Public schools said blacks were "learning disabled." But Marva Collins....

[Muzzle Tough]

This is a wonderful, heartwarming, uplifting article about the wonderful success of Marva Collins and the method that she invented for teaching low income African Amercian children.

http://www.marvacollins.com/biography.html

BIOGRAPHY

Marva N. Collins

Marva Collins grew up in Atmore, Alabama at a time when segregation was the rule. Black children were not permitted to use the public library, and her schools had few books. Nonetheless, her father, a successful businessman, instilled in her an awareness of the family's historical excellence and helped develop her strong desire for learning, achievement and independence. After graduating from Clark College in Atlanta, Georgia, she taught school in Alabama for two years. She moved to Chicago and, later taught in Chicago's public school system for fourteen years.


Her experiences in that system, coupled with her dissatisfaction with the quality of education that her two youngest children were receiving in prestigious private schools, led to her decision to open her own school on the second floor of her home. She took the $5,000 balance from her pension fund and began her educational program with an enrollment of her own two children and four other neighborhood youngsters.


Thus, Westside Preparatory School was founded in 1975 in Garfield Park, a Chicago inner-city area. During the first year Marva took in learning disabled, problem children and even one child labeled border-line retarded. At the end of the first year every child scored at least five grades higher proving that the previous labels placed on these children were misguided.

<snip>

In 1990 Mrs. Collins worked with over thirty public schools in Oklahoma. Harvard University tracked the progress of eight principals, four who accepted the model enthusiastically and four who did not aggressively promote it in their schools. The results after one year were astounding. The four schools who did the work had an average increase on the Iowa Standardized Test of over 172%. One school almost tripled their test scores. The four schools that did not do the work had an increase of only 10%.


In 1995, Charles Murray wrote a controversial book called "The Bell Curve." In the book he mentioned that Marva Collins' work would have no long lasting effects on the children. 60 Minutes ( CBS' TV News show) wanted to find out if this was true. So, they ran a second story showcasing the lives of the first thirty-three students who attended Westside Preparatory School. Statistically, one of the students should have been shot, two in jail and five on welfare. This was not the case. All thirty-three students, now adults, were leading very successful lives with a majority choosing teaching as a profession.

<snip>

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Marva Collins was my role model when I taught kindergarten in a daycare

center in Harlem. I was amazed to find several children reading above age level; one was reading at a fourth grade level. I was very proud that several "graduates" went onto private schools. Collins showed me that with the proper preparation and the right attitude, children go much further than studies predict.

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. Why aren't our public schools using these methods?

[Muzzle Tough]

4. Actually, some do.

But unfortunately, most don't.

I think that a lot of the public education bureacrats are more interested in collecting extra funding for each student that is "learning disabled" than they are in actually teaching. A lot of so-called "experts" are anytyhing but. Just because someone has a degree in "education" doesn't necessarily mean they are qualified to teach or to run a school. Some are, and some aren't.

That being said, there are a lot of genuinely concerned public schools that have adopted the Marva Collins teaching system.

I think we should fire 90% of all public education bureaucrats, and let parents and teachers have more say in choosing the curriculum and teaching methods that are used in the public schools.

[Muzzle Tough]

3. I am very happy to hear you say that!

Warms my heart!

Nice going!