Harlem Village Academy Retained Only 4 Full-Time Teachers While Losing 75%

[proud2BlibKansan]

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This year Harlem Village Academy opened its doors with only 4 full time teachers returning, a turnover of more than 75%. There are office staff, department heads and and administrators that returned (some of them teach one period) but only four full time teachers returned. Teachers were told they would be working 9 hour days when they were hired, but the week before school started they were told they would be working 12 hour days. School starts at 7:30 so teachers arrive around 7. School ends for children at 4:15 and there is a mandatory meeting for teachers from 5-7pm from Monday-Thursday. Can be called a model that can't retain 75% of its teaching staff. The school sent a letter home addressing parents' concerns over the turnover without saying what caused it or how it will be fixed.

The Post article also references a 100% passing rate on the state math exam in 8th grade. In order to be promoted in middle school you must have an 80% in each class (I am not sure if this practice is legal.) A number of students that do not have an 80 in each class choose to leave the school rather than be held back or go to summer school. In fact DOE numbers show that they lose 32% of their students between 6th and 8th grades (See the link below.) Under standing their standards for promotion, it is easy to see that the 32% of students that leave are almost all the lowest performing students. If traditional public schools withheld students that got less than an 80 it would be easy to have high passing rates, but we would have to build 30% more schools. Essentially HVA dumps its lowest third of students back into public school system.

http://gothamschools.org/2010/06/09/left-behind-but-not-gone-forever-augmenting-the-ufts-vanishing-students-report/

http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2010/09/harlem-village-academy-retained-only-4.html

[MaeScott]

1. Thanks for the links. nt

[stray cat]

2. How are the students doing relative to Harlem public schools?

[Catshrink]

3. That comparison is only valid if you're comparing students of similar abilities

The OP said that HVA is dumping its lowest 32% back into the public school system. Do you want to compare that 32% to the remaining higher performing students? Further, does HVA have sped students? ELL students? You can bet the public schools do - do you want to compare these groups in the public schools to the "regular" students left at HVA? How involved are the parents at HVA vs. at public schools? Do you wish to compare the two populations to see the effect of parental involvement on student achievement?

[Panaconda]

4. How are the oranges

holding up in the cooler temperatures when compared to the apples? False comparison.

K&R for the article.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. Weed out the low performers and you may have some valid data to compare

[maryf]

6. Thanks!

K&R of course!

[Starry Messenger]

7. The Inconvenient Thread.

Lotsa crickets in here...

[Bucky]

8. Those small charter schools are under enormous pressure to produce results

I taught at a charter with about the same sized staff (we had 14, compared to their 16). The year I left, a total of 9 of the 14 teachers there also shoved on to greener pastures, because the new principal after two years changed the school so much from its original mission, plus he had horrible people skills (so he had a 36% retention rate).

Principals have huge amounts of authority--comparable to ship captains in the 18th Century Royal Navy--but also face pressure to perform or get their one-year contracts non-renewed. Most pass that pressure onto their teachers. In such a small universe, they usually prefer to work with teachers they've hired themselves.

[proud2BlibKansan]

9. Most of the principals I have known have poor people skills

Must go with the territory.

[Bucky]

11. Well, they used to be teachers and, to be fair, most teachers have poor people skills.

After all, at the core of it my job is to make kids jump through hoops and think that they're having a good time at it while I subtly inculcate their brains with historical facts. After 10 of making the lions jump through burning hoola-hoops, I can't say I'm the most soothing personality to be around.

[Dappleganger]

10. K&R