Schools for Tomorrow Blog

IF there was any doubt, this article by the irrepressible Diane Ravitch looks as the Gates (Bill, not Rubber) initiative to create small high schools and finds that there are no quick fixes for urban education.

There simply can’t be any good news in the fact that JoAnn Trujillo-Hays, brought in with great fanfare to redesign Denver’s North High School, is leaving after just one full year on the job.

DPS is doing the usual spinning of this, as it must, but Trujillo-Hays’ departure suggests that forces aligned against real change have again worn down people trying to make something significant happen.

Just last August, the Post and the Rocky wrote stories trumpeting the changes coming to North, including implementation of The College Board’s EXCELerator college prep program. Community groups like Padres Unidos got behind the plan. Top DPS officials told people to keep a close eye on North, that great things would happen there. Real momentum seemed to be building.

But a brewing parent revolt at Trujillo-Hays’ old school, Academia Ana Marie Sandoval, combined with a reported lack of consistent district support and attention to the North endeavor, sent the…

One morning earlier this week I woke up way too early and so decided to read The Last Lecture.

It’s the book written by Randy Pausch, the professor at Carnegie Mellon who has been given 3-6 months to live after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.  His book has become a bestseller.  I thought it would be one of those teary, bittersweet inspirational sorts of books.  It is.  But it isn’t.  It is a text for educators – and for life.

It created for me an afterword to my blog about East High Principal John Youngquist.  It gave me an epiphany for why John is such a good leader.  It explains why the glass-half-full analogy is so important for successful educators, and leaders.

To make the point clear, here’s a story.  It’s about an administrator who will never be a leader.  It’s a true story. 

When I noticed that there were several truant students…

Blogfather’s note: Celeste Archer, a veteran teacher, is leaving Denver this summer and will resume her teaching career in her native Arkansas. This is one of several parting blog posts.

Last summer, Alan Gottlieb wrote a “From the Editor” talking about the realities facing East High School.  He made many inferences based on the demographics of East’s test scores.  While I would enjoy taking exception to several of his conclusions, it’s the latter part of this piece to which I’d most like to respond.

Alan goes on to talk about the, at that time new, appointment of John Youngquist as Principal of East High.  He spoke highly of John but seemed skeptical that much could be done to bridge the “gaping chasm” that is East’s achievement gap.

Walking into East for the first time 8 years ago, what I observed was an urban school well on the way to mastering its challenges. …

It’s not exactly typical summer rerun fare, but HBO just premiered a new documentary called "Hard Times at Douglass High," which chronicles a year at a struggling school in central Baltimore. 

The film uses the No Child Left Behind law as a hook, but it’s not really about that. It’s more a study of how dysfunction permeates an institution, starting with the kids and families, and then on to the faculty and administration. 

I felt like I was watching some of the meetings that preceded the closure of Manual High School a few years ago.  You come away feeling sorry for, and angry with, almost everyone…students most particularly included. 

I would show this on the first day of school to every 9th grader (and 9th grade teacher) in DPS.

Mapleton Expeditionary Learning through the Arts (MESA) high school may be the first “district managed” public high school with a diverse student body in CO to get 100% of their seniors into college, check out this video.

MESA has a student population of 44% free/reduced lunch according to the Colorado Department of Education.   MESA joins Denver School of Science and Technology  (45% free/reduced lunch) and Arrupe Jesuit (over 80% low-income) in setting the bar for Colorado’s high schools when it comes to college admissions.    

Imagine what might happen if Colorado’s high schools required all kids to apply to college: students and their families could then decide not to go but at least they would have an option.   Instead we’ve got Cap4Kids.  

I know we need to see how these kids do once in college but this is the first step.  Nice job MESA!

The Denver School of Science and Technology continues to amaze even hardened cynics like yours truly. Today, the school announced that 100 percent of its first graduating class has been accepted to four-year colleges.

The news comes on the heels of this week’s release of Denver Public School’s commendable School Performance Framework, a new and sophisticated compilation of data on the city’s public schools. The SPF demonstrated that DSST stands head and shoulders above all other Denver high schools, on every measure.

