CHARTER SCHOOLS HAVE AN AWKWARD SECRET: THEY’RE NOT VERY GOOD AT INNOVATING
SO A GROUP OF EDUCATION ENTREPRENEURS IN NEW ORLEANS IS HELPING THEM LEARN THE ABCS OF DISRUPTION, BY STARTING SMALL.
When Nia Mitchell took over as principal of Algiers Technology Academy, a New Orleans charter high school, she knew she wanted to introduce project-based learning into the curriculum. "That’s the direction that we’re going," she says. But she had her hands full—only 19% of her students were scoring at college-ready levels, or at least 18 out of 36, on the ACT, and only 65% were graduating within four years. Plus, her opportunities to observe project-based learning in action at other schools were few and far between.
"I go and I see, and then I don’t get to see it again for months," she says. Project-based approaches, in which students learn information and skills by tackling complex, interdisciplinary problems, are "relatively new for the state of Louisiana."
That’s when Mitchell met Jonathan Johnson, a teacher turned entrepreneur. He had been prototyping his idea for a new charter school, called Rooted, through an after-school program, and was looking for a chance to test the model during the school day, in the form of a "school within a school." Rooted’s pedagogical foundation: project-based learning.
"Public education is not creating a way out for kids like we need it to be," says Johnson. "We have to figure out how to serve these kids in different ways."
Johnson cold-emailed the leaders of every charter school management organization in New Orleans; only three responded, Algiers among them. He pitched Mitchell’s boss, and then Mitchell herself. Both saw a natural fit, particularly given their shared emphasis on training students for careers in digital media. They negotiated terms, from funding to uniforms, and became partners, with Algiers playing host to Johnson's experimentation in the same way that large companies host innovation labs.
"Technology is [creating] the high-wage, high-demand jobs that will be in Louisiana for the next 10 to 15 years," Mitchell says. "We want to make sure our students are Charter Schools Have An Awkward Secret: They’re Not Very Good At Innovating | Fast Company | Business + Innovation:
