School Consolidations & Reduction in Force (RIF) Policy
This conversation originally took place on my public facebook wall (www.facebook.com/airickleonardwest/) but is worth sharing. It actually started on my twitter page (www.twitter.com/airickwest/) with a tweet I posted: "airickwest loves the scholar-focused, achievement-focused nature of the board's conversation. superintendent covington's presence makes a difference!" Two insightful and curious readers responded: - Roxana Shaffe I'm sorry - but I don't understand how the board and district are being scholar focused and achievement focused when schools are closing and teachers are being let go. It seems to be a contradiction. I am willing to accept that I am missing something...can someone explain further? - Beth Stroud I agree with Roxana! We have teachers in my building that are incredible and several that shouldn't have any contact with children. Guess who got pink slips last week??? It is hard to be positive about a district that lets their best teachers go three weeks before school is to start. What are they supposed to do for income when it's too late to get a position in another district? When will the district see that great teachers are the foundation of great schools? Instead of celebrating the teachers doing the work the district rewards them with a pink slip. Go figure. My edited response is below: Roxana & Beth, The questions you ask are extremely appropriate and I'll try to be responsive to them here. Should I fail in my effort, please don't hesitate to email or call me at any time. There are two very different issues being raised: school consolidation and RIF policy. Concerning school consolidation, I believe that the school closures and layoffs are EXTREMELY scholar-focused. Consider it this way: if you spent the entirety of your monthly budget paying the mortgage and the utilities, how would you pay for food, healthcare and other family needs? This is effectively what we've been doing for years. This district has more than enough resources but it's hard to tell because so much of it is going into facilities. Most school districts with our number of scholars fit them into 24-30 buildings. We've been using more than 60 instructional sites. Last year, one of our buildings that was built to hold 800+ scholars housed fewer than 80. It's not possible to run schools at 50% capacity AND provide the resources our scholars deserve and teachers need. Does school consolidation have a negative impact on the adults in the system? Yes, it can. But our loyalty can never be to the needs of adults ahead of the needs of our scholars. Ever. Concerning RIF policy, there is no excuse. As a board member I failed to ensure an appropriate policy framework for how the RIFs would occur. What was done in June and July SHOULD happen in January or February. I asked for that to happen last fall but without the full board pushing for it, it didn't happen. Our RIF policy should require that these decisions are made sooner. Just because scholars take precedence over adults in decision making (which must be the case) doesn't make it appropriate to unnecessarily damage adults in the process. But we did and there's no excuse for it. I voted to support the consolidation and would do so again, but moving forward, we must adopt a policy framework that is respectful of our adults while making the hard choices our scholars require of us. The other shortcoming in our RIF policy is that it considers seniority ahead of performance. That's a union contract issue and a teacher evaluation issue. We allowed this to be in the contract -- because our teacher evaluation processes are inadequate -- and must now abide by it. Again, as a board member, I have not served our scholars (or you) well by not working harder for something better. I will work towards the policy reforms I've mentioned above. On this issue, I won't quietly fail you again. Labels: KCMSD, What's Not Working, What's Working
Transforming KCMSD Leadership
The Kansas City, Missouri School District (KCMSD) is on a journey of transformation. As a school board united, we reached a major milestone for our scholars: the unanimous hiring of an excellent Superintendent in Dr. John Covington. The next success markers on KCMSD's path are professional and stable leadership. During decades of having stifled power under desegregation, the school board devolved into a mire of inappropriate practices that Michael Casserly of the Council of Great City Schools referred to as "micromanaging." These practices have included as many as 14 board-related meetings per month, a managerial committee structure, a neutered spending cap of $25k that results in board items being re-approved two or three times and Superintendents that have an average lifespan of less than two years. Under "business as usual", Dr. Covington will not succeed and we will fail our scholars. On our new path, we are professionalizing KCMSD's leadership team -- the Superintendent managing and the school board governing -- by abandoning "business as usual." We are restoring the authority of the Superintendent and implementing a governance model where the school board governs through policy and the Superintendent is held accountable for delivering results. We are stabilizing KCMSD's leadership team by entering into a long-term Superintendent contract. We are aligning Dr. Covington's evaluation/incentives with our mission/vision and we will host regular public meetings to demonstrate the urgency and unity of KCMSD's convictions. While Dr. Covington is extremely competent, he cannot be expected to work miracles or to be successful in isolation. Our scholars deserve the professional and stable leadership team that top-performing schools require. This will only occur as we, the school board, move to relinquish our managerial controls over the district and instead pursue policy-governance along with community & corporate engagement. The first steps have been taken. Labels: KCMSD, Transformation, What's Working
What's Working: KCMSD Student Government
Several scholars in business-casual attire shuffle towards the microphone to address the school board. Clearly nervous, the first speaks. Instantly, the room fills with the potency and urgency of her message. One after another in perfect orchestration and flawless oration, members of KCMSD's district-wide student government -- now completing its first year of existence -- step to the mic to share a piece of the larger story. Before taking their seats, they share these priorities: Schedule - Daily schedule for high school shouldn't start till after 8am; 7:10am is too early and contradicts national research concerning high school start times.
