Oprah’s gift to Ron Clark: Could his school be replicated?
They’re debating education over at The Buzz today.
One of the things that makes Ron Clark Academy stand out: A sllide (and now $1.5 million from Oprah.)
What’s provoked the back and forth on the entertainment blog is the news that Oprah Winfrey gave the Ron Clark Academy a $1.5 million gift to help ease the private school’s financial woes.
Winfrey is a big fan of Ron Clark, the charismatic and inspiring teacher who opened a private middle school in southeast Atlanta in 2007. Along with a focus on arts and performance, the school features an international trip each year and a two-story slide in the building. Students pay a heavily discounted tuition on a sliding scale based on family income to attend the school. Donations pay the rest of the $14,000 annual tuition.
Clark received a card from Winfrey last year on Christmas Eve with a $365,000 check. The pair met nine years ago when Clark was named Disney’s American Teacher of the Year.
These comments reflect the debate:
Smoochies: It’s great that Oprah and whoever else wants to donate can do so to this school. I don’t have any issue with RCA. My question is why can’t the public school be in the same category as RCA and private schools? Why do you have to spend thousands of dollars for your children to get a quality education? Seems a little backwards to me. All schools should be functioning at the level of RCA. No one is talking about how we are 49th in school rankings.
Struggling to Understand: People can call it negative if they elect to do so, however, I have a problem with children singing and dancing all the time as if they can not learn in any other manner. Second, if we are looking at the whole picture, tell me why his methods are copyrighted and in these struggling times, there is a huge fee to attend any of his workshops? If we truly desire to see “disadvantaged” kids excel academically, why is Mr. Clark keeping all of his “techniques” and “methodologies” under lock and key? JUST ASKING!!!
SWHite: As a parent of RCA, let me attempt to dispel some of the unknowledge. They don’t “sing and dance” all of the time. Some of his teaching methods involves “music and movement” but isn’t that how WE ALL STARTED IN PRESCHOOL? Secondly, the parents of RCA pay tuition based on income. We also fundraise to assist in activities that we do for our children. Most importantly, if there was not such an emphasis being placed on test results and teachers were actually ENCOURAGED TO TEACH, there wouldn’t be a need for schools like RCA. At the end of the day, we all want our children to be challenged, encouraged to become global thinkers and leaders. If this is where we choose to send our kids, so be it!
Take a look at the comments and let’s discuss. I have never been to the school, but my colleagues who have visited are always impressed with the energy and enthusiasm of the students and staff. I am not sure if the school could be replicated since so much of it seems to reflect Clark himself.
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58 comments Add your comment
ScienceTeacher671
December 20th, 2009
9:59 am
Oh, please, EducationCEO! Are you at all familiar with social learning theory, particularly the work of Bandura or Vygotsky? If you were, you would know that in general, poorer children of any race, color, creed, or ethnicity are less articulate than their wealthy counterparts, which is one reason that socioeconomic status is such a good predictor of academic performance. You’d also know that studies have shown this to be true worldwide, not just in the southern United States.
ClemsonNeil
December 21st, 2009
7:33 pm
Eventually (in my opinion) this school is only going to serve the “elite” black community. At the end of the day, money talks. I read it cost RCA about $3 million to operate annually (and it’s funny that the school don’t even have a cafeteria or gym… go figure) and most of the kids there are on scholarships from donors. Oprah’s not going to write a check everytime RCA find themselves struggling. And if you look at those that run the school. It’s only a matter of time before RCA becomes a school for the priviledged and elite… ran by the priviledged and elite.
RCA already hand picks what students attend. Notice in coming years how the dynamic changes.
Personally I’m kinda disappointed that the students are only really known for singing and dancing. How about publishing or letting the world know how the students are doing ACADEMICALLY. Maybe if people saw that instead of them rapping and dancing more serious discussions can be had about changing the way we teach all our students.
Carlos
December 21st, 2009
7:34 pm
ScienceTeacher671 your ignorance is more than astounding it is unfounded. As for the southern United States, academic achievement is not high on the list. Look at their academic standing in America, abysmal to say the least. It is your kind of thinking that allows this to be. What a sad state we are in this country because to many of the wealthy think like you.
ScienceTeacher671
December 22nd, 2009
8:32 am
Carlos, don’t insult, educate.
I’ve given reasons, including well-respected research, to substantiate what I’ve said. You’ve given insults and invective.
By the way, the same research I’ve alluded to gives the solution to the problem – but most in the United States, especially in the southern United States, aren’t willing to fund it.
freelunch educator
December 23rd, 2009
2:04 am
AWWW. So sorry Maurine.
