Board of the News: Turning around troubled schools

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/prime-ministers-prize-for-science-ken-silburn-the-man-who-turned-a-school-onto-science-20151020-gkdfjr.html

http://www.science.gov.au/community/PrimeMinistersPrizesforScience/Recipients/2015/Pages/Ken-Silburn.aspx

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/how-principal-trevor-fletcher-helped-eastern-fleurieu-r-12-school-turn-it-around/story-e6frea83-1226650593700

The three articles are anywhere from a couple of months to a couple of years old, but the point for all of them is actually quite clear: it is possible to turn a troubled school around.

For reference, Casula is a suburb in the outer southwestern area of Sydney, while the Eastern Fleurieu school is located in a country town in SA called Strathalbyn. I would not be calling Eastern Fleurieu a "rural" school by any means however, as the "suburban" fringe is no more than an hours drive away, if that. (Rural for me means 2+ hours driving). I will also add that Eastern Fleurieu actually has 5 different campuses, with K-6 campuses in Strathalbyn, Ashbourne, Langhorne Creek and Milang (each with different numbers), with the students then all feeding into the 7-12 campus (also located at Strathalbyn, but separate to the K-6 campus).

As the means for turning around these schools is quite different, I'll sum up the main points on how the schools were turned around.

Casula High (first article)-all thanks to Dr. Ken Silburn (currently Head of Science at Casula High and a member of the Regional Science Teachers Association)

• Items such as iPads, laptops and mobile phones are allowed in the science classes and students are taught on how to use them effectively as a tool of learning. Dr. Silburn's thesis was in fact on how technology could be used effectively in the classroom and can be read here.
• The content of the science classes is focused on what students are interested in and exploring that area further. As Ken himself has stated "When students come in for science in Year 7, they're only interested in dinosaurs, space or blowing things up. Dinosaurs are dead and we really can't blow things up in class, but students can see themselves as astronauts." (Paraphrased from the second link) This actually works in line with the Australian Curriculum, as the Science Understanding content (one of three that forms part of the curriculum) is actually fairly open-ended. (For example, one of the Year 8 goals is about chemical changes and how they occur. This could be displayed through forensic science and how blood reacts with bleach) 
• The classes are as interactive and realistic as they can possibly be, but still recognise that theory plays an important part. In the example quoted in the SMH article, Dr. Silburn set up a forensic crime scene and had the students dress up and act as if they were processing that crime scene (jumpsuits, photos, samples, you name it). The students then had to work in groups to share the photos they took and from there, write and solve their own murder mystery. I can only speculate that the marking criteria would've been based on not only if they understood the content, but also how they went about expressing it. 
• Extension activities (i.e. lunchtime clubs) are also offered in the STEM fields (STEM=Science, Technology, Maths, Engineering) to encourage cohesiveness and common grounds. 
• He, along with the other teachers at the school, also network with other schools and programs in the area to emphasise a community aspect and put what has been taught into a workable context. The school is a regular participant in Science Week and students also are given opportunities to visit the Powerhouse Museum, some of the universities involved in scientific research and even the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation. 
• Students are also given the opportunity to visit the Space Camp in Alabama, USA. Ken has admitted that the students who initially went over there because "Yay! Overseas trip!" actually came back really taking the lessons to heart and were proud to show off what they learnt. Ken himself is very committed to teaching about space in classrooms and uses it as a way to bring the students together. 

The program itself (called iSTEM=the "i" stands for "invigorating") is currently based in NSW but Dr. Silburn has plans to expand it nationally. What they have found is that as a result of introducing the program, one-third of Year 11 students have now picked a Science subject for their HSC (formerly there were only 8 students), staff turnover is minimal and they've also had another effect of encouraging girls towards science as well. 