- Annual schedule should be adjusted such that the first semester ends before Christmas break, not after. Having it split in two by Christmas break promotes non-retention of material that is then tested on immediately after returning.
- A winter term -- of similar design to the summer term -- should be considered.
Disruptions - Disruptions in class by tardies can be reduced by having later school start times.
- Electronic disruptions can be reduced by enforcing existing policies concerning student possession of electronic devices in classrooms.
- Violent disruptions can be reduced by sponsoring extracurricular activities such as boxing, wrestling, forensics, chess, model UN and drama. Where students desire to learn, the school district should provide support.
School environment - Food service needs to be improved to include more choices such as salad bars, more fruit and pasta bars.
- Cleanliness can be improved by allowing a disciplinary alternative: instead of being suspended for minor offenses, have student perform custodial work to clean facilities
- Incentives/rewards should be provided for students that are doing excellently in the areas of grades/behavior/attendance. These might range from longer trips to Washington DC to day trips to St. Louis Arch, Lewis & Clark Trails or Cahokia.
It's difficult to know where to begin in response to such a list. Perhaps the most obvious observation is that this district is comprised of remarkable scholars that have the intellect, creativity, curiosity, discipline and drive to learn to high expectations -- and in this case to demand that the adults involved step up to our obligations to ensure that this happens. Also obvious is the wise, research-based nature of their concerns. I could go on and on but suffice to say: it was a breath-taking presentation. Having been the school board member present at all of the meetings of this group, I can assure you that the adults didn't run this group (the student government meetings are for, by and about scholars so adults have to sit in a different corner, can only speak if called upon by the student serving as presiding officer and, on three different occasions, the adults were politely instructed to leave the meetings entirely). When these scholars return to the school board to demand that a representative from their group be appointed to serve as an ex-oficio member of the school board itself, my vote will be YES! Labels: KCMSD, What's Working
What's Working: Middle School Mentors
As part of the practice of visiting all of our schools classroom by classroom, I ran across a remarkable group of sixth and seventh graders at Gladstone K-7. Several of them are engaged in a peer mentoring project where they, as middle schoolers, take responsibility for mentoring and tutoring second graders. This project has been implemented as a dropout prevention strategy aimed at engaging scholars that may otherwise not see a place for themselves at school. Nationwide, our scholars are making the choice to dropout in middle school and before. And not because they aren't doing well in school or because home life is too tough; they drop out because they don't feel a sense of belonging. Whether through sports or clubs or special projects or mentoring, the construction of belonging through the intentional creation of school communities is a critical part of our education system. This concept is doing just that for a very special group of scholars.
Labels: KCMSD, What's Working
What's Working: Scholar-Led Conferences
Visiting the schools of the KCMSD is a rewarding experience. At Gladstone, middle schoolers have taken over their parent-teacher conferences. Apparently Gladstone tried to do scholar-led parent-teacher conferences last semester and it didn't work out so well. I mention this because in order to create the district our scholars deserve, we must be a learning institution which means being prepared to make mistakes, learn from them and try again. Learning from what didn't work last semester, the middle school refined their approach and tried scholar-led conferences again this semester. The results have been breath-taking. From the scholars that shared with me how they are taking responsibility for their own learning to the tear-inducing, hand-written letters in multiple languages from parents to their scholars describing how proud they are of their accomplishments and how they will always be there to support them, the qualitative evidence suggests that having scholars take the lead in describing what's working, what's not working and what strategies they'll use next to improve their academic performance is itself a strategy that is likely to produce quantitative results as well. Labels: KCMSD, What's Working
What's Working: Engaging with Scholars
As part of my campaign for the school board, I committed to visiting every school in the district. Having visited every one (and having gone classroom by classroom through most of them) and having been included in many other activities as a result, I'm in a privileged position to share some of the amazing things I've come across in my first year in office. In my first year, I: - danced with 3rd graders at James
- argued board policy with 5th graders at Weeks
- was laughed at by pre-Kers eating breakfast at Milton-Moore
- was greeted in Mandarin Chinese by Kindergarteners at Trailwoods
- read to 3rd graders at Blenheim
- read to the K-3rd graders (all at once) at James
- was grilled on MAP test scores and their meaning by 8th graders at Westport
- conducted mock interviews with scholars from Manual & Lincoln
- theorized about why some cars go further than others down a ramp with pre-Kers at Scarritt
- cheered for the scholar-athletes on the basketball team at Milton-Moore & West Rock Creek
- congratulated the robotics contestants from ACE, Central and Northeast
- danced with (and been giggled at by) 4th graders at Border Star
- discussed school boundary politics with 6th graders at James
- discussed the relationship between self-esteem and admitting mistakes with scholars at Fairview
- built box planters in the garden with K-5th graders at Attucks
- was trained in Montessori methods by children's house scholars at Holliday
- watched scholars create video projects at Paseo
- won a pickup game of basketball with scholars from Central
- was nearly peed on by a PreKer at Banneker
- was moved by discussions of racism and sexism with scholars at Northeast
- was sung to by elementary scholars at Bryant
- marveled at the video production talents of scholars at Manual
- trained with the members of our district-wide student government
- taught how to double dutch by scholars from Garcia (who went on to win at State!)
