High school graduation rates are at a dismally low 50 percent in most major urban school districts across the country. Our educational and political institutions are failing a generation of students, particularly low-income youth of color.

While the problem is deeply disturbing, it is by no means insoluble. At EVC, year after year students who are labeled “troubled”, “at risk”, and “special education” are engaged in academically rigorous and socially relevant documentary projects that transforms them and their communities. Our students not only rise to meet high standards; they exceed them.

EVC students consistently have such powerful learning experiences at EVC because we have established a strong culture of community-based and learner-centered inquiry and reflection. Our educational philosophy developed out of our own experiences and observations teaching thousands of students and teachers over the past 23 years. It is also supported by research from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation, Open Society Institute, the Partnership for 21 Century Skills, and the Coalition of Essential Schools. Our guiding practices are summed up under the following headings: Exploration, Voice, Community, and Assessment.

Our students tell us they work so passionately on their documentaries because video gives them a way for their voices to be heard. They say they put in so much extra effort at EVC because they are learning about subjects that they can relate to, that directly affect them and their communities. They are not only learners; they are the creators of information and knowledge. They feel empowered because through their documentaries they will educate and motivate their peers to make a difference in the world.

Instead of watching the clock like in school, they lose track of time -- arriving early, working into the evenings, on weekends and even school holidays – they are in the “flow.” They learn to ask their own questions, uncover problems, propose solutions, and follow their explorations where ever they may lead. They present their final documentary, to public audiences of friends, family, teachers, and community members. Their work is validated in all its richness and creativity not with a single number or letter grade, but as it should be: through community appreciation, questioning, conversation and reflection.

EVC’s guiding educational philosophy is outlined below:

EXPLORATION
• Student projects are inquiry-based and hands on
• Students learn by doing
• Students actively explore and interpret the world around them learning to ask questions, gather information, and make sense of the information they gather

VOICE
• Student projects are learner-centered: their questions, experiences, perspectives and knowledge are at the center of their learning
• Students develop multiple literacy skills using digital media tools to express their voice through images, sound, graphics and text
• Students develop storytelling skills where they learn to convey their observations, ideas and feelings with creativity, clarity and power

COMMUNITY
• Students create real work for real audiences to make a difference in their community
• Students go out into the community, and bring the community into their school program
• Students are engaged in a classroom community of shared practice and purpose

ASSESSMENT
• Students keep daily journals to record their ideas and observations and reflect on the process and product of their learning over the course of their project
• Students periodically use rubrics in skill areas such as Interviewing, Research and Editing to self-assess their learning and development
• Students give and receive constructive criticism of each other’s works-in-progress during rough cut sessions
• Student learning is assessed at the conclusion of their project when they present drafts of their early and more mature work in select skill areas in “portfolio roundtables” made up of panels of teachers, parents, and peers