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In Chicago, the graduation rate for African-American boys is about 40 percent, and only about half of all students are accepted to some form of college. The chances of young black men going to college鈥攑articularly young men from the poorest neighborhoods鈥攁re not good.
But , located in the city鈥檚 tough Englewood neighborhood, has produced a very different statistic. In March, the school, which is made up of young African-American men, announced that all 107 students in its first graduating class have been accepted to four-year colleges. Just 4 percent of those seniors were reading at grade level as freshmen.
It鈥檚 a remarkable achievement for any urban high school, but especially one with a population some people are inclined to write off. It has educators examining what aspects of the school are responsible鈥攁nd how replicable they are.
Some elements are easy to quantify: an extended school day that means students have an additional 72,000 minutes in school each year, a double period of English, and required extracurriculars and public service.
But many more elements seem embedded into a culture based on four R鈥檚, as the school鈥檚 founder and chief executive officer, Tim King, describes it: ritual, respect, responsibility, and relationships.
鈥淚 say we give [the students] shields and swords,鈥� Mr. King said. 鈥淭he swords are hopefully this great education. They know how to read and write and add. ... Equally important, and perhaps more important, are these shields: resiliency, self-confidence, self-awareness. ... Hopefully, we have instilled these things, really woven them throughout the curriculum.鈥�
Even small things help, said Mr. King: For instance, the students are addressed formally, using their last name, and they wear coats and ties. (The young men swap their red ties for red-and-gold-striped ones when they鈥檙e accepted to college.)
Faculty Commitment
The school of about 450 students is in a neighborhood where violence is pervasive, and many students have to cross gang territory every day. It鈥檚 thus crucial for the school to offer an oasis of relative calm.
鈥淔or us, it鈥檚 not just about teaching new vocabulary words. We really do have to understand what is going on with this student outside school,鈥� Mr. King said.
That means faculty members develop close relationships with students and are available by phone on evenings and weekends. Often, they provide help on issues that seem to have nothing to do with school: homelessness, family tensions, or money problems.
When his mother died this year, Cameron Barnes came to school the next day. 鈥淚t was like family to me,鈥� said the senior, who plans to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Since his mother鈥檚 death, Mr. Barnes has been largely responsible for his household and is the only one who can drive. But he hasn鈥檛 lost his focus on college. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to be on the street,鈥� he said.
Mr. Barnes was inspired by an older cousin who graduated from college. But for many students at Urban Prep, the teachers and administrators are the first positive male role models they鈥檝e had鈥攁nd the first college graduates they鈥檝e seen. The faculty and administration are weighted heavily black and male.
The No. 1 criterion in hiring is that teachers believe in the mission, said Mr. King, who noted that some of the most successful teachers have not been black men. But having those role models is important, he added. 鈥淣one of us are particularly shy about sharing with students our life stories,鈥� he said.
The most notable aspect of Urban Prep鈥檚 culture is its focus on college, an emphasis that infuses every aspect of the school鈥攆rom an achievement-oriented creed that students recite daily to the framed acceptance letters that decorate the walls.
鈥淓very single adult in the building鈥攆rom the director of finance that handles payroll to the CEO to all the teachers鈥攈as a very clear understanding that our mission is to get students to college,鈥� said Kenneth Hutchinson, the school鈥檚 director of college counseling. 鈥淲e start in the freshman year,鈥� added Mr. Hutchinson, who grew up in Englewood. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not about helping them fill out applications; it鈥檚 about building strong applicants.鈥�
Senior Milan Birdwell said he always knew he wanted to go to college, but he had no idea how he would get there. When he transferred to Urban Prep as a sophomore, he had a grade point average of 1.6. Since then, he has raised it to 3.04 and posted a respectable score of 21 (out of a possible 36) on the ACT college-entrance exam.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like someone opened a door, and behind that door is a future,鈥� he said.
Mr. Birdwell had been accepted to five colleges and was waiting to hear from the University of Rochester鈥攈is top choice.
The success that Urban Prep has seen so far can be replicated, Mr. King believes. Pedro Noguera, a professor at New York University鈥檚 Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, concurs. 鈥淲hat this school shows is that under the right conditions, black males can thrive. They can be very successful,鈥� said Mr. Noguera, who has been researching single-sex black schools. The key to its success isn鈥檛 that it鈥檚 all-male, he added. It鈥檚 鈥渢he attention they pay to teaching.鈥�
Adding Campuses
Urban Prep is already expanding. Last year, it opened a campus in East Garfield Park鈥攁n African-American neighborhood on Chicago鈥檚 West Side. This coming fall, it will open a third campus in the South Shore neighborhood.
Still, certain aspects could be tough to replicate on a large scale. Like most charter schools, Urban Prep raises a sizable amount of its budget, about 20 percent, privately. It operates outside union rules and requires an enormous time commitment from its teachers.
Teaching there is incredibly rewarding, said Eric Smith, the head of the English department, but isn鈥檛 for everyone. 鈥淭here is an emotional cost,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e now surrogate [family] to almost 500 young men. It鈥檚 hard finding a balance.鈥�
Despite the school鈥檚 success, some challenges remain. While test scores have improved considerably鈥擴rban Prep ranked third out of Chicago鈥檚 98 high schools for growth, according to one model鈥擬r. King would like them to improve more. The average ACT score is about 17鈥攈igher than the district average for African-American boys, but lower than he鈥檇 like.
Most important, Mr. King said: College graduation, not admission, is the goal. The school is doing what it can to prepare students for the leap they鈥檒l make when they move to a college campus. For one thing, most students participate in at least one summer college program. Also, counselors will be assigned to all graduates to help them over the next few years.
鈥淚t will be very hard for them, which is why we want to have this support piece in place so students don鈥檛 give up,鈥� said Mr. King.
The 100 percent acceptance 鈥渋s a big deal,鈥� he added. 鈥淏ut we don鈥檛 consider it a completion of our mission. We consider it a milestone. ... We鈥檙e supposed to make sure that they finish college.鈥�
