Education Case Studies

Originally titled The Battle of City Springs, this fascinating case study profiles City Springs Elementary-a Baltimore school nearly closed by the State of Maryland until it implemented a rigorous teaching method known as Direct Instruction. Filmed over an entire year, the film documents the progress made by City Springs students as they struggle to build reading and math skills-and their teachers struggle to make D.I. more than a theoretical concept. Although the year is filled with constant setbacks and challenges, including wearisome discipline problems and a demoralizing case of vandalism, the video culminates in statewide exam results that heavily favor City Springs' new strategy. (87 minutes)

Over the course of this three-segment program, ABC News anchor Ted Koppel tracks the progress of Lesley-Diann Jones' combined class of fourth- and fifth-graders, from opening day in September to February 1st, when the students re-took the state English exam that they had failed the previous year. Amidst Ms. Jones' efforts to help her students improve their learning and test-taking abilities, other dramas unfolded involving stubborn parents, disruptive classroom behavior, deadline pressure, and a dispute over a promised bonus for compressing two years' worth of teaching into one. (56 minutes)

How does a teacher develop the skill, courage, and stamina to teach disadvantaged youth-the children given up on by virtually everyone else? In this program, ABC News anchor Ted Koppel delivers three more reports on Lesley-Diann Jones and her class, covering January to graduation day in June. In addition to her concerns over chronic absenteeism and the future prospects of her students, Ms. Jones was forced to deal with one student who made a death threat against a classmate and another who alleged that Ms. Jones had publicly humiliated her. A retrospective segment completes the program. (57 minutes)

Facing a severe teacher shortfall for the 2000-2001 academic year, New York City scrambled to staff its worst-performing school district by crash-training hundreds of eager teaching fellows. In this program, NewsHour correspondent John Merrow presents five reports that track several of these brand-new teachers from opening day to summer recess as they learn the ropes at P.S. 25, in Brooklyn. Balancing their idealistic views of teaching are hard-won insights that demonstrate a powerful determination to overcome discouragement brought on by long hours, inadequate resources, and classroom discipline problems. High-stakes citywide testing is also addressed. (58 minutes)