Harlem's Education Experiment Gone Right

(CBS)  For years, educators have tried and failed to get poor kids from the inner city to do just as well in school as kids from America's more affluent suburbs. Black kids still routinely score well below white kids on national standardized tests.

But a man named Geoffrey Canada may have figured out a way to close that racial achievement gap. What he's doing has been called one of the most ambitious social experiments to alleviate poverty of our lifetime. His laboratory is a 97-block neighborhood in Harlem, which he has flooded with a wide array of social, medical and educational services available for free to the 10,000 children who live there. It is called the "Harlem Children's Zone."

Harlem Children's Zone
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Read/Watch: Ed Bradley's 2006 Report


Ed Bradley first reported on Canada three and a half years ago, but back then there was no way to tell if his Children's Zone was working.

Today, however, results are in and they are nothing short of stunning, so much so that the White House is now taking notice.

For Geoffrey Canada however, it is just a start.

"You grow up in America and you're told from day one, 'This is the land of opportunity.' That everybody has an equal chance to make it in this country. And then you look at places like Harlem, and you say, 'That is absolutely a lie,'" Canada told CNN's Anderson Cooper.

"So you're trying to level the playing field between kids here in Harlem and middle class kids in a suburb?" Cooper asked.

"That's exactly what we think we have to do," Canada said. "You know, if you grow up in a community where your schools are inferior, where the sounds of gunshots are a common thing, where you spend your time and energy not thinking about algebra or geometry, but about how not to get beat up, or not to get shot, or not to get raped, when you grow up like that, you don't have the same opportunity as other children growing up. And we're trying to change those odds."

He's trying to change those odds on a scale never before attempted. His goal: to break the cycle of poverty in an entire neighborhood by making sure all the kids who live there go to college.

"You really believe that's possible, to break that cycle?" Cooper asked.

"I absolutely know we're gonna do it," Canada replied.

Canada remembers well what it was like to be a kid in the inner city. He grew up not far from Harlem in another tough New York neighborhood, the South Bronx.

Abandoned by his father, he and his three brothers were raised by their mother, who was barely able to get by.

"When I first found out that Superman wasn't real, I was about maybe eight. And I was talking to my mother about it. And she was like, 'No, no, no. There's no Superman.' And I started crying. I really thought he was coming to rescue us. The chaos, the violence, the danger. No hero was coming," he remembered.

A teenager, his grandparents moved to the suburbs and he went with them. He got into Bowdoin College and then the Harvard School of Education.

He's been working with kids in Harlem virtually ever since.

"You know, one of the first things kids ask me when they really get to know me, they say, 'Mr. Canada,' I say 'Yes sir.' 'Are you rich?' And I say, 'Yeah, I am.' And they're so excited, because they think I finally know somebody who has power. What they really want to ask is, 'Is there any way that you can help me figure out how to get a nice car and maybe get a house?' And I think they want someone to say 'Yes, you can.' I got out, you can get out. There's a way. And I'm gonna help you do that."

To do it, Canada decided to build his own school in the Children's Zone. Right now there are some 1,200 kids enrolled from Kindergarten through the tenth grade. It'll eventually expand all the way through the 12th grade.

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[technologyinclass]

This article was featured on our Education Blog that is dedicated to teaching and technology integration.

Link: http://technologyinclass.com/blog/2009/12/13/weekly-gathering-9/

[milo55]

Deficiency's in aptitude and IQ continue to challenge most African American children but the silver lining is the dedicated and ambitious can overcome these difficulties. It will be up to each student to choose to speak proper English and to study as to acquire knowledge in the face of those vocal voices who believe this somehow is giving in to 'white society'. Those voices have corrupted a whole generation of minorities and left them in poverty and desperate conditions.

[fransmit]

I was impressed with the high expectations that Mr. Canada has placed on his students. I was not when I learned of the chance of winning the lottery to pursue the opportunity for quality education. Where do the other children go for education? According to Mr. Canada it is okay to bribe. Isn't that what corporate America committed? If implemented by the President, it'll be interesting to see if it would be costly to bribe all American children.

Mr. Canada continue to pursue high expectations in your area. Now seek other methods to set high expectations for all American students.

[fiscallyresposible]

I do agree this is a great achivement, however the real cost is approximately $63,000 per child. ($76,000,000/1200 students).

