This is one of the most important posts you will read this year–or next.
The Rocketship charter chain hopes to be the mass-produced model for poor kids in America. It intends someday to enroll one million children.
Jersey Jazzman takes a close look at John Merrow’s PBS episode about Rocketship charters. .
The children in these charters get no music or art. None.
The leaders of Rocketship don’t see this as a problem.
In their view, poor kids need basic skills, not the arts.
Affluent parents wouldn’t accept this kind of schooling.
It is not education. It’s just schooling.
It’s schooling on the cheap for Other People’s Children.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This is nothing less than educational malpractice. It’s also discriminatory and racist. Suggesting that poor children do not deserve access to the arts is abhorrent.
At first when I read this I thought – great. Education for children who were previously not being schooled. That’s good. – But this is not the way to do it. Through the arts we can explore history and society, and the wider cultural, political, and philosophical context. People already know this. That’s what makes this article so shocking.
The arts make us human. Not including the arts in education does children HUGE disservice, regardless of SES or race or whatever.
These are my thoughts: http://crunchyprogressiveparenting.blogspot.com/2012/03/why-arts-education-is-crucial-semi.html
In response to Jersey Jazzman’s blog, Marie wrote: “No art, no music, but TONS of change. Just what kids need… instability, unpredictability and no opportunities for creative self expression—research be damned!” This is exactly right. I suspect that Andrew Elliott-Chandler’s idea of “innovation” (that he is so proud of) is actually the right to experiment on other people’s children, and to buy into the newest products of the publishing and ed tech companies. The sight of the large “lab” room filled with rows of cubicles in each of which a young child sat for an hour mindlessly hitting keys, with the “help” of a few non-teacher hourly employees was beyond disturbing. Is this the future? Brave new world. And all of the authentic research on child development, language and literacy development, as well as content-area standards by professional educators is completely disregarded. What a travesty.
Change is inevitable, progress is optional. How and when are the “reformers” held accountable for the malpractice?
OMG!! This makes me sick.!!! I can not imagine any serious administrator or educator taking part in this experiement. It is punishing and stymies any child
that is driven through a strong right brain. The special education students would be doomed. Multisensory approaches and programming are
keys for these kind of learners. Most children are excited by the diversity of learning techniques that open their minds and fill their intellectual creative curiosity. Where
is the respect for the research that gives us an understanding of the various kinds
of learners and how they learn in the classroom and in life. This is throwing baby out with the bath water. I would also like to ask where the longitudinal studies are on
how these children will and can be effected by sitting in front of computer terminals for long periods of time. How are they convincing the parents that this is the healthiest
and most educationally broadening route for their children. My sense of most of
these education experiments is that there is not much giving a damn about what the parents think.
I teach in an Urban district and music and art are embraced as strong learning tools within the children’s homes and religious environments. However, that does
not necessarily open them up to the wide range of experiences and information inclusive of all form of these wonderful elevated learning tools Being exposed to culture and all that the arts can teach broadens and sophisticates these children for their necessary global nourishment and place in the future. Why would any education environment that proposes to elevate learning and enhancing higher level thinking skills exclude the arts? What am I missing or is this so beyond the
caring of some populations children that they are only viewed as lab rats. The children are in startup too and if started with a joy for learning through approachs
that lift their mind and their senses they just might become holistically forcused adults. Somehow I am not believing that is what is being aimed for in this education
experiment. Shame!
In my school, classroom teachers are responsible for giving art, music, gym/health grades even though these subjects are not part of the classroom teacher’s curriculum nor is there time in our schedule to teach them even if we wanted to. Some teachers are lucky to actually have these specialists teach their class during their prep, but many of us have not gotten them due to not enough specialists in our school. What is worse is that we must put in a phoney grade to make it look like they are getting these. For my first two quarters I have gotten none of these options, yet I am responsible for providing a grade!
So far my first grade children have had “writing” and now “library”, even though they are not allowed to be in the library….due to the fact that the teacher is a long term sub and the principal does not trust a sub to take care of the library so instead, she is in a classroom and the library (newly remodeled due to a neighborhood volunteer project) sits empty! Insane.
This would NEVER happen in the suburbs. The children who need this the MOST are the ones who get the least of everything. Why isn’t anyone addressing this?!
