St. Louis Dropout Summit: more than words

“Dropout” has a terrible connotation. Describing someone, it has an innuendo of “You failed. You gave up.” This weekend, I attended the Mayor’s Dropout Summit at Clyde C. Miller Career Academy in St. Louis, and for the first time I started thinking of that word “dropout” as being about the failures of the school system and the adults and authority figures who are supposed to build and maintain the network of support that will keep students engaged, so to speak. One young gentleman wanted to make a distinction that “engaged” meant interested and involved, not betrothed.

The Career Center is a High School with a career focus, and the students we spoke to seemed pleased to have choices and said their friends and cousins were clamoring to get in after hearing all the pathways it offers—but the waiting list is long.

The Summit itself was more than I thought it would be. At first, I was skeptical that it would be a smattering of adults who think they have the answers and want other adults to know they have the answers. As the speakers came up to the podium, though, students spoke, former dropouts spoke, and one student spontaneously recited a poem that I have posted at the bottom.

There were some powerful thoughts, but what impressed me was that everyone there was feeling the same urgency I was, and was not content to just reiterate the problem. As we broke out into focus groups, I joined one on data systems…I know, sounds boring, right? Well, it was fairly fascinating: the group’s directive was to provide a framework for generating good information, sharing it and mapping results. But where to start? The last Census was in 2000, and data from that is mostly irrelevant 8 years later. We had plenty of questions, like how do we define a “disengaged student” so we’re all talking about the same population? How do we track students between agencies: from school to a juvenile detention center to foster care? How do we pinpoint where students "drop" through the cracks?

It became pretty clear that the info we have available is very unreliable. Depending on your source, somewhere between 19,000 and 23,000 students attend St. Louis Public schools. That’s a pretty large margin of error, and if we are tracking the success of a certain program, how do we know that change has happened, and it’s not just that our numbers were faulty on the front end?

Possibly even more important than that is having longitudinal data—not just on initiatives over time, but on individual students over time. When students drop out, we lost them. We have no idea where they go and what they do. Did they move? Did they get a GED and go to community college? Did they start working? Were they arrested? Did that student seek out help from the agency recommended? How do we share confidential information? How do we map where our dropouts live—many are homeless—and how do we mete out the countless factors that go into one student dropping out of high school?

The questions are daunting, and how to gather it and maintain the privacy of students is a hefty job. But we know that for students to stay engaged we have to plumb the foundation and close the gaps where students fall through. I’m going to keep going back, even though I don’t have a lot of expertise to offer, because I don’t want to be part of the problem of adults recognizing, explaining, bemoaning the rate of kids dropping out of schools, only to turn around and disengage themselves in any concentrated effort to make a difference.

Our Greatest Fear

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other

people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

—Marianne Williamson

WHY? But more importantly, HOW?

What is happening with Missouri’s public schools? In Saint Louis, apparently they are being closed. Since 2003, at least 18 Saint Louis Public Schools have been shut down. Now 8 more schools are being slated for closure, leaving concerned parent’s asking “Why?” According to Deanna Anderson, Saint Louis Public School’s Chief Operating Officer, “because there’s 43,000 seats in the Saint Louis Public Schools and we have 28,000 students.” This, of course, only answers part of the “Why?”

http://www.myfoxstl.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=5739975&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.8.1

Concerned parents also want to know why the Saint Louis Public School district continues to be engaged in a lawsuit that has already cost its taxpayers millions of dollars. Cole County circuit court Judge Callahan has already ruled in favor of the state, but plaintiff school districts, such as Saint Louis, continue to blindly push the case through the courts with money that could be spent on improving the city’s schools. “Why?”

Well, hopefully some of these questions will be addressed at town hall meetings scheduled this week. Concerned citizens, parents, and children affected by these measures will continue to ask “Why?”

Of course, many of the answers given won’t make any sense, in which case we who pay taxes only to see the money meant for our children’s education frivolously thrown at attorneys engaged in a lawsuit bordering on lunacy, will have to retort “No!” The excuses for such erroneous excesses of spending don’t hold up. Isn’t it time we stop asking “Why?” The real question now is “How?”

How do we stop this? Town hall meetings are:

· Monday, February 11 at 6 p.m.

