Marva Collins 1995 Part 2

In 1995, a book was published claiming, among other things, that Marva Collins' celebrated style of teaching was "too good to be true." After reading the synopsis, Morley Safer of 60 Minutes decided to re-visit a story he reported on 16 years previously. What ever happened to Marva Collins' students? Where were they now? Is Westside Preparatory still functioning?

The results surprised even the most hardened cynics.

This is part 2 of a new look at Marva Collins 16 years since the first 60 Minutes interview. Enjoy.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Marva Collins
• Morley Safer
• Westside Preparatory
• The Bell Curve

[cookie388]

Missed words ontthis iPhone. I blamed my teacher for not teaching but I blamed myself for not knowing better. I left Chicgo in 1988 to give my son a better life away from the inner city.

[ArtLoversStudio18]

@cookie388

I'm so glad you shared that with us.

Congratulations, you're an inspiration.

[JeremyForest]

The last part about Erica Pace, who before attended Marva Collins' school and was told she was boarded line retarded, now graduated out of college as Suma Cum Laude! That is an inspiration! She reminds me of myself as a special ed student, and now a college graduate with a 3.0 GPA last year!

[cool2t]

i swear these kids know few things that i dont know and im doing engineering..this is amazing...

i cant belive they let that school close..people in the US are sometimes realy weird...

[OffTheGlass87]

Wow, they are not dead, in prison, or on welfare. The teaching is great, and certain kids absorb well.

But seriously, some people are plain stupid. Just because somebody called you stupid, and you proved them wrong, doesn't mean that there are no stupid people. Just because someone said that I would never dunk a basketball, and one day I did, doesn't mean that everyone can dunk.

That's not how it works, what a horrible argument by these people. Absorbing and thinking are different.

[cookie388]

I grew up on the Westside of Chicago and I can attest that my elementary school wasn't the best. In the fourth grade I had a teacher that taught us absolutely nothing and when went outside for recess she would send us to the store for her. I blame her for teaching but I blame myself for being a victim and not having that will inside of me to know that I should have been in the library reading. Iive in Atlanta and I will graduate from college in June at the age of 44. All things are possible.

[mrvission7]

Why invite him their he's never going to show,he don't want to see that he's trying to make his own reallity,one that base on FALSE HOOD" if he see that,he might kill himself,you know how some people are.

[ArtLoversStudio18]

@mssrus "Imagine what would have happened if Westside Prep had become the norm instead..."

My thoughts exactly.

[mssrus]

@ArtLoversStudio18 I've never told someone else how to live, nor did I mention morality. I have, however, managed to protect my children from drones who want to keep them from learning. The school system I mentioned was in Portland, OR. The people pushing for school choice and teacher accountability were conservatives. The people calling them Racist for it were liberals. Very consistent, very predictable. 

Imagine what would have happened if Westside Prep had become the norm instead...

[ArtLoversStudio18]

We on the other end of the political aisle have enough respect for you not to attempt to tell you how to live your life. But, somehow, conservatives feel as if they are ordained to preach morality from the mountaintop.

I'm understanding your position, but your vocality reveals something a lot more intimately disingenuous than what you're admitting to.

We do not need "red state" republicans telling us how to live. That is immoral and it is idolatrous.

[ArtLoversStudio18]

The second thing is that you've somehow lumped the most egregious activities of individuals and put the liberal name on it as if conservatives have the moral high ground. I'm sorry to inform but morality is not a conservative pedigree. There are ethical issues here, there are racial overtones here and there are class issues here, as well. When you making broad sweeping generalizations about people of a different political focus, you rob yourself of an kind of credibility.

[ArtLoversStudio18]

The cost of an uneducated or undereducated community is catastrophic. Now, what you're describing is an issue (and I take you at your word) where a group of individuals are making decisions with impunity. This belief, this behavior is not consistent with the hopes and dreams and attitudes of African Americans, nor with any group of "minorities" that I've come to know. You're watching a group of black, inner city families rising to the opportunity to have their children educated.