Supplementary Schools Research Articles

Spaces and Places of Black Educational Desire: Rethinking Black Supplementary Schools as a New Social Movement

Black supplementary schools, as organic grassroots organisations, are not simply a response to mainstream educational exclusion and poor provision, as they are so often described. They are far more radical and subversive than their quiet conformist exterior, indicating the presence of a covert social movement for educational change. In our small-scale, exploratory study of four black supplementary schools, we attempt to uncover their subjugated knowledges and hidden histories in order to illustrate the ways in which they generate Mueller's ‘oppositional meanings’. The narratives of the black women educators consistently decentre assumptions of mainstream schooling, as well as providing evidence of thriving black communities, social capital and complex, contradictory pedagogies within which childcentredness remains an important component. Supplementary schools provide a context in which whiteness is displaced as central and blackness is seen as normative. We conclude by arguing that, through their strategies of reworking notions of both community and blackness, their creation of new ‘types’ of professional intellectuals and their commitment to social transformation, black supplementary schools represent the genesis of a new gendered social movement.

Mathematics education in Japan

Stimulated by the discussions of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the TIMSS Video Study of mathematics classrooms in Germany, Japan and the US this paper shows that we cannot limit observation to mathematics lessons in Japanese public schools when we want togain insights intothe achievement of Japanese students. Homework, voluntary studies at home, and private supplementary lessons are more important in Japan than in Germany or in the US. Japanese students not only invest much more time in mathematics but they are also intensively supported and guided professionally. Moreover, the aims and methods of the teaching and learning processes organized privately complement the mathematics curriculum in the public schools. Findings of empirical investigations give evidence that parents and supplementary schools contribute substantially to the learning success of Japanese students.

“LIKE BUTTERFLIES FROM A COCOON”: Expanding the Perspectives of Novice Principals1

1 This article is based on the Institute in Jewish Educational Leadership for New Principals of Supplementary Schools. As its academic director, I was fortunate to work with two talented colleagues, Dr. Paul Flexner of JESNA and Sheila Adler of Temple Beth Torah in Mt. Kisco, NY. We comprised its core faculty. The 39 principals who participated in the institute brought tremendous commitment, enthusiasm, and competence to their work. The data sources upon which this article is based are: participants’ applications, intake interviews, essays, activities and written work during and after the institutes and retrospective written surveys and telephone interviews conducted by an external evaluator.

Uncovering Genealogies of the Margins: black supplementary schooling

In our small scale, exploratory study of four black supplementary schools, we adopted a genealogical approach. By uncovering the subjugated knowledges and hidden histories of black supplementary schools we found evidence of a female centred new social movement. Our analysis of black female agency in these organic grassroots organisations enabled us to interrogate the normative mainstream discourse on ‘race’ and education. The narratives of black women educators consistently decentred assumptions of mainstream schooling. Supplementary schools provided a context in which whiteness is displaced as central and blackness is seen as normative. Parental involvement showed the effectiveness of black working class agency, in a discourse which assumes their passivity. We conclude by arguing that women's work within black supplementary schools embrace strategies for inclusion ‐‐ such as emphasis on the formal 3Rs, and dialogue with the mainstream ‐‐ which though appearing on the surface to be conservative and contradictory, in effect subverts the mainstream discourse on black underachievement and offer transformative possibilities from the margins.

BACKGROUND AND TRAINING OF TEACHERS IN JEWISH SCHOOLS: CURRENT STATUS AND LEVERS FOR CHANGE

This paper presents a secondary analysis of data from a survey of teachers in the Jewish schools of three communities. Previous findings had shown that only 19% of teachers have professional training in both Jewish content areas and in the field of education, and despite incomplete professional backgrounds, little professional growth was required of teachers. What can be done to enhance and expand professional growth activities for teachers in Jewish schools? Analyses reported in this paper examine three possible “levers” for changing standards for professional growth: state licensing requirements for pre‐schools, state requirements for continuing education among professionally‐trained teachers, and community incentives for training of supplementary school teachers. Results indicate that pre‐school teachers in state‐licensed pre‐schools and supplementary school teachers who were paid for meeting a professional growth standard reported that they were required to attend more in‐service workshops, compared to other teachers who were not subject to these conditions. In addition, standards for the quantity of in‐service were higher among teachers who have stronger Judaic backgrounds and who are committed to a career in Jewish education.

AVOCATIONAL TEACHING: THE GENESIS AND DIFFUSION OF AN IDEA

The concept of avocational teaching entered the discourse of Jewish education largely through the work of Isa Aron and Adrianne Bank. In this paper, Isa Aron reflects on the personal experiences and research that led her to propose the idea of recruiting avocational teachers as part of an overall strategy to address the chronic shortage of teachers in Jewish supplementary schools. She also raises some provocative questions about the possibilities and limitations of avocational teachers as a vehicle for improving the quality of Jewish supplementary schooling.

