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Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2004 > June > 06 > Entry
School “redesign” costs teachers jobs
By Scott Elliott
Dayton Daily News
DAYTON - Orville Wright Elementary School teacher Barbara Collins was one of seven Dayton teachers this year named a “Service Above Self” award winner by the Rotary Club for devotion to her work. Her colleague, Kay Hoefler, was a finalist for teacher of the year award in the Dayton Public Schools.
Both were told to clean out their classrooms after the last day of school Thursday. Their jobs at Orville Wright are up for grabs.
“We’re saying our goodbyes,” said Hoefler, a kindergarten teacher.
If they want to return to Orville Wright, Collins and Hoefler will have to reapply for their jobs under the district’s plan to “redesign” the school in response to a new federal law.
Orville Wright is one of two Dayton schools tossing everyone out - from the principal to the janitor - because the schools failed to meet expectations for improvement in students’ test scores during the past five years. Collins and Hoefler understand why some believe it’s time for radical change. But they wonder if emptying out everyone and everything - good and bad - is the best way to improve Orville Wright.
“We want to see the kids educated,” Collins said. “A lot of us think we’re capable of doing it.”
Orville Wright and Fairview Elementary schools are the first in the Miami Valley to undergo “redesign” as a remedy for poor test performance. The school district’s administrators chose this route from options laid out by the state because they retained more control. Other options included turning the schools into charter schools or hiring private companies to manage them.
The force behind the reform is the new federal No Child Left Behind act, passed by Congress in 2001, which requires all schools to make “Adequate Yearly Progress” on test scores each year in reading and math.
Each state determines if schools meet that standard through a complex calculation. Schools must exceed minimum passing percentages on state tests and show improvement in minority group test scores, among other factors. One of the twists of the Adequate Yearly Progress measuring stick is that it does not always penalize the worst-performing schools first.
Orville Wright actually performed well compared to its peers on last year’s fourth-grade proficiency test.
The school ranked eighth out of 37 Dayton public and charter elementary schools with 25 percent of fourth-graders passing all five parts of the state proficiency test. In fact, the school made the sixth-biggest gain over three years, up from 14 percent passing all parts in 2001.
Orville Wright’s sixth-grade scores were not as good, but still not among the worst schools. With 8 percent passing all parts, the school ranked 17th in the district even though that passing rate dropped significantly from 19 percent passing in all parts in 2001.
But compare those scores with Patterson-Kennedy Elementary School, which saw 2 percent pass all parts in fourth grade and no students pass all parts in sixth grade last year. Patterson-Kennedy’s rate for passing all parts made no gain over three years and dropped by three percentage points at sixth grade since 2001.
And yet under the Adequate Yearly Progress formula, its Orville Wright that undergoes redesign this year.
“It can be hard to explain,” Superintendent Percy Mack said. “It puts you in a position where if you’re doing decent in some cases, it forces you to drive those scores up. That can be harder to do than if you’re starting off lower.”
Last year, 23 Miami Valley schools landed on the state’s improvement list because they did not meet Adequate Yearly Progress. Of those, 14 were in the Dayton school district; eight of these could face restructuring if students’ test scores do not improve during the next year.
Schools on the list for one or two years receive extra resources for supplemental services, such as tutoring or teacher training. Those on the list three years in a row must take “corrective action.” Those listed for four years are required to create a plan to “restructure” the school.
Orville Wright and Fairview were the only area schools which did not make Adequate Yearly Progress for a fifth straight year, kicking in the “redesign” sanction. The only way to get off the improvement list is to make Adequate Yearly Progress two straight years.
Districts that receive federal aid - and a poor district like Dayton qualifies for significant dollars - must abide by the federal rules or risk losing that money. School officials said if they declined the federal money in order to avoid following the rules of the No Child Left Behind act, they’d lose close to $6 million. The district’s $200 million budget is so tight it cannot afford such a hit, they said.
The Dayton district is still feeling its way through the redesign process. Committees of administrators, teachers and personnel officers will begin interviews this month to restaff Orville Wright and Fairview.
The teachers’ and principals’ jobs for the two schools were posted last week. Administrators hope to have a new staff in place by the end of June, but also must choose a curriculum and make other important decisions.
“It’s a difficult task, but we’ll get it done,” Mack said. “The bottom line is you want to do it right and see some results at the end of the day.”
Orville Wright teachers who reapply will be evaluated based on past performance. Those not selected will be moved to other schools based on seniority.
Hoefler knows she wants to come back. So does Principal Georchia Higgins. Collins wants more details, like what curriculum the school will use. All three said Orville Wright’s story is complex, and the reasons for its troubles varied.
Like many Dayton schools, Orville Wright serves a difficult student population. Of its 540 students, 92 percent qualify for free or reduced lunch prices - a common poverty indicator for school districts. That’s the 10th highest percentage in the city and that number has grown from 87 percent in 2002.
The school has one of the city’s highest “mobility” rates, a figure that reflects how many students transfer in and out during the school year.
Collins said Orville Wright was one of just a few schools that used the Success For All reading curriculum for most of her six years at the school, and mobility caused problems. Students coming in had trouble adjusting.
There’s also been teacher turnover. Many retirements during the past five years have brought new, young teachers. And Hoefler said Higgins is the fifth principal in her 10 years at Orville Wright. But after all that, Hoefler said she believes the current staff is worth keeping.
“There are so many talented teachers here,” she said. “People work very hard. They spend their nights and weekends working.”
Higgins, an assistant principal at Orville Wright for two years, is finishing her second year in charge and has only begun her own reform efforts. For instance, the school dumped Success For All, instead using a reading curriculum introduced districtwide last year, so kids coming in at midyear could pick up where they left off.
Many kids come into the school behind, Collins said. Outreach with parents has become a bigger part of the program in recent years.
“Our parents care deeply about their kids and want them to be successful,” she said. “They just don’t always know how to help them get there.”
The teachers said they believe things have been getting better.
“What no one looks at is what a child does from year-to-year,” said Hoefler, who has taught for 29 years. “That’s where we’re seeing a lot of gain.”
Higgins also said she has seen some signs of progress. She feels they simply haven’t had enough time to turn thing around.
“That’s why I’m reapplying,” she said. “The work is not done here.”
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