This is an inevitable consequence of accountancy-based ‘education’, where matters not accounted for, such as the arts and personal skills are relegated further and further into oblivion. The repeated reinforcement of the ‘importance’ of measurement has given it a potency that has literally displaced the holistic needs of children. We have been conned so long – with typical political manipulation – that many even start to believe that the arts are irrelevant. Not to many iPod-clutching children they aren’t.
All props for such a succinct, well -stated summary of the crowd that “knows the price of everything but the value of nothing.”
With the addendum that when it comes to their own children, the “holistic needs of children” suddenly become all important and indispensable.
And where are the lawsuits against this?
My school district in Ohio eliminated art and music for one year as a means to save money. Elementary teachers were to take over the weekly lessons in art and music. It was a very long year. The children really missed those classes as we all know they bolster learning in all subject areas. It was not until the teaching staff refused to do music programs and art shows which in grades K-2 are highly anticipated, did they reconsider. Why, parents complained big time! We actually had a drop in enrollment as over 40 parents pulled their children and went to neighboring school districts. But, when we tried to bargain for this to never happen again, the Board of Ed. refused. Why, they wanted that money saving option to remain open. So it is not about what is best for kids, it is and always be what saves a buck.
Why do poor kids need visual arts and music? For the same reason rich kids do – it provides them with a chance to excel, to be creative, to “show off” their talents. It also adds a depth to their learning that no prescribed bubble curriculum can, because it enables them to see their world through various lenses.
At my inner-city school, 99% of the children who attend live below the poverty line. Yet on the Thursday before Christmas, we held an evening Celebration of the Arts; all grade levels sang and displayed the art work they’ve done through our Kennedy Center Integrating the Arts grant. Over 200 parents and family members turned out! Why? Because they wanted to see their children perform, wanted to be proud of their kids all dressed in their finest outfits.
Arts programs are not just something you put in schools that can afford it; all children need to experience it as part of their own rich heritage. To suggest that poor kids can’t have art is saying that they don’t deserve it because of their economic status; and that is not even something that they have control over.
Education without art or music is incomplete. Nothing can change a life like the arts. I have taught low SES for years. After a visit to a local museum- which was the first for all but a few- one student said she wanted more. The following weekend I took her and two friends back for an extended tour.
Not only was this young lady the first in her family to complete high school, she was awarded a scholarship to a private Liberal Arts College- completed graduate school, and is now teaching in Japan. She came home for the holidays, and whete did she want to go on our day together? To that same museum, Winterthur.
Don’t tell me the arts don’t matter!
Education without art and music is incomplete. I have taught low SES middle schoolers for years. After a trip to a local museum- the first for most- one student wanted more. The daughter of a single mother, her father in prison.
The following weekend I took this girl and two of her friends for an extended tour.
Not only was this young lady the first in her family to complete high school, she graduated from a private liberal arts college- on scholarship. She then went on to graduate school, and is now teaching in Japan.
She was home for the holidays, and we were able to spend some time together. Where did she request we go? To that same museum, Winterthur.
Don’t tell me the arts don’t make a difference.
Have we come to a place where poor children art art-less, non-musical drones for the market????? United States of the rich- prison drone residence of the poor and middle class. The land of drudgery.
All kids need music and art.
The real question is how we get poor kids to read, write and do math on grade level so they don’t end up in prison like so many poor black and Latino kids do. When we solve this problem, we will not be talking about issues that are not really the issues for poor kids. Parents in these communities just want there kids to go to a good school whether it means a charter or public school. As an educator I invite anyone to help me save kids that I know are headed to jail.
The best comments we have heard on the importance of arts is from the corporatists at a California Assembly Select Hearing of the Aerospace and Education Committee at Northrup Grumman. At this meeting were Northrup Grumman, Boeing and JPL. They stated that arts from a very early age were of maximum importance to their survival as they need people in all fields who can thing outside of the box and the arts provides that ability. We could not believe that we were listening to corporations and they were more with the needs of children than the educrats. Think about this. Why are they more in line with what is needed than the so called expert educators?
As they said considering the type of business they are in you need those kind of people not automatons working for you or you will never get to the next needed level. How does anyone think that jet engines are so much more efficient in both fuel mileage but emissions also. How about the outrageous accuracy of the flight management systems of airplanes but satellites also especially those going into the outer solar system and beyond. This is not an accident. They were created by those who think outside of the box and arts is the best assist known for that outcome.