Afrocentric Education in Supplementary Schools: Paradigm and Practice at the Mary McLeod Bethune Institute

This article examines the history, philosophy, curriculum, methodology, and operations of the Mary McLeod Bethune Institute (MMBI), an Afrocentric supplementary school located in Los Angeles, California. Qualitative data focusing on MMBI students, parents, and staff, and on the school's relationship with its students' public schools and communities are presented. Based on these data, the author posits that Afrocentric supplementary schools play a critical role in the process of developing socially active, conscious, and capable African American youth. Further, these institutions are shown to be essential for the cultural development and academic support of public- and private-school African American students. INTRODUCTION In the late 1960s and early 1970s, community groups in African American neighborhoods across the United States asserted their right to define and establish educational standards for their children. Some groups, such as those in New York City, chose to struggle for community control within public schools (Foster, 1992). Others worked to establish independent institutions outside of public structures (Lomotey, 1992; Ratteray & Shujaa, 1987). These institutions defined educational standards as the achievement of academic excellence exclusively or they stressed both academic excellence and culturally relevant curriculum. In 1989, according to the Institute for Independent Education (IIE) (1990), the 284 independent schools located in predominantly African American neighborhoods throughout the nation were serving approximately 53,000 African American students, or 7.9% of the total African American public school enrollment of 6.7 million. The progenitors of the independent Afrocentric community schools movement of the 1960s and 1970s argued that two elements were central to the creation and sustenance of these schools: institutional autonomy and an Afrocentric perspective. Institutional autonomy was seen as a means of ensuring the development of a liberatory pedagogy within African American communities (King, 1994; Lee, 1994; Ratteray & Shujaa, 1987). Accordingly, the schools' founders and finances were to come from the communities in which they were located. Moreover, autonomy was to be represented in these institutions' oppositional stances to dominant Eurocentric ideology and their ability to offer an alternative value system that is responsive and responding to the cultural and spiritual ethos of of African ancestry. This emphasis on Afrocentrism was based on the premise that such a world view would offer a method of thought and practice rooted in the cultural image and human interests of African people (Karenga, 1995, p. 45). Six such independent Afrocentric community schools were established in African American communities in California during this period: the Nairobi Day School, founded in East Palo Alto in 1966; the Afro-American School of Culture, founded in Los Angeles in 1967; Omowale Ujamaa of Pasadena, founded in 1973; the Winnie Mandela Children's Learning Village, established in Compton in 1973; the Marcus Garvey School of Los Angeles, founded in 1975; and Uhuru Shule, founded in Los Angeles in 1978 (Council of Independent Black Institutions [CIBI], 1996). Of these six, only four remain in operation today. The Nairobi Day School operated as a supplementary school from 1966 through 1969, when it expanded its program to a full-time school until closing in 1984 (Hoover, 1992). The Afro-American School of Culture also underwent numerous transformations, beginning as a supplementary school in 1967 and later expanding to a full-time format in 1971 under the name of Kawaida Educational and Development Center (Kifano, 1992). Four years later, Kawaida closed, only to reemerge as a independent Afrocentric supplementary school under the name of the Mary McLeod Bethune Institute (MMBI). As the experience of these and other schools bears out, the costs of establishing and sustaining full-time independent schools are great (Dixon, 1994; IIE, 1988, 1991; Kifano, 1992). …

Do Bad Programs Always Drive Out Good? A Case Study in Free-Market Religious Education

In the discussion of privatization of public education, there is little evidence on how competition among schools affects program quality. Jewish supplementary schooling is one network in which parents have total freedom to select the school of their choice. This article examines the dynamics of competition among four such programs during a 5-year period. Some competitive strategies reduced program demands, but others reinforced quality, though that term is problematic in this setting. The least intensive, least expensive program did not undercut the other programs in the long run, but did spur innovation. Further study of the dynamics of parental choice is warranted, focusing on denominational affiliation, cost, convenience, social factors, and quality.

Too Much Schooling, Too Little Education: A Paradox of Black Life in White Societies.

