Published: College Prep Guidance — Beyond Just Grades

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Published: Tips for Choosing a College, from an Academic Perspective

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Published: How U.S. News and World Report Ranks Top High Schools

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Published: An Overview of Charter School Enrollment Policies

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Published: Class Size v. Teacher Effectivness

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Tips for Choosing a College, from an Academic Perspective

Former charter high school principal Morgan Barth helped his school become one of the top-ranking schools in Connecticut and the United States. Morgan Barth played an integral role in getting many of his students into the college or university of their choice.

For many high school students nearing graduation, choosing a college or university can be overwhelming. However, the task can be achieved by keeping a few factors in mind. In the college stakes game, universities with a great athletic program or a “party school” reputation may be attractive but might not be the best choice in terms of academics.

Students looking for a school with education as its priority should pay attention to both the school’s retention (especially in the first year) and graduation rate. Retention is the number of accepted students who do not drop out, particularly in the freshman year when students are most vulnerable. This rate tells how much the school invests in academic support. High retention rates indicate more support.

Students should pay attention to the graduation rate for similar reasons. However, graduation rates must be placed in context.

Selective schools base their admittance on stringent criteria, including academic preparedness, which is an indicator of a student’s chance of graduating. Schools that are not as selective accept many more students, regardless of their preparedness, who might not finish.

Published: Teaching Evaluations in the Context of Charter Schools

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College Prep Guidance - Beyond Just Grades

Morgan Barth is a proven leader with many years of experience at the top echelons of education. For nine years, Morgan Barth served as a principal with Achievement First, one of the most successful charter school networks in the country. He was also a founding teacher at Elm City College Prep in New Haven, Connecticut.

College prep counselors typically focus on improving a student’s grades and SAT scores for college. However, there’s much more that students could potentially receive from college prep if counselors focused on some other key areas. For instance, students should be encouraged to pursue extracurricular activities. Studies show that students who engage in extracurricular activities have higher graduation rates and perform better academically.

Moreover, counselors can and should emphasize the development of soft skills in students. In particular, things like persistence in the face of adversity, budgeting, and mental health protection techniques are valuable tools for any aspiring college student. And counselors can also help students choose a college based not only on the location, size, and academic focus. Other factors, such as a school’s culture, demographic makeup, and values, can also come into play.

Published: Benefits of Service-Learning Programs

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Published: Career Paths after Teach for America

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Fostering a Respectful School Climate

Education administrator Morgan Barth has held principal and superintendent positions at schools across Connecticut. After graduating from Williams College with a degree in history, Morgan Barth was accepted into the Teach for America program, where he committed to teach for two years in the Mississippi Delta.

Teach for America is a competitive teacher placement program that matches high-achieving college graduates with teaching positions in low-performing school districts. At least half of Teach for America alumni remain in education long after their TFA commitment ends Currently, thousands of alumni are serving as teachers, principals and district leaders.

The program is also an ideal pathway to different types of roles and careers. Besides education, some of the most common post-program career paths include the medical field, organizing, and law. TFA alumni take what they learned as teachers and apply it to many fields. Alumni advocate for children and education from every sector.

TFA has also established talent pipelines to connect its alumni to opportunities in entrepreneurship and political science. Alumni can apply for a year-long paid staff position through the Capitol Hill Fellows program. TFA also coordinates the Arthur & Toni Rembe Rock Social Innovation Award, which offers social entrepreneurs up to $100,000 in startup funding.

Published: Teach for America — 30 Years of Increasing Educational Opportunities

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Achievement First’s Innovative Approach to Teacher Retention

As managing principal at ECM Holdings in Nashville, Tennessee, Morgan Barth leads one of the area’s emerging education brand organizations. His previous experience includes two years with Teach for America, as well as work in executive positions with several schools in the Achievement First (AF) charter school network. Morgan Barth’s career with AF includes service as a middle school and later a high school principal in Connecticut, and work as a regional superintendent based in Brooklyn, New York.

The AF philosophy, which has resulted in impressive student test scores and increased college attendance, centers on respect for study and learning, and a focus on building character and a desire to excel in all students.

As a 2013 PBS Newshour story profiling Mr. Barth’s AF Bridgeport Academy Middle School pointed out, charter schools have historically found it difficult to stem the loss of teachers looking for new positions elsewhere.

The AF network, then and now, has built a comprehensive plan for encouraging teacher retention. Called the Teacher Career Pathway, this model follows a teacher from introductory “intern” status, through the “master teacher” level, at which an educator can be said to be able to make numerous contributions to student progress.

The central goal of the Teacher Career Pathway is to provide attractive incentives for teachers to stay in the classroom, rather than to pursue administrative work. Thus, the “master teacher” level offers a notable increase in salary in order to keep the best teachers doing what they do best.

Published: AF Amistad High School Graduates Earn Multiple Ivy League Acceptances

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Bridgeport, Connecticut Charter Middle School Gets Results

Currently managing principal at education brand company ECM Holdings in Nashville, Tennessee, Morgan Barth has held leadership positions in several educational organizations over his career. These include division director of the Connecticut State Department of Education, and principal at Achievement First Bridgeport Academy Middle School (AFBA). In 2013, PBS Newshour included Morgan Barth among the school staff it interviewed for a story on the urban charter school’s impressive achievements.

Eighty-three percent of AFBA’s student body is made up of students eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunches at school. And Bridgeport historically has hovered toward the lower end of measures of academic achievement.

Yet students at AFBA benefited from a culture of high expectations, positivity, and respect for learning. Many who take standardized tests outperform their wealthier suburban counterparts.

The culture that AFBA staff continue to focus on is one in which it is always “cool” to be smart. Students are regularly encouraged to take pride in wearing their school uniforms, and in their dedication to study and hard work.

AFBA and the other schools in the Achievement First network center their efforts on preparing all students for success in college. Students interviewed by PBS joined teachers in praising AFBA’s rigorous program, as well as its respect for the quiet time necessary for study and learning.

Published: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, 10 Years Later

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Published: FAQs about High School Rankings

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Published: Dos and Don’ts of Teacher Evaluations

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Challenges and Solutions in Urban Education Student Achievement

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Morgan Barth, former principal of Amistad High School, had one of the state’s most successful track records. As principal, Morgan Barth led the urban high school to its number one ranking in the state and a top-20 ranking in the country a few years ago, according to US News and World Report. This success story is a bright spot in a landscape typically characterized by a number of challenges.

Urban schools face many challenges that hinder learning and student achievement. Students who attend urban schools typically have lower test scores and lower graduation rates than their suburban peers. This makes closing the achievement gap one of the nation’s most pressing social justice and civil rights issues. In order to close the achievement gap, it is important to understand some of the root causes.

School Choice: Affluent and middle class parents are able to exercise school choice. They can afford to make the choice to move to communities with strong schools or to pay for private schools. Poorer parents do not have these choices. Many districts force students to attend their zoned school, regardless of that school’s performance. This traps hundreds of thousands of low-income families in failing schools. A solution is to ensure that all districts allow families to choose the best school for their child by allowing school funding to follow the student to out-of-district schools, charters, magnets or private schools.

Housing Segregation: Communities with concentrations of low-income housing tend to have low-performing schools. As noted above, it is important that all families (regardless of income) have access to great schools. One solution to this problem is to allow school funding to follow the child to any school his or her family chooses. Another is for cities to use housing vouchers (rather than public housing) to reduce housing segregation.

Teacher Preparation and Retention: Schools that serve lower income communities tend to have newer teachers who have less training and support, and who turn over more quickly. Districts should incentivize the best and most experienced teachers to teach in low income schools. Districts should also turn to proven teacher training programs such as Teach for America, Relay Graduate School of Education or TNTP to help ensure that teachers receive better training and support.

Early Childhood Education: Another factor at play, relates to student preparation upon entering high school. In urban settings during a child’s primary grades, the emphasis might not necessarily be on education. In many cases, parents who have to work many hours, parents headed by a single parent, or low-income households create an environment not conducive to the kind of consistent exposure to learning found in other communities -- the kind of learning that promotes literacy in students upon reaching high school. A solution is ensuring that all students have excellent and low-cost (or no-cost) options for daycare and pre-school.