The co-founders of BASIS Schools, מיכאל ואולגה בלוק, מטרתו להציע את סוג החינוך שתלמידים מקבלים במערכות החינוך המובילות ברחבי העולם, סוג החינוך שיעזור לסטודנטים אמריקאים להתחרות בכלכלה העולמית.
Ten years after BASIS Schools opened its first campus in Tucson, Arizona, the school topped the national rankings, earning the #1 spot on Newsweek’s list of America’s Best High Schools, and was named a gold medal school by מתגורר בארה"ב. News & World Report. In addition to BASIS Tucson, today there are a total of 6 operating BASIS charter schools, including BASIS Scottsdale (2003), BASIS Oro Valley (2010), BASIS Chandler (2011), BASIS Peoria (2011), and BASIS Flagstaff (2011). There have been more awards and there are more schools on the way, including BASIS Phoenix (2012), BASIS Tucson North (2012), and BASIS DC (TBA).
What can the rest of the world learn from the BASIS Schools model?
I had the pleasure of chatting with Michael Block, Co-CEO of BASIS Educational Group. DR. Block received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University. Prior to BASIS, he was a Professor of Economics, Professor of Law and Director of the Office of Economic Education at the University of Arizona.
Can the BASIS Schools model be replicated across the nation?
We are expanding our model and opening BASIS schools in more locations. We have about 4,000 students attending six BASIS schools this year. Next year our programs may reach approximately 6,000 תלמידים. This is still very limited reach when considering the millions of students receiving mediocre education across the US. The bigger issue might be ‘what is there to learn from the BASIS model?’ There are three points I think can be transferred in some manner.
ראשון, we have implemented very high academic standards that are internationally competitive and higher than any American state’s requirements. We also require students to demonstrate mastery of those standards before they can progress to the next grade. בארה"ב, not only are standards abysmally low, but the tests used to examine students’ mastery of the standards are often poorly designed and unrelated to the content taught in school. Systems used around the world, such as the Cambridge International Exams, the College Board’s Advanced Placement exams, the Program for International Student Assessment, ואחרים, can assess mastery of high-level content. That is something I think we do well at BASIS – we teach to very high standards and then assess our students’ progress toward reaching those standards using internationally recognized assessments.
The second point is much more controversial. At BASIS we focus first and foremost on recruiting, hiring, and retaining teachers who are experts in the subject they teach. Whether or not the individual is certified to teach by the government or graduated from a school of education – ש, בארצות הברית, is not often the most distinguished academic institution – is of secondary importance. We believe it is critical that teachers possess a thorough knowledge of the material they present to their students and we believe it is more effective for subject experts to learn the craft of teaching than for pedagogical experts to learn the subject content they may be lacking. At BASIS, יש לנו מורים בכיתות שלנו מתחילים בכיתות בית הספר התחתון, כי הם מומחים בתחום; רבים בעלי תואר שני ותואר שלישי.
לבסוף, Americans seem to have given up on teaching rigorous content in middle school. BASIS demonstrates that you can teach serious subject content in these grade levels. Let me give you an example. We visited one of the great schools in America, תומס ג'פרסון התיכון למדע וטכנולוגיה בפרברים של וירג'יניה, and were incredibly impressed with the level of education the school imparts on its students. Thomas Jefferson utilizes a selective admissions process to enroll students who are prepared for their rigorous curriculum, but at BASIS we offer a similarly rigorous education to all students who wish to enroll. We are only able to do this because of our accelerated middle school curriculum. By starting at a modest 5th grade level and requiring students to learn more than a year’s worth of standards every year, we prepare students to take Honors and AP courses beginning in 9th grade and post-AP courses in 11th or 12th grade, just like their peers at Thomas Jefferson.
Are the BASIS schools for highly motivated students in certain subject areas only?
האם לא, the BASIS education is not focused on certain subject areas. We offer an accelerated program in all core subjects; עם זאת, in contemporary America it seems schools that provide high-quality math and science education are pigeonholed. At BASIS, all students complete pre-calculus and take AP-level science courses in the 9th grade; כתוצאה, BASIS is sometimes considered a math and science school. But while our students do outpace their peers in math and science, they also complete a minimum of one AP English and three AP history courses by the end of 11th grade, engage in six years of foreign language, take a college-level economics course in 8th grade, and participate in PE and fine arts classes throughout their academic careers. The BASIS education is much like the gymnasiums in central Europe; we offer a high quality education in all of the liberal arts.
Is the school only for highly motivated students?
Students don’t have to be “gifted” to excel in the BASIS program, but they do have to put in effort. We work very hard to create a culture of academic excellence in our schools. We hire educators who can convey passion for their subject in a way that teaches students that learning is exciting. As older students build a sense of personal responsibility for their education, they become models for younger students and create a culture of positive peer pressure. This culture motivates students to excel in their academic exploration and teaches them that success is the function of hard work.
מהו התהליך לבחירת מורה גדול?
