James Madison High: a school for winners; by instilling a sense of pride in students, teachers and parents, a principal restores a New York high school to its former glory

American Education, Nov, 1984 by Norman Fisher

The laboratory facilities available at nearby Brooklyn College cannot be duplicated at most high schools. Many of those in our Bio-Medical program and research classes plan a career in medicine and seek admission to the special medical program. Four members of the class of 1984 were accepted to the Sophie Davis Medical School Program of the City College of New York. This program offers a BA/MD program in seven years and guarantees acceptance in a participating medical school. In addition, three students were selected into the Downstate Medical School/Brooklyn College Program.

Our concern for raising standards and encouraging all students to take a college-bound program with the heterogeneous classroom has succeeded far beyond our expectations. The most coveted diploma in New York State is the Regents-endorsed diploma. Fifty-five percent of the class of 1984 earned this diploma, as compared to 39 percent two years ago.

Each youngster who finds a "hook"--whether in business, sports, or research--is successful and a winner at James Madison. Our goal is to provide a variety of alternatives and options for making winners out of as many students as possible.

The challenge of preparing a generation of thinking students

After the release of the national education reports, the buzzword seemed to be the mediocrity of American education. If our high schools were indeed mediocre, I am convinced it is because we expected our classroom to be mediocre. Theodore Sizer, in his study, Homer's Compromise: The Dilemma of the American High School, emphasizes the uniformity of the American high school regardless of size and the diversity of the United States, as well as the politically decentralized character of the schools. Our classrooms were fixed by units of time that encouraged passive learning in which the teacher lectured and students listened. The old saying, "Children should be seen but not heard," seemed to apply in the American high school. James Madison was no exception. A school with a 58-year tradition of many successes and a faculty of veteran teachers is not stimulated to change. Most of us will not tamper with a good thing. The result was success for those students who were highly motivated, but mediocrity for those who were not. Fortunately, I inherited a professional faculty willing to improve teaching strategies. Teachers were encouraged to use a variety of relevant media and materials to supplement textbooks.

In social studies, teachers were encouraged to begin in the present and move to the past. The sending of troops to Grenada began an analysis of earlier American foreign policy, rather beginning in the historical period under discussion. An evaluation of student government accounts became the basis for teaching bookkeeping entries, and an examination of interchangeable parts in automobiles introduced the concept of congruent parts in geometry. The teachers are trained to plan their lessons around a current problem, leading students through a series of questions to understand the problem. In many instances, youngsters are not yet ready for this kind of instruction and feel more comfortable with teacher lectures and a board full of notes. But we keep seeking new and varied strategies to ensure that students learn to think.