From the editor

Having just completed work on a package of articles on Manual High School for the new, online issue of HeadFirst Colorado, I am filled with questions about urban education that, for the  moment at least, I can’t answer. These questions may make  me sound hopelessly naïve, but frankly, I don’t care.

Here they are, in no particular order.

In the deepest, most secret recesses of our hearts, what is the best we expect urban high schools to be able to do, given their student populations?

Could Manual High School, given its current student body (90 percent low-income, virtually all students of color) ever have achievement levels comparable to Cherry Creek High School? Or, for that matter, to the Denver School of Science and Technology?

Manual, on the surface, has many advantages most other urban high schools around the country lack: high quality leadership; a committed, handpicked staff; autonomy from much district and union red tape; generous support from the community, both financial and logistical; the ear of the superintendent. Yet the odds are stacked against Manual students leaving high school with educational opportunities equivalent to those of students from a mediocre suburban high school. Why?

Denver Public Schools leadership is fond of talking about 90-90-90 schools – those schools where the student body is 90 percent poor and 90 percent minority, and where achievement is in the 90^th percentile. This is a myth propagated by the Denver-based Center for Performance Assessment.

When you read CPA’s literature carefully, that third 90 reads as follows: “90% or more of the students met the district or state academic standards in reading or another area.” That’s some fuzzy language, pardner. And guess what happens when you use fuzzy language?

In Colorado, in fact, schools are claiming to be 90-90-90 when 90 percent of their students score partially proficient or higher. Or, when 90 percent of their poor kids hit proficiency (a remarkable achievement), but where 73 percent of the students, not 90, are poor.  

So, the question: why do we continue to spread this myth bordering on lie, when so few schools across the nation approach what anyone with a shred of common sense would accept as truly 90-90-90?

I ask the previous question because setting the bar impossibly high and then pretending to clear it serves no one well. It’s a symptom of the self-congratulatory hypocrisy that occasionally stains our public education system and keeps us from telling the hard truths that might spur us to meaningful action.

And that’s my final question: Why can’t we just face the truth?

On a sad note: Brenda de Luna, who recently completed a moving series of articles on her year as an outreach worker at Manual, had a friend shot and killed in Colorado Springs over the weekend. And her friend’s family needs help:

“Cesar Javier Ramirez Ibañez was not a gang member, he wasn't a drunk or a druggie, nothing he did put him in a position for this to happen to him - IT WAS A COMPLETELY SENSELESS ACT OF HATE,” Brenda wrote Monday in a e-mail to the Manual staff. “He was just here to provide a better living for his family in Mexico.  He was enrolled in English classes, you know, trying to do things correctly.  He was only 20 years old.

“Although he had many friends in Colorado, he was alone.  His family is in Mexico.  And now it is time for him to return.  I am asking your help in getting him home.  I don't know exactly what the cost is for taking him back, but I'm guessing several thousand dollars.”

Anyone who would like to help send Cesar home can make out a check to Brenda de Luna and send it to me, c/o PEBC 1244 Grant St., Denver, CO 80203.

Bittersweet goodbyes mark year’s end at North

By Kate Rapisarda

It was hard to hold the tears back at North’s graduation and as I looked around the packed auditorium at the Buell Theater it was obvious that I wasn’t alone.  It was at that moment, at 7:30 p.m., sitting in a sea of bright purple and gold cap and gowns, that it finally struck me that the year was really over.

The year was replete with emotions and memories, both high and low, and at graduation they all came flooding back to me.  It is hard getting to know your students, spending hours with them every day for a year, often many years, and then having to say goodbye and send them off into the next chapter of their lives.  As teachers we do not move, and in being stationary it is hard at times not to feel as if we are being left behind.

Ultimately, we hope that through our interactions with our students, they will carry a little bit of us and our teachings with them forever, just as teachers hold onto and remember those students that challenged and inspired us.  Goodbyes, however, are never easy, which is why the end of the year is always bittersweet.

The 137-member class of 2008 was inspirational to say the least.  The ceremony was conducted in both Spanish and English and led primarily by North High students, who spoke, sang and MC-ed the event.  Of the graduates, two seniors received the honor of being Gates Millennium Scholars, and will be receiving full scholarships to attend college in the fall.

