Challenges of the Urban School
No excuses! That's Greg Brown's educational mantra. As executive dean at The Graham Family of Schools, he believes that every student deserves an education and that "every person can grow intelligence."
Brown represents the "mom and pop" charter school where all administration and policies remain local. Panelist Hannah Powell Tuney, the executive director of KIPP Central Ohio, is part of a national network of charter schools. Alesia Gillison is principal of Eastmoor Academy a high school within the Columbus City School system, one of the largest public school districts in the state. Each speaker can attest to the fact that there are increased challenges to student success with an urban demographic but each will share stories of student achievement with the CMC audience.
Joining than panel of educators will be child advocate, Mark Real, president & CEO of KidsOhio.org. He will present an overview of the "state of the child" in Ohio. There are non-academic barriers such as poverty, hunger, family dysfunction, lack of preschool and kindergarten readiness, that must be overcome in order to prepare the next generation for success in college and in the workforce. Brown believes that it is important to identify the barriers but they cannot offer a reason to give up.
"It's a crisis when 40% of high school graduates need remedial courses when they begin college," says Brown. It leads to an increased college drop-out rates, especially for first-generation college students and increased financial burden because a student must pay for more classes at the institution of higher education for knowledge that should have been learned in high school.
What's changed from a generation or so ago? No longer can someone expect to get a factory job immediately right out of high school, often following in the footsteps of their parents. Today's manufacturers require employees to have greater skills o run more complicated equipment. They need higher achievement levels in reading, math, problem identification and problem solving. Brown noted, "The world is moving a quick pace and we're not keeping up."
