By Anonymous
Filed Thursday, April 27 at 7:00 AM
by Peter Downs
April 24, 2006 -- Last week the board of education of the city of St. Louis approved three initiatives to reorganize schools in St. Louis Public Schools. It was either a bold move to increase student achievement or a shell game to hide continuing problems. The answer will depend on whether on not the school district can hire enough good new teachers.
The three initiatives consisted of turning four middle schools into junior high schools, opening up two more ninth grade centers, and transitioning almost half the kindergarten-thru-fifth grade elementary schools, 27 in total, into kindergarten-thru-sixth grade or kindergarten-thru-eighth grade schools. Despite my requests for data or research that could lead us to think that any of these moves could be effective in improving student achievement, none was presented to the board in support of the middle school or elementary school changes, and the data for the ninth grade centers was very thin. Hopefully, however, the approved moves will boost student achievement.
Four middle schools, Northwest, Stowe, Webster, and Yeatman, have to be restructured under the No Child Left Behind law because they have failed to make adequate yearly progress for five years. Under the law, the school district can reconfigure the schools, replace the principals and staff, turn the schools into charter schools, or turn them over to private management. Superintendent Creg Williams proposed reconfiguring the schools: turning Northwest and Webster into small high schools and turning Stowe and Yeatman into junior high schools.
Reconfiguring the schools offers an opportunity to change curriculum at those schools and offer new programs such as Spanish and vocational education, but it ignores the main reason the schools failed: a lack of qualified teachers. According to Williams, 24% of the teachers at Northwest were substitutes this year, 26% at Yeatman, 33% at Webster, and 40% at Stowe. Another 10% to 25% of the teachers at each of the schools are new this year.
The key to improving the schools is going to be attracting qualified teachers. Although several board members emphasized that point, there was no discussion as to how to actually do it.
Blow and Gateway Middle also will be transitioned into junior high schools under the plan. Williams said the students at the four schools will get a "double dose" of reading and math. Each school also will have two academic tracks: a "Skill Builder" track, which will use a remedial curriculum called Voyager, and an "advanced" track for students who are on grade level.
Beginning the 2007-2008 academic year, admission will be through an application process, the details of which have not been worked out.
Turner and Lafayette Schools will be turned into 9th grade center for 2006-2007. Turner will serve Sumner High School and Lafayette will serve Roosevelt. Williams is most enthusiastic about ninth grade centers, but said the district can't do more than three (Williams, Turner, and Lafayette) because there are no other schools suitable for that program.
According to Williams, the ninth grade center at Williams School has brought about a very small improvement in the performance of the ninth grade students from Vashon. The attendance rate increased to 81% from 78% and the percent of students with failing grades fell from 31% to 29%. The big change was in the number of suspensions, which fell from 659 to 264, but administration sources said that was mostly because the ninth grade center did not suspend students for the same reasons as Vashon did.
When it comes to elementary schools, the amount of empty space available seems to be the main factor in determining whether grades will be added. Bryan Hill, Lexington, Gateway, Cote Brilliante, Ashland, and Mullanphy will add a sixth grade next year and then stay K-6.
Adams, Dunbar, Farragut, Sherman, Simmons, Ford, Monroe, Oak Hill, Columbia, Gundlach, Hamilton, Henry, Mark Twain, Mason, Shepard, Walbridge, Wyman, Cole, Jefferson, Peabody, and Herzog, all will add one grade a year until they become K-8 schools.
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