Lexington Elementary, 5030 Lexington Ave.

· Tuesday, February 12 at 6 p.m.

Wyman Elementary, 1547 S. Theresa Ave.

· Wednesday, February 13 at 6 p.m.

Walbridge Elementary, 5000 Davison Ave.

· Thursday, February 14 at 6 p.m.

Blow Middle, 516 Loughborough Ave.

http://www.slps.org/press/feb_2008/p020708_1.html

Columbia Public Schools Are Not Educating All the Same

I have often wondered what the differences were, if any, in the education levels of the various races in Columbia. We are a smaller city than St. Louis and Kansas City and we, overall, have much better schools. Some of our schools are considered "one of the nations finest", while that description is to be debated. Nevertheless, wondered what the differences would be for African American students and white students. The Columbia Tribune wrote an article which summed up this for me, "Bridging The Gap, School Officials Try to Improve Academic Performance of Poor Black Students". Janese Heavin writes how black students are overwhelmingly doing worse than the white students.

So far, they haven’t arrived. A stubborn academic achievement gap exists between black students and their white classmates in Columbia Public Schools, mirroring national trends. Interviews with school officials and the students themselves point to several explanations:

● Poverty erodes a culture of education.

● A transient student population has a hard time learning.

● Peer pressure among the students themselves sometimes gets in the way of achievement.

Closing the achievement gap is a top priority for Columbia administrators.

One solution given by Jack Jenson, assistant superintendent of elementary education, would be to give them access to affordable preschool programs. Other solutions have come about that may be helping some of these students, such as having teachers who can truly motivate the students and the MAC (Minority Achievement Committee Scholars) program.

After reading this article, I decided to do some research in my own. DESE posts everything you can think of on their website, although sometimes it may be hard to find. Well, according to what I found, it is worse than I thought! Reading the article is one thing, but looking at hard data is another. In 7th grade, about 9% of white students were below basic in Communications, while there were about 25% of black students below basic. In 10th grade, 18% of white students were below basic in math, while an astounding 50.9% of black students were. These disparities were shown across the various grade levels.

It is even clearer to me now more than ever we need to do something to fix our education program. We have got to try something different, something drastic, and now.

Adequacy Trial continues at expense of students

Unfortunately, the dreaded adequacy trial still goes on. About half of Missouri public schools districts joined this trial several years ago and many still remain part of the appeals process.

First, I would like to give a standing ovation to those that never joined in the first place. They made the right move there. Secondly, I would like to applaud those districts that made the wise decision to pull out: Ash Grove, Bolivar, Carrollton, Columbia, Community, Fox, Hurley, Liberty, McDonald, Montgomery, Naylor, Richards, St. Joseph, and Zalma. Then I would like to urge the remaining districts to get out now before you waste more of the children's (and the taxpayers') money. Lastly, I should point out the districts that have recently joined...Odessa and So. Reynolds. I could not believe it when I heard districts were decided to join now!

This case has cost millions of dollars and is not over yet. The schools need to learn to be more financially sufficient, and those schools still appealing are not displaying they can do this. The schools (and the boards for that matter) need to realize more money will not fix these schools and they are only delaying a solution.

For the sake of the students, drop this suit now before millions more are wasted!

Survey Says...

Utah has a scholarship program for children with special needs. It's called the Carson Smith Scholarship for Students with Special Needs. Named for a young child who has severe autism. Carson Smith originally attended public schools but it became apparent that Carson needed to be in a specialized environment.

"By no fault of their own, public school teachers are faced with dealing with all kinds of disabilities, let alone trying to figure out what works for my child, who is different from every other child with autism. I have other children who have prospered in public schools. Carson cannot, " his mother Cheryl said.

Carson was encouraged to enroll in the Pingree School for Children with Autism - it offered a lot of individualized services and attention, but at a hefty price - $23,000 a year.

The Smith family and others were determined to help Carson and other children with disabilities in Utah. Cheryl contacted her state legislator and she and supporters didn't stop their efforts until the Carson Smith Scholarship for Students with Special Needs was created.

