Reinventing D.C. Public Schools
The District of Columbia Public Schools, despite new leadership, still rank as the nation’s worst schools. However, many theorists and practitioners see charter schooling as a way to alleviate the problems endemic to many urban schools. This community features a College Writing course that has a service-learning partnership with two innovative neighborhood charter schools. The partnership allows AU students to offer their writing and study skills to the schools in exchange for an eyewitness look at how charter schools operate. Students may assist schools in developing curricula, promotional material, histories of the school and community, and Web content. Using this field work, coupled with library research, students will write essays that evaluate the charter school program while also learning about the “real” District of Columbia: a regular city where citizens are born, go to school, and work.
