- Vote on more flexible D.C. high school grad requirements delayed for public input [Carlos Rosario International PCS mentioned]
- Potomac Prep in Northeast Allowed to Remain Open [Potomac Preparatory PCS and Maya Angelou PCS mentioned]
- Goodbye Mayor Gray [FOCUS, E.L Haynes PCS, Harmony PCS and Rocketship PCS mentioned]
Vote on more flexible D.C. high school grad requirements delayed for public input [Carlos Rosario International PCS mentioned]
The Washington Post
By Michael Alison Chandler
December 18, 2014
The D.C. State Board of Education on Thursday night voted unanimously to table a vote on proposed revisions to graduation requirements that would create more flexible routes to a high school diploma, citing the need to give the community more time to respond.
The proposed regulations by the Office of the State Superintendent for Education (OSSE) would make it possible to earn high school credit by passing a state-approved test or participating in a “course equivalent,” such as an internship, community-service project, portfolio or performance that can be tied to the academic standards. Another proposal would create a “state diploma” that would go to students who pass the GED any time after January 2014.
At the meeting, State Board member Jack Jacobson (Ward 2) called these “important provisions that will offer opportunities to disenfranchised adults in the District of Columbia.”
But he said, “the proposal before us is imperfect” and the board should continue working with the public to revise it.
The alternative approach, based on the idea of rewarding knowledge and skills rather than time in a classroom, is gaining traction around the country, and city officials have been researching the approach for at least two years.
But the proposed regulations were only recently circulated. They were published in the D.C. Register on Nov. 28 for a 30-day comment period, and revised once since then.
Many city education officials have hoped that regulations would be passed in time to implement next school year. The board had considered taking a vote on Tuesday night, the last board meeting of the calendar year, before three new members and a new administration takes office.
OSSE officials said it was an “allowable practice” to vote during the public comment period, but many felt rushed by the timeline and uncomfortable with the process.
“The regulations being considered are wide in scope and impact,” said Scott Pearson, executive director of the D.C. Public Charter School Board in a letter to the State Board Wednesday. “It is unwise and unfair to move forward with this vote until the public has had the appropriate, and mandated, period of time to comment and consider all of the consequences, intended and unintended, that may occur as a result of these regulations.”
One by one, the State Board members Wednesday night said they support more flexible approaches to awarding high school credit, but agreed the regulations need more time to be revised and developed.
“I believe there should be as much public comment and input as possible,” said departing State Board member Patrick Mara (Ward 1).
Among concerns raised by board members and others were how to ensure that more flexible paths to high school credit would be uniformly rigorous and transferable between schools. Some charter school leaders are also concerned that the plan would infringe on their autonomy.
“We hold ourselves to a high bar of quality,” said outgoing board member Laura Slover (Ward 1). “I don’t want anything we do to undermine that goal.”
Most of the people who testified Wednesday represented charter schools and organizations that work with adults or teens pursuing a GED and who supported the plan to award them diplomas instead of credentials.
Ryan Monroe, chief academic officer at Carlos Rosario International Public Charter school, said his school serves immigrant adults “who were forced to give up their schooling because of war or poverty.”
He said the students often must start at the elementary school level and work for years to learn English and study to pass the GED, which is a major accomplishment. “They come with cap and gown and children in tow and send their photos home,” he said.
It’s a milestone akin to graduating from high school, but not recognized as such, he said. “It is an unfortunate reality that many employers hold that GED certificate in lesser regard,” he said.
Christina Setlow, director of policy, legislative, and intergovernmental affairs for the Office of the State Superintendent of Education, said given the transition to a new administration, she is not yet sure when the board will take up the regulations again.
State Board member Tierra Jolly (Ward 8) said that alternative ways to earn high school credit would do “disproportionate amounts of good” for people she serves in Ward 8 and she hopes to be able to vote for it in the near future.
“There are a lot of areas in the document that we are discussing that we really need to clarify,” she said. “I’m happy to take the time to do that, so that when we do vote on these proposed policy changes, we can vote on a final document that we are proud of.”
Potomac Prep in Northeast Allowed to Remain Open [Potomac Preparatory PCS and Maya Angelou PCS mentioned]
The Washington Informer
By Avis Thomas-Lester
December 17, 2014
The D.C. Public Charter School Board voted Dec. 15 to allow a once-troubled Northeast Washington charter school to remain open after staff, parents and students lobbied for a chance to make it work under its new administration.
