So, lunch with Dad last Friday kicked off an exciting week. I later got to share perspectives with the CityBridge book club – which is a great discussion forum for education supporters, by the way. The fall book is the Brill book, and the team at CityBridge is very inviting. I found them welcoming of different perspectives in the discussion.
One thing that I notice is that the CityBridge tends to limit discussion and exposure to the academically high-performing charter schools in the district. And similiarly, the DC Public Charter School Board released the results of their Performance Management Framework (PMF) last week, ranking charter schools based largely on academics. These are largely based upon test scores and metrics like college acceptances. Yet, it was interesting to visit a Tier 2/3 school, IDEA PCS, last week.
At IDEA, I was met with room after room of computer and manufacturing equipment, happy high-schoolers who ran up to propose a community service project, and cheery staff–still at work and engaging students after school hours had ended. My tour-guide showed me a separate rack of servers, because the students had gotten so clever that they hacked in and brought down the school system one day (does it remind you of young FaceBook founder?). Similarly, their talented students had wired one of the local properties that was under construction.
Of course, I asked directly about the school’s goals in light of the recent PMF rating, and my contact explained that by all means, IDEA needs to improve academics. But he also added that the student body they attract is a bit different–IDEA studnets choose the school because of the vocational program. Often, they are aware that traditional high school isn’t the best fit, and they are not college-bound; so they choose a different life-path. (I have to mention that the best IT people I’ve ever met never finished college.) My contact explained that the school has won awards as a model for vocational education, with kids earning numerous technical certifications, and that they feel a bit let down when they are ranked based upon solely traditional academic factors.
I come from a family of intellectuals, so I will never toss aside the importance academic performance. But I was really, really impressed and humbled by my visit to IDEA PCS. I look forward to work with their team to build capacity for academic success that rests alongside vocational training excellence.
