, the schools鈥� language access coordinator. 鈥淭hey watch them grow up from kindergarten. Often, they know the family well before they even teach a student, and they often teach siblings.鈥�

Center City Petworth prescribes Common Core-aligned curricula and materials for teachers, like Wit and Wisdom, a K-8 English Language Arts curriculum that emphasizes writing, language, speaking and listening standards by focusing each unit on an essential question and thematic text set, and Eureka Math, a pre-K鈥�12 curriculum that stresses daily fluency lessons, conceptual learning and rigor. While the units and day-to-day lessons are provided, teacher creativity is still valued.

鈥淲e want teachers to follow the script and not follow the script,鈥� says Passante. 鈥淔or instance, Eureka Math was too advanced for many of our kids at first, so teachers had to find creative ways to scaffold it. And Wit and Wisdom is a very rich curriculum, but it needs hooks for student buy-in, and hooks come from teacher experience. They鈥檝e got to make it their own by bringing their personalities into it.鈥�

Because of the low teacher-student ratio, students receive a lot of individual attention. Pre-K to first grade is self-contained, taught by a lead teacher and instructional aid. In upper elementary school, teachers have looped classes 鈥� they teach the same students for two grades. From second through fifth, students take humanities with one teacher and math and science with another. In middle school, teachers teach all three grades, and there鈥檚 both a science and a math teacher. For all grades, the content area teacher usually co-teaches with an inclusion teacher, who specializes in English as a Second Language or special education, depending on the needs of the students in the class.

鈥淭here鈥檚 pros and cons to every teaching model,鈥� Passante says. 鈥淭he pro here is that teachers become masters in their content area, but it鈥檚 a lot of work because they prep for multiple grades. The big pro for our students is the building between grade levels. When a second-grade teacher also teaches third grade, that teacher knows exactly where the students need to be standards-wise at the end of second grade to be successful next year.鈥�

Teachers also choose what electives the school offers. Middle school students take a different elective each quarter, usually choosing from three or four offerings. This quarter, some students are taking tap dance while others are taking robotics, where they use Lego Mindstorms kits to build and program their own robots. During the first day of the art elective, P.E. teacher 鈥淐oach Sam鈥� Daniel taught students about the minimalist line drawings of Pablo Picasso before they created single-line drawings of their hands, in pen, so that they couldn鈥檛 erase. Teachers have to be informed about their elective subjects but not necessarily experts in the subject matter.

School leaders also encourage teachers to make time for their 鈥減assion projects.鈥� Fifth-grade humanities teacher Shannon Nuzzelillo loves animals, so she partnered with the Washington Animal Rescue League to provide kids with volunteer opportunities. Her students have learned how to approach animals, and they鈥檝e also practiced their reading skills by snuggling up with, and reading aloud to, a canine friend.

Middle school science teacher Mark Joyner鈥檚 classroom is decked out in聽Star Wars聽memorabilia. A bookcase behind his desk is filled with action figures. Stickers of C-3PO, R2-D2, Boba Fett and others cover bulletin boards. At the beginning of the year, he asks students to decide whether they want to join the Light Side or the Dark Side. Then the battle begins. Each day, they compete in 鈥淪cience Wars鈥�: trivia questions based on the week鈥檚 lessons. A drawing of lightsabers on the wall, with a scale ranging from Sith apprentice to Sith Lord and Youngling to Jedi Master, marks whether the Light Side or the Dark Side is the week鈥檚 winner. Joyner鈥檚 love for聽Star Wars聽is apparent throughout his classroom, except for the turtles. They are named after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; he let the students pick those.

Strengthening the small school community

鈥淏eing a small school is a blessing and a curse for students,鈥� says Principal Burgy. 鈥淓veryone gets to know each other very well. The downside is you鈥檝e got to learn to get along with your peers even if you don鈥檛 like someone very much. We focus a lot on social and emotional learning to help strengthen our community relationships.鈥�

Each morning begins with a school-wide, student-led meeting. The students play games, talk about character and practice mindfulness. Each week, the meetings emphasize a different virtue that benefits the community, like patience, generosity and honesty. Every Friday, school leaders honor a student who demonstrates that week鈥檚 virtue.

Each grade also has monthly social-emotional lessons. Fourth-graders recently had a lesson on 鈥渢hinking before speaking,鈥� while fifth-graders focused on self-regulation and calming strategies, such as deep breathing, getting a drink of water and internal counting.

Because it can be challenging to have 3-year-olds and 13-year-olds in the same building, students participate in a 鈥渓ittle buddies鈥� program to promote cross-grade community. The older students partner with younger students as reading buddies, and together they read a book one month and then complete a project on it the next. At the end of the school year, they also work together on a school beautification project, such as painting the playground fence or creating a mural for the hallways.

鈥淭he 鈥榣ittle buddy鈥� system helps us improve our social interactions with the younger ones,鈥� says eighth-grader Chelsea Lazo. 鈥淚t makes me happy. I like how we get to teach them and help out the community. It makes me think that when I grow up, I might like to do something where I help others.鈥�

Her classmate, Nash Campo, agrees. 鈥淓ven by reading with someone, I can build small relationships, and it helps me get to know my community better,鈥� he says.

Staff members also conduct home visits to strengthen relationships with students and families. For the 2018-19 school year, the staff鈥檚 goal is to conduct a home visit to 90 percent of families. Lazo thinks that home visits are especially helpful when a new teacher or student comes into the community. 鈥淢y mom felt relieved after the new teacher visited because she got to know her and felt better about sending my little brother into her class,鈥� she says.

鈥淧arent buy-in is the first big outcome. I can see that many parents feel more comfortable,鈥� says Mike Bailey, a first-grade teacher and leader of the school鈥檚 family engagement program. 鈥淥nce they see we have the best intentions for their children, they trust us. Once that trust is built, then we can work together to grow the child.鈥�

Throughout the year, the school has many events 鈥� cultural heritage nights, family potluck dinners, a visit to a pumpkin patch, family breakfasts and more 鈥� that they encourage parents to attend.

鈥淧arents become really trusting of this school because of the small community,鈥� says Groff, the language access coordinator. 鈥淚f they have issues, even when they aren鈥檛 school-related, this school is often the first place they come because they feel safe saying, 鈥業 need help.鈥欌��

鈥淢y parents, especially my mom, really like this school,鈥� says Campo. He began attending Center City Petworth in second grade when his family moved to the U.S. from the Philippines. 鈥淚t took a while for me to speak English, but my teachers were supportive. Over time, my parents got to know everyone at the school 鈥� all the teachers and staff 鈥� because everyone is really kind. In fourth grade, I had a mild stroke, and Ms. Burgy was really helpful. She took me to the hospital and explained everything to my mom, so she wouldn鈥檛 panic.鈥�

The challenge of saying farewell

The transition from the small environment of Center City Petworth to a large-scale high school can be difficult, but the school鈥檚 staff works with students so that they鈥檒l know what to expect.

鈥淲e really teach our kids how to be their advocates because we know that they鈥檙e used to this small school, and that high school could be a rude awakening for them. We hope that by teaching them to advocate for themselves from the start, they鈥檒l understand how to use their voice to get what they need to be successful,鈥� says Passante.

Eighth-grade students have a high school prep class each week with a counselor. The counselors work hard to assist students with getting into the best schools. They do research to match GPAs and test scores with selective and private school requirements to figure out which schools they鈥檙e eligible for. The students go on shadow visits to schools where they shadow other students, which helps them find schools where they鈥檙e a good fit. Each student applies to five schools through the class. Students participate in mock interviews with counselors. They write application essays and, for private schools, complete scholarship applications.

鈥淚t鈥檚 nerve-racking,鈥� says Lazo, who hopes to attend either The School Without Walls or Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School next year. 鈥淎ll the applications and the essays, wondering if and where you鈥檒l get in, but it鈥檚 also good because when you apply for high school, you鈥檒l get used to how it feels and what to do when you apply for college.鈥�

Counselors also work with families to help educate parents on why a convenient neighborhood school might not be the best option for their child. Many parents don鈥檛 like the idea of sending their son or daughter to a school outside the local community. Often counselors have to explain to parents why taking a bus for 40 minutes to a school across town will benefit their child in the long run.

