Gary Rubinstein discovered that Success Academy charter chain had posted about 500 short videos to show what they do in the classroom. Success Academy is celebrated for its phenomenal test scores, far higher than other “no excuses” charter schools. Gary watched several of the videos.
In this post, he discusses a reading lesson for very young children called “Circle Time.” The video is linked. Gary discusses the video and invites readers to comment. The comments by early childhood teachers are interesting.
Gary writes:
“She reminds them how to sit to make this “the most enjoyable story yet” which includes having a really straight back and hands clasped together while tracking the speaker.
There is a lot of “behavior narration” going on, where the teacher constantly points out to the class students who are following directions well. (“Yolanni’s tracking up here.” “Davin brought it right back”) I find it very annoying and I feel like if I were a child it would detract from the story.
The teacher is in complete control. She allows the kids to make some gestures from time to time, but then quickly gets them to return their hands to their laps. I’m kind of scared of this teacher, whoever she is.”
After Gary posted this, almost all the videos were taken down. Then they were restored. Then they were removed again. Curious.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The videos are either password-protected now or missing. I suspect I didn’t miss anything I would want to emulate.
Here’s a scary thought. Eva’s just opened Success Academy Pre-K classes (or will be a year from now… I’m not sure.)
So Eva’s saying, “Give me your 4-year-old’s (or 3-year-olds who have a late Sept-December birthday), and just trust me that we’ll be taking the best care of them. Oh, and don’t be bothered that we just took down all the videos illustrating how we treat children who come to Success Academy … the same videos that are horrifying all the seasoned veteran teachers who happened to see them before we took them down.
“And please trust us. We won’t be doing this to your 3- and 4- year-old children:
“This was just ‘an anomaly.’ Some traitor in our midst leaked this to those in the press who are evil defenders of a failed educational status quo, and who now are using this video against us.
“What’s that? You heard the woman in the video, Charlotte Dial who was caught abusing a child was not fired, but instead, placed in charge of training Success Academy teachers system-wide? And among the teachers that Ms. Dial will be training includes the Pre-K teachers who will be given charge of your own Pre-K children.
“Again, don’t worry. That video was just ‘an anomaly.’ “
I am trying to imagine the educational philosophy behind an assistant teacher going around the room during a Kindergarten circle time and placing a small sticker on the forehead of a child sitting there listening.
Is it the mark of shame? The mark of a reward? And a sticker on the forehead? It’s like they treat these children like animals to train. Can you imagine a boss walking up to you and placing a sticker on your forehead and you have to pretend to you are fine with it because you are terrified of crossing him? And what? Wear it all day? What kind of lessons are these kids learning?
I can imagine some kind of positive re-inforcement where kids wear a badge or have their own record, and you might get a sticker for good behavior. But someone walking around to stick it on your forehead while you are sitting there? It’s like they believe these children are animals to be trained.
Can you imagine Eva Moskowitz attending a pro-charter seminar where a union teacher gets to walk around and place stickers on the foreheads of reformers in the audience to signify either good or really bad “listening skills”. No doubt she’d sit there quietly as the teacher physically placed a sticker on her forehead. I’d love to see Checker Finn’s expression when he sits at the next reformer meeting and the sticker person comes and places a sticker on his forehead to signify his lack of attention. After all, she doesn’t like him and will notice every single time he moves his eyes off the speaker. By the end, he may have 10 stickers on his forehead which he will have to wear all day. No complaints — after all, he did dare to blink and it doesn’t matter that every other person did too — Checker is on the “got to go” list for humiliation and therefore he will wear the mark of shame.
No doubt these two Success Academy teachers in the video were trained in sessions in which another teacher in the room randomly placed stickers on their foreheads. It “helped” them learn a lot better knowing that sticker might get placed there at any time. Too bad Success Academy isn’t showing us the video of the teacher training where forehead stickers go to Eva Moskowitz and anyone else who dares to do anything but sit with legs crossed, postures perfectly straight, hands folded (too bad if you have an itch) and eyes never ever leaving the teacher. Each time, you get your forehead sticker to show how bad you are.
“Sweet Jesus!”
— Daniel Katz, after watching a couple of young Success Academy teachers demonstrating cutting edge Success Academy pedagogy:
uch!
Cheers to Jersey Jazzman, for finding this video and then getting this discussion going among veteran teachers’ opinions of the video:.
First, here’s vimeo url of that video that was just made “private”
Well, you’re going to have to used your imagination,
However, you can read the withering critiques from veteran teachers (posted on Facebook):
Jersey Jazzman –
Dear followers who teach K-5: would you please take a few minutes and watch this training video from Success Academy?
Lynn Fedele
I watched (mostly, I had to do some scrolling), but this lesson includes: An introduction that focuses solely on scores and score goals, over 5 minutes of lecturing about reading, no pre-reading or anticipatory set related to reading content, a 4-minute discussion of one child’s error, a score competition.
It is pure test prep under rigid disciplinary conditions. I thought charters were supposed to be about innovation. There is nothing here that couldn’t be found in a classroom mid-nineteenth century, except maybe the bubble sheets. (The screen only shows a projected image of the reading passage.)
Denise Concidine Funfsinn
I was a 6th grade reading teacher. Lead teacher is not a reading teacher. She is an over the top cheerleader for inane testing. She turned me off at the start, but I persevered for 5 minutes. I feel so sorry for these kids.
