Somerville is graciously sharing a video of David Kirp’s talk about the Union City, NJ success story: https://vimeo.com/89543325.
Also see the links below for Kirp’s NYT op-ed and Somerville Mayor Curtatone’s article on the Universal Kindergarten Readiness plan. Here is a link to Somerville’s plan.
For additional resources on Union City see PreK-3rd’s Lasting Architecture: Successfully Serving Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Students in Union City, New Jersey (Marietta and Marietta) and Education Reform Starts Early: Lessons from New Jersey’s PreK-3rd Reform Efforts (Mead).
In his book about how one of New Jersey’s lowest-achieving school systems became a “poster child for educational reform,” David L. Kirp, a Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkley, describes a “universal approach that builds on existing strengths and a belief in public schools as the place for students to succeed.”
This discussion coincides with an innovative approach recently recommended by the City of Somerville and the Somerville Public Schools to develop a Universal Kindergarten Readiness strategy. Professor Kirp will discuss successful strategies that Somerville can adapt for its own student population.
David L. Kirp discusses Union City, NJ in the New York Times: http://nyti.ms/1mFugxY
Mayor Curtatone discusses Somerville’s new public/private kindergarten readiness strategy: http://www.thesomervilletimes.com/archives/46890#more-46890
For another helpful reference on Birth-Third in New Jersey, and specifically on three Abbott communities, see Sara Mead’s paper, Education Reform Starts Early: Lessons from New Jersey’s PreK-3rd Reform Efforts.
David Kirp
“Improbable Scholars: The Rebirth of a Great American School System and a Strategy for America’s Schools”
Wednesday, March 12, 2014 from 7:00-8:30pm
East Somerville Community School
50 Cross Street, Somerville, MA 02145