鈥淥ur goal is to send 80 percent of our students to Tier 1 charter schools, private schools or highly selective DCPS schools. Last year, we were just shy of that, with 76 percent,鈥� says Passante. 鈥淚n general, we try to steer our kids away from the neighborhood high schools, but some do go there and are successful.鈥�

Most students are excited about the prospect of starting high school, but they also realize that they鈥檝e been fortunate to have such a homey environment during their early school years.

鈥淓veryone here is a part of my second family,鈥� says eighth-grader Ashley Velasquez, who has been attending Center City Petworth since kindergarten. 鈥淓veryone is so open, and the teachers are there whenever you need them.鈥�

Campo agrees: 鈥淵ears from now, I鈥檒l still remember how we were like a family here.鈥�

Inspired Teaching Demonstration School: A D.C. School Meant to Inspire Teachers and Students

Artwork and projects decorate the light blue walls of Inspired Teaching Demonstration School, an inquiry-based learning public charter school now in its eighth year.

A colorful 鈥渂ody map,鈥� with the organs labeled, covers the door of one prekindergarten classroom. On the wall outside the other pre-K classroom hang drawings of guitars because the class read a picture book about the childhood of Jimi Hendrix when learning about musical instruments. Down the hall, the 3-year-old class has been experimenting with paints, both watercolors and temperas.

Everything displayed on the walls of the three-story building on Douglas Street NE in D.C.鈥檚 Ward 5 is student-made.

鈥淭eachers really value our creativity here,鈥� says Takhari Millner, a seventh-grader who has been attending ITDS since kindergarten.

Ranked a Tier 1 public charter school by the D.C. Public Charter School Board, ITDS opened in 2011 and serves 472 students in prekindergarten through eighth grade. There鈥檚 two classes per grade, except for seventh and eighth grade, which will each expand from one class to two when the school reaches its roughly 525-student capacity in 2020. For the 2018-19 school year, ITDS received 1,745 applications for 125 spots. Its waiting list currently has 913 students.

ITDS students have consistently outperformed their peers in both the public charter school sector and District of Columbia Public Schools on state exams, yet test prep and standardization are the antithesis of the school鈥檚 model. Born out of a partnership with the Center for Inspired Teaching, ITDS operates a demonstration school for the best practices in inquiry-based teaching and active learning methods.

For teachers by teachers

In 2009, the聽, a national organization based out of D.C. that鈥檚 dedicated to teacher professionalism and experiential learning, brought together a group of educators to create a school that showcased the center鈥檚 instructional model.

Deborah Dantzler Williams, the founding head of school, previously worked as the center鈥檚 director of strategic partnerships.

鈥淭he center had partnerships with public schools around the city,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檇 talk with principals, wanting to share CIT鈥檚 philosophies, but often, they had looked up my background and seen that I came from an independent school environment. They were suspicious, thinking, 鈥榃ell, you worked in schools that test and pick kids, so how can what you know be relevant to us? Where can we see this type of instructional model being done in a public school? On a typical budget?鈥� We couldn鈥檛 avoid those questions anymore.鈥�

鈥淏eing a charter school was really our only option,鈥� says Kate Keplinger, ITDS鈥檚 chief operating officer and lead author of the school鈥檚 charter. 鈥淥ur mission is focused on public education, but we needed a place where we could be innovative and different. Within DCPS, we wouldn鈥檛 have the same freedom and ability to make the kinds of decisions that we needed to make about how we were going to teach within and staff our school.鈥�

The Center for Inspired Teaching wanted to create a school that could be a changemaker in the realm of public education 鈥� a place where they could share best practices with educators, policymakers and community members. Part of that goal meant creating a place that could serve as a training site for teachers. Through the Inspired Teaching Residency Program, teachers can earn both their master鈥檚 in teaching and their D.C. teaching license through coursework and a residency year spent working in an ITDS classroom, under the supervision of an experienced teacher.

Teacher residents follow a 鈥済radual release鈥� training. First, they observe the experienced teacher; then they begin teaching small portions of the class; and finally, they take over the teaching entirely. During the second year of the program, teacher residents obtain a full-time teaching position in a D.C. public school. After successful completion of the residency, they must work an additional four years in D.C. public schools to receive full tuition reimbursement.

How to think, not what to think

To explain inquiry-based learning, ITDS鈥檚 leadership compares schooling to a taking a trip. At a traditional school, teachers decide where the journey (the learning) will start and end, but they also decide the vehicle needed for travel as well as all the sites that will be seen. At an inquiry-based school, teachers still pick the starting point and the destination, but the class helps choose the mode of travel and the route. Teachers navigate (keep students on track) without controlling the entirety of the expedition.

ITDS relies on outside curriculum 鈥� including Creative Curriculum, a research-based preschool curriculum that features exploration and discovery as pathways for learning, and Readers-Writers Workshop, where teachers act as reading-writing coaches showing students how to read and write rather than telling them 鈥斅燽ut there are no prescribed lesson plans. The curriculum and standards drive what students need to know; teacher and student interests determine how to get there.

For instance, in Ash Moser鈥檚 English language arts class, students had to meet a writing standard that required them to research a topic, take notes and communicate what they鈥檇 learned by creating a nonfiction text. Moser didn鈥檛 assign topics. Instead, he let the students choose. However, their nonfiction text had to be 鈥渁 product with a purpose.鈥� So one student researched allergies and made a brochure about them, which she is now handing out to doctor鈥檚 offices. Another student researched porcupines and created a placard for a zoo exhibit. She鈥檚 currently attempting to obtain permission to post it at D.C.鈥檚 famed National Zoo.

鈥淲hen students get to see that there鈥檚 value in what they鈥檙e doing 鈥� a purpose to their education beyond getting a grade of passing a test 鈥� they see why education matters. Here, teachers are encouraged to make learning highly motivated and purposeful,鈥� says Moser.

In the inquiry-based learning model, teachers are still considered providers of information, but they are also the instigators of student curiosity and provokers of original student thought.

鈥淥ur teachers are really kind,鈥� says sixth-grader Tara Roberts. 鈥淭hey actually care about what you鈥檙e doing and how you do it. Before I came here, I was at a school where you could do the work you were assigned, and when you鈥檇 finished, you could play with Legos. I didn鈥檛 like that at all. The teaching style here is that you can do things in different ways and that your choices matter.鈥�

鈥淎 pillar of our school is very much how to think, not what to think,鈥� says Monisha Karnani, ITDS鈥檚 director of demonstration and outreach. 鈥淔or instance, students don鈥檛 wear uniforms here. That was an intentional choice. As an adult, most professions don鈥檛 require uniforms. You have to decide for yourself, 鈥榃hat is appropriate dress in this context, and why?鈥� For all our rules, we explain the 鈥榳hy鈥� to students and allow room for conversation about that 鈥榳hy.鈥欌��

This ethos attracted teacher Tamas O鈥橠oughda to the school. He鈥檇 gone on several interviews at other D.C. public schools before coming across ITDS. 鈥淔rom many of those, my impression of the culture was: 鈥榊ou must follow this lesson plan exactly,鈥欌�� he says. 鈥淗ere, the first question they asked me was 鈥榃hat鈥檚 your educational philosophy?鈥� And Ms. Dantzler Williams even said, 鈥榊ou have a lack of rigidity. That鈥檚 great.鈥� My last administrator would have seen that as a weakness, but here, the leadership sees the value in exploration. Everything doesn鈥檛 have to be mapped out. You don鈥檛 have to teach students in just one way.鈥�

鈥淭he freedom to have some more out-of-the-box ideas in how to let students learn has really kept me here,鈥� says science teacher Jodi Ash. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had a lot of fun teaching and learning science, and that鈥檚 had an impact on me as an educator and how my kids feel about science. They burst into songs when they hear words from the periodic table. There鈥檚 a lot of joy in learning here.鈥�

Liane Alves, an ITDS prekindergarten teacher and former teacher resident, agrees. 鈥淭eaching here is both very fun and very challenging,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ecause of the inquiry-based model, learning here is bottom-up, based on what students are interested in, rather than top-down, based on what I know. So I have to learn a lot because I have to research what they want to learn. I鈥檝e researched robots, vehicles and city planning. This year, there鈥檚 a lot of interest in space.鈥�

This school does everything differently

At ITDS, there isn鈥檛 a heavy reliance on technology. From third grade up, each student has their own tablet, but devices are only used if they can enhance learning, never merely to check a box, and the school has no SMART boards 鈥� another intentional choice.

