[UPDATED] SUNY Geneseo’s education school inched closer last night to a partnership with the Rochester school board and School 19. It’s a sign that the Rochester board is continuing to seek help from outside organizations to help turn around some of its most troubled schools.
In a presentation to the board, a team of district and SUNY Geneseo educators made a strong case for taking over the management of the low-performing school and revamping its current structure. The teacher-led school they described could dramatically improve School 19 students’ achievement over five years, they said.
SUNY Geneseo officials hope the partnership would start this summer, but first they have to get approval of the board and state SUNY officials.
School board President Van White, who spearheaded the board’s partnership with the University of Rochester and East High School, courted SUNY Geneseo’s involvement with School 19. The school, which serves prekindergarten through eighth grades, has been identified by the state as one “in need of improvement.”
White has repeatedly pushed for creating more school choices for parents while the district simultaneously improves its most academically challenged schools. A proposal to create a military-style academy last year drew both praise and sharp criticism.
If SUNY Geneseo’s proposal is approved, it would give the district a second school, this one an elementary school, to be managed by a local college or university.
“We need incubators of success,” White said before the meeting. “We’ll be able to compare, and we’ll know if these models work.”
Adam Urbanski, president of the Rochester Teachers Association, is also enthusiastic about the proposal, calling it “precedent setting.”
Under SUNY Geneseo’s management, School 19 would be different from any other in the district. Currently each classroom has one general education teacher. In addition, special education teachers provide services for classrooms with children needing that assistance. In the SUNY Geneseo model, two classrooms would be combined, with staff acting as a team: two general education teachers, a special education teacher, and a teaching assistant. A pilot program was implemented in School 19’s third and fifth grades in September, and the results in reading and math seem promising.
School 19’s teachers and principal would work together to develop the curriculum and school culture. And a yet to be named superintendent of the school would report to the board. But Anjoo Sikka, dean of Geneseo’s school of education, said that there was no need to renegotiate labor contracts. The UR, in contrast, reached an agreement with the board and union employees to ask every individual working at East High to reapply for employment there.
The bigger stumbling block to board approval may be funding. School 19 would receive a $2.5 million school improvement grant from the state over five years. But the Geneseo proposal requires additional staffing – the teaching assistants – and it’s not clear whether the state grant would be enough to cover them. White told SUNY Geneseo officials last night that the partnership can’t require additional district funding above School 19’s yearly budget.
Board member Jose Cruz also expressed concern that the partnership relies heavily on a state grant at a time when there is uncertainty about federal funding for public education.
Nor are academic results guaranteed. The UR’s relationship with East High, now in its second year, is showing some incremental gains, but the school’s academic performance is a long way from a complete turnaround.
Still, the proposed SUNY Geneseo partnership with School 19 has some strong support.
“I think it would be devastating if the board rejected it,” the RTA’s Urbanski said last night, “because it would send the message to the rest of the district teachers – don’t even try to innovate.”
(This article has been updated to clarify the staffing at School 19 currently and under the SUNY Geneseo proposal.)
This article appears in Mar 15-21, 2017.
First let’s be clear, there would not be a 2 general education teachers, a SPED teacher and a TA in every classroom. At each grade level we currently have 2 classrooms. These two classrooms would combine. The walls (which are movable at 19) would open to allow access between the rooms. There would be an addition of a Special Education teacher to each team to work with the children at each grade level with IEPs and identified special needs. Many of the students at each grade level currently require special education services. These teachers would just be reallocated to serve at specific grade levels and work in a team. Teachers and the TA would then work together planning instruction for flexible groups based on ongoing formative assessments for optimal teacher to student ratios in small groups. We all know that smaller groups and mean more direct teacher contact and instruction. The data support this concept. Hoping this model is accepted!
One correction to your story. At school 19 we currently have 2 classes per grade level with children who have special needs and IEPs at each grade level as well. This model combines these 2 classes so there would naturally be 2 General Education teachers. There are also Special Education teachers who work with the students with IEPs at each grade. The new model would assign one of these special Education teachers to each grade level to work in a team with the 2 general education students. The only addition is that of a TA. Sobthere would be 4 adults consistently working as a team to provide instruction to the children at each grade level. At School 19 there are movesble walls so children could move easily between classes and groups. Instruction would be given in flexible groups based on ongoing teacher formative assessments and coplanning by the educational professionals. Who knows your kids best, besides you as parents? Teachers! In this model teachers are using their professional and collaborative knowledge to provide students with more individualized instruction. We all know that more attention means being better able to learn. The data provides this.
Teacherwhocares:
Thank you so much for your readership and your clarifications. We’ve updated the story.
I was very surprised to hear that School 19 is in receivership. I am a substitute teacher and it was the best school I have had the privilege to work at. The 4th grade class was a combined class with about 40 students, but with the support of 4 teachers. I thought the model was effective at supporting the students needs as well as creating a real community feeling. They have implemented restorative practices there and I saw compassion and understanding at work when a young girl who to me clearly had some trauma going on at home repeatedly left the classroom. The other teachers in the classroom visibly care about the students and work to instill hope and positivity in them.