A summer school kids actually want to attend | Karim Abouelnaga

Summary

The speaker, raised in poverty by a single mother in Queens, New York, discusses the challenges of envisioning a 20-year college investment when survival is the priority. Despite attending struggling schools and having a high school with a low graduation rate, they made it to college, thanks to not being ashamed to ask for help. They highlight the importance of summer school reform to address the achievement gap, sharing their initiative that has served thousands, trained teachers, and created jobs, showing significant progress in eliminating summer learning loss and advancing students academically.

Takeaways

• 🏛️ Growing up in poverty can limit one's perspective on long-term goals like college education.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 The speaker's family background and the environment of struggling public schools shaped his early life.
• 🤔 Realization in teenage years that the speaker did not want to follow the same path as his parents and their peers.
• 🎓 The importance of asking about college readiness and the impact of the phrasing of such questions.
• 📚 The speaker's older brother's college dropout experience sparked a desire to understand educational disparities.
• 🏫 Attending Cornell as a Presidential Research Scholar provided insights into the educational consequences of poverty.
• 🔍 The speaker noticed a lack of firsthand experience in education reformers, advocating for an empathetic approach.
• 🙏 Recognizing the importance of not being ashamed to ask for help, especially for those from low-income backgrounds.
• 🌞 The summer learning loss is a significant contributor to the achievement gap between rich and poor students.
• 📈 The speaker's initiative to reform public education by redesigning summer school to prevent learning loss.
• 👨‍🏫👩‍🏫 The program's success in training teachers, creating jobs, and advancing students' learning, as shown by independent evaluations.

Q & A

What is the main challenge faced by children growing up in poverty regarding their education?

Children growing up in poverty often lack the foresight to plan for a 20-year investment like college education, focusing instead on immediate needs like food and shelter. Additionally, they may not receive the encouragement or support to pursue higher education.

How did the speaker's environment growing up influence their educational trajectory?

The speaker grew up in low-income conditions in Queens, New York, attending struggling public schools with high absence rates and a low graduation rate, which almost led them to follow a similar path as their older brother who dropped out of college.

What was the turning point for the speaker in their educational journey?

The speaker's turning point was realizing as a teenager that they did not want to follow the same path as their parents and friends' parents, who were doing fine with jobs like driving taxis and working as janitors.

What was the difference in the way the speaker and their friend Brennan were asked about college?

While the speaker was asked if they were going to college, implying uncertainty, Brennan was always asked 'What college are you going to?', which assumed that college attendance was a given and necessary part of his future.

What role did asking for help play in the speaker's success?

The speaker emphasizes that not being ashamed to ask for help was one of the biggest reasons they were able to succeed. In contrast, children growing up poor often lack the social safety nets that middle-class children have, making it crucial for them to seek help.

What is the significance of summer school in addressing the achievement gap?

Summer school can address the summer learning loss, which accounts for two-thirds of the achievement gap between rich and poor students. By preventing this loss, students can avoid falling behind academically.

How does the traditional summer school model contribute to the learning loss?

Traditional summer school is often poorly designed, feeling like punishment for students and babysitting for teachers, which fails to engage them and does not prevent learning regression over the summer.

What is the innovative approach the speaker took to reform summer school?

The speaker proposed a summer program that empowers teachers as teaching coaches, college-educated role models as teaching fellows, high-achieving students as mentors, and all students as scholars, creating an engaging curriculum that eliminates summer learning loss.

What are the results of the speaker's summer school program according to independent evaluations?

The program has helped students eliminate summer learning loss and make significant progress in math and reading, returning to school ahead of their peers.

How has the speaker's team impacted New York City's disadvantaged neighborhoods?

The speaker's team has served over 4,000 low-income children, trained over 300 aspiring teachers, and created more than 1,000 seasonal jobs in some of New York City's most disadvantaged neighborhoods.

What is the potential impact of redesigning the entire calendar year for education?

The speaker suggests that by preventing five months of lost time just by redesigning two months (summer), there is great potential to unlock even more possibilities by tackling the rest of the calendar year.

Outlines

00:00

🎓 Overcoming Educational Barriers

The speaker discusses the challenges faced by children growing up in poverty when considering higher education. They describe how immediate concerns like food and housing overshadow long-term goals like college. The speaker contrasts their experience with that of a friend who was expected to attend college, highlighting the difference in expectations. The speaker, raised by a single mother on government aid in Queens, New York, attended struggling public schools with high absence rates and low graduation and college readiness rates. They reflect on their journey to college and the realization that their background influenced their educational trajectory. The speaker also critiques educational reformers who lack firsthand experience in inner-city schools and emphasizes the importance of seeking help to overcome adversity.