George, you have stated the case and hopefully we all can utilize
your statement for the sake of the children. Thanks so much!!!
“VERONICA BARBOSA: I wish we could have art and music in the school, but at the same time if you want your child to have that in their life, you can make the effort to try and get it, like, after school or on the weekends. [emphasis mine]
Understand that Rocketship explicitly states that its mission is ‘…to become a national network to eliminate the achievement gap in low-income neighborhoods.’ They are a school for poor kids – and, according to Rocketship, poor kids don’t need art and music education.”
So let’s get this straight…parents of these students should get art education “on their own” with their own dollar? And just how does Ms. Barbosa expect families from low-income neighborhoods to afford the money and time for music and art lessons? Are they supposed to work less hours and pull money out of thin air?
“JOHN MERROW: If the unions came to you and said, John, we’d like to unionize Rocketship, what would you say?
JOHN DANNER: I would say absolutely not. We’re a startup. You know, in startups, you basically do something different every day. Any major school district has a 450-page kind of contract that literally says minute by minute what teachers are supposed to do. So the fit between how that’s evolved and what Rocketship is like is just a bad fit.”
Actually, you know in startups, profit is king and employees are expected to work for next to nothing. Unions would never allow that. THAT is the real reason for “absolutely not.” The rest is blown smoke. I’d love to see these “450-page kinds of contracts that literally say minute by minute what teachers are supposed to do” so I can know how to do my job since my district does not provide this inormation. What a great help it would be for me to not have to think or plan or utilize any of my experience and training!
This is just more “reform” nonsense, smug and woefully manipulative. When will these false gods stop spewing the same misinforming rubbish, and when will journalists start calling them out on it?
I keep seeing the scene from Pink Floyd’s The Wall of faceless school children being lead through a grey apocalyptic environment into a meat grinder.
Kids need color & music & expression. We all do.
I could go on about corporate greed and elitism, but that has been going on and on. This boils down to kids & culture not drones & mass production.
Yes, I am an art teacher.
Demand More Art!
I posted some of the following in response to an earlier comment on the PBS Rocketship report:
The PBS report did not adequately address some key issues. First, is Rocketship a profit-making enterprise? I looked on their website, and it seems that they are a 501(c)3, but that does not answer the question of how much public money is being spread around, and to whom. Walton apparently provides start-up costs. What are CEO and administrator salaries? How much goes to vendors and consultants?
Second, to what extent do they serve the same student population? Their website denies skimming, but I saw nothing in the PBS report on this topic. Do we just take their word for it?
Third, little is spelled out about special education services and how this is handled. This is a huge issue with substantial financial, legal, and ethical implications. My public school serving over 600 students has 5 special education teachers, a speech/hearing specialist, a social worker, a school psychologist, a nurse, a sign language interpreter, and 3 guidance counselors. At times, some of our students have needed full or part-time aides as well as assistance with transportation.
Fourth, I understand there is no art and no music. What about other subjects such as health, P.E., cooking, or foreign languages? Is there a library with a librarian?
Fifth, the computer lab is supervised by non-teachers (hourly workers) who oversee large groups. The PBS reporter said he saw a fair number of children just sitting there unengaged by the point and click lessons. I would like to know real numbers or percentages. Also, the website makes clear that even kindergarteners are in the lab. This seems developmentally inappropriate.
Sixth, the principal of the San Jose Rocketship charter stated that the school begins with “high expectations.” Well, I work in an urban public school, and I have high expectations too. Why is this new?
Seventh, John Danner, the Rocketship founder said the following about unions: “We’re a startup. You know, in startups, you basically do something different every day. Any major school district has a 450-page kind of contract that literally says minute by minute what teachers are supposed to do. So the fit between how that’s evolved and what Rocketship is like is just a bad fit.” Where do they get these ideas? If this is true, please quote me the relevant text from the relevant contract. My union contract has virtually nothing to say about what goes on in the classroom. Oh wait, there are some class size guidelines. Isn’t that a good thing?
One final nugget from their website: students are given standardized tests every 8 weeks.
Frankly, I expected a more thorough job from PBS. I also could have done without the Model T Ford analogy.
art and music expand the mind and give an individual tools to be creative in thought. Math is an extra bonus learned in a creative way when taught via art or music.
