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Charter schools are\u00a030 years old<\/a>\u00a0as of 2021, and the\u00a0contentious debate<\/a>\u00a0about their merits and place in American society continues.<\/p>\n To better understand what happens at charter schools \u2013 and as a\u00a0sociologist who focuses on education<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 I spent a\u00a0year and a half<\/a>\u00a0at a particular type of urban charter school that takes a \u201cno-excuses<\/a>\u201d approach toward education. My research was conducted from 2012 through 2013, but these practices are\u00a0still<\/a>\u00a0prevalent<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0charter schools today<\/a>.<\/p>\n The no-excuses model is one of the\u00a0most celebrated<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0most controversial<\/a>\u00a0education reform models for raising student achievement among Black and Latino students. Charters, which are public schools of choice that are independently managed, show\u00a0comparable achievement<\/a>\u00a0to traditional public schools, but no-excuses charters produce much\u00a0stronger test-score gains<\/a>. No-excuses schools have been\u00a0heralded as examples<\/a>\u00a0of charter success and have\u00a0received millions of dollars<\/a>\u00a0in foundation support. At the same time, no-excuses schools themselves have started to rethink their harsh disciplinary practices. Large charter networks like KIPP and Noble in recent years have\u00a0acknowledged the wrongfulness of their disciplinary approaches<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0repudiated the no-excuses approach<\/a>.<\/p>\n Here are 10 of the most striking things that I observed at the no-excuses charter school where I spent 18 months.<\/p>\n Teachers at no-excuses schools \u201csweat the small stuff<\/a>.\u201d The long list of infractions at the school that I observed included: not following directions, making unnecessary noise, putting one\u2019s head down on a desk, being off-task, rolling one\u2019s eyes and not tracking the speaker.<\/p>\n Students on average received one infraction every three days. One fifth grader managed to accumulate 295 infractions over the school year. Infractions resulted in detention, loss of privileges like field trips and school socials, and \u201cbench\u201d \u2013 a punishment in which students had to wear a special yellow shirt and could not talk to their classmates or participate in gym class.<\/p>\n Teachers were encouraged to explain the \u201cwhy\u201d of infractions so students would understand the rationale behind the school\u2019s unbending rules. Why did students receive detention for arriving one minute late to school? Because supposedly it helped them develop time-management skills. College applications would not be accepted if they were one minute late, they claimed. Why were there silent hallways? Because, the school argued, self-control would get kids to and through college.<\/p>\n Students formed an impression of college as very strict. Upon visiting a college, one student noticed couches in the dorm hallways. This made her think that colleges must allow students to talk \u201ca little bit\u201d because students weren\u2019t just going to sit on couches and read a book. She questioned whether some of the rules at her own school might be \u201ca little extra.\u201d An alumna of the school also was surprised at the freedom afforded to her in college. Accustomed to a system of rewards and consequences, she struggled with turning in her essays for class because the teacher did not grade them. When the term ended and she had to turn in a portfolio of all her work, she found herself playing catch-up. She received a C in the class.<\/p>\n Because teachers constantly narrated expectations for behavior and scanned classrooms for compliance, students felt as if they were always under surveillance. Even the best-behaved students felt pressure. One mother told me that she kept her daughter home for two weeks because her daughter could not handle the pressure of being set up as a positive example for her classmates.<\/p>\n No-excuses schools hire\u00a0young, energetic, mission-aligned teachers<\/a>. According to the human resources team, the school had two key criteria for recruiting teachers: coachability and mission fit. The school was less interested in hiring professionals with specialized skills and knowledge. Instead, the school sought teachers who they thought would be more open and responsive to the school\u2019s direction and\u00a0intensive coaching<\/a>. This meant that a teacher with 10 years of experience was not favored over one with almost no experience.<\/p>\n The rallying cry at the school I observed was \u201cMaking the School a Better Place to Work.\u201d Half the teachers had left the school the previous year. Teacher turnover in no-excuses charter schools can range from\u00a020% to 35% nationally<\/a>, about\u00a0twice the annual turnover rates<\/a>\u00a0in traditional urban schools.<\/p>\n Procedures as simple as\u00a0handing back papers<\/a>\u00a0or entering the classroom were streamlined to save minutes and seconds for instruction. This left little informal time for teachers to slow down and get to know the students. As one teacher put it, \u201cIt\u2019s like you have to move quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly. There\u2019s no time to waste and it\u2019s like, you know, sometimes I feel like, oh wait a second, I need a breather, like we\u2019re moving too fast. Like, slow down. Or [students] even need to feel like they\u2019re being heard; they\u2019re not being ignored.\u201d<\/p>\n School staff members were reluctant to ease up on school discipline because they observed how a small change in procedure altered the school culture. The principal saw visible declines in student behavior when the school implemented special events like \u201ccrazy sock day.\u201d<\/p>\n When the school invited an adventure-based learning group to lead a few activities, students were found to have difficulty adjusting back after being in a less structured environment.<\/p>\n No-excuses schools target a\u00a0select group of students and families<\/a>\u00a0willing and able to comply with the school\u2019s demanding expectations. In the initial summer visit made to the homes of all newly admitted students, school staff reviewed a five-page contract between families and the school detailing the school\u2019s stringent expectations. They explicitly told families that the school \u201cis not for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n The strict procedures and rigid routines did not stop teachers and students from finding ways to bend rules. Teachers found ways to adjust school practices to better fit their own styles. They used humor and took time to build relationships with students outside of school. Students also engaged in minor acts of resistance. They erased names off the infraction board. They wore multicolored socks when the school required solid-colored socks. If a teacher put forth the expectation of no talking, students tapped on their desks or hummed to show defiance.<\/p>\n One of the original visions for charter schools was to create spaces for\u00a0teachers to experiment with innovative practices<\/a>\u00a0and for communities to create schools that\u00a0reflected local cultures and needs<\/a>. Instead, no-excuses charters employ a carefully maintained structure that limits the autonomy of both teachers and students. The costs of these structures are becoming apparent to the schools themselves. Change in these schools is happening but may not be\u00a0quick or easy<\/a>. As no-excuses schools seek to modify their practices, they might do well to reflect on and revisit these founding charter principles.<\/p>\n1. Teachers let nothing slide<\/strong><\/h4>\n
2. Teachers constantly explained the \u2018why\u2019<\/strong><\/h4>\n
3. Students developed distorted ideas about college<\/strong><\/h4>\n
4. School was stressful<\/strong><\/h4>\n
5. The school intentionally recruited novice teachers<\/strong><\/h4>\n
6. Teacher turnover was high<\/strong><\/h4>\n
7. Maximizing instructional time had its drawbacks<\/strong><\/h4>\n
8. School order was fragile<\/strong><\/h4>\n
9. One size does not fit all<\/strong><\/h4>\n
10. Teachers and students creatively adapted<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Looking ahead<\/strong><\/h4>\n