Regardless, the聽聽has identified ITDS as an exemplar school. The designation signals that the school uses 21st century learning initiatives that are successfully preparing students for college, career and life. At ITDS, that preparation comes from a school-wide emphasis on project-based learning as a method for enhancing students鈥� critical and creative thinking.

Each trimester, students complete culminating projects in their core subjects. At the end of the trimester, students show off their projects at 鈥淟earning Showcase,鈥� an evening event where families come to see what the classes have been working on. It鈥檚 a great community builder, and school leaders say family participation is above 90 percent.

In Courtney McIntosh-Peter鈥檚 sixth-grade math class, students finished their study of ratios by examining Cubist artist鈥檚 Piet Mondrian鈥檚聽. First, they determined the ratios of the colored squares in his art. Then they had to create art using assigned ratios. Finally, they had to create an original work of art and explain the ratios that they chose.

Last year, when聽Black Panther聽came out, Jodi Ash鈥檚 sixth-graders were working on their chemistry unit. As a class, they debated where, given what they knew about its composition, vibranium,聽, would be located on the periodic table. Then Ash assigned each student a single element from which they had to derive a superpower. Based on the element鈥檚 properties, students created their own superhero franchise, complete with comic books, costumes and theme songs. They paraded through the school, singing their theme songs and wearing their costumes.

Ash Moser鈥檚 class also held a funeral procession for all the 鈥渄ead words鈥� they would no longer use in their writing. On the wall of his classroom is 鈥淢oser Hill Cemetery,鈥� where lifeless words are laid to rest, marked by paper cutouts of tombstones that bear names like 鈥淕ood,鈥� 鈥淏ad,鈥� 鈥淎wesome,鈥� and 鈥淐ool.鈥�

In Matthew Wong鈥檚 second-grade class, students created campaign posters for different characters from Roald Dahl鈥檚 books. In November, they held an election to determine the school鈥檚 favorite character. The winner, in a landslide victory, was Matilda. The standard the class was studying? Character development.

鈥淭his school does everything differently than other schools I鈥檝e been to,鈥� says fifth-grader Alexis Brown. 鈥淣o other school that I know of does intersession.鈥�

Intersession is the highlight of the school year for many students. During the week before winter and spring break, every adult in the building picks a topic they鈥檇 like to explore in depth with a small, mixed-grade group of students for four school days. Students then sign up for the session that interests them most. Previous options have included: martial arts, photography, creative writing, cooking, T-shirt design, winter engineering, improv, student newspaper and more.

But can it be replicated?

Many ITDS parents want the school to expand through 12th grade. Numerous community members want it to replicate. However, neither growth nor replication are in ITDS鈥檚 plans.

鈥淭he demonstration model was not meant to be replicated by us, but to be replicated by other schools,鈥� says Karnani.

鈥淭he idea is to get this model perfected to a place where other schools can replicate it,鈥� says Dantzler Williams. 鈥淲e think we can reach more kids in the District of Columbia that way.鈥�

The school welcomes visitors. This year, they鈥檝e already hosted teachers and principals from DCPS, Montgomery County Public Schools, and the Alpine School District in Utah. However, questions remain about the practicality of widespread replication.

鈥淐IT has always believed that teachers are the key agents for change,鈥� says Keplinger. 鈥淏ut the real question is, how do they compare to the human resource person in a big central office? We only let people work here who are philosophically inclined to our beliefs, and we screen our staff heavily for that. You can鈥檛 replicate our model in a school that lacks the ability to make those decisions.鈥�

ITDS is also a member of the聽, an organization dedicated to creating racially and socioeconomically diverse charter schools through advocacy, research and outreach. Its student population is racially diverse: 45 percent of students are white, 37 percent African-American, 7 percent Hispanic, 3 percent Asian and 9 percent multiracial. Fifty-nine percent of the faculty are people of color. The leadership works via recruitment efforts to keep it that way. However, only 22 percent of the students are designated as economically disadvantaged, a much lower number than both the 77 percent for all DCPS schools and those of many struggling district schools where teachers face challenges specific to educating children in poverty.

However, Dantzler Williams believes that the essential elements of the school 鈥� teacher voice and professionalism, the core beliefs and project-based learning 鈥� are applicable in schools throughout the District. And former teacher residents bring the training, philosophy and practices that they鈥檝e learned at ITDS with them when they accept positions at the city鈥檚 other public schools.

鈥淲e still very much believe this model can be replicated,鈥� says Dantzler Williams. 鈥淏ut we are still figuring out a lot of the key pieces. Like our students, we are learning on a regular basis.鈥�

Thurgood Marshall Academy: A, B, C, F 鈥� Why This High School Never Gives Ds and Teaches Its Students to Think Like Lawyers

“Coats off, scarves off, hats off! Belts on; shirts tucked,鈥� Stacey Stewart, Thurgood Marshall Academy鈥檚 director of student affairs, yells at the two lines of students waiting to check in and begin the school day.

鈥淢s. Stewart, I鈥檓 early today,鈥� a student says as he approaches check-in.

鈥淚t鈥檚 8:29. You are not early; you are on time,鈥� she says, exasperated and amused. Check-in runs from 8 to 8:30 a.m. After students check in, they head downstairs for breakfast.

Nothing about morning check-in at Thurgood Marshall Academy (TMA) hints that there鈥檚 anything exceptional about the school, but a glass case near Stewart, filled with academic awards, reveals the truth: This is an extraordinary school.

Consistently ranked as a top-tier public charter school in Washington, D.C., Thurgood Marshall Academy is a law-themed school that serves about 400 students in ninth through 12th grades. Over 90 percent of students live in Wards 7 and 8, the city鈥檚 two poorest neighborhoods. Nearly 100 percent are African-American, and 61 percent are designated 鈥渁t risk鈥� by the Office of the State Superintendent, meaning they are at greater risk of dropping out based on their receipt of public assistance, food stamps, involvement with the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency, homeless status, or being older than expected for their grade.

The average ninth-grader enters TMA three to four years behind grade level.

Nevertheless, since TMA graduated its first class in 2005, 100 percent of graduates have been accepted into college, over 90 percent have enrolled in college within a year of graduating from high school, and 94 percent persist in college from freshman to sophomore year. The school鈥檚 cohort four-year graduation rate (a city calculation that also includes the status of students who have withdrawn or moved to different schools over the past four years) is 78.5 percent, higher than the statewide average of 68.5 percent, and significantly higher than the neighborhood鈥檚 district-run high schools, which have rates of 50 and 55 percent. For the past three years, student scores on D.C.鈥檚 standardized exams have been among the highest citywide for nonselective high schools.

鈥淎s a nonselective, freestanding high school, we don鈥檛 have a feeder pattern,鈥� explains TMA鈥檚 executive director, Richard Pohlman. 鈥淲e鈥檙e ready to take all kids who come through our doors, so our program has to be diverse enough to take both kids highly prepared and those significantly behind. Our systems and structures are a decade-plus old, but they鈥檝e produced consistent results over that amount of time. What we鈥檙e doing works.鈥�

So, what聽补谤别听they doing?

They鈥檙e exposing students to law-infused curriculum.

They鈥檙e increasing learning by supporting students and teachers.

And, they鈥檙e聽not聽giving Ds. The grading scale at TMA goes A, B, C, F.

