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tags: English
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# 2020/10/28 English Magazine Study
1. What has the school done?
2. What was their motivation for the change?
3. What have been the improvements so far?
4. What is the makeup of the school (students background)
5. Did they meet any challenge?

## [How to improve the school results: not extra maths but music, loads of it](https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/oct/03/school-results-music-bradford)

Feversham, Naveed Idrees(headteacher, 2013):
- embedded music, drama, art into every part of the school day
- 6 hours of music a week for every children.
- 2 hours of music a week.(school's end-of-year concert)
- 30 min music lessons
- 30 min follow-up lesson
- 1 hr music assembly with a guest musician and group singing
- songs are incoporated into other classes(99 tables, History)
--> remarkable results:
- 2011 v.s. now(top 10%):
- English: (2011)3.2% points behind the national average v.s. (now)74% of its pupils achieved the standard(national average:53%)
- reading: 7.1 points above the average.
- writing: 3.4 points
- maths: (2011)2.4 points behind the avg. v.s. (now) 6.5 above avg.

- 99% of 510 kids speak "**English**" as an additional language.
- half arrive at school unable to speak English.

- 30 different languages are spoken in the school

Worried(tiny%):
- Muslim parents
- kids listen to pop songs or Christian nusic.
--> concerns disappered when parents saw the progress.

Makeup(Bradford Moor):
- 75%: Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian heritage
- A recent influx: eastern Europeans, refugees

Big Risk:
- past: special measures --> kids hate learning.
- low staff morale
- parents not happy with the school
- results were poor
- bugets issues
- lossing kids = lossing money
- cannot attract teachers
- now: Kodály approach --> improve reading and writing.
- through playing musical games.
- Children learn rhythm, hand signs, movement.

Asad's Death:
- Feversham's project: deal with problems happened on kids.
- learn social skills: game-playing
- develop their concentration: listening to music in an hour-long.

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## [Prioritizing the Arts Over Test Prep](https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/04/prioritizing-the-arts-over-test-prep/391505/)

Ascend Learning:
- network of seven charter schools
- ensure not to deprived of art(many poor, minority kids are)
- teachers incoporate art into academic subjects(galleries, music classes etc.)
- refused to throw out their curriculum in favor of test prep.

Challenges:
- public education has become synonymous with annual test.
- budget cuts and long hours of drills in reading and math.
- get short-shrift in high-poverty school.
- Eliminated art: public school in the suburds & prekindergarten classes.
- 98% are black or Hispanic, >80% receive free/reduced-price lunch --> poverty.

Advocator:
- Ascend.
- Common Core education.(increasing money for arts programs)
- emphasize critical thinking and analytical skills, artistic expression.
- Arts Education Partnership.
- Fews schools emphasize the arts.(2800 students in kindergarten through 8th grade)

Art's benefits for education:
- create positive school climates.
- give a reason to show up to class.
- inspire creativity(highly valued in the workforce)
- think rationally
- aesthetic sensitivity.

Ascend:
- not relied on private fundraising to operate
- possible to replicate with all public schools receive.
- 5 buildings.
- good control on their budgets.
- 17.5%: rent and repaying building loans.
- class sizes tend to be large(28 students avg.)
- Ascend humanities program(from 2011)
- daily 45 min class period in 5th grade.
- In 2014, outperformed in some grades and subjects, beat city averages.
- 25%~33% of students met the tough new Common Core proficiency standards.