[enwr77]

It is a historical fact that mainstream America has never educated minority America. There are the horrors of what was done in the schools for Native American children. All minority and poor children are stereotyped in a negative manner. A child cannot be educated by negatively thinking educators. Education and its modifiers are positive. Then it is hard to break a 400 year old habit of thinking negative of descendants of Africa. This is why the parents were lined to get their children out of public schools and into a school where they are seen in a positive light and away from stereotyping. As parents they are protecting their children. PBS and NBC have presented evidence of the difference when minority children are taught by their own vs. mainstream America. Dunbar High School in Washington DC was an all Black school, students and educators. The students tested higher than their mainstream counterparts. One of our local high schools was turn into a school of opportunity for inner city children by its Black principal. Corporations came looking for the high schools many successful Black students carrying scholarships that previously only went to suburban schools. When this was heard of, the suburban students wanted to be bused to this school to obtain these scholarships. The suburban schools had many more scholarships, yet they wanted these. The principal was dismissed, replaced by a former nun and the inner city school children were pushed aside. She hated the students and they hated her and smelling her heavy cigarette smoking aired on her clothing. By age eight or so, a minority child recognizes the hate of racism displayed towards them and their parents. They notice the difference in treatment. By teenage years, the time when youth began to judge adults, those who enact different treatment are judged. Respect is not deserved. Some of the parents invited the former nun to their church. She saw well behaved students sitting with their parents, despite the campaign to tell our children they have the right to not obey or respect us and could report us. If a child does not respect who they came from, then they will not respect themselves or anyone who looks like them. The stories in the news say that is where inner city children are today. See saw children that were not raised on drugs or by a psychiatrist. Still she did not get it. While attending the Million Woman March in Philadelphia, I met African American mothers from all over the country. The common issue was the mistreatment of their children by White teachers. The same treatment received by us as their parents but, without the tools of adult defenses. Those who raise their children on drugs and learning disability labels to cover up bad parenting cannot cast stones. They cannot handle their own children so therefore could not handle these children. Stereotyping serves to raise the self-esteem of the stereotype, falsely. Children should be protected from the hate of stereotyping and hate that is written here in many of the comments. The hate that would rather pay tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to imprison vs. five thousand dollars to educate. Before it is said, hating your oppressor is a right not the ism itself. A right often prohibited by the oppressor. These parents are not looking for someone to educate their children as negatively assumed. They are looking for alternative to placing their children in a racist educational system. They are looking to protect their children as we have done since slavery and continue to today. We have always and continue to look for ways where we educate our children, not have them labeled learning disabled and place in throw away schools, which is the same as throwing them away in prison. Separate and unequal is something the Supreme Court decided. We asked for equal funding in our schools, not to have our children bused where they were not wanted, mistreated, not educated and have others brought into our schools to not educate. That meant taking funding from schools where mainstream American children attended. This school will not last long, when we have something positive a way to destroy it is always found.

[milo55]

what a crock of nonsense.. its true minorities have a genetic makeup that makes it difficult for them to compete in a developed country such as the USA but with determination these same students can achieve more than they ever thought possible. Focusing on what they can do rather than who's holding them back will produce much better results.. the other way has been tried and failed..

[enwr77]

Thank you milo55 for supplying additional fodder and evidence in support of my point. The bunch of nonsense is that minorities are genetically inferior. There are too many educators that feel as you. As a result our children are unchallenged and drop out. Mr. Canada knows better and that is why in no time the students test scores rose. This is more proof that we need to educate our own. People who think like you should not be in the position of educating any child. Inferior intelligence was used to justify that it was right to place our ancestors in slavery. There are people like you who still have the same thought. Again, it is hard to stop a 400 year old habit. That there are educators who think like you is something we already know. That is why the parents in this piece are trying to place their children in this school.