Mastering the 5 essential legal skills

TMA鈥檚 goal is not for every student to become a lawyer but for all students to gain competency in the skills that lawyers rely on. The 鈥渇ive essential legal skills鈥� 鈥� advocacy, argumentation, critical thinking, negotiation and research 鈥� are woven into the curriculum for all classes.

鈥淲e鈥檙e always learning about and growing our law theme,鈥� says Pohlman. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not easy to know what a broad mission statement looks like in practice, so we have to work at it. How do we teach skills that are useful for civic engagement? Skills that get kids into college and careers, but also help them become actively engaged democratic members of society? Our history teachers have been remarkable about that.鈥�

Each year in history class, students must complete a law-related project that emphasizes the five legal skills. Previous projects include mock trials, soapbox speeches, issue-to-action projects and studies of the impact of federal legislation on D.C. Council legislation. In the 2017-18 school year, the social studies department arranged 18 educational trips for students, including a visit to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Students also participate in the school鈥檚 law-related programming. In ninth grade, students have Law Day six times a year, when they attend legal workshops hosted at and by local law firms. Sophomores spend eight half-days at Howard University, learning from professors about how law is present in their everyday lives.

During their junior year, students get to know a legal professional through the Law Firm Tutoring mentorship program. TMA partners each junior with a mentor at a local firm. Once a week, students travel to the firm (which provides meals and transportation) and have dinner with their mentor, who helps them with scholarship writing, SAT prep, college research, etc.

鈥淯nderstanding the law and my rights has made me a better person outside of school,鈥� says Devin Halliburton, a junior at TMA, whose Law Firm Tutoring mentor Yasmine Harik is an associate at Arnold & Porter.

Fellow student Ashleigh Miles agrees. 鈥淚鈥檓 not going to turn law into a career, and neither is Devin, but the information is good to know,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he law part, that鈥檚 what makes Thurgood unique. We get to meet new people and make connections in that world and learn from them.鈥�

For those students who become interested in pursuing a law career, TMA offers more in-depth law courses. For instance, in Peer Court, students learn about how laws affect school policy, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Act and special education, and court cases, such as聽Morse v. Frederick, involving students鈥� free speech. In the 2007 case, the U.S. Supreme Court found a school official had not violated a student鈥檚 First Amendment rights by suspending him for displaying a banner proclaiming 鈥淏ong Hits 4 Jesus.鈥� Another component of the class involves volunteering on a student-run court, which coordinates with the Office of Student Affairs to assign and monitor consequences for students who have committed minor disciplinary infractions.

鈥淲e teach students to advocate for themselves, so we want to listen to them when they do,鈥� explains Pohlman. 鈥淧eer Court is a way of doing that. It lets students think about logical consequences for behavior.鈥�

Peer Court, portfolio assessments, and food if you鈥檙e hungry

鈥淢s. Odu!鈥� a student shouts. 鈥淒o you want to hear a joke?鈥�

鈥淗mm. Do I want to hear a joke?鈥� Ms. Odu, her ninth-grade English teacher, pauses. 鈥淵eah, OK, go on, Kamani.鈥�

鈥淲hat鈥檚 the hottest place in a cold room?鈥� Kamani asks. 鈥淭he corner, because it鈥檚 always 90 degrees.鈥� The class laughs, but no one louder than Kamani. Ms. Odu laughs with them.

鈥淭hat was cute,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut now, we have to settle down and finish this assignment from the last class in 25 minutes because we can鈥檛 spend six years on it. And, remember, your quiz is on Monday. We don鈥檛 have school on Friday, so some of you will probably forget. But that鈥檚 OK. Because that鈥檚 your problem.鈥�

Kome Odu came to TMA in 2012 after teaching in Prince George鈥檚 County Public Schools in Maryland. 鈥淭he standards here are so much higher than at my old school. That matters to me. There鈥檚 more rigor and organization and an expectation that kids do more, can do more,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he administration supports teachers. I like teaching literature to black kids, these kids. That鈥檚 what keeps me here.鈥�

The school鈥檚 leadership believes that too often in urban education, teachers are asked to perform multiple roles beyond teaching, making it impossible for them to focus on improving their craft and, by extension, student learning.

鈥淭he foundation of our school is made from what happens in classrooms,鈥� says Pohlman. 鈥淥ur teachers鈥� job is to make sure instruction is great all day long. They need to be supported in that.鈥�

At TMA, deans are in charge of managing school culture and student behavior while the heads of school focus on instructional delivery. Instructional leaders are made aware of behavioral issues, but the deans are responsible for handling those issues.

鈥淲e have people whose jobs are very distinct. Everyone needs to have a laser focus on their job to do it well, so we don鈥檛 expect teachers to be doing everyone else鈥檚 job,鈥� says Pohlman. 鈥淲e all talk and coordinate, but we have a place 鈥� a specific person 鈥� to send students to for specific issues and questions.鈥�

Stacey Stewart, the director of student affairs, believes that this division helps assuage behavioral problems. 鈥淎 lot of our kids have a lot of stuff going on at home, and their behavior is not always a reflection of what鈥檚 going on in the classroom,鈥� she says.

The Office of Student Affairs supports students outside the classroom so that they鈥檙e prepared to learn in the classroom. Stewart anticipates potential causes of decreased motivation or disruptive behavior. Her office has boxes of snacks, toothbrushes, deodorant and other things. 鈥淚f a kid鈥檚 upset because he doesn鈥檛 have clean clothes, I get him clothes,鈥� she says. 鈥淚f a student鈥檚 hungry, I get her a snack. I take that stuff away from them so that they can focus on learning.鈥�

When behavioral issues do occur, TMA differentiates consequences based on both the seriousness of the infraction and the student. Peer Court assigns consequences for violations of TMA鈥檚 鈥渘o-brainers鈥� 鈥� chewing gum, using devices in school, uniform violations, etc. 鈥� while Stewart鈥檚 office handles higher-level violations, such as fighting and willful disobedience.

鈥淪ome kids respond well to a call home,鈥� Stewart says. 鈥淥thers will move for one teacher because they have a relationship, but not for another, so bringing in that teacher to mediate a circle conversation helps. A lot of it is understanding what works to move that kid.鈥�

But TMA鈥檚 leadership also expects students to own their behavior. The school uses a merit and demerit system. While students can work off demerits by gaining merits, if, at the end of the year, a student has more than 20 demerits, he or she won鈥檛 be promoted, regardless of academic performance. However, because grade-level deans host opportunities for students to earn merits over the summer, like classes focused on community service for the school or building positive relationships, this rarely happens. For the past three years, no student has been held back because of behavioral infractions.

Students also reflect upon their yearly progress through a portfolio assessment. Each spring, they give a formal presentation to three faculty members during which students examine their academic performance as well as their behavioral record and overall contribution to the school. And they turn in a portfolio of the materials they intend to speak about.

鈥淚 get so nervous for portfolio,鈥� says Halliburton, the junior. 鈥淚t can be in front of teachers you don鈥檛 know, and you鈥檝e got to talk for, like, 45 minutes. They don鈥檛 talk. They just write stuff down and look through your binder. You鈥檙e explaining everything you did 鈥� like your school work and behavior 鈥� and why. But it actually really helps me. I save my portfolio projects and look at them to improve.鈥�

A school without Ds

鈥淲hen I came here in ninth grade, I was behind in reading,鈥� Halliburton says. 鈥淢y first semester, I got a 69 in English on my report card. At my old school, that would have been a D, but here I was seeing an F. That was like, whoa, I need to start tightening myself up. I鈥檓 supposed to be preparing for college.鈥�

Halliburton鈥檚 reaction is exactly why TMA grades on an A, B, C, F scale, where anything less than a 70 is an F. The school鈥檚 leadership believes that if students don鈥檛 know at least 70 percent of the material, they won鈥檛 be prepared to pass at the next level. The lack of Ds is not a punishment; it鈥檚 a success strategy.

