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xxxxA story in a recent Arcadian (Oct. 15) sang the praises of a volunteer school “leadership team” charged with boosting abysmal reading scores. The story may have left readers thinking that a nascent remedial reading program for 9th and 10th graders stems from noble volunteerism and high-minded altruism. It doesn’t. In nearly the last paragraph, the story obliquely refers to the reading program as an emergency measure, as indeed it is. However, the report sidesteps the story behind the story: the remedial steps – led by an expensive outside consultant -- are part of a state-mandated intervention order to a superintendent and school board who preside over a school on the brink of failure.
xxxxHere’s the rest of the story: DeSoto High School’s 2009 FCAT scores landed it on the state’s list of schools requiring “level II corrective action,” one step from full-scale intervention. In a nutshell, DeSoto High must implement a substantial list of state-ordered steps. One step requires “highly qualified” leaders to train staff and coach students. To meet this requirement, the superintendent and school board hired a for-profit consultant and two reading coaches. If this management strategy doesn’t work, the state has put the district on notice: it goes to the next level, corrective intervention. That means the state will govern DeSoto High’s academic and administrative operations.
xxxxInstead of helping a worried community understand what’s happening – and the cost of the remediation -- a recent school board meeting sounded like a love fest: “...if parents could see the love and dedication our teachers and staff have for students, they would have a better understanding of how hopeful the future can be,” opined District 5 School Board Member Ronny R. Allen.
xxxxBut no board member raised the practical questions: How was the consultant, Performance Learning Systems, selected? What’s its track record for rescuing schools at risk? How much is it charging? For example, in August, a motivational teaching coach, Steven Barkley, pocketed $55,000 to dispense better-teaching advice – for the second year in a row, during which time the high school slipped from a C to a D rating. How much more will the district be budgeting for “professionals” and “consultants” to advise its nearly-failing high school year after year?
xxxxIn fact, the community may well be facing a systemic fault that no amount of outside consulting can adequately address. But no one wants to rock a boat that floats relatives, spouses, friends, and neighbors – while our students pay the price.
xxxx So, with big guns aimed at our high school – a young person’s gateway to the future -- we have only this academic year to improve or the state will intervene. And more threats loom on the horizon: three of four other schools have not made adequate yearly progress for several years in a row because their poorest and neediest students are being left behind.
xxxxUnfortunately, the “What does this all mean” part is complicated. There isn’t one simple answer to low test scores, high school students who can’t read, sky-high drop-out rates, pregnancy in the middle school, and children left behind. On these and other matters, Government in the Sunshine mandates a level of transparency, an openness and honesty with the community at large that both the superintendent and the school board clearly lack.
xxxxPeter Drucker’s dictum, “The best measure of management is performance,” is as true in education as it is in business. After reading just this one chapter in “The Rest of the Story,” I invite readers to weigh our schools’ performance and reach their own conclusions about the effectiveness of our local school management.
xxxxHere’s the rest of the story: DeSoto High School’s 2009 FCAT scores landed it on the state’s list of schools requiring “level II corrective action,” one step from full-scale intervention. In a nutshell, DeSoto High must implement a substantial list of state-ordered steps. One step requires “highly qualified” leaders to train staff and coach students. To meet this requirement, the superintendent and school board hired a for-profit consultant and two reading coaches. If this management strategy doesn’t work, the state has put the district on notice: it goes to the next level, corrective intervention. That means the state will govern DeSoto High’s academic and administrative operations.
xxxxInstead of helping a worried community understand what’s happening – and the cost of the remediation -- a recent school board meeting sounded like a love fest: “...if parents could see the love and dedication our teachers and staff have for students, they would have a better understanding of how hopeful the future can be,” opined District 5 School Board Member Ronny R. Allen.
xxxxBut no board member raised the practical questions: How was the consultant, Performance Learning Systems, selected? What’s its track record for rescuing schools at risk? How much is it charging? For example, in August, a motivational teaching coach, Steven Barkley, pocketed $55,000 to dispense better-teaching advice – for the second year in a row, during which time the high school slipped from a C to a D rating. How much more will the district be budgeting for “professionals” and “consultants” to advise its nearly-failing high school year after year?
xxxxIn fact, the community may well be facing a systemic fault that no amount of outside consulting can adequately address. But no one wants to rock a boat that floats relatives, spouses, friends, and neighbors – while our students pay the price.
xxxx So, with big guns aimed at our high school – a young person’s gateway to the future -- we have only this academic year to improve or the state will intervene. And more threats loom on the horizon: three of four other schools have not made adequate yearly progress for several years in a row because their poorest and neediest students are being left behind.
xxxxUnfortunately, the “What does this all mean” part is complicated. There isn’t one simple answer to low test scores, high school students who can’t read, sky-high drop-out rates, pregnancy in the middle school, and children left behind. On these and other matters, Government in the Sunshine mandates a level of transparency, an openness and honesty with the community at large that both the superintendent and the school board clearly lack.
xxxxPeter Drucker’s dictum, “The best measure of management is performance,” is as true in education as it is in business. After reading just this one chapter in “The Rest of the Story,” I invite readers to weigh our schools’ performance and reach their own conclusions about the effectiveness of our local school management.
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