High Expectations

This year, Sherman School in Chicago began an experiment.  As part of CPS’s far-reaching Renaissance 2010 program, the school, a chronic low performer on the city’s south side, was completely reorganized under the management of the Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL).  All the kids stayed, but every single one of the staff members left.  A new principal, a new administration, and a completely new staff opened the school year.

Chicago Public Radio has been following Sherman all year in short update reports on the morning show 848.  These are fascinating, and if you’ve got some spare space on the iPod, you should download them:

Chicago school gets a makeover - Sept. 2006
First day for the new Sherman - Sept. 2006
Sherman Students learning that staff means business - Dec. 2006

As ISAT testing comes to a close, WBEZ’s most recent visit dealt with more than just academic expectations. (At Sherman School, progress means more than test scores - March 2007).

The piece profiles Monty Apostolos, an 8th grade teacher at Sherman, who tries to combine academic instruction with careful attention to her students’ emotional development:

[from the transcript]
Because she believes the social is so tied to academic performance, Apostolos weaves life lessons with academics in unexpected ways. The week before the ISAT, Apostolos noticed something brewing amongst the girls. ...Apostolos took 35 valuable minutes away from teaching to talk first with her girls, then her boys, about how to handle the girl who was instigating chaos. But she talked about it in terms of cause and effect and point of view.- standards concepts her students will need to understand on the ISAT.

What does it really mean to have high expectations? What do they look like?  I think the issue of balancing academic and socioemotional instruction is a huge part of this.  When you talk about having high expectations for your students, is it purely an academic concept?  If not, how are you making sure that academics aren’t put on the back-burner in favor of more “touchy-feely” topics?

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