05:03

🌟 Empowering Education Through Summer School Reform

The speaker outlines a vision to reform public education by focusing on summer school as a means to prevent the summer learning loss that contributes to the achievement gap. They argue that traditional summer school is ineffective and suggest a new model where teachers become coaching leaders, college-educated individuals serve as role models, high-achieving students act as mentors, and all students are engaged as scholars. The speaker's team has served thousands of low-income children, trained aspiring teachers, and created seasonal jobs in disadvantaged neighborhoods. Their program has been successful in eliminating summer learning loss and advancing students' math and reading skills, leading to significant progress in educational attainment.

Keywords

💡College Education

College education refers to academic study at a higher education institution after completing secondary education. It's a significant investment in one's future, often leading to better career opportunities and increased earning potential. In the script, the speaker reflects on how growing up in poverty limited their foresight to consider such a long-term investment, and how their eventual pursuit of college education became a pivotal point in their life.

💡Poverty

Poverty is the state of lacking the financial means to secure basic needs such as food, housing, and education. The script illustrates the immediate concerns of daily survival that come with poverty, overshadowing long-term goals like college education. The speaker's early life experiences are used to highlight the challenges faced by those growing up in impoverished conditions.

💡Achievement Gap

The achievement gap is the disparity in academic performance or educational attainment between different demographic groups, often defined by socioeconomic status, race, or ethnicity. The script points out that two-thirds of this gap can be attributed to summer learning loss, emphasizing the systemic disadvantages faced by low-income students.

💡Summer Learning Loss

Summer learning loss refers to the decline in academic skills and knowledge that occurs during the summer vacation from school. The script discusses how this loss disproportionately affects low-income students who do not have access to educational resources during the summer months, contributing to the achievement gap.

💡Education Reform

Education reform involves changes aimed at improving the education system. The speaker in the script is personally driven to reform public education, drawing from their own experiences and understanding of the challenges faced by low-income students. They advocate for a more empathetic approach to reform, led by individuals who have firsthand experience with the issues at hand.

💡Inner City Public Schools

Inner city public schools are government-funded schools located in urban areas, often serving lower-income communities. The script highlights the struggles of these schools, such as high dropout rates and low college readiness, and contrasts them with the experiences of those who attended more privileged schools.

💡Role Models

Role models are individuals who inspire or influence the behavior of others, often by exemplifying desired qualities or achievements. The script suggests the importance of college-educated role models in motivating students to pursue higher education and providing guidance and mentorship.

💡Mentorship

Mentorship is a relationship in which a more experienced or knowledgeable person guides a less experienced one. The speaker proposes a mentorship model where high-achieving students tutor younger peers, using their own success as a catalyst for change and inspiration.

💡Social Safety Nets

Social safety nets are government programs designed to protect and support individuals facing economic hardship. The script contrasts the availability of these nets for middle-class families with the lack of such support for poor children, emphasizing the importance of asking for help in the absence of a safety net.

💡Presidential Research Scholar

A Presidential Research Scholar is an honor bestowed upon students who demonstrate exceptional academic achievement and potential for research. The speaker's experience as a Presidential Research Scholar at Cornell provided them with insights into the educational consequences of poverty, shaping their approach to education reform.

💡Teach For America

Teach For America is a nonprofit organization that aims to improve education by placing recent college graduates as teachers in under-resourced schools. The script mentions the founder, Wendy Kopp, to highlight the impact of individuals who are committed to education reform, even if they have not personally attended an inner-city public school.

Highlights

Growing up poor can limit one's ability to plan for the future, such as considering college education.

Immediate concerns like food and rent can overshadow long-term goals like education.

Surroundings can influence career aspirations, as seen with the speaker's parents and their friends working in low-income jobs.

Realization in teenage years that a different path is desired can be a turning point.

The speaker's educational journey was challenging, with a high school graduation rate of only 55%.

Only 20% of the graduating students were college-ready, highlighting the lack of preparedness.

The difference in expectations between the speaker's school and his friend's school regarding college attendance.

The speaker's journey from being a student in a struggling school to becoming a Presidential Research Scholar at Cornell.

Understanding the educational consequences of being raised in poverty and attending under-resourced schools.

The importance of not being ashamed to ask for help, which is crucial for those growing up in poverty.

The lack of social safety nets for children growing up in poverty who do not ask for help.

The speaker's initiative to reform public education from a firsthand perspective.

Research indicates that summer learning loss accounts for two-thirds of the achievement gap.

Low-income children can forget almost three months of learning over the summer.

Traditional summer school is poorly designed and not engaging for students or teachers.

The idea of creating a summer program that empowers teachers, role models, and students.

The potential of a redesigned summer school to eliminate summer learning loss and close the achievement gap.

The speaker's team has served over 4,000 low-income children and created over 1,000 seasonal jobs.

Independent evaluations show that the program's kids eliminate summer learning loss and make significant progress.

The potential to unlock further educational improvements by tackling the rest of the calendar year.