I gave up after watching it after six minutes. It was appalling to watch!
Adrian DeVore
I gave up after watching it after six minutes. It was appalling to watch!
Suzanne Libourel
I’m a bit late to the party, Jersey Jazzman, but I wanted to offer my perspective as a School Psychologist who works with 5th and 6th graders. My first thought was that there was way too much ‘teacher talk’ and way too little ‘student talk’.
It was skill-and-drill with a shiny new coat of paint. Although the lead teacher stated that ‘we’ care about the thinking, it was clear that the sales pitch was focused on only the answers to the questions.
My next thought was, what about the children who learn differently? What about the children who have slower processing speeds? What about the children who are uncomfortable being put on the spot to answer in front of the class? What about the children who have a different opinion about what the most important sentence is, and has a great reason for why their choice is important?
This looks like more about creating widgets than creating thinkers.
I gave up after watching it after six minutes. It was appalling to watch!
Katie Lapham
They need to be shut down. This is hideous
I gave up after watching it after six minutes. It was appalling to watch!
Jenn Martin-Kochis
Couldnt make it to the 1 minute mark!! What quality teacher spends day one psyching kids up for their pretest score (which can a 0and its still TOTALLY ok since they haven’t been taught anything yet…)instead of getting to know their students and building community in the classroom?!
I gave up after watching it after six minutes. It was appalling to watch!
Meño Mayorrga replied · 1 Reply
Jameson Michelle
Why was this posted? Is it to be considered exemplar? I mean I applaud their enthusiasm, they look young and maybe this is their first job?
I gave up after watching it after six minutes. It was appalling to watch!
Ladd Turner
My biggest concern about the video is that -this- is what is used as a training video for new teachers. The objectives were not made clear and the lesson starts off with kids scoring themselves before a detailed explanation of the task is provided. Y…See More
I gave up after watching it after six minutes. It was appalling to watch!
Melissa Love Light Tomlinson
I made it about half way through before I felt the stress that was created in this classroom and then had to stop. The assumption that all kids do not want to do their best, the call and response that is devoid after human nature, the purpose of learning this to get good test scores, the emphasis on how fast everything can get done, the lack of conversation with the students being replaced with ‘talking to’, the direct disregard for deep full understanding of what you read…disgusting
I gave up after watching it after six minutes. It was appalling to watch!
Suzanne Munk Brian Timbrouck
HORRENDOUS! A “score” means nothing. Who is training these teachers? What kind of teacher thinks this is OK?
Like · Reply · 1 · August 29 at 3:24pm
I gave up after watching it after six minutes. It was appalling to watch!
Shoshanna Ramone
So from day one they are taught testing drills, timed, and lectured at about test scores. This all seems extremely scripted, the children are visibly not excited to be there, and competition is encouraged, not love of learning and thinking skills.
Like · Reply · 2 · August 29 at 3:30pm
I gave up after watching it after six minutes. It was appalling to watch!
Renee Goularte
Well I lasted three minutes and I could not take any more. I can’t stand the way she is talking to the kids. She sounds like a football coach or something, not a teacher.
Like · Reply · August 29 at 3:35pm
Tina Andres
Tina Andres I swear I can’t do it again, I just watched a different one last night and my blood pressure went up. Nope, not doing it to myself again. All I know is that hell hath no fury like the fury any teacher treating my own kids like this will receive.
Like · Reply · 3 · August 29 at 3:52pm · Edited
Cecilia Palao-Vargas
Cecilia Palao-Vargas 1:47, tuning out because I detest the stress and emphasis on measuring your self-worth based on a number. My child would panic, listening to this BullShit!
Like · Reply · 2 · August 29 at 4:00pm
Vicky Smith
Vicky Smith This is suppose to be the “first score of the year” which leads me to believe that this is one of the first days of school. It is perplexing that ALL of these children have their behavior “cues” down pat. My question is; where are the students with b…See More
Like · Reply · 4 · August 29 at 4:21pm
Ami L. McChesney replied · 1 Reply
Bert Van Dyke
Bert Van Dyke This is pushing a ‘hard sell’ on children. Entirely invalid, non-educative, and likely harmful. Distorted purpose. Actresses, not educators.
Like · Reply · 2 · August 29 at 4:31pm
Emmy Thevanesan
Emmy Thevanesan My thoughts are similar to when I saw the video of the Success teacher who ripped up the kid’s math paper. First, at least some of those kids are sick to their stomachs with nerves from being forced into an environment like that. And that is criminal. Second, these teachers will one day become parents, may actually learn a thing or two about childhood and adolescent development, and will be sickened by what they did to these kids. Or, charter school teaching is just a stepping stone for them and they’ll never look back.
Like · Reply · 2 · August 29 at 4:57pm
Steve Spangler
Steve Spangler This is hideous. The score becomes the child’s identity, and the teacher sells it as if it were the most exciting thing since sliced bread. Actually looks like a training video for selling used cars.
Like · Reply · 3 · August 29 at 5:04pm
Andy Mitchell
Andy Mitchell 50 points for Slytherin! Potter, there are consequences for thinking. De-TENT-tion this Friday evening.
Like · Reply · August 29 at 5:22pm
Mark Collins
Mark Collins Download for possible use in an abuse trial. This is nuts. Should be blasted on the airways as a B roll on an endless loop.
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