If you look at the staff roster for the two schools at
Butler it shows there are forty certified staff. In the Times Union it says
there are 12 full time City Year (a government sponsored service organization) personnel
there too. All this for a school with 471 kids.
I think districts have to experiment to see what works.
I have no problem with trying kids wearing uniforms or single gender classes. Though I have to say since it’s usually
done in schools that are predominantly African American I do find that
insulting.
But is it uniforms that turned the school around or is it
the incredible staff to student ration? Is it single gender classes or is it teachers
being able to give individual attention?
Occam’s razor says the simplest explanation is usually the
correct one, and giving teachers manageable class loads where they can give
kids the attention they need, not having single gender classes and uniforms is the
lesson I believe we should take form Butler Middle school.
I would like to hear comments from students when they are outside of the school building. Have the reporter go out into the neighborhood as students are walking home from school and ask them how it (i.e. discipline) really is.
ReplyDeleteBased upon the numerous articles about this school, it seems like the district is heavily promoting the program. What about the other middle schools in Duval? Also the fact about making Butler a dedicated magnet. The neighborhood students will be bused to another school.
ReplyDelete