Transcripts

Getting a college education

is a 20-year investment.

When you're growing up poor,

you're not accustomed to thinking that far ahead.

Instead, you're thinking about where you're going to get your next meal

and how your family is going to pay rent that month.

Besides, my parents and my friends' parents

seemed to be doing just fine driving taxis and working as janitors.

It wasn't until I was a teenager

when I realized I didn't want to do those things.

By then, I was two-thirds of the way through my education,

and it was almost too late to turn things around.

When you grow up poor, you want to be rich.

I was no different.

I'm the second-oldest of seven,

and was raised by a single mother on government aid

in Queens, New York.

By virtue of growing up low-income,

my siblings and I went to some of New York City's

most struggling public schools.

I had over 60 absences when I was in seventh grade,

because I didn't feel like going to class.

My high school had a 55 percent graduation rate,

and even worse,

only 20 percent of the kids graduating

were college-ready.

When I actually did make it to college,

I told my friend Brennan

how our teachers would always ask us to raise our hands

if we were going to college.

I was taken aback when Brennan said,

"Karim, I've never been asked that question before."

It was always, "What college are you going to?"

Just the way that question is phrased

made it unacceptable for him not to have gone to college.

Nowadays I get asked a different question.

"How were you able to make it out?"

For years I said I was lucky,

but it's not just luck.

When my older brother and I graduated from high school

at the very same time

and he later dropped out of a two-year college,

I wanted to understand why he dropped out

and I kept studying.

It wasn't until I got to Cornell as a Presidential Research Scholar

that I started to learn about the very real educational consequences

of being raised by a single mother on government aid

and attending the schools that I did.

That's when my older brother's trajectory began to make complete sense to me.

I also learned that our most admirable education reformers,

people like Arne Duncan, the former US Secretary of Education,

or Wendy Kopp, the founder of Teach For America,

had never attended an inner city public school like I had.

So much of our education reform is driven by a sympathetic approach,

where people are saying,

"Let's go and help these poor inner city kids,

or these poor black and Latino kids,"

instead of an empathetic approach,

where someone like me, who had grown up in this environment, could say,

"I know the adversities that you're facing

and I want to help you overcome them."

Today when I get questions about how I made it out,

I share that one of the biggest reasons

is that I wasn't ashamed to ask for help.

In a typical middle class or affluent household,

if a kid is struggling,

there's a good chance that a parent or a teacher will come to their rescue

even if they don't ask for help.

However, if that same kid is growing up poor

and doesn't ask for help,

there's a good chance that no one will help them.

There are virtually no social safety nets available.

So seven years ago,

I started to reform our public education system

shaped by my firsthand perspective.

And I started with summer school.

Research tells us that two-thirds of the achievement gap,

which is the disparity in educational attainment

between rich kids and poor kids

or black kids and white kids,

could be directly attributed to the summer learning loss.

In low-income neighborhoods, kids forget almost three months

of what they learned during the school year

over the summer.

They return to school in the fall,

and their teachers spend another two months

reteaching them old material.

That's five months.

The school year in the United States is only 10 months.

If kids lose five months of learning every single year,

that's half of their education.

Half.

If kids were in school over the summer, then they couldn't regress,

but traditional summer school is poorly designed.

For kids it feels like punishment,

and for teachers it feels like babysitting.

But how can we expect principals to execute an effective summer program

when the school year ends the last week of June

and then summer school starts just one week later?

There just isn't enough time to find the right people,

sort out the logistics,

and design an engaging curriculum that excites kids and teachers.

But what if we created a program over the summer

that empowered teachers as teaching coaches

to develop aspiring educators?

What if we empowered college-educated role models

as teaching fellows

to help kids realize their college ambitions?

What if empowered high-achieving kids

as mentors to tutor their younger peers

and inspire them to invest in their education?

What if we empowered all kids as scholars,

asked them what colleges they were going to,

designed a summer school they want to attend

to completely eliminate the summer learning loss

and close two-thirds of the achievement gap?

By this summer, my team will have served over 4,000 low-income children,

trained over 300 aspiring teachers

and created more than 1,000 seasonal jobs

across some of New York City's most disadvantaged neighborhoods.

(Applause)

And our kids are succeeding.

Two years of independent evaluations

tell us that our kids eliminate the summer learning loss

and make growth of one month in math

and two months in reading.

So instead of returning to school in the fall three months behind,

they now go back four months ahead in math

and five months ahead in reading.

(Applause)

Ten years ago, if you would have told me

that I'd graduate in the top 10 percent of my class from an Ivy League institution

and have an opportunity to make a dent on our public education system

just by tackling two months of the calendar year,

I would have said,

"Nah. No way."

What's even more exciting

is that if we can prevent five months of lost time

just by redesigning two months,

imagine the possibilities that we can unlock

by tackling the rest of the calendar year.

Thank you.

(Applause)