Chenoweth, Karin (2007). "It's Being Done:" Academic Success in Unexpected Schools. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Publishing.

Pages: 250     Price: $54.95 (Hardcover); $26.95 (Paperback)    
ISBN: 78-1-891792-40-3(Hardcover); 978-1-891792-39-7 (Paperback)

All children deserve a good education. Few would argue with that statement. There is also a general consensus that all children can learn, but we squirm about whether they are all able to learn at the same rate and level. Coleman’s 1966 findings that family background has a strong predictive role in academic achievement has fostered the idea that schools with high number of students from poverty and/or of color will not be as successful as schools without those demographics. The Education Trust, under the leadership of Kati Haycock, identifies schools that are “Dispelling the Myth” where poor children and children of color are achieving at a higher rate than their peers at other schools. Education writer Karin Chenoweth spent two years visiting some of these schools. In this book, she describes what was happening so that all children are learning.

Brady (2003) noted that there is a great deal of information on how effective schools work, but there is little known about how to move an ineffective school from failure to success. In 2004, The Education Trust joined with Business Roundtable, Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights, National Center for Educational Accountability and National Council of La Raza to form the Achievement Alliance to identify the practices in these schools that are making the difference. Using the “Dispelling the Myth” Web tool available on The Education Trust Web site (http://www2.edtrust.org/edtrust/dtm/), Chenoweth and Education Trust analysts looked for schools that had a significant population of children living in poverty and/or a significant population of children of color with either very high rates of achievement or a very rapid improvement trajectory. These schools also had to be open enrollment for neighborhood children and the high schools had high graduation rates and higher -than state average promoting power index (PPI). Chenoweth feared that she would find facilities teaching to the test staffed by burnt-out teachers robbed of any creativity. Instead she found true professionals who love their jobs and are determined that all students have the knowledge and opportunities of a well-rounded curriculum.

Chenoweth describes the programs at 14 elementary, middle, and high schools and one district. The schools were in rural, urban and suburban settings. There were striking similarities. At each school, the change was instigated by strong leadership that did what was necessary to set the stage for optimal results. Collaboration was prevalent with teachers working within and across grade levels and content areas to vertically align the standards and curriculum. Standards were the focus, not the testing. New teachers were mentored and all teachers were provided focused professional development throughout their tenure. Additional support for students, such as ESL and special education services, was "pushed in" to the classroom rather than being conducted on a pull-out basis. The principals and teachers understood that accountability was the foundation for student achievement and used data to focus on individual students, not just groups of students. School time was used wisely and the schools leveraged as many resources from the community as possible. They paid careful attention to the quality of the teaching staff, making sure that the students who struggle the most had the best instruction. Chenoweth sums up that adults in these schools expected all students to learn, and the adults worked hard to master the skills and knowledge necessary to teach students.

“It’s Being Done” is an inspiring documentation of schools where best practices are being put to use and are working. As stated over and over again, there is no "magic bullet," but there is a reoccurring theme of the determination to succeed and putting together the pieces to do just that. Each story of a school success demonstrates how that school's personnel focused on the student and coordinated all available resources to maximize the potential for that student. Educators and policy makers need to read this book to remind us what it is all about and that all children can learn – if we make that our intent.

References

Brady, R. C. (2003). Can failing schools be fixed? Washington, D. C.: Thomas B. Fordham Foundation.

Coleman, J. S. (1966). Equality of educational opportunity. Washington, D. C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Reviewed by Lee Ann Dumas, Ed. D., the Director of Educator Excellence for the Texas Education Agency. She and her staff work with programs such as the Beginning Teacher Induction and Mentoring Program and the School Leadership Pilot Project.