I came across this article this morning: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/memory-medic/201204/what-all-teachers-should-learn-jazz-band-teachers-1
Here’s an interesting tidbit, though: many MANY music teachers aren’t comfortable teaching jazz. Heck, I’M not comfortable teaching jazz. I *can* do it, but not well, because my own music teachers weren’t comfortable with it (and my college didn’t exactly encourage clarinetists to be in their highly selective jazz program :P).
When I took on my high school music position, I enrolled myself in a workshop to learn how to improvise and even in the 2-day workshop I learned TONS of things I didn’t know before, which helped me manage a jazz band at least a bit, and the kids I had in the jazz band taught me a ton as well.
Absolutely, jazz is the pinnacle of artistic and creative thinking combined. Rock can be taught and performed in much the same way, with improvisation incorporated in the music; its roots are from jazz and blues, so that makes sense. And to think that so many kids don’t even have access to music, and kids who do certainly don’t get enough exposure in school to learn to read music or access chord structure in 30-45 minutes a week. Sad. 😦
Thanks for the link. I’m sure you’ll agree that the same principles of collaboration, demand for excellence, etc. can be found in any style of music. Just like any other, jazz has its performance practice. Baroque was the epitome of structured and improvised art–I always considered Bach the godfather of jazz. I don’t think one necessarily had to be an “expert” jazz musician to instill these tenets in students on some level. But good on you for taking the workshops you did. I don’t believe any musician, or teacher for that matter, stops learning and improving.
As a flutist, I did not get the intense vocal training at the university level that I wished I had. I’ve decided to concentrate more on vocal training in gradute school since I am working with children’s voices on a daily basis. In the three semesters of university choir I’ve had, I have learned many choir training techniques that I’ve been able to apply even at the elementary level. For a little extra fun, I recently performed with a quasi-professional jazz choir put together by a woodwind faculty member at a jazz university. The project director’s (ww player) rehearsal techniques left a bit to be desired. He had a jazz brass faculty member–with a jazz family pedigree–as the conductor, yet even this guy didn’t speak “voice.” I was disillusioned for many a rehearsal as myself and other members of the choir were constantly making suggestions as to what and how we should rehearse. There were balance and color issues, and some of the phrasing and diction were sloppy, but neither the project director nor the conductor paid attention to these. It became clear who the trained music educators in the lot were as we were always speaking up.
What have I learned from this experience? A master teacher needs to be more than just an expert in subject matter. Performance practice is equally important, as well as knowing your limits. Subject matter does not automatically guarantee interest or lack thereof on the part of the students. Music is an amazing and transformative human endeavor–oh, I knew that last one already.
Reblogged this on Dhasty01's Blog and commented:
This is ABSURD! Music and art are different gateways for people to learn. What one can’t learn in books they may be able to get through lectures, or discussions, or plays, or music, etc. Learning is ubiquitous and nothing should be taken away from the opportunity for one to learn.
I taught at an urban community college 15 years ago that forbid fiction-not pragmatic. I snuck in Their Eyes Were Watching God and my classes exploded: WHY HAVEN’T WE READ THIS BEFORE NOW? Lesson learned by this teacher. Disrupt, always.
All children deserve art and music and I’m proud to say the arts are alive and well in my public elementary school. WE take our students to museums, art galleries and concerts. That’s the perk of being a 20 minute subway ride away from Manhattan. We have charters all around us and we are fighting the good fight, without compromising our integrity or our students’ education. But I don’t know how long we can last. The neighborhood has changed. The young parents moving in now want private schools at public school prices. Charters!
I m proud of the Atlanta Music Project, which has successfully used music as an instrument of social change, based on the “El Sistema” music program in Venezuela. I do not support schools that do not teach the “whole child.” That goes for both public charter schools and traditional schools. Many schools have eliminated music and arts from their curriculum because they have misappropriated funding over decades of not responding to the changing external environment. That is why the Atlanta Music Project, and others like it, exist and succeeding But see, the problem is that the author makes a statement to scare everyone into thinking that these schools are evil. If a parent chooses to send their kids to such a school, that is their prerogative. One thing I have learned from spending time with at-risk students is that you cannot apply your values to theirs. What I’d rather see on this blog is an intellectual debate about Paul Tough’s book. Some of it is 100% correct, but some of it is quite controversial, when we emphasizes one particular charter model (i.e., KIPP) and also discusses the “character report card.” Lets discuss that before lambasting one particular charter construct, which may be having measured success, although I do not have the time to go looking for it at present.