The Utah state legislature enacted the program in 2005 to provide limited financial assistance to the families of children with special needs. Students meeting the scholarship qualifications could apply for a partial or full scholarship to pay for a portion of the tuition at a private school selected by the students' parents or guardians. Utah currently has 39 private schools in 13 school districts eligible to participate. The special needs child is not required to live in one of the 13 districts to be considered for the scholarship. In the first year of the program there were 108 participating students. That number grew to 361 in the second year. A growth rate of 49% is projected for the third year of the program.

The Office of the Legislative Auditor General was required by law to conduct an audit of the Carson Smith Scholarship program. According to Utah Code, "parents are best equipped to make decisions for their children, including the educational setting that will service the interests and educational needs of their children." Therefore, the best measure for success of the program is gained from parental evaluation. Overall, the parents participating in the program believe it is a success.

Survey Results:

1. My child's private school provides(ed) services for my child's disability. 91% agree

2. The private school's teachers seem qualified.* 98% agree

3. The private school's teachers seem qualified to address my child's special needs. 94% agree

4. My child's needs were/are met at the private school. 91% agree

5. My child's academic performance increased while at the private school.** 89% agree

6. I am/was satisfied with my child's private school. 89% agree

7. The Carson Smith Scholarship should continue to exist for eligible students. 100% agree

*These results were based on responses from 52 parents. One parent gave a response that could not be evaluated for this question.

**These results were based on responses from 44 parents. Nine parents said the question did not apply to them for reasons including their child's private school did not use a grading system or the student has always gone to private school.

Although the program is still pretty young, it seems obvious that parents are satisfied.

Missouri has a similar opportunity with pending legislation this year. Namely, SB 993 and HB 1886, identical pieces of legislation that would create scholarship tax credit programs for special needs students.

Utah isn't the only state with a scholarship program for special needs students. Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Ohio also have similar programs. Read more about their programs here.

We paid for it: $124,000 entry way in Normandy School District

I recently found a You Paid For It segment from Elliot Davis on Fox 2. It seems that Normandy school district paid $124,000 to build a new entry to their high school. The reasoning behind that, according to the interview, was 1) to hide a new AC/heating unit, and 2) to make students feel better about their school. Now, Normandy is hanging on by a thread as provisionally accredited, and they are pitifully below state averages—4% of Normandy 8^th graders were proficient or above in Math compared to the state average of 42%. If I were a student at Normandy, I would rather that expense be spent in the classroom and on teachers. That would make me feel better! Knowing that my school is spending all its resources to give me the best education rather than a swanky brick and iron arch would be a bigger concern, because I can’t take that with me when I graduate.

Charter Schools make sense

Excerpts from a good sense Charter school article:

Much to the chagrin of teachers unions, charter-school principals have much more flexibility in hiring staff than in traditional, government-run schools. The teachers unions want "years served" in the system as the driver for hiring and pay. But charter-school principals can sign up the best teachers for a school's academic needs - even if a teacher lacks the longest tenure.

In return for this freedom, these schools must achieve a certain level of performance outlined in their "charters," ostensibly a contract with those who use them.

Part of the reason why charters succeed stems from lifting the heavy hand of regulation and letting parents choose to use them instead of traditional pubic schools. Meanwhile, principals and teachers in charter schools get to exercise innovation. They can choose their emphasis. Some emphasize math and science, and others focus on the arts. They choose a curriculum, dress codes and disciplinary standards.

School-choice opponents argue that only well-to-do parents want school choice. They say that enacting school-choice laws in Kentucky would skim the "cream of the crop" from the student body in failing public schools, leaving behind riff-raff.

Not so at Preuss (Charter school). All applicants to attend must be eligible for "Title I" or "Free or Reduced Lunch" programs, the subsidies for students from low-income families. That means 100 percent of the students at Preuss fall into the low-income household category.

These aren't wealthy, white suburban students that critics claim hold the only interest in choice. Every one of the students comes from a low-income home, and 94 percent are Hispanic or black. Oh, yeah, the school ranked No. 10 in the U.S. News lineup.

One of the greatest aspects of charters is that they allow parents access to quality education choices who don't have the financial wherewithal to move to a better school district or pay tuition at a private school. Public money gets used, but if a parent chooses, those dollars go to a charter school that may provide their student with a better education.

So…high standards, great teachers, parental control, massive student achievement, alternatives for low-income students…I’m sold!