If one was to travel to their nearest state prison, welfare office, teen pregnancy center, and unemployment office they would notice that the majority of the “clientele” had one thing in common and that is the fact that they dropped out of high school. In fact in the State of Pennsylvania, 70% of inmates do not have a high school diploma. The issue of high school dropouts and the negative outcomes associated with dropping out of high school should be an issue that is discussed on a national basis and should be considered a national crisis.
Statistics indicate that all male learning enviorments may be best for children
According to the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, only 55% of African Americans students and 53% of Hispanic students will graduate from high school. Young men are less likely to graduate than their female counterparts. Nationally, 59 percent of African-American females graduates compared to 48 percent of African-American males. Fifty eight percent of Hispanic females will earn a high school diploma while only 49% of Hispanic males will.
In addition to the dismal graduation rates for minority students, each of the nation’s ten largest public high school districts, which enroll more than 8 percent of the nation’s public school student population, failed to graduate more than 60 percent of its students. For example, only 20% of students in Detroit will graduate high school on time while 75% in Baltimore, 60% in New York and 55% of students in Philadelphia will dropout out of high school.
The issues around high school graduation, race and income is not a new topic and can seem overbearing and unsolvable. However, the solutions are out there to be found and duplicated. Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis, Tennessee recently won the “Race to the Top Commencement Challenge” an initiative of the Obama administration to highlight schools that are turning failure into success. In a statement, President Obama said, “Booker T. Washington High School proves what can be accomplished when students, teachers, parents and administrators come together to support achievement in the classroom”. President Obama gave the commencement address at Booker T. Washington on May 16th of this year.
Booker T. Washington is not a school one will see on TV shows like Beverly Hills 90210, it is a school that is located in the poorest neighborhood in Memphis. It has a student body that is 100% African American with 98% of students eligible for free or reduced priced lunch. A large number of children at Booker T. Washington are teen parents and unfortunately, the school has high rates of HIV/AIDS and a history as one of the most violent schools in Memphis. In 2007, the school had a graduation rate of only 55% and according to the Superintendent of the Memphis School District, the school had, “a culture of failure”.
The culture of failure at Booker T. Washington begin to change three years ago when the school put in placed several reforms that have been proven to work. All freshmen are assigned to gender based classes. Research shows that gender based classes or “academies” have been demonstrated to increase grades, reduce violence and increase interest in schools. Research has also demonstrated that teacher quality directly correlates to educational success. Accordingly, Booker T. Washington assigns their best teachers to core subjects such as English, mathematics and science.
Students enrolled in affluent school districts are prepared for college due to the fact that their curriculum is designed to prepare them for college. Very few students in poor urban school districts are afforded the opportunity to take college preparation courses and accordingly do not attend college. Due to the reforms put in place at Booker T. Washington, college preparation courses (known as Advance placement courses) are available for any student who is interested in taking them.
Due to the success of its reforms, the graduation rate at Booker T. Washington increased from 55% to 82% in four years. The school now has the lowest number of violent incidents and the highest attendance of all of Memphis high schools.
In addition to the national recognition Booker T. Washington has earned as the winner of the “Race to the Top”, the school is an example of what can work in urban education if only we will stop and listen.
