THE PROVIDENCE EFFECT
Directed by Rollin Binzer
Produced by Binzer & Tom Hurvis
Released by Slowhand Releasing
USA. 92 min. Not Rated
 

A very successful private school in the West Side of Chicago, Providence St. Mel sends 100 percent of its graduates—who are almost uniformly black and poor—off to college. The documentary, The Providence Effect, is more a tribute to the school’s success than an exploration of why it works; you would expect a hastily produced Dateline segment to pose deeper questions.

Interviews with its principal, Paul Adams III, reveal a slow speaking, plodding administrator, whose absolute command over the school almost stretches credulity. His achievement is undeniable, his dedication is unflappable, but it’s unclear from where he derives such good results. Discussions of educational methodology are dispensed with in favor of a school-of-hard-knocks approach. “It’s embarrassing,” Mr. Adams says of other schools’ failures. His thinking is, if you raise the bar high enough—and every teacher and administrator holds fast to the same high standards—you’ll produce results.

There is a sneaking suspicion as you watch the film, which is at times touching, and at other times boring, that Providence St. Mel is an externality from which little new can be learned. Yes, its students are poor and disadvantaged. But because the school is private, because either parents or family members care enough to pay something for education (there is tuition, but also financial aid), these students are already at a tremendous advantage when compared to many of their peers. And the school, because it’s private, is free to push its teachers and students to a point that perhaps would be considered extreme by public school standards. That suspicion is dispelled, somewhat, when the Providence St. Mel educational “philosophy” is applied to a public charter school, Providence Englewood. In less than two years, the charter school’s kindergarten class increases its standardized test scores by more than 40 percentage points, narrowly beating the national average.

The lessons to be learned from the success of Providence St. Mel and its charter school spin-off are not new: parent involvement is critical, educational bureaucracy has a pernicious effect on learning, and standards must be applied uniformly. Despite its best efforts, would Providence St. Mel fare as well if it could not count on involved families and a host of other special conditions? Probably not. Does this diminish the value of the school itself? Not a bit. Is this documentary a disappointment? Mostly. Stephen Heyman
September 25, 2009