9486 in the collection  

Bobb unveils Detroit Public Sschools academic overhaul

Ohanian Comment: Innovation defined as reading tutors for pre-kindergartners and pre-algebra for sixth-graders. They call it "runing this race a little faster than people normally run it." It's worse than a farce. When you deny child development, it's a tragedy.

This is what you get from Broad Foundation-trained leaders: reading tutors for pre-kindergartners.

Take a look at the Byrd-Bennett track record.

by Marisa Schultz

Detroit -- The Detroit Public Schools turnaround team is developing a top-to-bottom academic reform plan aimed at bringing the troubled district on par with national average ACT, graduation and dropout rates by 2015.

The district, which has the lowest graduation rate among big cities, would require every high school student to take a college-level course, mandate pre-algebra for sixth-graders and pair pre-kindergarten students with reading tutors as part of an estimated $80 million dollar plan.

The ambitious plan comes as Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb is embroiled in a lawsuit with the school board over who has authority over academics.

Infighting, trips to Lansing and court battles accomplish nothing, said Anthony Adams, vice chairman of the school board, who hasn't seen Bobb's plan.

"We really need to come together in a collaborative fashion in order to produce the best plan for Detroit Public Schools," he said.

Bobb, who plans to make his case today before a state House education committee hearing on academic control, said he will not wait until the issue is resolved.

"We are going forward until someone tells us not to," Bobb said of the reforms, which would include curriculum benchmarks that are more rigorous than the state standards. "This train has left the station."

The school board passed its own academic plan in July. Designed by Superintendent Teresa Gueyser, it would also surpass state standards and implement quarterly benchmark assessments for students. It would mandate weekly professional development, two hours of parent volunteering and student orientation sessions. Although Bobb has refused to fund the board's reforms, members want to move forward anyway, starting by boosting attendance rates. About 10 percent of high school students miss about 100 days within each 180-day school year.

Detroit Federation of Teachers President Keith Johnson said an attendance policy is crucial for meaningful change.

"I have no problem with establishing a more rigorous curriculum, but you must fortify the teachers and schools with the resources that are necessary to answer that demand for rigor," he said.

Lagging test scores

Detroit public school children have consistently lagged their peers throughout the state and nation. The average ACT composite score in Detroit is 16, while the national average is a 21. There is a 28-point gap between DPS eighth-graders and the statewide average on MEAP math tests.

A major challenge for Bobb's academic team, led by Barbara Byrd-Bennett, is dramatically reducing the gaps in student achievement at all levels quickly despite a $219 million deficit.

"We've got to run this race a little faster than people normally run it," Byrd-Bennett said. "Our kids have the God-given gray matter, the question is: Are we willing to address the readiness gap and invest?"

The district is counting on $80 million in federal Race to the Top funds to help finance its academic vision. While a contingency plan wasn't clear, reforms would be implemented even if the application is denied, a district official said.

The formal academic plan is being vetted by experts and should be complete in 30 days, Bobb said.

"It's encouraging and exciting," said Ada Strong, of Detroit, who has seven grandchildren attending Detroit Public Schools. "We just need to be a little patient and we are going to see a lot of really positive changes in the school system."

Bill Schmidt, co-director of Education Policy Center at Michigan State University, supports addressing the student achievement problem by developing a more focused and rigorous curriculum. The gap between schools that can offer advanced courses and those that do not represents "a deeply fundamental inequality," he said.

"If that's not dealt with there's no hope," Schmidt said. "That's where you have to attack the problem."

Starting young

One of the biggest problems in Detroit is the huge preparation gap in young children, district officials said.

The volunteer reading corps program that has netted more than 3,000 volunteers will be a pinnacle of the effort to reform early childhood education. Volunteers would be paired with a pre-kindergarten student for hands-on reading lessons and stay with the child for five years. The goal is to get all students from third grade on reading at or above their grade level by 2015.

"No community in America has set this as a goal," Bobb said.

To make sure students don't fall behind, they would be assessed three times during the school year in addition to taking the MEAP test. The additional data would alert teachers to struggling students and provide prescriptive tools for intervention.

Byrd-Bennett also aims to beef up standards with clear benchmarks for each grade level. Since algebra is the gateway to the math curriculum, she wants DPS students enrolled in pre-algebra by sixth grade. That way, students can take algebra before high school.

"You have to make students step up to your standards, and they can," said Alora Comer-Maxwell, principal at Ludington Magnet Middle School. Students at her high-performing middle school typically take pre-algebra at seventh grade to give them ample preparation for high school. " The earlier you start them the more prepared they are to be ready for high school."

Advanced Placement courses, with which students can earn college credit, are offered generously at Cass Tech and Renaissance High School, but are absent from other high schools, according to a 2008 analysis by the Council of Great City Schools.

Dominisha James, a senior at King High School who is heading to the University of Michigan in the fall, said the curriculum at DPS is not competitive enough with other Michigan districts. "I'm going to have to go to a summer program just to get ready for U-M," said James, who didn't take an AP course.

Older students

DPS is also beset with hundreds of students who are older than their grade level, such as 16-year-old freshmen. Last year, nearly 8,800 students were held back. In all, 37 percent of high-schoolers are older than grade level.

"That's more than an anomaly, that's criminal," Byrd-Bennett said. "That's part of all the lack of preparation that the district failed to do."

She wants to develop specialized "options" programs for students to get back on track, including on-line learning programs for at-risk students. Programs for free credit recovery and summer school would also continue.

Byrd-Bennett, who committed to stay at DPS for another year, acknowledged moving the student achievement dial even a few percentage points would be a monumental task.

"We can't have any more of this train going in reverse," she said.

— Marisa Schultz
Detroit News
2010-01-21
http://www.detnews.com/article/20100121/SCHOOLS/1210429/1026/Bobb-unveils-DPS-academic-overhaul-plan

---

INDEX OF OUTRAGES

Pages: 380   
[1] 2 3 4 5 6  Next >>    Last >>