The N.Y. court of appeals BUSTED Columbia University.
According to the WSJ 12/4/09
“A state development agency planned to secure the land in question for Columbia U. by USING THE GOVERNMENT’S POWER TO TAKE LAND for certain purposes….The state Supreme Court’s Appellate Division said TAKING THE PROPERTIES TO BENEFIT AN ELITE PRIVATE UNIVERSITY IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL AND UNWARRANTED.”
In other words….THOU SHALT NOT STEAL! Thanks, Supremes for actually doing your job. Perhaps all the Columbia journalist alums should investigate school corruption. LOL!
Fulton County Observer
December 26th, 2009
2:18 pm
Please allow me to preach one more time to the choir. For those of you who are not aware, the “cost spent on educating a child” is determined by a formula which includes (supposedly) every salary, benefit, etc. that is paid to run the school. There are other incidentals as well. Should we be happy that RCA is a private school that parents have to pay tuition to send their children to for the sake of a “good education”? Or do we spend time blaming each other because adults can not sit down and work together for the sake of educating the WHOLE child? Again, everything about a “model” school being replicated is a moot point when educators have to “pay” to learn how to teach the model just because Ron Clark has the monopoly on (once again) jumping up and down on desks?
OK, on January 5, 2010, the court case of Gwinnett County Schools versus the Georgia Charter Schools Association will take place. This case will set a precedence regarding “shifting” funding from public schools to charter schools. GCS says this is tax payers money that is being taking away from them, others say (myself included) say that as long as the charter school is still in the school district, educating the same students, paying the same staff, then what’s the law suit about? If public schools were doing the job they were created to do without the severe micromanagement of local school boards, and political prowess, perhaps RCA could be replicated. Aha, didn’t think I was going to get back to that did you?
Anyone out there familiar with Artful Learning? It is a school reform model that has been in existence long before RCA. “Artful Learning is an arts-based, K-12 comprehensive school reform model inspired by the vision of the great American composer Leonard Bernstein. Throughout his life as an artist, teacher, and scholar, Bernstein was committed to communicating what he learned through his scholarship and artistic work. He observed that the artistic process of creating and experiencing art is a fundamental way of learning, and one transferable to any discipline”.
The South Fulton Charter High School of Arts and Humanities Charter Development Team applied to the Fulton County School System to begin a charter school utilizing this model last year. It has shown extraordinary success throughout the U.S. and abroad, not as costly as RCA but a model that would surely educate, the whole student. Unfortunately, the school system, in all its wisdom denied the charter because “South Fulton already has a Performing Arts school, Tri-Cities HS”. Well, we will resubmit the charter again, and if denied, we will certainly submit to the GCSC. If all goes well, we will be successful at bringing into fruition a school that will not be a replication, but an innovative educating model “developed to strengthen education on a national level and prepare teachers to use the arts and the artistic process to reinforce teaching and learning across all academic subjects”.
Oh, and one Fulton County tax payer without children stated she would rather pay to educate children in a charter school than to pay the cost of sending them to jail. Sounds like a winner to me.
Nikole
December 27th, 2009
12:14 pm
There are some significant differences between Ron Clark’s school and public schools. I love Mr. Clark’s methods, and after a school tour, my mother made mention of the excellent behavior. There are consequences for speaking out of turn, yet in my public school, there may or may not be consequences for first graders walking out of my classroom in a fit of rage while I am teaching. The one issue I have with Mr. Clark’s school is that he has set himself up to succeed. Someone spoke about teaching the “unteachables” but that is not the case here. We all know how important parental involvement is, it is the most predictive factor in school success. Parents HAVE to be very interested in their children’s schooling if they took the time to apply to his school. He already has an advantage that is greater than money. The truly “unteachables” are those students whose home lives don’t include any caring adults, causing students who don’t care about their own educations. I will be impressed when someone finds the magic touch in helping those students. Mr. Clark is a great educator and public schools should definitely emulate some of his ideas, but his school is far removed from the situations he taught in, in NY.
Happy
March 9th, 2010
3:06 pm
Its sad. You can do the best thing in the world…and still people would complain. People are never satisfied. Before you make comments about posting test scores…its on their website. If more people would stop complaining and do something to get involved, this world would be a better place! In addition this is an income based program, not just for the elite. I had a friends daughter who got in the school, her tuition was about $30 a month!
Kudos to you Ron and the academy whose projected travel for the students look something like this
The 5th grade classes:
* Washington, D.C.
* New York City
The 6th grade classes:
* London, England
* Paris, France
The 7th grade classes:
* Sydney, Australia
* Tokyo, Japan
The 8th grade classes
* South Africa
* South America