- got kicked out of the meeting (along with all of the other adults) of the district-wide student government (they got a lot more done with us gone, btw)
- tried to keep pinatas away from stick-armed middle schoolers at James
- danced with the faculty at Longfellow (suddenly noticing that we do a lot of dancing in this district)
- was high-fived by sticky handed pre-Kers at Woodland
- was invited to judge the 5th grade Spelling Bee at Attucks
- was laughed at (discreetly) for having 'high water' pants by scholars at Fairview
- explained what a web developer does to politely interested 1st graders at Faxon
- was interrogated about the value of uniforms at Troost
- was invited to participate in a poetry reading with 6th graders at Franklin
- heard scholar-written prose delivered powerfully at Paige
- was invited to go skating with 4th graders at James
- met a 3rd grader who knows as much and maybe more about physics and quantum mechanics theory than I do at Woodland (seriously!)
- shook the hands of our graduates as they walked across what must have felt like the largest stage in their lives
And I've cried -- because while I've seen a great deal of what works in this district, I am scared by the fair measure of what I've seen that is not working in this district. These experiences -- observing hundreds of classrooms and visiting with scholars, families, teachers and administrators and spending time with our scholars outside of the classroom -- are making me a stronger school board member. To those that have invited me into their buildings and classrooms, I thank you for the education in education. And to those who do not yet know the incredible joy that comes from investing in the lives of KCMSD's scholars, I invite you to come experience it for yourself (www.be1kc.org). Labels: KCMSD, What's Working
What's Working: KCMO Partnership
City streets outside of schools can be busy, unwelcoming and even dangerous places. Twenty-fourth & Agnes outside of Wheatley preK-7 was no exception. Parents and family jockeyed for places to pause their vehicles near the door long enough for ornery 4-year olds and rambunctious pre-teens to slide in. Recently, too many cars have simply parked, unmoving, in front of the door to the school blocking the way of vehicles coming to pick up scholars and forcing our scholars instead to venture into the street in search of their transportation. After a few days of this scenario, Wheatley parents and faculty decide they've had enough.
When City Councilmembers Melba Curls (3rd District At-Large Representative) & Russ Johnson (Infrastructure & Transportation Committee Chair) get the first message about the situation outside Wheatley, they immediately contact the appropriate city staff. Within a few hours -- at the beginning of this week -- Wheatley School Advisory Committee members have the information they need. By the end of the week, city staff have placed "15 Minute Loading Zone" signs all along the Wheatley side of Agnes without charging any cost to the school or parents.
This is the kind of responsive partnership -- between KCMSD and KCMO -- that makes any resident proud. When combined with the many other ways that KCMO supports KCMSD (PIAC funds helping to purchase playground equipment, laying/replacing sidewalk adjacent to school buildings, passing a Resolution of support for BE 1! thanks to Councilwomen Circo & Curls and more) this is also the kind of partnership that is working to make this community a better place for our scholars. Labels: KCMSD, What's Working
What's Working: Drop-Out Prevention Calls
The NAACP has been leading an effort in partnership with LULAC and several other organizations to call KCMSD scholars that research suggests are more likely than their peers to drop out. I stopped by the other day and participated in the phonebanking. This is a remarkable project that is making a difference, that demonstrates what is possible when we stand united behind the success of our scholars and that is worthy of our accolades. In a time where we regularly hear big talk about zero tolerance policies that typically further alienate our scholars, here's a collection of community groups that have their own zero tolerance policy: zero tolerance for abandoning our scholars. Labels: KCMSD, What's Working
What's Working: Community Engagement
Walking into the Foreign Language Academy gymnasium, it is immediately apparent that the fire marshall hasn't been invited. Chairs fill the massive space with the exception of very narrow rows against either wall and down the middle. Parents, family members, neighbors, siblings, administrators, teachers and, of course, scholars are everywhere as the room buzzes with excitement. Exactly on time, the principal steps to the mic to welcome the crowd. Then the curtains retract and an adorable ensemble of brightly clad kindergarteners take the stage dancing in their tiny, clumsy manner. At their conclusion, the room erupts in shrieks and applause while the young scholars look on, seemingly unaware of what the commotion is all about.
