Chicago public schools are taking a page from parochial schools’ playbook to try to improve student performance. The Urban Prep Charter Academy on Chicago’s south side has gone to a boys-only school.
According to WLS-TV (ABC7Chicago.com), “[Urban Prep President] Tim King came up with the idea for the first all-boys public school. After leading a boys Catholic school, he wanted to see all young men be given the same academic opportunity.”
“The school represents a new strategy to raise achievement levels among African-American boys,” reports cbs2chicago.com.
Operating inside the stately Lindbloom High School building, the first Urban Prep students will have a longer school day and wear blazers, shirts and ties under strict discipline — all part of an effort to reverse depressing statistics.
“We should end the steady increase of young African-American [and] Latino males going into the prison system,†Mayor Richard Daley said of the changes.
By employing teaching methods tailored for boys, Urban Prep Principal Tim King believes those trends can be changed.
“We know for example that boys learn better under conditions of stress,†he said. “So what we can do in our delivery of instruction is create an environment in which students are constantly being challenged and have to respond to those challenges.â€
Enrollment in the charter school is 150 students chosen randomly from all applicants, and each of them was greeted by their last name and with a firm handshake the first day of school. The idea is that by treating them with respect, expecting them to dress professionally, and holding them to higher standards, they will learn to respect themselves and others and take pride in their school and work.
Time will tell how well this bold initiative will work. It’s worth keeping an eye on — if it’s successful, it may be something that District 150 could emulate in the future.
Picture credit: Chicago Defender/Worsom Robinson
There is certainly something to be said for taking the distractions of sexuality and fashion out of the classroom. However, at some point these kids are going to be exposed to these forces in our society and will have to learn how to deal with them. Perhaps it’s better to delay this exposure until they are more mature. Perhaps we’re doing them a disservice and exchanging short-term gains for poor outcomes long-term. My bias on the front end is that the results will be positive but not overwhelmingly so. The only way to find out is to test the idea, and this seems like a worthwhile experiment. I look forward to the results.
Removing distractions I’m sure is part of it, but they seem to also be saying that boys in general have different learning styles than girls. Thus, by restricting the enrollment to only boys, the teachers are free to focus on male learning styles exclusively. That’s an interesting hypothesis that is worth exploring, too. Parochial schools have found success with the boys-only (and girls-only) model, so it’s not completely unprecedented. I hope it’s successful in a public school environment.
Knight in Dragonland has a good point about dealing with the opposite sex, in that it’s an important part of life that everyone has to face someday. Every all-boys school I know anything about has a ‘sister’ school with which it partners for social activities. I think that’s a step in the right direction.
Even more interesting, I think, would be a school that houses both male and female students, and only segregates the classes by sex where research has shown it to be beneficial. It would be an interesting way to get the educational benefits of same-sex with the social benefits of co-ed. Of course, many people must have had this idea before me so I guess there must be some huge downside that I haven’t thought of… right?
Just a personal story to relate… my cousin’s two boys went to co-ed public schools for most of grade school, but she sent them both (one just graduated and the other’s a frosh/soph?) to an all-boys Catholic high school. They’ve really turned out amazingly. The one who just graduated is one of the most respectful, calm and mature boys I know. He’s had girlfriends. He crashed my cousin’s boyfriend’s car (not major, but damage to a BWM ain’t cheap). So he’s done all the normal teenage boy stuff – just not to any dangerous extreme.
And my cousin got divorced when they were under 10. And she’s had an off and on relationship (albeit very consistently so) since said divorce. So home life was mildly unstable, I guess.
It’s my family, so I could be biased. But I have lived not in the Northeast (where they are) for going on 14-15 years now – so most of the older boy’s life honestly. The distance gives me some perspective.
And he, Kyle, takes excellent care of his younger cousins at family events – playing with them and all that (my boys especially). I consider this an excellent indicator of a great level of responsibility and caring.
So anyway, it worked damn well for my cousin’s boys. One can only hope it will in the South Side as well.
BMW, guess you can tell I don’t own one or know anyone who does! Ha!