When one of my family members was in the first grade, I was employed in our local school district. Where I saw evidence of the damage people like you cause in the education of children. I filled in as a para one day in three first grades classes. First grade is where students learn to read. Earlier in the week, my family member was on page 98 of their reader, which meant at this point, they were further into the reader. The first class I went into that day was only on page 33 of the same reader and could not sound out any words. The teacher spoke with a strong accent. It was obvious that English was not her first language. English is a phonic language and her accent prevented her from teaching students how to sound out words. No, she was not Hispanic. She pronounced Saturday as Saterday and that is how it was written on the board. When I pointed out the error, she said I could go the next class. The second class was on page 53 or so in their reader. The teacher a tall blond was afraid of the children and they knew it. She had no control over the class and did not want me to leave. Time came to go to the third first grade. There was silence, a controlled class and well behaved children working hard. This teacher taught first and second grade. I was not allowed to interact with the education of her children as was appropriate. I sat and corrected papers. The students that were sitting on the floor in front of her had read two books. They were comparing antagonist and protagonist and other aspects of the two stories. This was at a fifth or sixth grade level. The first grade papers that I was correcting were from page 111 of the reader. The students sitting at their desks got up to go to music and went into the hallway without a sound. When the group comparing the two books finished, I told her that her second graders were very smart. She replied that this was her first grade and that all her children were smart. This teacher?s students were on page 111 of the same reader. My son?s teacher had her students past page 98 of the reader. At open house my son?s teacher showed me work from other students and kept saying how they were smart. This positive thinking as with Mr. Canada produced positive results. The students are smart not genetically inferior. That is positive thinking. Oh by the way the two first grade teachers that state their children were smart and had them past page 100 in their readers were both African American as were the students.

To be in a state of completion is not part of our culture. We are not raised with that insecurity of having to be as someone else. If it was part of our culture, the only worthy opponent would be oneself.

[Pondoora]

Can we now stop demonizing the traditional public schools and their teachers and realize that it is pointless to expect that they could "fix" things all on their own?

For years they've been doing their best grappling with huge numbers of these challenging students with minimal support. And if some turned "off" along the way, it is because they were trying their best to survive in an unsupported and hostile world. It is their employers', their families,' and society's lack of respect for their work that kills morale.

[MPHgrad]

While that is true, it is unacceptable. Just as in any other profession, teachers knew it would be difficult going in. They knew there would be challenges. In other professions, particularly within the private sector, failure to produce results in termination. We are unable to use the excuse of turning "off" because of minimal support (and believe me, support is at the bare minimum). If I turn off for even a day, I'll be pulled into a conference room and told that my job is in jeopardy. The teachers at Harlem Zone have this same level of accountability. In most public schools accountability is lacking and therefore achievement of instructors is lacking without internal motivation and integrity.

[mrs_haga]

If Harvard wants to replicate the success of HCZ all over the country, the magic pill is to give students whatever they need. That's it. Unfortunately, for the poorest communities, the students need a lot. Schools in richer, suburban communities don't need all the resources HCZ provides because they already have them. Mr. Canada created a comprehensive program that gave those students--and the entire community in Harlem-- what they needed but didn't have before: parenting classes, superior pre-schools, small class sizes, low student to teacher ratios, access to health care, many positive role models (esp. Mr. Canada), a beautiful, clean, new school environment and supplies, structured, cohesive curriculum, faculty and staff that work together AND positive, interactive school-parent relationships. Education is a developmental process, not merely an end product. Mr. Canada understands this.

[RealPower7]

The numbers do add up. You should not divide 72 million by the number of current students. The 72mil is for all of the programs combined to include the baby college and other services the other 10,000 get in the neighborhood. There is a smaller amount that goes into the operational cost for the 1200 students. However, Canada's secret is 1. he and they care about the children and 2. you will get fired if you are not successful. A bit different in the govt. run system.

[eclecticman1]

I hae been following this story for sometime now and am delighted to see success where too often the norm has been failure. The key to sucess in high performing inner city schools always seems to rest on an invidual, usually the principal. So is the story here. However, thes individuals are not unique; there are many of them. A key task is to find them so they can lead.

[SusanBurke]

Dr. Roland Fryer misses the point rather spectacularly when he says, "...replicating the Harlem Children's Zone In its entirety may be difficult in part because it's hard to determine exactly which ingredient is the key to Canada?s success."

The key ingredient in the Harlem Children's Zone is that it includes ALL the ingredients. This is not a recipe or a manufacturing process. Every child needs something different. HCZ is successful precisely because it addresses all areas of raising and educating a child.

The idea that it can be distelled into a "pill" and replicated also misses the point. HCZ works because it addresses the needs and people in Harlem and grew out of that specific context. The concept may translate, but successful programs will be specific to their communities.

The cost of this program is astonishingly little compared to the alternative. It is the shame of our nation that Mr. Canada had to show us the way.

Susan Burke
Sarasota, FL

[MPHgrad]

THANK YOU Susan Burke. You hit the nail on the head precisely in that Frey and his fellow intellectuals miss the boat. There is no singular "pill". It is in fact all the individuals and processes working in tandem that affect this positive change. Again, well said.