Grade after grade takes the stage each performing a dance native to the country that their class has been studying all year. Directly in front of the stage, family members crowd together on the ground with a dizzying collection of digital cameras and video equipment. This is FLA's annual Dia de Cultura Hispana and with this level of community support, no one is shocked that 13 eighth graders earned college credit in Spanish from UMKC prior to leaving for high school. This is merely a taste of what's possible with wide-spread community engagement. Labels: KCMSD, What's Working
What's Working: Scholar Ownership
As I visit each classroom at the Afrikan-centered Education Campus, a scholar immediately comes up to me, welcomes me to their learning community and asks how they can be of assistance. This practice is notable for two reasons. First, the scholars really take pride and ownership over their learning environment. Second, the teachers never take their attention away from the instruction of the entire class because the needs of the visitors are addressed without their involvement. In most classrooms, scholars are working collaboratively with their fellow classmates and being coached by the teacher. This type of team-based, project-centered learning environment is exactly the sort of education this district wants for all of our scholars. Labels: KCMSD, What's Working
What's Working: Data-driven Instruction & Observation
There are a group of Garfield K-7 teachers engaging in a grade level meeting with the Vice-Principal. This is their weekly gathering to discuss instructional practices and it relies heavily on scholar data available from teacher assessments and district assessments. In a setting where educational private practice is analogous to educational malpractice, Garfield is abolishing isolation-oriented teaching.
Further evidence that instruction is a team process at Garfield: the Vice-Principal and I walk into each classroom with absolutely no fanfare. In my naivete, I am almost offended until I remembered what this signaled: these classrooms are well acclimated to routine observation. Teacher, after teacher, after teacher, when pushed, describe that the most effective professional development they receive -- other than the shared planning/grade level meetings -- is when a respected instructional leader observes their instructional practice and then visits with them about what worked for their scholars and what did not work for their scholars. When done in the spirit of professional growth, scholars' educational achievement and best practice formation, instructional observations develop the craft of teaching -- and our scholars benefit from it. Observing this in action is a remarkable perspective into the culture of faculty & administration at Garfield. Labels: KCMSD, What's Working
What's Working: Collaborative Learning
Anyone walking into this Lincoln College Prep classroom immediately knows that they are entering an eruption of high drama. On one side of the room, scholars are furiously conferring with one another clearly preparing for a counter-offensive. On the other side of the room, a group of scholars are cheering on a classmate who stands barking arguments at the other half of the class. The setup quickly becomes clear: one side is Senator McCain, the other Senator Obama. One at a time, scholar after scholar stands to try their hand at portraying their Senator whenever the specific policy strain they have researched comes up. It is clearly collaborative, active-learning in action. This is the type of educational environment our scholars deserve. Labels: KCMSD, What's Working
What's Working: BE 1!
BE 1! -- Kansas City, Missouri School District's (KCMSD) grassroots, organizing effort to engage caring individuals in the lives of our scholars -- is predicated on two core beliefs: - Yes We Can! When we choose to stand together, we already have all of the resources, all of the talent, all of the energy required to restore this district and
- Yes They Can! Our scholars already have everything within themselves they need to succeed: the intellect, curiosity, ambition, discipline, desire, aspirations.
With these as core assumptions, restoring the KCMSD is less a matter of altering externalities and more a matter of choosing to be "the village." BE 1! will improve the educational achievement of our scholars AND transform the conversation, perception and reality of the KCMSD by ensuring that each of our 20,000 scholars are supported by at least 5 caring relationships -- 100,000 parents, teachers, mentors, advocates and tutors. To accomplish this, hundreds of volunteers across the region are hosting BE 1! meetings at their homes, places of work, places of worship, neighborhood meetings, SACs, PTAs and more. As Kansas Citians open their homes and their lives to a new conversation about what is possible for our scholars, our collective focus becomes less about adult issues and more about the scholars. In time, BE 1! envisions a community so personally invested in the affairs of our individual scholars that the distractions of the past become secondary. Our scholar's achievement becomes primary. If this vision of what is possible for our scholars, our district and our community speaks to you, join the movement today by visiting www.be1kc.org and contacting the BE 1! organizers to setup your BE 1! event at your home or organization: one@be1kc.org. Labels: KCMSD, What's Working
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