OAKLAND (KCBS) — The Oakland Unified School District has had a plan to make school campuses community resources so that each student has the support they need to succeed.
“Thriving Students” was started under former Superintendent Doctor Tony Smith, but, Antwan Wilson, the new superintendent, told KCBS In Depth that he intends to continue supportive learning in Oakland schools.
While some call supportive learning “tough love”, Wilson said he is determined to implement the right amount of each in his classrooms to turn out well-educated students who are ready to claim their futures.
“Before we start the year, we talk about what our expectations are. We practice; we role play. Before you even step into my school as a ninth grader, you’ve practiced being a student at my school,” Wilson said. “When you do that, you actually have very few students who struggle because they know that you’re serious. And then the solution to not following rules, the solution to not doing your work should be more work and it should be more time at school—not less. I believe that you have to be very clear and you need to have very clear consequences for students but those consequences should normally involve students getting more time with adults, more time to practice the math, the reading and the writing that they were trying to get out of.”
Listen To The Entire KCBS In Depth Interview:
