Trying the Old-Fashioned Way

By Kenneth M. Pierce

Philadelphia's tough Fitler School is getting remarkable results

At the Edward H. Fitler Elementary School, an old building of dirty granite in working-class Philadelphia, teachers insist that boys and girls form orderly, separate lines when entering or leaving class. "Sure, it's old-fashioned and sexist," says School Principal William R. Crumley Jr., 47, "but our parents did it, and we do it." In fact, teachers, parents and pupils are trying to turn back the educational clock at Fitler, with strict student dress codes, tough grading and plenty of attention to individual students. One result: though Fitler is an urban public school with 35% white students, 45% black, the rest Hispanic and Asian, it boasts a multiracial waiting list of 2,000 parents from all over Philadelphia who want to send their children there, even when it would mean busing.

Test scores of the 450 pupils dramatically bear out Fitler's success. Less than 50% of Philadelphia's pupils reach or surpass the national median on standardized tests in reading, math and language skills; at Fitler, 81% do so. Only 2% of Fitler's students are in the bottom sixth; citywide, the percentage is 17%. Such scores evidently result from Fitler's program, not just good luck in obtaining bright students. The evidence: Fitler children scored far lower at the start of the school's old-fashioned experiment in 1976; they have improved each year since.

Teachers say they favor the dress code (no blue jeans or tennis shoes except for gym; socks a must at all times) because it encourages "self-respect and a conscious effort on the part of the children." Students are also forbidden to eat, sing or "play" on the school bus. Spray paint cans and Magic Markers are not allowed in the building: the school's yellow walls are clean, its corridors and classrooms quiet.

Substitute teachers sometimes ask, "What are you doing here? This is the first place I've been able to teach." One reason, says Crumley, who helped recruit a staff of volunteer teachers when the experiment began four years ago, is quick follow-up in rule enforcement. "If a child talks back or has problems," he explains, "we're very quick to say something, do something. The kids pick it up. They say, 'Hey, there's a no-nonsense thing going on here.' "

Crumley is a former Air Force staff sergeant. He sends mimeographed copies of the school's rules to each child's parents and firmly believes there is a connection between establishing order and the possibility of learning. He has demonstrated that a system of discipline applied with justice and love need not be repressive but can be educationally liberating. The school's rule: two or three lapses can bring a threat of suspension; two threats of suspension may bring expulsion. But there have been only 21 expulsions, most of them in the first year over refusal to follow the dress code.

Fitler emphasizes basics--reading, math, science, spelling and writing, including 15 minutes daily of penmanship for all pupils. Handwriting is of great concern to Crumley: "What good is it if you can't read what they wrote?" The 24 other Academics Plus elementary schools in Philadelphia have a similar academic plan. But Fitler follows through. Students are not promoted unless they receive at least a C in math and reading. Parents must come in person to pick up report cards. Parents and teachers must sign the one-hour homework lessons assigned to pupils four times a week. Says one teach er: "What we do here, they complement at home." Adds a parent: "The kids don't have to be told it's time for them to do then-homework." Children, teachers say, are proud of their achievement and feel the school wants them to get a head start. Says Crumley: "There's nothing elitist about this school. But we have expectations for these children.

Principal Crumley himself seems to be omnipresent, popping up as lunch periods begin in the school's barracks-like cafeteria and walking the halls when classes are changing. He knows many of the students by name, and most of their parents. Third-Grade Teacher Mary Robus credits him with being instantly on call for any teacher. She recalls a morning when her class was a bit slow lining up to return from the playground. A voice boomed from the fire tower above: "I'd like to see those lines straight." It was, of course, Crumley.

Philadelphia School Project Evaluator Arnold Escourt notes that parents are naturally more cooperative because they deliberately chose the school. Principal Crumley also has an advantage in running a small school and in having been able to attract a new teaching staff when he started the experiment; he thus avoided problems with seniority and mediocrity that plague many schools. But at a time when so many elementary school students are failing the new minimum-competency tests--one-third of the primary-graders in Washington, D.C., for example--the Fitler experience has application far beyond Philadelphia. As Fitler Parent Carmela Dunyan puts it, "The school systems screamed against disciplinary actions until we had created a monster we didn't know what to do with. Then a segment of the popu lation wanted to go back. What we wanted was to have a teacher in control of a class and a principal in control of the school. "

--By Kenneth M. Pierce

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