Look for an article soon on Ednews Colorado about the School Performance Framework.

Here are some excerpts from DSST’s press release about its college-bound seniors:

The 100% acceptance rating is particularly inspiring considering the diversity of the Senior Class, which includes 62% minority and 40% low income students.  Additionally, 50% of this first graduating class will be first generation college students.  “This achievement demonstrates that with hard work, great teaching and the right…

Last week I gave a speech to the Washington State Association of Career and Technical Education Administrators that touched on Senate Bill 212 (CAP4K) concerning Alignment of Preschool to Postsecondary Education,as an example of public policy infatuation with higher education.

A member of the audience, Wes Pruitt, policy analyst for the Washington Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, shared with me two short critiques of the reports which underlie SB 212’s claim that “to be successful in the workforce and earn a living wage immediately upon graduation from high school, a student needs nearly the same level of academic achievement and preparation that he or she would need to continue into career and technical or higher education”.  

These critiques were written by Bryan Wilson, Deputy Director of that same agency.  They address the research studies  from Achieve, Inc. and ACT which are used to justify college readiness for all.  They are…

Preparation for college seems to be the centerpiece of the education reforms Gov. Bill Ritter outlined in his State of the State speech.

Despite the vagueness of Ritter’s plan, some educators and politicians already have raised concerns about whether a college prep emphasis would serve students who want to follow other pathways.

It’s a debate that’s stirring across the country, according to an article in the Jan. 17 New York Times.

The article notes “a growing sense of urgency among educators that the primary goal of many large high schools serving low-income and urban populations � to move students toward graduation � is no longer enough. Now, educators say, even as they struggle to lift dismal high school graduation rates, they must also prepare the students for college, or some form of post-secondary school training, with the skills to succeed.”

But, the article continues, “the task is daunting, and the outcome uncertain.”

Citing figures…

It�s been about two weeks since the comment that the �shallow solution� of multiple pathways to post-secondary options means �low-income and minority kids can be in the culinary arts track rather than the AP liberal arts track.� 

Wait until I stow my toque and apron�what�s so bad about a culinary arts track?  The last time I checked, the median salary for an as executive chef in Denver was over $50,000.  An executive chef coordinates staff, plans menus, and oversees all food preparation and cooking.

This sounds like strong financial and management skills, not to mention critical thinking, marketing, problem solving, and creativity.  Furthermore, a GED is the bottom rung.  Nowadays, if you want to be an executive chef, you almost have to have at least a Bachelor�s, and an MBA won�t come amiss if your goals is owning or managing your own restaurant. 

Needless to say, it starts in secondary…

This week, I had the privilege to visit the Mapleton Expeditionary Learning School for the Arts, MESA and was blown away.  I�m not one that typically gets teary-eyed (in a good way) and feels like screaming for joy when leaving a school.  I more often leave the typical high school feeling depressed, angry and ready to file a child negligence lawsuit.                         

MESA may be the first district managed public high school with a diverse student population (about 50% low-income) in Colorado to get 100% of its seniors to apply to and get into college (mostly four year schools).   We will have to wait to see if this happens but I suspect MESA will do it, based on what I heard there. 

A school-wide meeting run by students began with accolades for quality work and character, followed by a time where students took responsibility for various violations to the community. Then, the school…

According to a story in this morning�s Rocky Mountain News, entitled �GOP leaders call for statewide grad standards,� a bill will be introduced this year that would �require public school students (in Colorado) to take four years of math, four years of English, three years of science, three years of social studies and two years of world languages to graduate.� The bill will also include an exit exam provision focused on English skills.

I have some sympathy for the goals advanced by this proposed legislation. Students learn more when expectations are high and when students are pushed and challenged. (I should also add here that such �rigor� means little if students and teachers are not given corresponding supports and resources to meet those challenges.)

Too often, low expectations for students are operationalized in the courses they take. So the proposed legislation makes sense in that regard: students should take more challenging courses.

There…