The valedictorian, Erik Ndikumana, inspired the crowd with a speech demonstrating  courage, resilience and hope.  This incredible young man grew up in Burundi during the genocide, from which his family was forced to flee to a refugee camp in neighboring Tanzania.  His first memories of school included using leaves for notepaper and sticks for pencils.

His incredible journey ended in Denver. He told a riveting story of faith and appreciation for even the smallest things in life.  He plans on studying medicine at Columbia University so that he can one day return to his home country and help people who have almost nothing.  At the end of his speech, he held up an orchid and challenged the audience to strive always to be like the orchid: a flower that lives and grows in the most wretched of areas, the swamps, but still manages to thrive and become beautiful. 

It was a touching metaphor, and especially pertinent for a graduating class that has had a challenging high school experience.  I never had Erik as a student, but that day everyone in the auditorium grew wiser and more compassionate from his words.  When the ceremony ended, the class motto resonated loudly in my ears, "we don't settle for good because we are destined to be great. We are the class of 2008."

Aside from the North High seniors, there were also the goodbyes that we had to say to our colleagues who would not be returning to North in the fall.  Despite our large staff, the faculty at North is a family and all of those leaving will be sorely missed.  As a first-year and often clueless new teacher, it is hard to imagine the school next year without some of the veteran teachers who taught me the ropes and welcomed me so enthusiastically into this profession. 

Barry Bley, a civics teacher, is retiring after some 40 years in the classroom.  He was the first colleague at North I met a year ago and I was immediately struck by his wit, his humor and his absolute devotion to the students at North.  He was a frequent visitor to my classroom in the science wing this year – no short walk from the civics side of the building. He would stop by to check in on me, bring me helpful tips or worksheets, or just chat about matters unrelated to the classroom.  He is a huge loss to the students and the faculty at North.

Despite all the goodbyes and tearful moments, the end of the year is an amazing time filled with celebrations, reflections and “see you next years.”  Before I sign off now for the summer and say my own goodbyes. I want to leave you with the words of some of my students, and their reflections on this past year and all that happened with the redesign of North.  I want to share these excerpts not because they are overly flattering about what has happened at North, but because these are the voices that we should be listening to most when considering the progress and the shortcomings of this process.

“This year as a student here at North I believe that the redesign was somewhat successful.  I was a student who previously skipped school because it seemed like many of my teachers were uninterested in my education.  But this year I have developed a liking for school and the desire to come every day to learn something new.”

“In my opinion, a successful teacher is a teacher who is committed to their job and is someone who encourages you to do your best and wants the best for you in every aspect of your life.  I believe that most of my teachers meet this expectation of a successful teacher…But it’s going to take a while and some strong teachers to fully gain the respect of all of their students.”

“Teachers, parents and administrators cannot make a good student; they can only give the students everything they need to be a good student but it is ultimately up to the student and whether they want to succeed or not.”

“I think the community fell short in meeting the redesign because they never truly came together.  Next year I think they should have more community events and involve not only the surrounding middle schools but the surrounding elementary schools as well”

“It is only when people are realistic and look at how progressive a program is that we will be able to make the redesign improve and benefit the community.  I have enjoyed this school year. But just because I enjoyed it does not mean it cannot improve.”  

Kate Rapisarda just completed her first year as a Teach for America corps member at North High School

EdNews highlights

Written by Rebecca Jones

Summer vacation is being delayed for 3,000  Aurora Public Schools students who are part of a pricey experiment the district is hoping will pay off in more proficient learners in the fall and increased CSAP scores next spring.

It’s called “Fifth Block,” and it’s the brainchild of superintendent John L. Barry and district officials who spent the past 18 months designing a program to extend the school year, at least for some students.

What it means is an extra 23 days of class time – rigorous, full-day instruction, not the half-day remedial instruction typically associated with summer school – for a group of struggling students who could most benefit from the additional effort. And it’s happening in every single school in the district, not just a few satellite campuses.

Ritter vetoes CSAP penalty bill

Written by Todd Engdahl

Gov. Bill Ritter Thursday vetoed House Bill 08-1186, the measure that would have prevented schools from penalizing students who don’t take CSAP tests.

It was Ritter’s only veto of an education bill passed during the 2008 legislative session.

