Delaware’s Up to the Challenge

Promise remains for the Early Learning Challenge Fund (sometimes referred to as “baby Race to the Top”) in the Supporting State Systems of Early Learning Act, introduced last week in the Senate and sponsored by Delaware’s Chris Coons. The act would provide $350 million in competitive grants to states for improving access to learning and development opportunities for low-income children. Sounds like a lot, but it’s a fraction of the original $8-10 billion proposed in 2009.

State applications would be reviewed based on the following criteria, in which Delaware is well-positioned.

  • Improvement in workforce qualifications: The Institute for Excellence at the University of Delaware is a state investment that enhances the qualifications of the workforce, including professional development and grants for programs that are working to improve quality through training staff.
  • Coordination of services to create a seamless system: the Interagency Resource Management Committee brings together the three agencies (Education, Kids’, and Health and Social Services) that administer early childhood services, and works together on a data system through Race to the Top and Head Start funds.
  • Public-private partnerships: Vision 2015, the Stars quality rating and improvement system, and the Early Childhood Council, are all examples of public-private initiatives already making a difference.

As Delaware built the “on-ramp” for Race to the Top, we are building it for the Challenge Fund with a number of additional initiatives, including Kindergarten readiness metric development and coordination of services from early childhood providers and the K-12 system.

Ultimately, we know that Race to the Top cannot succeed without a foundation that prepares young children to enter school ready to learn. Building a state system from a disconnected, public-private amalgamation that is underfunded will certainly be a “challenge” that Delaware can meet.

School Boards: they’re important

School board elections will be held on May 10th.  Do you know who is running in your district? If not, you will want to: school board members shape the education of our children by setting the policies of our public schools. 

School boards are responsible for hiring and evaluating superintendents; evaluating and adopting policies affecting schools in a district; monitoring and adjusting district finances; managing collective bargaining; and serving as a judicial body for unresolved conflicts.

Adding your voice to the discussion is simple—and important. Learn more about the candidates in your district (New Castle County, Kent County, Sussex County).  

 

Proof that Turnaround is Possible – with Hard Work and Good Partners

Just a few years ago, Calverton School was the poorest performing middle school in Baltimore and “rape and murder capital of West Baltimore” . Today, Principal Tanya Green believes miracles happen, and she has witnessed three; (1) her leadership team is still in place (2) kids believe they can go to college and (3) teachers believe kids can go to college.

Delaware educators observed on a site visit that these miracles have been made by hard work and a dedicated team, supportive district conditions, an intensive focus on data, instruction, curriculum, and environment (DICE) and a community-supported partner. The school community, after the district identified it as a transformation school, selected Friendship Public Schools to work as their partner in April 2010. 

Principal Green and her staff had the opportunity to visit other schools operated by Friendship, which has a successful track record as a social service provider and with charters and turnarounds in Washington, DC. They saw that working for kids toward their life beyond high school was not just a slogan but a way of doing business.

When Friendship came in, they built on the strengths they saw in the school, including the principal’s team, behavior support program, and special education compliance. All staff were re-interviewed for their jobs, and some selected out, but the principal stayed as did 50% of staff. Friendship’s hiring process focuses both on skill and will—staff must be committed to the principles and vision of the school.

The results remain to be seen—both Friendship and the Principal admitted that this is a long process that requires commitment; they are not counting on miracles. But if the results of Friendship’s previous efforts are any indication, I’m optimistic—within one year, they took a grades 6-12 school from a “poorly run, dangerous” place to a school exceeding the averages and holding a wait list for students. And ELA scores at a high school doubled and math scores quadrupled over three years.

Can We Make Secretary Lowery Even Prouder?

Secretary of Education Lillian Lowery said the approval of the Partnership Zone schools’ plans was one of the proudest moments of her career. Previously, I outlined my hopes that these plans would be different and aggressive enough to yield significant change–such as doubling proficiency rates, or increasing proficiency by 50 percent in just two to three years, as schools indicated in their plans. Now that I’ve seen the plans (Glasgow, Stubbs, Howard, and Positive Outcomes,  I have questions about both the plans and the implementation process.

First, the plans. The plans list three to six partners per school, all managed part-time by a team of administrators dedicated to outside projects—a management challenge we’ve discussed before.  Some of these partners have promising histories and plans—such as New Leaders for New Schools’ principal selection, Big Picture Learning internship and service-learning curriculum, and the tools of the National Center for Time and Learning. But the criteria used for their selection is unclear and weak (previous experience in the school and needing to engage students are not enough). Will this cast of consultants—few of which are embedded in the school on a daily basis—yield a coherent, focused approach?

Plans include expected data points and targets (DCAS proficiency, graduation rates) but lack deep analysis into individual students, year-by-year patterns, feeder schools, and district comparisons. And the associated strategies don’t always address the identified issues. For example, if basic literacy and numeracy skills are a significant challenge, as they are at Stubbs Elementary, are student-engagement strategies such as STEM and project-based learning the most important ones? At POCS, a curriculum will be created, teachers must be trained, and associated assessments must be designed: is a bonus for teachers showing results the most effective use of resources when teacher leadership and collaboration will be critical?

Next, I question the rationale of the implementation process. Readers expect to see detailed plans for multi-million dollar budgets—how much professional development, based on what need, for whom, and at what cost? But perhaps schools were wise to keep plans vague, given the requirement that new leaders will be hired in part for their commitment to the new vision of the school. Giving them ownership of this immense task seems reasonable.

PZ plans are expected to be new, bold, and noticeably different. While they are in some ways —such as career academies, experience-based learning, and smaller learning communities—all four schools will continue strategies in place today, including Learning Focused Strategies and the Vision Network. Given the likely minimal change in district office and school staff, a common language and framework may provide stability in a turbulent time. However, a single, responsible partner, working with an autonomous principal, could effectively bridge the gap between these new and old initiatives.

Unless districts choose to utilize one accountable Lead Partner, they must take deliberate steps to coordinate among the various district partners. They will also need strong leaders dedicated to the goals of the plan and community support to ensure successful implementation.  If these take place, Secretary Lowery could expect to be even more proud in two years when these schools publish their results.