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Three weeks ago I was starting my first day at the Center for Education Reform (CER), and now I’m concluding my experience with the organization. My experience with CER has been educational and I have acquired more knowledge about the education field as a result. My daily task included uploading information from articles that were sent to my email daily into CER database. Everyday I learned something new, whether it was a school facing closure, a new policy being introduced, teachers being evaluated, or even the teachers union advocating for what they believe in. As a junior in high school I’m used to loud students on a daily basis but at CER the environment is completely professional; and I soon caught on to what the adult work environment is like.

During my second week at the organization all of the interns had a pizza lunch, in which they gave me advice on college and answered any questions of mine. Today is my last day and I am thankful for having the opportunity to complete a fellowship at CER. My knowledge about education has increased since being at CER but now my time at the organization has come to an end, and everything that I have learned about education will be displayed this upcoming year when I complete my senior thesis assignment. Senior thesis is a requirement for graduation and the main assignments include a fifteen-page paper on a public policy topic as well as a presentation. I look forward to completing my thesis on a topic that revolves around education because I can apply everything that I have learned while working with CER. Thanks for everything Center for Education Reform!

Imani Jenkins, César Chávez Charter School Fellow

The National Press Club hosted a luncheon with the internationally recognized film writer and director, M. Night Shyamalan. Shyamalan has written and directed many movies including The Sixth Sense (1999), which was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture. How is this Hollywood superstar related to education reform? Shyamalan recently published a book, I Got Schooled, based solely on empirical data to a solution to close the existing education gap in the United States that exists between the success of students in inner city schools compared to their suburban counter parts.

In 2007, Shyamalan was scouting two schools in Philadelphia as locations for a movie when he came across the horrifying discrepancies that existed in schools. He became intrigued with the issue and spent four years attempting to collect and organize data on the differences in schools.

Inspired by the idea that humans only need to do five basic things to stay healthy for a lifetime, Shyamalan utilized the data he collected to uncover a five-item solution that all schools could implement in be successful in providing a sustainable education for all students. The five things he developed are (1) a loud and consistent culture of strong leadership (2) properly trained teachers (3) consistent data collection on effective practices (4) more time in a school setting, and (5) small schools.

Shyamalan describes that all five factors are necessary, and no one item is sufficient on its own or without another. It is important for principals to spend their time teaching the teachers and utilizing the entire school to maintain a culture of growth, instead of relying one classroom alone to provide a fulfilling education for students. Teachers need to be trained “like a navy seal” in order to be successful in the schools, and currently teachers and principals are being held unfairly accountable when they are not being trained properly.

Students should be spending more time stimulated by school environments in order to close the gap and succeed at the same level as their peers. For example, over the summers, some students are being challenged and improving their skills, while others are falling behind. Lastly, students should be taught in small schools because these changes cannot be made in big schools.

Shyamalan concluded his thoughts with the focus on the fact that we can make every effort to change how schools are developed in order to diminish the achievement gap, but we cannot ignore the messages that inner city kids are receiving outside of their schools about their place in society. There is a collective effort that is needed for the growth and development of students in schools across the country.

Mandy Leiter, CER Intern

Education experts gathered at the New America Foundation this morning to offer remarks and panel discussion on the subject “Anytime, Anywhere Summer Learning: Connecting Young Children and Their Families to Early Literacy Opportunities.”

Special Assistant to the President for Education Policy Roberto Rodriguez, National Summer Learning Association CEO Sarah Pitcock, and NYU Professor of Early Childhood and Literacy Education Susan Neuman, among others, shared insights into the opportunities and obstacles of applying technology to combat the effects of summer learning loss.

The “summer slide,” as it’s called, marks both the reversal of academic gains made during the year and a further wedge between the educational outcomes of students from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds. As the panelists observed, students of middle and upper income families often continue to engage in learning opportunities outside the classroom–reading books at home, taking trips to museums, joining storytelling groups at libraries, etc.– while those from lower income families lose access to such academic stimulation over the summer and regress 2-3 months in core proficiencies.

Michael Levine, Founding Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, observed that there is “no new dose of some magical concoction” to undo and prevent the slide, and Ms. Pitcock added that even “an 8-week comprehensive summer program is not the best fit for every child and family.” Rather, the need is for “a variety of solutions.”

In discussing these solutions, the panelists delved into the question “What role does and should technology play?”

Terri Clark of Read on Arizona (fittingly using technology to join the event via Skype) outlined a recent initiative to establish a “digital library” accessible to all students of the Grand Canyon State, and multiple panelists spoke enthusiastically of the potential benefits of rolling out reading apps, expanding technology resources at libraries in high need areas, etc.

Yet for all the enthusiasm to invest in new technologies and educational innovations, one point loomed above all else: parental engagement. As Mr. Levine stressed, the efforts to harness technology require reaching and mobilizing parents, encouraging them to promote at home reading and a culture of family literacy.

Prof. Neuman cautioned against becoming “so enamored of technology and apps that [we] forget the human connection,” and Yolie Flores, Senior Fellow at the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, added, “[It] must not be about replacing adults”, but rather “equipping them…[It’s] first and foremost about relationships, and [remembering] that technology is a tool.”

As if straight out of CER herself, Ms. Gutierrez summed it up as follows: “Keep parents and parent power at the center of this work.”