N.Y. Schools Chancellor urges more K-12 outreach

UW starts series, gets tips on how to work more with the region’s schools

New York Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew greets Regent Ark G. Chin. Regent Constance L. Proctor is on the left.

Colleges need to turn out better-trained teachers and administrators. And then they need to be the link to make sure these professionals stay in touch if schools are to improve, said Rudy Crew, chancellor of the 1.1 million-student New York City Board of Education.

That was the challenge the former Tacoma public schools chief recently gave to the University of Washington’s Board of Regents, encouraging the UW to step up the time it spends with the region’s K-12 schools.

“The UW has to prepare teachers so that they understand teaching a child is an art form and to prepare administrators to lead with inspiration and knowledge,” Crew said.

The University also can help track school results for math, reading and other key academic areas, share what’s working, and shape their teacher and administrative programs according to the strengths and the weaknesses they find in schools, said Crew, who left Tacoma for New York in 1995.

The leader in urban education reform was the featured speaker at the first of a three-part module on statewide alliances between the University and its elementary and secondary school counterparts presented to the Regent’s strategic planning and academic and student affairs committees. The module is sponsored by the Office of Educational Partnerships.

“There are very great challenges that lie ahead,” President Richard L. McCormick told the Regents. “The country is gearing up for the largest, most diverse generation of K-12 students in recent history.”

The University is interested in expanding its partnerships with K-12 schools and districts. The College of Education and 100 other UW academic departments already pair with schools through a variety of programs. But McCormick wants to do more outreach, especially to disadvantaged students.

The UW is poised to be a neutral third party—to be the bridge between low-performing and high-performing schools to find out why one is succeeding and the other failing, Crew said.

Regent Dan Evans, a former U.S. senator and Washington state governor, suggested an on-going institute for area principals to hone the skills they need for their ever changing and ever demanding position. The University already has the Danforth Educational Leadership Program, a training ground for about 20 principals- and administrators-to-be each year.

A principal institute may be an opportune place for business people to talk with principals about budget issues, reorganization and future plans, Crew said.

New York universities are starting to pitch in and pair more with local schools. Columbia Teachers College is looking at creating a charter school. Fordham University has started a superintendent’s institute.

“It’s that kind of envelope-pushing from the universities that we need,” Crew said. But Crew isn’t just relying on higher education’s help to turn around the country’s largest school district. He wants educators to challenge the system —not simply follow what’s been done for years, Crew said.

“People who can do that, I’ve found, can produce very high-performing schools,” he said.

And he wants educators to challenge their students—all of their students. Too often, in schools nationwide, educators have lower expectations for their poor students and those in ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities and then blame diversity for their dismal test scores and achievement, Crew said.

“We need to suspend the disbelief of educationability of children locked in poverty,” he said.

To help, the chancellor’s made a commitment to technology, arts and sports programs. He’s also pushing after-school and summer-school academic programs to help kids who are struggling in subjects such as reading.

Mentorships also are part of his formula for student success.

“The real deal is what happens between adult and child,” Crew said. “I can get a million children to the Promised Land. This is not rocket science.

Two more presentations are planned for the Board of Regents on how the UW can best pair with K-12 education.