Robert Pondiscio

A solid, honest, tightly written account of how the Success Academy charters function. Pondisco was embeded in Bronx 1.

Some scattered observations:

1. SAs have exceptional focus on a culture of order, high expectation and achievement. The chants, songs, raffles, contests, etc are like nothing I have ever seen or heard of.
2. Most of the teachers and administrators sound phenomenal
3. SA goes with higher student:teacher ratios to save money for other things and it's all manageable because they have good control of classroom behavior
4. Pondisco makes the correct (and obvious) point that any charter is a selection for parental care and competence, with SA on the extreme end of that with significant requirements of parental effort.
5. The number one reason families choose charters: concern about safety in NY public schools. What an indictment!
6. The test-prep is significant. It would be great for someone to actually correlate the claims made for test prep on the NY exams vs. what has historically been seen in controlled studies of SAT prep, where improvements are more minimal. I suspect we are seeing an unprecidented dose level, if I may use that terms.

Would not be misplaced as a business book outlining how to create a culture of excellence in any organization, as an aside.… (more)

Will I travel to other planets?
Will we be able to clone a human being soon?
Will computers be smarter than I am?
The world is changing rapidly, and here's the guide you can't afford to be without, with information in these areas and more:
The Wired World: Disappearing computers
Is anyone out there?: Life on other planets and beyod
From here to there: Wired highways
And the hottest careers for the 21st Century
Technology writer Robert Pondiscio offers up-to-the-minute predictions from experts in these and other fields about what the lives of kids -- and adults -- will be like in the twenty-first century and beyond.… (more)