Читать книгу Learning to Connect - Victoria Theisen-Homer - Страница 9

In contrast, the no excuses approach to education is a fairly recent phenomenon, geared around “closing the achievement gap.”^[38] It expanded prolifically after the enactment of the federal No Child Left Behind Law of 2002, which attached rewards and penalties to school performance on state standardized exams. No excuses schools represent approximately 25% of urban charter schools (which are publicly funded and do not charge tuition but often hold a lottery for entrance) and a scattering of public turnaround schools; these schools often implement longer school days and extended test preparation and have subsequently had more success than many other models in advancing the standardized exam scores of students from historically marginalized backgrounds.

As a result, many no excuses models have expanded into wide networks including KIPP, Relay, Uncommon Schools, Yes Prep, Success Academy, Achievement First, and others. In these schools, teachers and administrators “sweat the small stuff,” closely monitoring students’ attire, posture, behavior, and academic work, and enforcing strict discipline policies (through demerits, “sendouts,” in-class suspensions, etc.) when any of these fall below expectations.^[39] Every detail matters, everything must be controlled, so that students can direct all their attention to academic achievement.

In the process, no excuses schools maintain that forces like poverty, racism, and hunger are no excuse for falling below these expectations, hence the moniker “no excuses.” Rituals, mantras, and timers often characterize daily activities, as students work in unison. Classrooms feature efficient instruction in a preestablished canonical curriculum that closely aligns with state standardized tests. Students learn what the teacher, school, and state designate is important.^[40]