Too Much Schooling, Too Little Education: A Paradox of Life in White Societies, edited by Mwalimu J. Shuiaa. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 1994. 424 pp. $45.95, cloth; $16.95, paper. According to editor Shujaa, this collection of essays presents concert-on-paper built upon meaningful parts that meld into dynamic (p. 9). As self-proclaimed orchestra leader of this concert and author of 2 of book's 16 chapters as well as its five section introductions, Shujaa goes on to explain that this dynamic whole is an examination and indictment of schooling of Blacks, especially in United States. It is also, he notes, prescription for African-centered education as alternative or, at best, complement to schooling. The organizing themes of book include calls for following changes in schooling in U.S.: (1) shift from preoccupation with schooling to concern for education; (2) shift in schools' orientation to knowledge to better respect African cultures and perspectives; (3) recognition and accommodation of African American resistance to schooling; (4) embracing of an African-centered pedagogy; and (5) people's assumption of responsibility for education of youth. Shujaa distinguishes between schooling and education in very thoughtful and carefully argued early chapter. The former, he notes, is a process intended to perpetuate and maintain society's existing power relations and institutional structures that support those arrangements (p. 15). The latter is the process of transmitting from one generation to next knowledge of values, aesthetics, spiritual beliefs, and all things that give particular cultural orientation its uniqueness (p. 15). This explanatory chapter is followed by 15 others in which authors describe and advocate for African-centered pedagogy. As background for work reported in this book, editor has included chapter by Jacob Carruthers on Black Intellectuals and Crisis of Education. This is provocative think-piece that should challenge those of us who think of ourselves as members of intelligentsia. Also included is Beverly Gordon's (no family relationship to reviewer) comprehensive epistemological treatment of relationship between cultural knowledge and liberatory education. Gordon's essay alone is worth price of book. Nsenga Warfield-Coppock's discussion of rites of passage as an extension of education into African American community embodies notions that many communities are finding useful. Kwame Akoto's, Molefi Asante's, Joyce King's, and Carol Lee's treatments of approaches to African-centered education are consistent with some of best practice in this field. Like aforementioned essays, Nah Dove's discussion of supplementary schools and Shujaa's analysis of African American independent schools movement include notions and models that are pregnant with possibilities for more effectively engaging students in processes of intellectual development. Deserving of special notice is Vernon PoIite's discussion of ecology of resistance to schooling not so much as fear of acting white (Fordham, 1989) as natural rejection of educational neglect, lack of caring, and instructional malpractice they experience in school settings that have not changed to reflect changes in its clientele. A better understanding of nature and meaning of history of African American resistance to schooling (treated in separate chapters by Ronald Butchart, Joan Ratteray, and Violet Harris) and greater familiarity with variety of experiences with and perspectives on schools and education (covered in chapters by Kofi Lomotey, Gail Foster, and Vivian Gadsden) have potential for greatly enhancing readiness of some of us professionals for more effective service in education of students. There is much in this book that, if sensitively implemented, will greatly increase engagement of children with their education. …

The Emergence of Black Supplementary Schools

The author believes that the schooling of Africans in European-centered "educational" institutions is a method of subjugation. It relies on subverting creative human potential through misinformation about who and what we are. We are taught ways of seeing and being that are not conducive to our physical and mental well-being. As culturally influenced institutions, European-centered schools play a major role in maintaining control of interests on a global and local scale. Wherever these institutions have developed, their fundamental role has remained constant. The rise of supplementary schools in the United Kingdom is part of the resistance of Africans to this condition. In this article, the author focuses on the perceptions of the users of these schools and their roles in the schools' formation and development.

Jewish supplementary schooling misperceived

Jewish Supplementary Schooling was a large-scale assessment of supplementary schools in greater New York. It consisted of interviews, on-site visits, and an Inventory of Knowledge, Involvement, and Attitudes. The main finding was that the schools were failing in all three areas the main recommendation, to reorient the schools to family and informal education. A close examination of the research and the study report revealed that the data were deeply flawed, and the recommendations unrelated to the data. Flaws included poor Inventory items and scoring system, the absence of a comparison group, and a mistaken design. A closing discussion of assessment strategies highlights the need to conceptualize more clearly the nature of supplementary education, to develop relevant evaluation criteria, and to design a study process which capitalizes on supplementary schools ’ unparalleled autonomy. The weaknesses in the study were shown to be typical of research in Jewish education.

ISRAEL AND THE GULF WAR: A NEW SENSE OF REALISM

In some respects this article is redundant. Af ter all, a growing number of Jewish schools, both day schools and supplementary schools, have included Israel in their curricula in a prominent way. We mention Israel in our prayers. We teach the history of the Land of Israel. We recruit teenagers for Israel summer programs. Why then should the Gulf War have any impact on how we portray Israel in our schools? Has this war opened an educa tional window of opportunity? My question is rhetorical and the answer affirmative. Seeing Scud missiles fall live on Tel Aviv via CNN has temporarily transformed the perception of and the relation to the Jewish State. Maybe at long last we have the chance to make a very illusive Jewish symbol into a concrete reality for Jewish students around the world. Let me explain why this is so necessary and how I propose to make it happen.

