Advisory In Urban High Schools

Kate Phillippo evaluates the practice of having teachers also serve as advisors, tasked with providing social-emotional support to students. Through an in-depth survey of teacher-advisors at three different urban high schools, she examines the different ways in which advisors interpret and carry out the role and the outcomes for students.

Kate Phillippo evaluates the practice of having teachers also serve as advisors, tasked with providing social-emotional support to students. Through an in-depth survey of teacher-advisors at three different urban high schools, she examines the different ways in which advisors interpret and carry out the role and the outcomes for students.

Achieving College Dreams: How a University-Charter District Partnership Created an Early College High School tells the story of a remarkable 10-year collaboration between the University of California, Berkeley and Aspire Public Schools to develop and nurture the California College Preparatory Academy. Bridging the two cultures--artfully described as "Pac-Man (the charter district) meets chess (the university)"--the school serves as an exemplar in providing low-income and first-generation college youth with an excellent and equitable education. Framed by a longitudinal lens, findings from community-engaged scholarship, and a diversity of voices from students to superintendents, this book charts the journey from the initial decision to open a school to the high school graduation of its first two classes. The book captures struggle, improvement, and success as it takes readers inside the workings of the partnership, the development of the school, and the spillover of effects across district and university. Confronting the challenge of interweaving rigor and support, its authors explore such critical ingredients as teacher-student advisories; school transition; the home-school divide; building a supportive college-preparatory culture; teaching with depth, relational power, and equity; the forging of an academic identity; and scaling up. At a time of sharply unequal schools, glaring disparities in college readiness, and heightened expectations, Achieving College Dreams uniquely extends the knowledge base about how to better prepare underserved students for college eligibility and success. The book also calls for universities to step up to the plate as partners with districts to ensure both excellence and equity in secondary education for all children.

Roughly half of all incoming ninth graders across urban districts will fail classes and drop out of school without a diploma. Failing at School starts with the premise that urban American high schools generate such widespread student failure not because of some fault of the students who attend them but because high schools were designed to stratify achievement and let only the top performers advance to higher levels of education. This design is particularly detrimental for low-income, racial/ethnic minority students. To get different results, Farrington proposes fundamental changes based on what we now know about how students learn, what motivates them to engage in learning, and what kinds of educational systems and structures would best support their learning. “This is a groundbreaking and eye-opening study because it does what few studies of high school truly do: get inside the hearts and minds of teen-agers and show what their experience of school looks and feels like to them. The analysis of students who fail is revealing and powerful. There are poignant and revealing stories of just how a few student mistakes or teacher insensitivities lead to unfortunate and long-lasting results. More importantly, these case studies, their nuances, and their implications take us beyond the clichés and simplistic theories about schools and reform. Most importantly, we read of tangible and intelligent solutions that can be instituted, based on the facts on the ground. I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in getting beyond the typical talking points of school reform.” —Grant Wiggins, Authentic Education “Camille Farrington details how high schools trap students along developmental trajectories distorted by structural factors—resources, values and practices—beyond their control. Grounded firmly in research, she describes a better way forward. This book is an important contribution to the re-visioning of American high schools.” —Ronald F. Ferguson, faculty director, Achievement Gap Initiative, Harvard University "Why is there such a pattern of failure in urban high schools? This is a vital issue for every city in America. Camille Farrington’s analysis of the roots of this problem and suggestions for structural changes to break this cycle is the best I have seen. This book combines research and practitioner wisdom with common sense and heart, and for those of us engaged in this work, presents concrete directions for positive change.” —Ron Berger, chief academic officer, Expeditionary Learning Book Features: Offers concrete strategies for redesigning high schools based on four dimensions of student achievement—structural, academic, developmental, and motivational. Highlights the voices of students to illustrate fundamental problems with the way we currently “do school.” Addresses the new Common Core State Standards and the potential of this major reform effort to move us toward equity and excellence. Camille A. Farrington is a research associate (assistant professor) at The University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration and the Consortium on Chicago School Research and director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment for the Network for College Success.

Join us in celebrating the 25th anniversary of James A. Banks’ Multicultural Education Series, published by Teachers College Press—a dynamic series consisting of more than 70 published books with many more in the pipeline. This commemorative volume features engaging, incisive, and timely selections from the bestselling and most influential books in the series. Together, these selections address how multicultural education should be transformed for a nation and world that are becoming increasingly complex due to virulent racism, pernicious nationalism, mass migrations, interracial mixing, social-class stratification, and a global pandemic. Book Features: Informative and engaging selections from the most important and influential publications in the Multicultural Education Series. An introduction by James A. Banks that integrates and interrelates the chapters and describes how they can be used to transform multicultural education for a changing world. An afterword by Margaret Smith Crocco that synthesizes the book and describes ways to implement school reform that expands educational opportunity. Contributors: James A. Banks, Cherry A. McGee Banks, Margaret Smith Crocco, Linda Darling-Hammond, Robin DiAngelo, Paul C. Gorski, Tyrone C. Howard, Gary R. Howard, Carol D. Lee, James W. Loewen, Sonia Nieto, Pedro A. Noguera, Özlem Sensoy, Christine E. Sleeter, Esa Syeed, Guadalupe Valdés, Miguel Zavala