Talk:Harlem Children's Zone

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This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Esmeraldaisabel (article contribs). Peer reviewers: Esmeraldaisabel.

Funding

Would be useful to have section describing how the HCZ is funded. SteveChervitzTrutane (talk) 17:09, 19 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Providing more information that goes more in depth about the "privatization of eduction in the U.S." and how the Harlem's Children Zone (HCZ) falls under that category due to its funding, according to some HCZ critics, as you mentioned in the article would be helpful in giving readers more context and a full non-biased perspective on the HCZ, from a support stance, and an opposition perspective. Esmeraldaisabel (talk) 19:42, 22 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]

How this program works?

This article critically lacks information about the specificities of the program, the methods it employed to enhance the performance of students. The texts available with the external link to HCZ give some clues, but lack objectivity as the texts are written to convince donors to support HCZ. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.85.5.20 (talk) 00:24, 9 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Good point. It would be great to have a section in the article summarizing the HCZ programs and approaches that have contributed to its success. Germane to this would be details from the Obama administration's "20 Promise Neighborhoods" program describing specifically what aspects of the HCZ they intend to replicate in the different U.S. cities. From my analysis, a key part of the HCZ's success is their "conveyor belt" approach of supporting kids and their families from infancy through college, as noted in this Center for American Progress event:

HCZ aims to create a "conveyor belt" for Harlem's poor children, a series of rich and effective supports — from a "Baby College" for parents, to an all-day pre-kindergarten and extended-day charter schools, to health clinics and community centers, all the way to help in succeeding in college.

SteveChervitzTrutane (talk) 08:20, 5 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The Obama/Biden website also cites this comprehensiveness as the main thrust: "The Promise Neighborhoods will be modeled after the Harlem Children's Zone, which provides a full network of services, including early childhood education, youth violence prevention efforts and after-school activities, to an entire neighborhood from birth to college." So the key to HCZ's success may not reside in any specific program or educational method, but rather in their comprehensive support for kids and their families during different life stages of childhood development. SteveChervitzTrutane (talk) 08:51, 5 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I added a 'Principles and Programs' section to the article to help address this. It could still use specific information about the HCZ's successes (e.g., improved performance in standardized tests and matriculation rates) with some details about specific educational approaches that contributed to these. SteveChervitzTrutane (talk) 10:02, 5 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the contribution. 142.85.5.20 (talk) 01:37, 3 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Critiques

Consider adding a section to the article describing any criticisms of the HCZ project. This page describes some problems claimed to be not fixable by the HCZ, however, it is not a critique about specific HCZ programs per se. Some of the issues this site describes may be beyond the scope of the HCZ, yet still may be worth noting. SteveChervitzTrutane (talk) 08:48, 16 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The critiques of the HCZ are not clear in the article, they appear to be scattered throughout the article under the various sections. You do state the rebuttal to the documentary glorifying the HCZ, however, you do not go more into depth about the cons to the HCZ. Potentially creating a section that discussed the opposition's perspective on the HCZ following the section where the Harlem's Children Zone's programs and principles are briefly discussed and listed. This would be helpful for readers to gather well-rounded, and non-biased information about the HCZ. Esmeraldaisabel (talk) 05:57, 9 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Results

This program was started in the 1990's? Presumably some kids who have been on this "conveyor belt" from a very young age must have graduated from high school by now. Where is the data which shows the results of the program? Has the program affected dropout rates? Teen pregnancy? Standardized test scores? Since these are among the stated goals, some evidence of success or failure should be shown in the article instead of the current tone of fait accompli. I find the unsupported, blanket assertions of success maddening.Pisomojado (talk) 01:01, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I would wholeheartedly welcome the sort of objective analysis you seek. The article as it stands evolved as primarily an aggregator of media reports about the project, which have been overwhelmingly positive, as well as a summary of the aims/strategies of the HCZ as described on their site. The #Critiques section that I added to this talk page was motivated by a desire similar to yours. I think as other cities in the US, with the aid of federal funding, start getting serious about replicating the HCZ locally, they will take a hard look at what works and what doesn't work and try to identify which programs of the HCZ have been the most successful. So my sense is that will be a good source of information in this regard. For example, see the "Is There Evidence that Families Are Doing Better?" section of this page from Maryland. SteveChervitzTrutane (talk) 07:01, 3 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I just added a few things. There is a lot out there, but I want to move slowly, and be sure to include only the best info. FutureImperfect (talk) 11:00, 27 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

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Chronological Order of Article Contents

After the lead paragraph, it would be helpful to see data and statistics discussed, which will then lead to the following section regarding the replication of the HCZ in other communities. It would provide a smooth transition, and better understanding for the reader to see why Obama, as mentioned in the lead paragraph, was inspired to provide funding for communities to develop their versions of the HCZ, and why over 300 communities wanted to apply. The data and statistics would quantitatively show the benefits of the program, and also the cons. Esmeraldaisabel (talk) 05:41, 9 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]