Eastern Fleurieu School-courtesy of Trevor Fletcher (who is currently the Principal)

• One of the big focus points of the turnaround has been consistency. Previously all five campuses had a different uniform, whereas now there is one uniform across all five. This has also extended to policies, procedures and teachers-all of the teachers are encouraged to collaborate where possible to ensure that student outcomes for each class are identical. (that is, if there are 3 Year 1 classes with students at different reading levels, instead of Class 1 having 20% of students at Level 28, Class 2 aiming for 15% and Class 3 aiming for 40%, all three classes would aim for 40%) 
• The school now encourages a culture of excellence and being proud of your achievements. At assemblies, the principal will highlight students who have achieved excellence in a variety of different ways-from the students who donated their hair to Locks of Love to the students who took it upon themselvs to act as peer mediators in the yard. 
• All Year 12 students have a mentor teacher. This is not so much a "homegroup" teacher, but rather a teacher that the student will regularly consult with to ensure that they're on track to achieving excellence. 
• There is now a SRC program across all five schools with Student Leaders being appointed to represent the school. Due to the small size of some of the campuses (such as Ashbourne, which only has an average of around 20 students across the entire school), the student leaders are not necessarily representative of every year level, but they make an attempt to do so anyway. 
• The principal in particular also manages to keep the balance between "being a friend" and "being an educator" to the students. He will interact with them and get to know them, without taking it too far. 
• The principal will also actively headhunt teachers. He will regularly give talks to promising uni students about his school and encouraging them to apply. He also regularly seeks out teachers who have become widely recognised in their field or won awards for excellence in teaching. The culture is also one where teachers who are continually lazy and teach the same program over and over, are not welcome at the school. 
• The school has also otped to play to their strengths and created vocational training opportunities for students so that should they choose to stay in the area, they are not being disadvantaged. They now offer VET programs in Hospitality (which also helps run the school canteen), Automotives and Agriculture and are planning on introducing programs in Equine Studies and Allied Health. 
• Most importantly, he is a big believer in accountability and wanting more control over the school including hiring and firing teachers. I can see a few problems with this (specifically if NAPLAN is used for that purpose), but overall the benefits are clear. 

I should add that this was done in the space of about 3-4 years. The results of his turnaround are very clear-student morale has improved massively, as has staff morale. Behaviour issues have also been reduced and are openly investigated for why they may still occur. Enrolments have increased, with many students actually coming from private schools (whereas before it was the other way around). To make this a little clearer of how much of a jump there has been, remember how I said earlier that there were 5 campuses at this school? Enrolments at the Strathalbyn K-6 campus have gone from 420 in 2011 to 538 in 2015, the Ashbourne campus has gone from 8 students in 2013 to 21 students in 2015. the Langhorne Creek campus has gone from 53 in 2014 to 58 students in 2015, the Milang campus has gone from 36 students to 51 students in the same time period and the 7-12 campus has gone from 498 enrolments in 2012 to a whopping 619 in 2015. These numbers also rule out any legislation around students dropping out after Year 10, as the Context Statement (available on their website) actually shows increases in some year levels between years. 

So what can we take from these two cases?

Well, for one, both schools are public schools. There is still a general attitude across Australia that if your child is not in a private school, they are incapable of aspiring to anything beyond menial labour and are incapable of being anything other than "low-class." This is despite the fact that a few Prime Ministers such as Menzies, Curtin, Hawke(?) Howard, Rudd, Gillard and even Turnbull (our "current" PM for god knows how long) all attended public schools for quite some time at the points where being in a private or public school is typically seen as mattering the most. 

While it's true that we all want the best for our children, studies have shown time and time again that it's not whether the school is a private or public one, but rather a myriad of factors including the child's home life and the values imposed on that child by others. 

The second thing that can be shown from these two cases is that public schools are still being given a chance to thrive in our society, despite the general attitude that they're horrible places to be. Parents however, appear to be slowly coming around to the idea that sending your child to a public school does not mean you are a horrible parent or less of a parent. It will take some time to start shifting attitudes further, but the more that schools and the wider community realise that it's important to invest in the staff, students and school community just as much as it is important to invest in the academic side.