The Answer - A blog about Education, Preparation, and Commitment.

How YES Prep is like Korea, Singapore and Finland

March 30, 2011 by Nella Garcia

Last week, the New York Times ran an article entitled, “U.S. Urged to Raise Teachers’ Status.” The article focused on a new report that compares educational systems across the globe. It highlights three defining characteristics of Korea, Singapore and Finland in their successful efforts of how they educate students. They recruit only high-performing college graduates for teaching positions, support them with mentoring and other help in the classroom, and take steps to raise respect for the profession. After reading this, I could not help but feel excited about the work YES Prep is doing to ensure we are elevating the teaching profession in our work. How is YES Prep similar to these education powerhouse nations?

1. Countries that are high performing recruit only high- performing

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The goal of school is not to become good at school

March 29, 2011 by Jeremy Jones

 "The goal of school is to not become good at school."

– Jay McTighe, Author of Understanding by Design

This weekend at the ASCD conference was an outstanding shot to the arm of what great researchers are saying make up great schools. The quote above came in a session from Jay McTighe linking the UBD framework with the latest in neuroscience. It resonated with me because although so much of what we do pushes beyond the typical schools there is still so much we can do to ensure all students will be fully equipped in the multitudinous ways they need to be successful in the 21st Century. It starts by recognizing and continuing to embrace that our students’ success goes so much beyond what we do for them in the classroom. It’s the connections and relationships we are building for

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Founder and CEO Chris Barbic Applauds HISD Efforts to Reform

December 27, 2010 by Chris Barbic

In “HISD charter schools can compete with the best," Terry Grier, superintendent of schools for HISD, pointed out why charters exist — to provide choice — and shared insights on the success of HISD’s own charter school programs. As CEO and founder of YES Prep Public Schools, a charter school system currently serving more than 4,000 low-income students and on track to serve 10,000 in the next several years, we couldn’t agree more with Grier’s enthusiasm for highlighting charter school initiatives.

Charter schools provide educational leaders the flexibility to address parent and student needs. Reflecting on successful HISD charters, KIPP, YES Prep and Harmony, it is clear that charter schools exist to provide great choices to students and families across Houston. We as a community

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YES Prep teachers visit a school in the UK and have profound thoughts

December 06, 2010 by Jeremy Jones

We (Explorers Lindsey Windham, Sarah Murphy, and Sarah Hampson) spoke through an intercom into a two-way mirrored office before we ushered ourselves through an automatic door and then into the front office. The inside of the office and the school’s hallway was glassy and bright, pristine and utilitarian. British hospitality meant we were granted almost immediate audience with the Academy’s vice principal, an older gentleman who assured us he had much to do but could spare a moment to tell us about his work with London students.

We found ourselves in this moment almost a week after arriving in London, England, for Thanksgiving Break. Our proximity to this local “Academy” school was due to the fact that we stayed in a quiet suburb called Putney – about 20 minutes southwest of London

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YES Prep School Leader Reflects on Visit to Chicago Charter Schools

November 05, 2010 by Mark DiBella

Last week I had the opportunity to visit four of the highest performing, open-enrollment, public charter schools in Chicago. All of the schools were located in historically neglected neighborhoods and were serving students who desperately needed an alternative to some of the lowest performing urban public schools in our country.  Though all of the schools were the same in that they had similar missions to YES Prep's mission, each one of the schools had unique elements of their program:

LEARN Academy (Pre-K-8) was unified in its use of literacy objectives in all of its primary classrooms for all primary grades. Given our recent push towards focusing more acutely on literacy it was powerful to see another school that was completely and squarely centered on literacy! To give a little

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