鈥淚t鈥檚 stressful for freshmen,鈥� Pohlman admits. 鈥淢any are accustomed to always just getting by, and suddenly, sliding by is failing. We have a lot of resources to support kids when they鈥檙e failing, but they鈥檝e got to work hard.鈥�

Mills, Halliburton鈥檚 classmate, knows exactly what he means. 鈥淎t my middle school, they just passed you on. It didn鈥檛 really matter if you got the curriculum or not,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hen I came here, I failed Algebra I the whole first year. But then when I did get to geometry, I went to office hours. I got more help. I didn鈥檛 fail geometry.鈥�

Students are eligible to take up to two courses per summer if they fail their courses. If students do not retake a failed course over summer, they either receive an alternative schedule for the following year, which includes the retake, or they retake the course in a subsequent summer. However, for courses that have a specified order, as in Mills鈥檚 case, students must pass the prerequisite before moving on to the next level.

Since most ninth-graders enter TMA below grade level, freshman and sophomores take double-block English and math classes. They have twice as much classroom instruction as their peers at traditional high school programs. These double-blocks are a cornerstone of TMA鈥檚 success at raising student achievement. Other academic supports include a Summer Prep program that helps students transition into TMA鈥檚 rigorous academic environment, an SAT prep class, and a Senior Seminar in which students receive intensive coaching on the college application process, help with scholarships, and lessons on transitioning to college life. The school has a robust college counseling department, with three full-time college counselors.

鈥淥ur college acceptance rate is [far] higher than the national average for low-income communities, so we tell parents what our system looks like and ask them to trust it,鈥� Pohlman says. At the end of the first quarter, many parents call him, upset or angry, because their student has never had an F before. 鈥淲ell, they have an F now,鈥� he tells them. 鈥淟et鈥檚 help them get out of it.鈥�

鈥淥ur ultimate goal is not to have kids take remedial classes in college,鈥� says Stewart. 鈥淏ecause that鈥檚 debt on top of debt.鈥�

One national study that looked at 911 two- and four-year colleges found that聽were placed in remedial classes in 2014-15. Remedial classes carry no credits, but enrolled students who cannot pass freshman-level course entrance exams must complete and pay for them before they can enter into credit-bearing courses.听聽that a large percentage of students placed into remedial courses drop out before graduating college, and often before even finishing the course.

Both Halliburton and Mills agree that 鈥淭hurgood is hard,鈥� but, by the second year, students adjust to the rigor. Moreover, they regard the high standards as the manifestation of the faculty鈥檚 belief in their abilities.

鈥淓veryone here wants me to succeed,鈥� Halliburton says. 鈥淭eachers have office hours before and after school, and they鈥檒l come to you to make sure you鈥檙e straight with their class if they think you need help.鈥�

It鈥檚 this combination of rigor and support that draws many parents and students to TMA. The school鈥檚 success with students, as well as the demands placed on them, are well known in the community.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 lure families here under the false pretenses that everyone passes,鈥� Pohlman says. 鈥淭he part of school choice that really matters is that you have a system with a lot of different choices and that you provide families with as much transparency as you can so that they can make a choice. We鈥檙e an important part of that system in D.C.鈥�

Digital Pioneers Academy: Creating the Next Generation of Digital Innovators at Washington, D.C.鈥檚 First Computer Science-Focused Middle School

鈥淲hen I finish writing the statement, that cat will move,鈥� promises Deshaunte鈥� Goldsmith, a sixth-grader at Digital Pioneers Academy Public Charter School. She presses enter on the keyboard and, sure enough, the animated cat on her screen begins to pace back and forth.

Goldsmith is a member of the founding class at the school known as DPA, Washington, D.C.鈥檚 first computer science-focused middle school. Opened in August, the school is small, serving about 120 sixth-grade students across four classes, but has plans to build out to 12th grade. Every day, students take computer science as a part of their core curriculum.

Today, in computer science, Goldsmith is learning how to write聽聽鈥斅爏uch as if the space bar is pressed, the cat will jump 鈥斅爑sing MIT鈥檚 animation-based platform聽. First, the students have to identify conditional statements, and then they have to write their own. At the end of class, they have to find and correct the error intentionally planted in the teacher鈥檚 code.

鈥淭he error鈥檚 in the third line of code,鈥� Goldsmith says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 missing part of the conditional statement.鈥�

DPA occupies the second floor of Washington Heights Baptist Church in the Hillcrest neighborhood of the city鈥檚 seventh ward. Ninety-eight percent of the students come from wards seven and eight, D.C.鈥檚 poorest neighborhoods, and, because DPA鈥檚 leadership recruited heavily in the local area, two-thirds of the students went to the neighborhood elementary schools.

鈥淢y decision to go to this school was sort of last minute,鈥� says Goldsmith. 鈥淚 was waitlisted at Friendship Charter School. Then I heard about this school, and I decided I wanted to come here and learn about code. All of the teachers here have really supported me, and this is one of my favorite classes. I鈥檓 happy I ended up here.鈥�

Lamontae Allen, Goldsmith鈥檚 classmate, or teammate as they are known at DPA, also loves the computer science curriculum.

鈥淐omputer science is my favorite class,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 like to play video games. When I grow up, I want to be a famous YouTuber, but if that doesn鈥檛 work out, I might make my own computer game, and learning all of this will help with that.鈥�

罢辞诲补测,听. Low-income families聽, and the聽.听.

鈥淥ur mission is very simple,鈥� says Mashea Ashton, DPA鈥檚 founder and the head of school. 鈥淲e want to develop the next generation of innovators. We want our students not just to consume the digital economy, but to be a part of creating it.鈥�

A veteran educator embraces comp sci

With almost 20 years of experience teaching in and running public charter schools, Ashton knew she wanted to leverage her experience as an educational leader to positively impact Southeast Washington, D.C. 鈥� a historically underserved neighborhood she cares deeply about. Ashton began her career as a special education teacher just down the street from DPA鈥檚 current location, and her husband, a sixth-generation Washingtonian, grew up in the neighborhood.

Ashton herself has no computer science background. 鈥淚 took one computer science course at the College of William and Mary back before they even had email,鈥� she jokes. 鈥淗owever, three years ago, when I began thinking about opening a school, I thought about a college prep model, but the more I thought about students and families and options, the more I thought about the importance of being career ready. Then, I saw the data聽.鈥�

DPA鈥檚 curriculum is a modified version of the academic program developed by聽, a network of charter schools throughout the South that teaches computer coding daily as part of its college prep curriculum. With this curriculum, DPA students begin by working on elementary programs like Scratch before learning two of the core internet technologies, the markup languages聽听补苍诲听, or Cascading Style Sheets, which determines the look and layout of a webpage鈥檚 content. They eventually move on to聽, a more advanced language and the third of the core internet technologies. After mastering JavaScript, students will have the opportunity to explore other advanced programming languages such as聽听补苍诲听.

Although DPA currently holds a charter only for a middle school, Ashton plans to apply to expand the school through high school, building up one grade at a time. During high school, students will be expected to pass the Advanced Placement computer science exam in 10th grade, she said, and become fluent in two coding languages by the time they graduate. Juniors and seniors will also participate in internships and work-study programs that allow them to gain real-world experience in the tech sector.

DPA is already building a pipeline of partnerships with tech firms, like Microsoft and Deloitte, and three times a year, middle schoolers will have 鈥渆xpeditions,鈥� three-day experiences where they demonstrate some of the coding skills they鈥檝e learned to tech experts before visiting the experts鈥� workplaces.

鈥淲hen you think about the job quality and the job opportunities that our students will have because they had one hour of computer science each day from sixth to 12th grade 鈥� it鈥檚 incredible,鈥� says Crystal Bryant, a STEM teacher at DPA. 鈥淚t鈥檚 refreshing to see someone like Mashea come in with a vision to change the trajectory of the lives of kids in this area.鈥�

Founding a school that celebrates science

When designing DPA, Ashton and her team researched broadly to learn about the best models for a computer science-focused school. In the spring of 2017, Ashton taught an elective, 鈥淒esign the Academy of the Future,鈥� to ninth-graders at Washington Leadership Academy Public Charter School, a technology-focused high school in D.C. She heard from students about the factors of their education that have had the greatest impact on their motivation and learning. Understanding the real-world application of the skills they were learning ranked at the top of the list.

