How one principal used debate to turn a failing middle school around

"At Middle School 50 in Brooklyn, New York, principal Benjamin Honoroff and his students are pumped to start the day - a dramatic transformation from when he came in a decade ago. "We were on a list of persistently dangerous schools, and there'd been some pretty drastic enrollment decline from over a thousand students to 160 students," Honoroff said. But the former high school debate coach had an idea. He took a chance and integrated into every class, across all grade levels."

"Debate is infused into every subject, including math. "For example, a ratio problem - are they going to use a ratio table, are they going to use a double number line? And what we find is when students explain their mathematical reasoning, it really deepens their conceptual understanding," Honoroff said. The gamble paid off. Within a few years, test scores started to rise, enrollment increased and the debate team started to win."

"Erick Williams and his debate partner, Anedwin Moran, first found success at the local state level. "I felt like it kind of gave us an edge when we went to tournaments because we were kind of already used to it," Williams said. Then, last June, as eighth graders competing at the largest middle school debate tournament in the country, they won the national championship in policy debate. "I was so happy. I couldn't process nothing. I was really happy and excited," Moran said."

Benjamin Honoroff inherited a struggling Middle School 50 that was labeled persistently dangerous and saw enrollment collapse from over 1,000 to 160. Honoroff, a former high school debate coach, integrated debate into every class across all grade levels and expanded the debate team so a third of students participated and some traveled to tournaments. Debate practices were used in all subjects, including math, where students explaining reasoning deepened conceptual understanding. Within a few years test scores and enrollment rose, proficiency climbed dramatically in English and math, and students achieved local, state, and national debate success.

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