MS/HS 223-The Laboratory School of Finance and Technology

Source of data: School visit January 2016

Summary:

The school collaborates with the organization, Blue Engine, to provide support within English classes. The school provides extensive literacy support classes in middle school and minimal separate intervention classes in high school. Complex instruction is emphasized in the school.

Details:

MS/HS 223 is the highest poverty congressional district in the US and is doing phenomenal work. Their students are scoring significantly higher on the New York Regents Exam in English compared to schools in their immediate area.

In all of their high school literary classes, they collaborate with the organization, Blue Engine, in order to provide four BETAS (Americore members) teaching alongside credentialed teachers in untracked English and math classes (untracked with the exception of the AP English class) with reduced class size. The BETAS work three periods a day (mostly with the same teacher) and conduct after school tutoring. The BETAS also have significant preparation time to review lessons plans from the primary teacher, collaborate with the other BETAS, and reflect on their practice by analyzing videos of their teaching and other tools. Right now, Blue Engines (BETAS) are only in New York. The approximate cost to the school to hire 16 full time BETAS is $216,000. I had the opportunity to speak with a number of BETAS, and they were passionate about their work in the school. The following image is of three BETAS at HS 223.

In addition to their English class, ninth and tenth grade students take four semester-long writing seminar courses (one each in English, math, science and social studies) that are in small, homogeneous groups (10-15 students) to prepare them for the PBATs, a performance assessment that is used in place of Regents exams for graduation. Due to MS/HS 223's participation with the PBAT, English is the only Regents Exam they have to take, versus five required exams at other public schools.

The one separate support class that their high school students take is similar to the CAHSEE prep classes that used to be offered in California to prepare students for the now defunct state exit exam. Tenth grade students who do not pass the English Regents take an additional homogeneous English class that prepares them for the Regents that they can re-take in subsequent grades.

I observed complex instruction with challenging texts in every class I visited. Below is a description written by one of their teachers about his work with Shakespeare.

Middle School Intervention

MS/HS 223 also has a more traditional intervention class for the middle school that is a single period (45 minutes) three days a week and an after school class five times a week. Since the school is a 6-12 school, the school is able to address serious decoding and fluency issues in the starting in 6th grade. All students in the middle school level receive some type of intervention during the same period, but the class size and what is offered is dramatically different depending on the students' needs. The person who teaches the most intensive intervention class was absent the day I visited, but I obtained information about what they offer, namely aspects of commercial programs (Wilson Reading and Word Generation) for this intervention.

From speaking with teachers and students, it was clear to me that the administration is highly involved with the literacy focus of the school. When I visited, I had the opportunity to speak with Ashley Downs, the vice principal of the school.

The following is a description that David Fulco wrote. I had the privilege of visiting his class and many other exemplary classes. His description captures the focus on complex texts that the school embraces. Additionally, students read independent choice books.

I am a member of the Folger Shakespeare Library National Teaching Corp. We operate under the belief that Shakespeare is for everyone and that Shakespeare's original language is the best way to understand Shakespeare. We do not use any modifications to the text and teach everything in original language.

The skills that we teach are really close reading strategies to get students to engage in the text. This might range from performance to, as you saw when you visited, set design. The goal is to have students stop and think - "What is going on in this scene?", "Why is this going on in this scene?", "What is the author's message in this scene?"

The class that you visited asked students to design a setting for a scene from Twelfth Night. Students then used manipulatives (here post-its) to move their characters around the stage. Since everyone on stage needs to have something to do at all times, students had to use evidence from the text to justify character movement and action. Students were given only a brief overview of the nuts and bolts of the scene beforehand and they needed to work with the original language in their groups to figure out what was going on.

This lesson brings team work into the learning process. By using Shakespeare's original language, we level the playing field. Shakespeare is hard for ALL students and the group needed to work together to figure out what was happening in each part of the scene. This challenge allowed students of all different levels to participate, to share ideas, and to engage with the material. There were no right or wrong answers. There was just exploration. And this exploration occurred with (at times) lively debate about how the scene should unfold.

This approach to Shakespeare runs into my units for the rest of the year. If we believe that a text is truly worth teaching, then it cannot be only worth teaching for those students who "get it". It must be worth teaching for all student. It is up to us as educators to find a way to engage ALL students in the lesson and in the text. My Twelfth Night unit is a success because I trust in my students to work together to tackle the rigorous problems as they present themselves.

And if they have fun along the way, all the better!