When the State Education Department released the results of the English language arts and math tests for grades 3-8 a couple of weeks ago, many of us looked for some sign that Superintendent Bolgen Vargas’s strategies – implementing universal prekindergarten, expanding learning time, and reducing summer learning loss — are working.
But Rochester’s students showed little progress. Vargas says that the testing opt-out movement — 20 percent of city students didn’t take the tests — is partly to blame. Many of those students were in some of the district’s higher performing schools – School 58, School 23, School Without Walls, and SOTA.
And many students under Vargas’s turnaround strategies aren’t old enough to be tested yet. And not every school has expanded learning time.
Nonetheless, the pressure to get results is on like never before. Vargas and his staff have a short window to turn around the district’s lowest performing schools or face a potential takeover.
While the University of Rochester has been hailed for its willingness to intervene and take control of East High School, it will soon share in this era of heightened scrutiny. East, one of the district’s most troubled schools, will officially open under UR’s management on September 8. Shaun Nelms is the new superintendent and a lot of eyes will be on East going forward.
Will the UR succeed? Does it have a winning formula to turn around failing urban schools around?
A lot is at stake for the UR. If it fails, it’s probably in a position to take the hit. You don’t have to look far to find other areas where the university is highly successful.
If it succeeds, the Warner School of Education could become one of the most relevant teacher education schools in the country.
UR President Joel Seligman says that the university has no magic wand. The university is borrowing a little of what public, private, charter, and parochial schools do best, he says.
“The question is not which one has the magic bullet, it’s how to provide [students and teachers] the right kind of support,” Seligman says.
This article appears in Aug 26 – Sep 1, 2015.
“If it succeeds, the Warner School of Education could become one of the most relevant teacher education schools in the country.”
Let’s not jump to a hasty, skewed conclusion that the Warner School of Education was solely responsible for the success in turning around a failing school. That’s really stretching a lofty outcome, because the U of R has control over the reduced number of students that can attend, has parental and student committments, provides extra support, for students, etc. and most of all….money.
It’s all about controlling the educational envirnment, management and support that gives students the best chance to succeed. However, this all comes at a high financial cost and, duplicating what the U of R is doing in other city schools will be very expensive. Don’t forget,that other city schools do not have that luxury, so I’m very optimistic that East High will be turned around under the U of R’s control and management.
Kudos in advance to the U of R for its effort and concern for RCSD students!
Why not focus on the success of ALL RCSD schools, at the same time? It may take years for UR to collect data on the success of East High School.
====================================================
What about motivation? For example, here is a 4 minute motivational YouTube video for the start of school. Videos like this could be made available on school web pages, so that all students can watch them over and over, again:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH3akqBwYf…
This is not a slam on the RCSD- does anyone understand the first paragraph? The author says that the changes that Vargas has made is working ( with no proof) and then goes on to say “Rochester students showed little progress” Okay.