Finding talent is tough. We try to have a very broad base of candidates from which we select our teachers and often search worldwide to fill math and science positions. Our interviews are conducted first by veteran BASIS teachers and then by the Head of School. The candidates then participate in demonstration lessons – in which they teach current BASIS students for two class periods – which I think is unusual in public schools. This allows us to determine whether the candidate is capable of conveying advanced concepts to young students. We have the most senior staff members at BASIS do the final round of interviews before making a decision.
After our teachers are hired, we have a summer training session which all new teachers and many experienced teachers attend. The training session exposes new teachers to the BASIS philosophy and focuses on the teaching techniques used in many of our classrooms. לבסוף, we try to mentor teachers as they begin their careers at BASIS. We spend a good deal of time with them. The process of finding and developing teaching talent is difficult and of course we make our share of mistakes.
למה אנחנו עושים את כל כך גרועים במבחן PISA?
PISA בדיקות מה מערכת חינוך מלמדת את התלמידים שלה 15, בן, and in the United States we don’t teach math and science well in middle and high school. Many 10th graders in the US have not been exposed to the concepts of an Algebra 2 course and in a many states students can graduate without taking Physics. I think that is inexcusable.
אני גם מאמין במערכת החינוך בארה"ב מתמקדת יותר מדי תשומת לב על תשומות כמו תעודת הוראה, מספר תלמידים בכיתה, יחס תלמידים למורים, אורכו של יום הלימודים ושנת לימודים, הצורה של שירותים משלימים, המפעל הפיזי, וטכנולוגיה בכיתה, ומעט מדי תשומת לב על תפוקות כמו כמה טוב תלמידים מסוגלים לשלוט תוכן אקדמי חשוב. התמקדות בתשומות היא הסחה ואומר שיש לי מחנכים ומנהיגי בית הספר פחות זמן כדי להעריך ולשפר את איכות החינוך שהם מספקים.
Final thoughts on the education reform issues we face in the US today?
There is one more issue I want to mention that I think BASIS is designed to get at. There are two achievement gaps in the US. The achievement gap that receives almost all the attention in the media – which is real and shameful – is the achievement gap between rural areas and the poorer sections of major cities on one hand and the suburbs across the country on the other. Another much more hidden achievement gap is the international achievement gap. What US suburbanites consider a “good education” is actually mediocre by international standards. That’s an important aspect of the BASIS experiment – התכנית האקדמית שלנו מתייחסת לפער ההישגים הבינלאומי המתקיים בין ארצות הברית והמדינות מתועשות אחרות.
תמונות באדיבות בתי ספר בסיס, Inc.
ב גלובל החיפוש לחינוך, להצטרף אליי ולמנהיגי מחשבה מוכרת בעולם כולל סר מייקל ברבר (בריטניה), DR. מיכאל בלוק (ארה"ב), DR. ליאון בוטשטיין (ארה"ב), DR. לינדה דרלינג-Hammond (ארה"ב), DR. Madhav אוון (הודו), פרופ 'מיכאל Fullan (קנדה), פרופ 'הווארד גרדנר (ארה"ב), פרופ 'איבון הלמן (הולנד), פרופ 'קריסטין Helstad (נורווגיה), ז'אן הנדריקסון (ארה"ב), פרופ 'רוז Hipkins (ניו זילנד), פרופ 'קורנליה הוגלנד (קנדה), גברת. שנטל קאופמן (בלגיה), פרופ 'דומיניק לפונטיין (בלגיה), פרופ 'יו לאודר (בריטניה), פרופ 'בן לוין (קנדה), פרופ 'בארי McGaw (אוסטרליה), פרופ 'R. נטריגין (הודו), DR. דניז אפיפיור (ארה"ב), שרידהר ךאג'גופלן (הודו), DR. דיאן ראוויטש (ארה"ב), סר קן רובינסון (בריטניה), פרופ Pasi Sahlberg (פינלנד), אנדריאס שלייכר (PISA, OECD), DR. אנתוני סלדון, DR. דוד שפר (ארה"ב), DR. קירסטן Immersive Are (נורווגיה), קנצלר סטיבן ספאן (ארה"ב), איב Theze (Lycee Francais ארה"ב), פרופ 'צ'רלס Ungerleider (קנדה), פרופ 'טוני וגנר (ארה"ב), פרופסור דילן Wiliam (בריטניה), DR. מארק Wormald (בריטניה), פרופ 'תיאו Wubbels (הולנד), פרופ 'מייקל יאנג (בריטניה), ופרופ 'Minxuan ג'אנג (סין) כפי שהם לחקור שאלות חינוך תמונה הגדולות שכל המדינות מתמודדות היום. גלובל החיפוש לחינוך עמוד קהילה
C. M. רובין הוא המחבר של הסדרה באינטרנט לקרוא בהרחבה, גלובל החיפוש לחינוך, והוא גם חברם של שלושה ספרים רבי מכר, כולל אליס בארץ הפלאות Real.
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