How do you work to end gun violence in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in America?
Chicago middle school students, who had seen tragic violence in their own community, spent a year working together to find answers.
Beginning with a study of the U.S. Constitution, they went on to meet with city leaders and created informational materials to raise awareness; they published a book to celebrate the voices of local citizens working for peace; they created public service announcements for local television. They organized a city-wide “Day of Peace” that focused members of the broader community on gun violence.
As the Chief Academic Officer of EL Education, I can say that the approach that the Polaris Charter Academy students used is a perfect representation of our philosophy — and why our 150+ schools have had a sustained impact over more than two decades. The Polaris students tasked themselves with climbing a metaphorical mountain, and they rose to the challenge together.
The roots of EL Education trace back to 1991, when a federal initiative called New American Schools issued a broad challenge to America: help us create a new model for America’s schools. Our non-profit organization (then called Expeditionary Learning) was one of the 11 ideas that won a grant under the federal program. From the beginning, our model, which was born out of a collaboration between the Harvard Graduate School of Education and leaders of Outward Bound USA, was centered around challenge, active learning, character development and teamwork.
Students at Capital City Public Charter School in Washington, D.C.
Often, people think of education success in terms of an individual: did a single student learn a skill or pass a test?
At EL Education, we think of success across the entire school: our students don’t succeed unless they have all succeeded. Many of our high schools, including public district and public charter schools sited in low-income communities, are getting every graduate accepted to college, every year.
Today, we are serving almost 50,000 students at more than 150 K-12 campuses in over 30 states, and I’m proud of the measurable success we’ve helped students achieve. A recent study by Mathematica Policy Research found that after three years, students at EL Education schools were more than 10 months ahead in math and seven months ahead in reading versus their peers at non-EL Education schools.
While we are proud of these results, our definition of achievement has always encompassed more than traditional measures. We take a three-dimensional view of achievement:
- The first dimension of achievement is mastery of content and skills. We are interested in creating high-quality scientists, poets and leaders capable of deeper learning: to us, academic success — and the joy of learning — cannot be measured solely through a test.
- The second dimension is character. We want to create good citizens of our country — compassionate, engaged and aware leaders and community members. We believe in teaching our students values such as courage and compassion at the same time as they are learning algebra, chemistry and history.
- The third dimension of our approach is high quality work. When our students join the workforce, they won’t be judged on test scores. They’ll be judged on the quality of their work. So, we work hard to foster an ethic of craftsmanship around everything students do. We want them to take pride in the quality of their work.
Student and teacher at Capital City Public Charter School in Washington, D.C.
Tying these three dimensions together is our overriding belief in teamwork. Our students build individual skills in order to face and solve challenges as a group, whether that means completing an obstacle course, finishing a chemistry project or working to end violence in their community. This process fosters a sense of shared reliance and belonging, and teaches students about perseverance, confidence and compassion.
Our experience has taught us that our school culture creates smart people, and also good people who feel empowered to make positive contributions to their communities and the world.
The Walton Family Foundation has supported EL Education since 2000, with grants to more than a dozen schools across the EL Education network, as well as to the national organization.