Jewish supplementary school reality: countering the misperception of a study

The Critique misjudges the Study’s purpose and procedures, confuses cross-sectional and longitudinal research and misreads its recommendations. The Critique asks for a different kind of study. It is, in essence, a wish list of what the writer wants to see done. Basically, the Study is a comparison between avowed and achieved goals. Nowhere does the Critique fault the study in this regard. Moreover, the Study confirms that the most serious problem confronting supplementary schools is lack of parents support, inadequate Jewishness in student’s homes and ineffectual instructional programming. The Critique highlights the need for dispassionate analysis of existing research.

BUREAUS OF JEWISH EDUCATION AND THE SUPPLEMENTARY SCHOOL

Much attention has been focused in the past generation on the growth of the Jewish day school in the United States.1 Yet, despite the remarkable expansion of all-day Jewish schooling, well over half of the children enrolled in a Jewish school in any given year participate in a program of supplementary education. This “market share” alone warrants interest in the educational success of the supplementary school and, indeed, recent studies have brought renewed focus to this arena.2

INSURING THE FUTURE OF CENTRAL AGENCIES

The future, like greatness, is rarely planned for. It is thrust upon us. As I write, two supplementary schools in the community have announced they are closing their doors. A bank crisis has rocked the state and the local Federation campaign is limping toward closure. The new economic realities are the first issue a central agency must grapple with.

THE FUTURE OF CENTRAL AGENCIES FOR JEWISH EDUCATION

It is generally agreed that the central agencies for Jewish education (BJEs) are caught between the changes that have taken place in the Jewish educational system in the United States and the growing role of the federations in the field. The decline of supplementary schools in spread, scope, and intensity, and the rise of the day schools as the principal foci and loci of meaningful Jewish education, have left the BJEs caught in a bind.

Low‐Wage Youth Employment: A Permanent or Transitory State?*

One of the striking features of the youth wage distribution in the extent to which an individual's relative position in the distribution changes between contiguous years. Formal modelling of these changes using a bivatiate probit model suggests that low‐wage employment should not, in general be viewed as a permanent state. Individuals in low‐wage jobs in adjacent years are characteried by u lack of human capital Accordingly. remedical action might be directed towards augmenting their skills through supplementary schooling or labour market training.

SHOULD JEWISH SUPPLEMENTARY RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS BE LIKE THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS?

Whether the Jewish supplementary school should be operated as if it were a public school depends on the goals of Jewish education. “In terms of ultimate goals, however, Jewish education is now at a crossroads.”1 While all Jewish educators would probably agree with Harold Schulweis' statement that “it is our sacred task to create Jews,”2 educators are not in agreement over what type of Jews we are to create and how we are to create them. Jewish educators can be divided into two groups. One group wants to create “educated, thinking Jews” — goal #1—while the other desires to shape children into “feeling Jews” —goal #2.

The American Synagogue: A Sanctuary Transformed

Preface Acknowledgments 1. Overview: the synagogue in America - a historical typology Abraham J. Karp Part I. The Denominational Perspective: 2. The orthodox synagogue Jeffrey S. Gurock 3. The reform synagogue Leon A. Jick 4. The conservative synagogue Jack Wertheimer Part II. The American experience of a sephardic synagogue Marc D. Angel 6. Education in the synagogue: the transformation of the supplementary school Barry Chazan 7. From city to suburb: temple Mishkan Tefila of Boston Paula E. Hyman 8. The special sphere of the Middle-Class American Jewish woman: the synagogue sisterhood, 1890-1940 Jenna Weissman Joselit 9. Ethnic-religious ambiguities in an immigrant synagogue: the case of new hope congregation Benny Kraut 10. Conflict over reforms: the case of congregation Beth Elohim, Charleston, South Carolina Robert Liberles 11. A synagogue center grows in Brooklyn Deborah Dash Moore 12. choosing a synagogue: the social composition of two German congregations in nineteenth-century Baltimore Marsha L. Rozenblit 13. The debate over mixed seating in the American synagogue Jonathan D. Sarna 14. Music in the American synagogue: a case study from Houston Kay Kaufman Shelemay Index.

The Hebrew School Experience: A Phenomenological Analysis of Students' Perceptions

Abstract This study uses phenomenological analysis to examine the perceptions of students attending a supplementary Hebrew school in a New England suburb. These students have ambivalent feelings about being Jewish. They equate being Jewish with being different, and they believe being Jewish has only a minor effect on their lives. They perceive the goals of Hebrew school on three levels: 1) The immediate level of learning prayers, learning about their religion, and learning Hebrew; 2) The long term goal of Bar/Bat Mitzvah; and 3) The ultimate goal of transmitting Jewish traditions to future generations. Their perceptions about Hebrew school differ markedly and range from boring to fun. Positive aspects of Hebrew school mentioned by all students include socializing and informality of classes. A negative aspect was the inconvenience of the Hebrew school schedule. Implications drawn from this study are that the Hebrew school ought to strive to maintain practical goals and a flexible curriculum, classroom envi...