鈥淪tudents didn鈥檛 need to be told about the number of high-paying computing jobs available; they needed to have real-world experiences, to see the real-world connections for what they were learning,鈥� says Ashton. 鈥淭hey wanted to know the 鈥榳hy鈥� for everything. 鈥榃hy am I taking notes? Why am I reading Shakespeare? Why am I doing Scratch?鈥欌��

Ashton also spoke with the leaders of the聽, a computer science-focused school in New York City. The school鈥檚 leaders said they had initially recruited tech experts to serve as the teachers, but they ultimately discovered that they needed people who were experts in instructional delivery, classroom management and working with teenagers. The RePublic curriculum, however, is not expert-dependent, so Ashton could recruit widely for her teaching staff.

鈥淣one of our teachers had ever taught computer science as a core part of the curriculum before,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e recruited educators who believed in our mission, had the best achievement record for working with kids like ours, and who were excited to be on a founding team, which is very different from a regular teaching job.鈥�

What being a founding teacher means, Ashton says, is long, hard hours and owning the successes and failures of the school. 鈥淭here鈥檚 the opportunity for growth, but there鈥檚 also going to be some failing forward, which is an important part of growth and a value we attempt to impart to our students,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 do think our teachers are feeling the success of what it鈥檚 like to work together on a team with a shared mission and vision where everyone is accountable.鈥�

Bryant, the STEM teacher, came to DPA because she felt that in urban education, science often isn鈥檛 considered as important by school administrations as math and English, the major testing subjects. She wanted to move to a place that celebrated science and computer science, rather than treating it as an elective. At DPA, she was given the opportunity to build a STEM program.

鈥淎 lot of people warned me about joining a founding team. 鈥業t鈥檚 a lot of work,鈥� they kept saying, but I think it鈥檚 going to be rewarding to look back and see all of the computer scientists that our school has produced and know I helped create that,鈥� she says.

鈥淣o one is just a teacher here,鈥� adds STEM teacher Ashley Pettway. 鈥淎 lot of times in urban education, you feel like you鈥檙e a part of a system where you have no control, but here, anything that we dream up for our kids, so long as it鈥檚 mission- and vision-aligned, is supported. We can do it. I鈥檝e never worked in a place like that.鈥�

High empathy, high expectations

DPA鈥檚 classrooms have arched attic ceilings and an airy, homey feel. The school renovated the second floor of the building before moving in, creating four large classrooms and some smaller meeting rooms. Backpacks are hung along the classroom walls, and there are comfortable sitting areas for students in addition to more traditional desks.

鈥淥ur scholars learn better when the environment is conducive to learning,鈥� says Ashton. 鈥淚 hope they feel like these are their rooms.鈥�

To minimize transition times, students don鈥檛 switch classrooms; instead, the teachers do. Each class always has two adults, the classroom teacher and an assistant, who is often a dean or another member of the administrative team.

The school day runs from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., except on Wednesdays, which are half-days. Students have study hall, math, computer science, social studies or science, an intervention period for struggling students, two classes of English Language Arts and recess, daily. There鈥檚 a break in the morning and a second one in the afternoon. There鈥檚 also an a.m. and p.m. community meeting and a mandatory enrichment activity 鈥� like kickball, dance, creating holiday cards and more 鈥� from 4 to 5 p.m. It鈥檚 a long day, but many of the students come in significantly behind grade level, so there鈥檚 a lot of work to be done. When the school year began, only 20 percent of the founding class was on grade level in both reading and math.

鈥淲e tell our scholars that if they want to achieve, then they have to outwork everyone, and they鈥檙e learning and beginning to own that,鈥� says Ashton.

Classmates give each other 鈥渟naps,鈥� impromptu snapping, to celebrate when a teammate does something well. There鈥檚 also a school-wide hand sign for 鈥済iving magic,鈥� which is wiggling fingers at a teammate to send good them vibes.

鈥淲e are team, so we want to support one another, but we don鈥檛 have a lot of spare time. Our silent celebrations give students a lot of joy, but they aren鈥檛 disruptive to learning,鈥� says Ashton.

Students can also earn a 鈥減rofessional鈥� point each class period if they demonstrate behavior, like optimism, empathy, and growth, that reflects the school鈥檚 values. Professional behavior earns a point; unprofessional behavior, like talking back to a teacher or putting your head down in class, loses a point; and neutral behavior results in no change. Students can redeem themselves throughout the period; it鈥檚 what they鈥檝e done by the end of class that matters. The system promotes the idea that students have control over, and can change, their behavior. Every morning students fill out their daily behavior goals for each period, and every afternoon they reflect on whether they met those goals.

鈥淧rofessional and unprofessional is language that kids really understand,鈥� says Bryant. 鈥淭hey know adults have to be professional, so they see the real-world connection. It鈥檚 very clear cut, which makes it easy for them to articulate reflections on their behavior and even write things like, 鈥業 was slouching in my seat and not participating yesterday so I wasn鈥檛 being professional.鈥欌��

If a student has a 鈥渃ommunity violation鈥� 鈥� swearing at a teacher, starting a fight, etc. 鈥� then they receive an automatic 鈥渦nprofessional鈥� and are removed to the 鈥渞eset room鈥� for the remainder of the period. There, they fill out a reflection on their behavior and brainstorm how to make amends to the teacher and the community before returning to their next class.

Students can spend professional points at the school store. They can purchase dress-down days, Subway cards, a chance to visit friends in another class during break and more. However, the four students who have the most professional points at the end of the week get a pass to 鈥淭he Lab,鈥� where video games, a movie projector, a basketball hoop and more await. Staff asked the students what they wanted prior to stocking The Lab.

鈥淭here are Xboxes and TVs and everything,鈥� says Pettway. 鈥淭he first time I went into The Lab, I thought, 鈥業t looks like a Dave & Busters.鈥� I took photos of it to show the kids. It鈥檚 such a positive, consistent motivator for them. Ms. Ashton plays聽聽[a phenomenally popular online game] with them in there. It鈥檚 great.鈥�

鈥淪chool and learning should be fun,鈥� says Ashton. 鈥淲e do want them to develop intrinsic motivation, but we also want them to understand that hard work and positive actions ultimately have positive consequences.鈥�

鈥淚 appreciate that this is a very different experience for our kids than many are used to,鈥� says Bryant. 鈥淚 have been an urban educator for eight years, and I feel like our kids are constantly being punished for being children or for the things they don鈥檛 have. I appreciate that I鈥檝e found a school where the goal is to remove all obstacles that keep kids from learning and then hold them accountable for their learning.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 called 鈥榟igh empathy, high expectations,鈥� says Pettway. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 a model that鈥檚 working for our kids.鈥�

Ingenuity Prep:聽At D.C.鈥檚 Ingenuity Prep, Personalized Learning Hasn鈥檛 Replaced Teacher Time; It鈥檚 Put the Focus Back on Small Groups

When Aaron Cuny and Will Stoetzer were thinking about how they wanted to structure their own D.C. charter school back in 2012, they kept returning to the same question: 鈥淲hen were we doing the best work for kids?鈥�

鈥淔or both of us, it came down to teaching in a small group setting, where you could think about how to reach kids individually rather than spending the majority of time and mental energy thinking about classroom management,鈥� says Stoetzer.

Stoetzer was a special education teacher and Cuny聽聽at D.C. Bilingual Public Charter School, a top-ranked elementary school in one of Washington鈥檚 middle-income neighborhoods. Both felt the city lacked quality educational options for kids in the neighborhoods that needed them most.

鈥淚n pockets across D.C., some schools had shown that when adults got it right, there was success at educating low-income kids,鈥� says Stoetzer. 鈥淪chools like KIPP and D.C. Prep have been very purposeful about producing academic results for low-income kids. Their success inspired us, but we had differences in perspective about how that success might be accomplished.鈥�

When they opened Ingenuity Prep a year later with Cuny as CEO and Stoetzer as COO, they located it in Ward 8, Washington鈥檚 poorest neighborhood, and built two essential components into the school鈥檚 design so that small group learning could be its main focus: co-teaching and computer-based learning.

