The Model School, According to Two Million Minutes
A post on the Two Million Minutes blog reveals the subject of the newest documentary: the BASIS charter school in Arizona. Bob Compton describes the school as “low-cost, high performance, easily replicable.”
I’ve read some BASIS publications and parents’ reviews online, and it sounds like BASIS offers a challenging curriculum that most parents are very happy with.
The catch? It’s tiny. There are about a dozen students in each of the highest grades. More students attend the middle school, but there are fewer than 100 students in almost every grade. Based on the information available at publicschoolreview.com, only three percent of students are black or Hispanic.
I don’t want to imply that those facts detract from BASIS’s achievements; schools vary in size and demographic makeup. But I don’t see BASIS as an easily replicable model to improve U.S. education. The gap in test scores between whites and minorities is one of the most pressing issues education reformers grapple with, and a school that teaches few minority students doesn’t look like a promising model — unless it can show that its approach works with a diverse student body. Not only has BASIS failed to demonstrate success in closing that gap, but the school’s small size suggests that kids who are already doing well are self-selecting in. This is a common argument against lending too much credence to the high test scores that some charters achieve, and although I disagree with the argument in most cases, it’s hard to defend a school against that charge when it has only 13 kids in a grade.
In addition, BASIS’s small class sizes can’t be replicated across the U.S. school system without hiring many more teachers, which would be anything but “low cost.”
It could be that I just don’t know enough about BASIS, and that Two Million Minutes is on to something. I’ll keep following the coverage of Two Million Minutes, in case I’ve missed any evidence that the BASIS model has been scaled up.
Hi, Sarah –
Thanks for looking into BASIS. I hope you’ll have the chance to see the film at some point, as well.
Just wanted to update a few stats from your post.
BASIS Middle school actually has over 100 in each grade and over 25 in each class.
BASIS Tucson is 53% white with 25% Hispanic.
Best of all, for a couple of years running, BASIS Tucson has had among the highest “value added ” of all AZ schools. That is it has added most to student achievement regardless of ethnic group or starting test scores.
As a side, BASIS has replicated the school in Scottsdale. Tucson and Scottsdale have very different demographics. Two different schools, two different demographics, but same great results.
Best,
Liza
Comment by Liza Dittoe — September 21, 2009 @ 7:32 p.m.
Liza–Thanks for the comment. I’m sorry I cited erroneous numbers about BASIS. Do you have a link to the current statistics?
In the articles I’ve read about BASIS, people quoted often attribute its success to small class sizes. For example, here is a student:
“Because basis doesn’t do what education systems in the United states are doing. When the class size is smaller the teacher obviously can focus on you more and zoom into the problems you want solved.”
(http://www.kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=11153903)
And this is from the Arizona Daily Star (August 24, 2008, not online):
” Her 16-year-old peer, Taylor Evans, who has been at BASIS since seventh grade, also recently returned from a foray into the traditional public system at Tucson High Magnet School. “I thought maybe less work would be nice, but it was massive and I missed it here,” she said.
Evans, who wants to be a pastry chef, said she struggles with math, too, but noted that she gets a lot of help because the school has small class sizes.”
If BASIS does not in fact have smaller-than-average classes, I’m not sure what these quotes are referring to.
Comment by Sarah Brodsky — September 22, 2009 @ 8:37 a.m.
Sarah,
As Secretary of Education Duncan has stated “Charters are supposed to be laboratories of innovation that we can all learn from.”
I think we can learn a great deal from BASIS. A couple of points to remember first:
1- BASIS was started in 1998 with 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. They added a grade a year until 2003 when they had classes from 5th -12th. So the high school has only existed for 6 years.
2- They started with zero capital and have built a world-class school that runs on $6,500 per student per year from the state of AZ. What a bargain for the taxpayers of AZ.
So, what lessons does the BASIS “laboratory” offer?
1- Ordinary American kids CAN achieve extraordinary academic results. Having screened my film and held “vigorous” Q&A sessions with over 100,000 Americans in the past 21 months – I wasn’t confident that average US kids could be globally competitive. It is a relief to know they can compete.
2- The students at BASIS want to be there. What a terrific surprise to know that in a relatively low income community, there are kids eager to be educated at a globally competitive level. That might imply there are hundreds of thousands of American children eager for a more rigorous education. If we deliver it to them, it benefits not only the child, but our entire country. That would be a huge achievement!
3- By putting 68% of all payroll into the teacher’s pay, keeping staff and operating expenses low, a world-class school can be economically viable.
4- Teachers make all the difference. At BASIS, teachers have a Master’s or PhD in the subject they teach. They are subject matter experts, passionate about Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mandarin, English, Art, etc. Sitting in a BASIS classroom is an inspiring, energizing and fun experience – the teachers love their subjects and that passion is palpable.
5- BASIS doesn’t have longer days or longer weeks. The kids go to school 180 days a year, just like every other AZ school. Yet they graduate 3-4 years ahead of their public school peers. So in the same time and for less money per student – BASIS delivers a vastly superior education. That sounds like an outstanding investment!
My conclusion is every community should have at least one BASIS Charter school. It costs little to start. It is self-supporting on less than is spent by public schools per student. The curriculum is above the global standard – above Finland, India and China. It achieves this in 180 days of school. There are kids and parents of modest financial means that desperately want a world-class public education. BASIS delivers.
What could be better for American children?
Bob Compton
Executive Producer
Two Million Minutes
Comment by Bob Compton — September 22, 2009 @ 4:06 p.m.