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"I wasn't expecting to see such large gains early on. It's a testament to what kids can do. I believe the children in the District of Columbia can achieve at high levels." Second-generation Korean-American Michelle Rhee is in the spotlight for an education reform drive she has pressed since becoming chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools system in June last year at age 37.
According to data from the school district, 40 percent of elementary school students scored "proficient" in their math performance this year, up from 29 percent last year. The reading comprehension proficiency level also increased from 37 percent in 2006, to 38 percent last year to 46 percent this year. The percentage of junior high and high school students with proficient performance in math and reading comprehension also grew by 9 percentage points from a year ago.
In a recent Washington Post article, Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty congratulated Rhee, saying that "the initiatives the chancellor is putting into place are bearing fruit and the school system is moving in the right direction."
Rhee implemented the daring reform program as soon as she took office, and for her efforts was named a Person to Watch in 2008 by Newsweek magazine early this year. She shut down 23 poorly performing public schools, replaced over 30 percent of school principals and laid off 98 employees of the city education bureau. The move has put school principals on high alert. To shore up academic performance, Rhee proposed diverse school programs and plans to revamp the curricula of 27 schools performing below average in math and reading comprehension in the past five years.
Her work is founded on two beliefs: that children grow in proportion to expectations, and dedicated teachers can change students. A graduate of Cornell University and Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, she taught low-income family children at a Baltimore elementary school for three years as a member of non-profit education advocacy group Teach For America. It was there that she discovered that dedicated teaching can transform children. Dubbed a "public enemy" by the U.S. teachers' union, Rhee says she doesn't care about criticism. She insists that teachers who don't care for teaching can always quit.
To prove her belief in her school system, she has transferred her two daughters, children with ex-husband and education activist Kevin Huffman, to Washington D.C. for schooling.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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