Whatever it Takes -- A Harlem Story

Paul Tough, a New York Times Magazine editor and author of "Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Save Harlem and America," thought he was writing about poverty when he began following Geoffrey Canada, who founded the Harlem Children's Zone. The ambitious project is trying to reshape children's lives by enveloping residents of an area of nearly 100 blocks with a variety of social services. In 2004, that vision expanded to center around a charter school, the Promise Academy.

When the school opened, the founders gave standardized tests to the new sixth-graders and found they were mostly at least two grade levels behind in reading and three grade levels behind in math.

Tough realized what essential question his story would be organized around, he told EWA members: "Why is it that poor kids do so badly in school and life? And what can be done?" He said that the debates about education and poverty are beginning to merge, and for the better. Reformers are now focusing on directly helping children instead of just their parents.

"Unless there's a really high-performing school in the center, it can't be done," Tough said.

Canada's zone is all-encompassing. It starts with educating parents in parenting skills, moves on to preschool and K-12 and includes other social services.

The program has had false starts, but President Obama has expressed interest in trying to create other similar zones, called "Promise Neighborhoods," in 20 cities around the country. Tough said that there are several pitfalls that need to be avoided: too much local control and organizational disarray. There has to be an overarching vision and a power structure that will allow for failing programs to be discontinued, he said. They should also be rolled out gradually in a few cities at a time, he said.

"I am optimistic that there are leaders who can do it. They could be run better than the Harlem Children's Zone," where the idea is better than the execution," he said. "They took lots of wrong turns," including trying to work through the local public schools, he said.

If public schools can be adapted to be open longer hours and be more flexible, a public school could make similar reforms.