I totally agree! I was raised a poor kid, but never felt
poor, why? Because our house was filled with music. My mom and dad
made sure of it. I got to advance my music and theater through
public education. I wanted to be in band, but, we could not afford
it. Instead I used my God given gift, my voice. If it hadn’t been
for those opportunities, I would have dropped out! I had ADHD and
could not focus academically at the time. One of 8 kids, I was
often invisible, but at school, I could shine through my musical
identification. Now I teach poor kids. I promote STEM and art
integration. The trend in Charter Schools is vile and is a rich man
investor’s answer to controlling through housing projects our
children from poverty. Just the reference to “poor kids” is so
unabashedly insulting! (there is a huge difference between economic
lack and poverty by the way!)The sooner we do what we can in
education to remind children that they are NOT their circumstance,
and are human beings with potential, giftedness, and hope the
better. You take a group of children and tell them all they need to
know is the basics is setting them up to only experience the
basics, and hopelessness. This is why they will never break out of
their very unhealthy (in many cases) impoverished communities. This
is the mindset of factory, assembly line approaches to education
and it is insulting to educators and the art of education. It is
more than racist, it goes beyond…it is a caste system, it is
class-ism.
I teach music, so I must admit to a certain bias. HOWEVER, poor does not mean untalented. And it means even more to poor kids (i was pretty much “poor” during my early years.), given them something to express their emotions, developing an emotional vocabulary and being able to create, as well as appreciate the beauty in music and the arts. Besides,music is a whole brain activity, and can be a lot of fun at the same time.
Yes, we SHOULD encourage education in music and the arts.
And before I forget, poor does not mean stupid. Education should be balanced during the school day, If a child chooses to pursue music or arts beyond that, fantastic! Students should be able to DO somthing, create something when they finish high school, not just be able to pass a standardized test.
My children attend a Title I school in Florida called Triangle Elementary in Mount Dora. They have no art class, no music class, and no recess (my children are 6 and 8). Florida puts all its emphasis on high-stakes testing, and this is the norm unfortunately, unless you can afford private school.
Being a teacher of students with special needs I find this disturbing. My children do their best work when they can be creative. This is their world. I deal with students that have many different learning styles. To remove the arts would mean to remove culture. if this is a ust complete then start at the top with the wealthest children. They can obtain the arts from home through their parents. Many poor children in our society and other societies have risen to the top because of exposure to the arts. True creativity comes from the poore sector of life, look at some of our famous blues singers. The lyrics and feeling from one song come from life experiences and exposure to the arts.
What I find most interesting about this subject and the posted responses is just how much classroom teachers know about their jobs. Despite the four years of regular college studies and the additional year or two of teacher training, as well as the ongoing training that teachers are required to do just to acquire and keep their teaching certificates, we are routinely treated as if we are barely educated boobs who must be told ever more specifically year to year just exactly what and how we are to teach. If well-schooled teachers were simply allowed to teach and were given the support and pay that is commensurate with their awesome responsibilities and talents, and if the big-business inspired “standardized test” model were dismantled, we would see education improving rapidly in this country. Too bad that the makers of the execrable “Waiting for Superman” didn’t tell the whole truth about the education system in Finland, which they extolled. They failed to mention that teachers there are paid very well, that they all belong to very strong unions, that they are highly respected, and that the class sizes are far smaller than in the U.S.
Preying on the poor for profit and starving their humanity has an uncanny parallel to prison. To deny the innate harmony, rhythm, expression and movement of children is nothing short of murder.
I think it is crazy to push music and other arts off as not important. As a child, I benefited immensely from musical experiences in my community. It kept me in school and kept me entertained and out of trouble. Later, I was able to travel the world, participate in summer music festivals, and eventually come to New York City to study. All of this was possible because of my early exposure to music lessons and ensembles.
To take art and music out of the equation for children limits their perspective beyond reason. This is in their most formative years where they’re most likely to become passionate about something, and if it is art or music, they’re going to want to be able to find solace in that and find teachers who can inspire them!