As finally passed, the bill was a mere shadow of its original form and was generally considered insignificant by many in the education community.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Judy Solano, D-Brighton, a former teacher and the legislature’s most persistent critic of the state’s testing system.

Blog highlights

Who are these people?

Monday, June 9, 2008

Written by: David Ethan Greenberg

Let me start with a shout out for the "Hot Lunch" speakers program, sponsored by the folks at the Donnell-Kay and Piton foundations. The choice of guest experts has been truly eclectic, and it appears that a lot of folks from different backgrounds and perspectives get a chance to attend the lunches.

The one group that seems to be notably absent is the teacher education community…the people who run the ed schools.  Now that I think of it, I can’t identify one Colorado person from that subculture who is even active in education reform discussions.

Let’s see…Wendy Kopp from Teach for America comes to town, and tells inspiring stories of highly motivated Ivy League grads without the benefit of even a single day in ed school and yet seem to survive two years of the toughest urban school environments.

What’s that say about the importance of ed schools?

Other than Stanford, Columbia and Harvard, are there any ed schools worth a damn?

Who are these people and why don’t they get out very much?

Hey, Tony and Van…how bout  making ed schools a topic next year?

New blogger, veteran teacher, still at crossroads

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Written by: Ben Everson

Rachel very eloquently beat me to the punch,  but despite the risk of posting too many of these, I would like to introduce myself as well.

I’m Ben. I just finished my fifth year teaching English, and my fourth in my current school in Boulder County. I’ve had a slightly more traditional early career than Rachel — one year in a private school, two years of grad school/licensure, including student teaching at an alternative public school, then the last four years in my current position in a large public high school.

At my school (as with many, unfortunately), there’s no time for reflection at the end of the year. The last four to six weeks are a sprint. Students, teachers, administrators — everyone is pushing towards summer and the break in the routine it brings. At the finish line there’s finals, yearbook signing, graduation, and then … nothing. We get one work day, really a half day, to finish up grades and get books put away. Then a mediocre barbecue where the principal recognizes all of the teachers leaving. And then we leave and most never come back for almost three months.

I’m at that point in my career everyone talks about — the fabled five-year mark. And I’m not sure I like it here. As a reflective person, I’m not able to find time in my teaching day (and my home-with-my family day, and my part-time job day — how many days in a week again?) to actually reflect on my professional life. I have other work experience besides teaching, and carving out time for reflection and collaboration seems to be much harder in teaching than anywhere else. Why is that? Why is it not just part of the norm? So now that the school year has ended, I’m hoping to do some reflection here on the Schools for Tomorrow Blog.

How do once young, enthusiastic teachers really excited about trying new things recapture that energy several years later? How do they not fall into the trap of getting bitter and jaded like so many of their colleagues around them? How do they make the decision to try and stick it out or to move on to something else? Just some of the questions I’ll be considering, and I welcome your thoughts as well.

DCTA: Montclair hasn’t responded to us, not vice-versa

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Written by: Alan Gottlieb

Denver Classroom Teachers Association President Kim Ursetta  forwarded an e-mail she sent Monday to Montclair School of Academics and Enrichment Principal Shannon Hagerman and the school’s DCTA representative Giselle Hummel. It disputes media coverage of Montclair’s autonomy bid (including on this blog), which accuses the union of failing to respond to the school’s proposal. here’s what Ursetta wrote (and copied to us, the Rocky, the Post, the DPS school board, and Supt. Michael Bennet):

Gigi,

As I shared with you a week and a half ago when you came in, we would be happy to meet with you. After receiving your proposal on Monday April 21st, I emailed you and Shannon (on 4/22) and asked you to send me some dates that would work for your team. Since I did not receive a response, I emailed you both again on May 8th. Unfortunately, neither of you responded to that request. I shared my "Sent Mail" box with you when you came in to my office on May 22nd. I would be happy to print those emails if you are unable to locate them.

I got your voicemail today, and returned your call, asking you to give me some times that you were both available. You told me that you needed to check with Shannon, and get back to me. I hope that we hear back from you soon, so that we can talk about your proposal. Like we discussed, we are more than willing to meet regarding this proposal.

Thanks for your cooperation!

Kim

Stay tuned for the next chapter.

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