Word: fitler
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Philadelphia's tough Fitler School is getting remarkable results...
...Edward H. Fitler Elementary School, an old building of dirty granite in working-class Philadelphia, teachers insist that boys and girls form orderly, separate lines when entering or leaving class. "Sure, it's old-fashioned and sexist," says School Principal William R. Crumley Jr., 47, "but our parents did it, and we do it." In fact, teachers, parents and pupils are trying to turn back the educational clock at Fitler, with strict student dress codes, tough grading and plenty of attention to individual students. One result: though Fitler is an urban public school with 35% white students, 45% black...
Test scores of the 450 pupils dramatically bear out Fitler's success. Less than 50% of Philadelphia's pupils reach or surpass the national median on standardized tests in reading, math and language skills; at Fitler, 81% do so. Only 2% of Fitler's students are in the bottom sixth; citywide, the percentage is 17%. Such scores evidently result from Fitler's program, not just good luck in obtaining bright students. The evidence: Fitler children scored far lower at the start of the school's old-fashioned experiment in 1976; they have improved each year...
...Fitler emphasizes basics-reading, math, science, spelling and writing, including 15 minutes daily of penmanship for all pupils. Handwriting is of great concern to Crumley: "What good is it if you can't read what they wrote?" The 24 other Academics Plus elementary schools in Philadelphia have a similar academic plan. But Fitler follows through. Students are not promoted unless they receive at least a C in math and reading. Parents must come in person to pick up report cards. Parents and teachers must sign the one-hour homework lessons assigned to pupils four times a week. Says...
...teaching staff when he started the experiment; he thus avoided problems with seniority and mediocrity that plague many schools. But at a time when so many elementary school students are failing the new minimum-competency tests-one-third of the primary-graders in Washington, D.C., for example-the Fitler experience has application far beyond Philadelphia. As Fitler Parent Carmela Dunyan puts it, "The school systems screamed against disciplinary actions until we had created a monster we didn't know what to do with. Then a segment of the popu lation wanted to go back. What we wanted...