Computer-based learning and personalized learning are often faulted for taking the teacher out of the equation too much, but in the case of Ingenuity Prep, they have been employed to the opposite effect.

鈥淒igital content became a good way for us to deliver high-level, engaging content to kids, but the end goal was never to deliver content digitally,鈥� says Stoetzer, whose special education background strongly informed his thinking about the school鈥檚 design when it came to small group instruction, personalized learning and differentiation. 鈥淎ll of the pieces of our model were driven by finding the best ways to maximize the time spent in small groups.鈥�

Rarely in groups larger than 15

Ingenuity Prep serves 496 students in grades pre-K-3 to 5, with plans to expand to eighth grade. There are two to three classes per grade, each with between 25 and 30 students (24 in preschool). Each preschool classroom has three teachers, and in kindergarten and above, each classroom has two lead content area teachers, one specialized in math, the other in literacy.

There鈥檚 also a literacy apprentice who teaches across two classrooms. When students are in literacy class, the literacy-lead teacher and the apprentice co-teach the content. When students are in math class, the lead math teacher from one classroom comes to the other classroom for co-teaching support.

The school hosts resident teachers from the聽, and school leadership says the partnership has been integral to making Ingenuity Prep鈥檚 group model function. Resident teachers already have a bachelor鈥檚 degree, but the program allows them to work toward a master鈥檚 in education, including certifications in special education and their specific content areas. After the first year, Urban Teachers places its residents as full-time paid staff members in schools 鈥� usually the ones where they had already been teaching 鈥� where they can finish out the program鈥檚 remaining three years. Ingenuity Prep currently has 11 resident teachers.

Ingenuity Prep incorporates computer-based learning into the curriculum, a practice known as blended learning. In kindergarten and above, each student has access to a Chromebook and a student web portal, which contains different online educational programs like聽听补苍诲听. 聽Teachers blend the digital content into the curriculum to target individual student needs and provide students with independent practice in subject-area knowledge.

Aside from the benefits of exposing students to blended learning, the goal of Ingenuity Prep鈥檚 learning model has always been more one-on-one time between teacher and student. Students spend less than 10 percent of their time learning in groups larger than 15 students. Maud Cooke-Nesme, a kindergarten literacy teacher, believes the computer-based learning has been important in achieving this.

鈥淭he use of technology really helps us as teachers because it gives us the ability to have the differentiated time in smaller groups,鈥� she says.

鈥楾hey often feel like they aren鈥檛 in class, even though they are鈥�

The implementation of the Ingenuity Prep model looks slightly different depending on the grade level.

In pre-K classrooms, play-based learning takes the place of computer-based learning. Students spend much of the day in 鈥渃enters,鈥� where they choose from a variety of activity stations like art, music and movement, and dramatic play 鈥� in which the preschoolers take on the role of adults in everyday situations and careers. As the students rotate through the centers, the lead teacher pulls out small groups to give them formal, personalized instruction in literacy and math. There are also some large group activities, like 鈥淢indfulness,鈥� a short time after recess during which students practice guided deep breathing and feeling their heartbeats.

From kindergarten to fifth grade, the Ingenuity Prep model for literacy hits its stride. Students spend a significant amount of time in small groups assembled by relatively similar ability level, rotating through different learning activities, from direct instruction to guided practice and independent, computer-based practice. While there鈥檚 teacher flexibility in the model鈥檚 implementation, all classrooms must have certain components essential to its success: a classroom library, a carpeted open space, a large group instruction area and small group instruction spaces.

In a kindergarten classroom, three groups are rotating through different literacy practice activities. Six students sit in two rows of desk, facing the front of the room, as they practice reading skills using Lexia on their Chromebooks. These students are on different levels from one another, progressing through the program at their own pace.

鈥淪tudents like having that independent time on the computers,鈥� says Avi Worrell, a second-grade literacy teacher. 鈥淭hey often feel like they aren鈥檛 in class, even though they are. They鈥檙e learning, but it鈥檚 fun and competitive learning.鈥�

A second group of eight students sits at a semi-circle table, facing lead teacher Amber Morales. Morales is conducting guided reading, and she鈥檚 targeted both the text and the learning objective to this group鈥檚 specific skill level. The students are practicing sight words, with a focus on the word 鈥渨here.鈥� They follow along, tracking the text with their fingers, as Morales reads aloud and asks them questions about the story.

The last group of 10 students is on the other side of the room in a much more traditional classroom setup. They鈥檙e in rows of desks, facing the teacher and the board. Here, Urban Teachers resident Michaura Rivera is using direct instruction to teach phonetics and writing. Students practice drawing their letters on individual whiteboards, and Rivera monitors their progress.

鈥淚 really like changing through the groups because we have guided reading and instruction with our teachers, but we also go onto computers to practice on our own,鈥� says Jahari鈥� Rose, a fifth-grader who has been at the school since kindergarten. 鈥淟exia really helped us learn new sight words, how to read faster and how to find the meaning of a story.鈥�

In a second-grade classroom, there are still designated spaces for small and large group instruction; however, because these students are more capable of self-monitoring their behavior than those in kindergarten, the library area and open space are larger, creating a cozy, independent reading environment.

In this class, one group of students is working on computer-based programs. Another group is around a table, working on a guided writing project with the lead teacher. And the third group of students are lying on the carpeted space in the library area. They鈥檙e practicing independent reading; they鈥檝e chosen books from the shelf marked at their current reading level, as well as two books from the level above.

In a fifth-grade classroom, the setup looks more traditional, with the majority of the desks facing the front of the room and the teachers. There鈥檚 a Chromebook on each desk because students are working on writing in a large group activity. There鈥檚 still an area for small group instruction and a library area with open space. However, both are much smaller than in the lower grade levels.

Overall, math lessons schoolwide involve more large group instruction than literacy; teachers want a more heterogeneous group in terms of student ability level so that struggling students can learn by watching stronger students solve problems. Classes still incorporate the rotational model and blended learning, but often the lead teacher will perform direct instruction with a larger group while the assisting teacher pulls out small groups of students who need extra help.

鈥淭he school isn鈥檛 super descriptive on how to implement the model,鈥� says Stoetzer, who recently stepped into the interim CEO role at Ingenuity Prep. 鈥淲e make sure we have excellent teachers who are familiar with the model, but there鈥檚 adaptability in how to make the best use of it. After all, they know their students鈥� needs best.鈥�

Intensive coaching, listening to teachers

鈥淚鈥檝e never been in a school that puts so much attention to detail in terms of content, organization and planning,鈥� says Ashleigh Coleman, a pre-K-4 teacher. 鈥淭he leadership really values [teacher] feedback here, and they encourage work-life balance. At other places where I鈥檝e worked, teachers are workhorses. They鈥檙e expected to do whatever it takes to get the job done, but they aren鈥檛 listened to.鈥�

School leadership admits that balance wasn鈥檛 always there; they鈥檝e been very intentional about creating it. They use surveys to measure the adult culture in the building. They鈥檝e allotted extra time for planning during the school day. And they have a robust teacher-coaching program in which school leaders observe teachers once a week.

鈥淚 worked at another school where I received pretty much no coaching whatsoever,鈥� says kindergarten teacher Cook-Nesme. 鈥淥ne of the main things that attracted me here was the frequency of coaching. The coaching is specialized for literacy or math, so the feedback I receive makes sense to where I am in my development as a teacher.鈥�

The coaching also helps create a uniform culture of high expectations.

鈥淚 previously taught at a Head Start program,鈥� says Molly Karsh, a pre-K-3 teacher. 鈥淚 have really come to appreciate the high expectations for both students and staff here. There, my kids left for kindergarten without being able to write their names. Here, my students talk about paleontology. There, my kids could not sit quietly on the carpet and learn with minimal distractions because we didn鈥檛 have that culture set in our classrooms, and I didn鈥檛 know it was possible to set it because I didn鈥檛 have the coaching or tools for handling distractions.鈥�

This embedded culture of coaching develops a special relationship between leadership and teachers. All of the instructional leaders were once teachers, and many were once teachers at Ingenuity Prep. JaQuan Bryant, the co-principal of kindergarten through second grade, came to Ingenuity Prep as a first-grade teacher. He believes he benefited greatly from the coaching.

鈥淏ut it鈥檚 interesting because some of my cousins are also in education,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen I first started here, I told them that leadership videoed me, and they freaked out. They said, 鈥業 would never let them do that. I鈥檇 have the union rep come in.鈥� But I think you need to have that sort of relationship between instructional leadership and staff to move the needle for kids. They鈥檝e got to be able to hop into a classroom at any time. There鈥檚 got to be that trust.鈥�

Teaching kids in trauma

鈥淭hey let us have fun here, like on pajama day I got to wear my Batman onesie, but they ask us to think about our actions too,鈥� says fifth-grader Jaiden Robinson. 鈥淭he only downside about this place is the food.鈥�

鈥淓specially the pancakes 鈥� you can make Play-Doh out of them,鈥� adds his classmate Dajon Walker, who has been at the school since third grade. 鈥淎t my old school, the food was good. I can鈥檛 lie about that. But there was a lot of chaos. There were fights every day; it was a rampage. We didn鈥檛 listen to teachers. We just ran around and did what we wanted.鈥�

His peer Marcellus Dyson also came to Ingenuity Prep in third grade. 鈥淚n second grade, I got into a lot of fights because people kept messing with me,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 less fights here because they take care of it here right away and send kids to behavioral support.鈥�

Ingenuity Prep has six full-time behavioral support specialists. If a student causes a disruption in class, the teacher texts one of the specialists, who then removes the student. The aim is to return the student to class as quickly as possible. However, there is a 鈥渞eset room,鈥� which students call behavioral support, for those who aren鈥檛 ready to go back to class immediately. There, students reflect on their behavior.

鈥淚鈥檝e been to behavioral support, and it鈥檚 effective,鈥� says fifth-grader Zainah Williams. 鈥淭hey ask you why you鈥檙e in there, and you have to complete this worksheet about what you鈥檇 do better next time. Then, they ask you if you鈥檙e calm enough to go back to class. It helps me calm down so I can go back.鈥�

Ninety-seven percent of Ingenuity Prep students are African-American, and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education has designated 60 percent of its students as economically disadvantaged. The state office also labeled 66 percent of students 鈥渁t risk,鈥� meaning they are more likely to drop out based on their receipt of public assistance, receipt of food stamps, involvement with the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency, homeless status, or being older than expected for their grade.

Many of the school鈥檚 students experience trauma at home, and their behavior is not always a reflection of what鈥檚 going on in class. Every teacher at the school has been trained in crisis intervention management. Student and family support specialists, special education teachers, the speech therapist and counselors also complete a deeper-level training. There鈥檚 also a full-time social worker and psychologist, and there are no security officers. The school screens staff during hiring to ensure that their values align with the school鈥檚 mission to educate low-income students with empathy and understanding.

鈥淚 grew up low-income in this neighborhood,鈥� says third-grade teacher Davian Morgan. 鈥淏ut then my mom went back to school and then I went to school, so I understand the power education had in lifting us above the poverty line and into the middle class. I want for these kids to see how many doors open if you take your education seriously.鈥�

Bryant, the K-2 co-principal, grew up in a similar neighborhood in East Oakland, California. 鈥淲hat keeps me at this school is that we believe every kid deserves access to an education equivalent to that of their affluent peers, an education that will allow them to be the architects of their own futures.鈥�

The problem with replication

Back in January 2012, around the time Stoetzer and Cuny were talking about starting a school, the Illinois Facilities Fund published聽, an extensive analysis of public school locations and performance in Washington, D.C.

After categorizing the District into 39 neighborhood clusters, the authors of the report concluded that to provide all public school students, both district and charter, with a high-quality education, the city would need to add an additional 39,758 seats in high-performing schools. Ten neighborhood clusters 鈥� three of them located in Ward 8 鈥� would need 68 percent of those seats.

After reading the report, Stoetzer and Cuny intentionally opened Ingenuity Prep in Bellevue, a Ward 8 neighborhood in the center of the cluster that the Illinois Facilities Fund had declared the District鈥檚 highest-need area. Ward 8 needed 10,087 additional quality seats, and the Bellevue cluster alone needed 5,969 of them.

Eighty percent of Ingenuity Prep students live within a mile of the school. Ninety percent live in Ward 8, and 95 percent live east of the Anacostia River, in D.C.鈥檚 poorest neighborhoods. On the 2018 Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) exams, 38 percent of its students tested proficient or above in English and 34 percent in math. The two neighborhood elementary scores had pass rates of 8 and 6 percent for English and 13 and 9 percent for math.

When compared with the other 35 schools in Ward 8, Ingenuity Prep ranks second highest in terms of PARCC scores, with student scores in the 95th percentile for the ward. Of the District鈥檚 113 schools where more than 50 percent of the students are economically disadvantaged, Ingenuity Prep鈥檚 test scores ranked seventh.

In general, D.C. schools with more at-risk students have lower student proficiency scores than the citywide average. However, on the 2018 PARCC exams, Ingenuity Prep students scored slightly above the citywide average for both math and English. Their combined proficiency scores were in the 74th percentile citywide, and student growth scores were in the 92nd percentile.

Despite its success and the overwhelming need for more seats in high-performing schools, Ingenuity Prep cannot replicate under the current regulations of the D.C. Public Charter School Board, the District鈥檚 charter authorizer. To do that, the board requires that a charter school have a Tier 1 ranking on its performance measurement framework. Ingenuity Prep currently has a Tier 2 ranking. When judging school performance, the charter board compares charters citywide, which presents difficulties for schools like Ingenuity Prep that serve a larger percentage of at-risk students than many of their charter peers.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a more challenging experience on this side of the river, and I think our colleagues who run high-performing charter schools elsewhere would agree with that,鈥� says Stoetzer.

For instance, Ingenuity Prep has one of the lowest in-seat attendance rates in the city for charters, at around 89 percent, slightly below the 90 percent citywide average for all public schools. However, the two traditional neighborhood elementary schools, which serve similar student populations, have attendance rates of 89 and 92 percent. There鈥檚 a high correlation between the number of at-risk students and absenteeism, according to Ingenuity Prep鈥檚 leadership.

Because the school is located 1.5 miles from the closest Metro station, about one-third of students take the bus, which is not as reliable as the Metro, and cold winters also negatively affect attendance among those students who walk from either home or the Metro station. Moreover, many of the students come from single-parent households with multiple siblings. Often, when one child is sick or has a doctor鈥檚 appointment, the parent will keep all of the children at home because it鈥檚 not easy or convenient to take the others to school.

Ingenuity Prep has done a variety of things to increase attendance: free Metrobus passes to parents (in D.C., kids ride for free), internal incentives for students, phone calls home to students chronically absent and listing the amount of instructional time lost because of absences on each report card. Regardless, attendance rates have increased by only 1 percent.

鈥淚 respect and appreciate that the board wants to hold a high bar for low-income students, but I think demanding that a school be Tier 1 to replicate ignores the reality of the limited options available to kids in neighborhoods that are historically underserved,鈥� says Stoetzer.

鈥淭he reality is that if more D.C. Preps, KIPPs and Ingenuity Preps don鈥檛 open on this side of the river, only a few of these kids are going to travel incredible distances to go to quality schools. We are doing a disservice to our kids by not being more open to considering schools without a Tier 1 ranking for replication,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hese kids need a better educational experience. What we鈥檙e providing here is drastically different than the neighborhood schools, and we鈥檝e got to consider that in how we think about schools and replication.鈥�

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Lead Image:聽Inspired Teaching Demonstration School student Mark Hopwood glues tiles together to create a mosaic for winter Intersession, a weeklong opportunity for students and adults to dive deep into a topic of learning outside of the normal academic program. (Inspired Teaching Demonstration School)

A former English teacher, Emily Langhorne is an education policy analyst and project manager with the Progressive Policy Institute.

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