The board set a probationary period for the administration of Potomac Preparatory Public Charter School to show improvements in five areas, including improved test scores. The school will also be monitored to make sure officials are complying with the charter school board’s orders.
“Nobody, including the school’s leadership, disputes that the school’s performance in the past has been poor,” said PCSB Vice Chair Darren Woodruff. “However after visiting the school and hearing from the school community, many of us were persuaded that a turnaround is underway at the school. This is much more than a plan on paper; it is about continuing actual changes in culture and instruction that we have observed at the school.”
The board announced at its Nov. 17 meeting that it was initiating the process to revoke the charter of Potomac Prep, which was formerly operated as Potomac Lighthouse Public Charter School. The school began operating under the management of Lighthouse Academies, a national charter management organization, in 2005.
The charter school board said the school had failed over the last 10 years to meet basic standards. But the board granted stakeholders a hearing on Dec. 10 to plead their case. At that meeting, the list of speakers was so long that many who had prepared comments were unable to present them.
Speaker after speaker extolled the changes that have taken place in everything from tests scores to morale since White-Hood, an award-winning career educator who most recently worked as an administrator at the Maya Angelou Public Charter Schools in the District, took the helm in July.
“I believe Potomac Preparatory Public Charter School should stay open because it has helped me stay on the path of success to high school, college and a career,” eighth grader Branden Stoddard told the board members. “Here at Potomac, they help you follow your dreams of whatever you want to do in the future. Potomac will help you with anything you need help with, even with things at home.”
White-Hood said she hired new faculty, engaged parents by urging them to get involved in their children’s education and focused resources on helping children with reading, science and math, while also creating enrichment programs.
Members of the charter school board listened intently as students told the board about new programs and amenities, such as a science lab and a tutoring program. White-Hood also started cheerleading, a Student Government Association and other extracurricular programs to foster academic pride, they said. Teachers and parents talked about the new enthusiasm among the students and their parents.
The PCSB members, while impressed, presented school officials with a list of improvements that must be made by the end of the school year: PPPCS must meet certain attendance standards; 50 percent of students must score proficient on the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) test; 75 percent of pre-kindergarten-3 and pre-kindergarten-4 students must “meet or exceed their average growth goals on the Every Child Ready assessment; and 50 percent of K-2 must meet certain standards for reading and math.
“If the school does not achieve all of these targets, the entire school will close at the end of the 2015-2016 school year,” the board held.
White-Hood said she is relieved for the chance for her school to continue and confident that the goals can be met, even with only six months left in the school year.
She said she has planned an educational rally on Jan. 23, 2015 where experts will discuss ways to help students achieve with parents, who will also meet with teachers about strategies to help their children at home.
She said the Potomac Prep board of directors is working with her “to develop a plan for each grade, each class and each student.” She and her staff will utilize Saturday school from 9 a.m. to noon, send-home learning tools, and online resources to give children additional assistance. Parents will be invited to attend sessions with teachers designed to teach them how to assist their children with their studies at home.
“We will be pushing thinking skills and technology,” White-Hood said. “You can take an average child, but if he has good tech and thinking skills and is focused and motivated, he will do well on the PARCC.”
After the Dec. 10 meeting, board members said they were pleased with what they saw on tours of the school.
“If the school is successful in meeting the ambitious conditions set as part of the charter continuance, it will be a great outcome for the students and families at Potomac Prep,” PCSB Executive Director Scott Pearson said in a statement.
Goodbye Mayor Gray [FOCUS, E.L Haynes PCS, Harmony PCS and Rocketship PCS mentioned]
The Examiner
By Mark Lerner
December 18, 2014
The Washington Post's Mike DeBonis reports that yesterday Mayor Vincent Gray gave a two hour farewell speech regarding his time in office. As far as his record in regard to the D.C. charter school movement he was a transitional leader.
First, he appointed Kaya Henderson Chancellor and Abigail Smith Deputy Mayor for Education. Ms. Henderson has been a tough competitor regarding attracting students to her school system and she has, up to a point, demonstrated cooperation regarding coexisting with charters that now educate 45 percent of all public school students. It was great to see a Deputy Mayor for Education come from E.L Haynes Public Charter School, as a board member and as a parent. Ms. Smith made a major contribution to our cause by convincing the Mayor and Chancellor to turn some shuttered former DCPS facilities over to charters, but her biggest achievement was completion of the Adequacy Study that for the first time documented in print the illegal funding of the traditional schools outside of the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula. She also created the common lottery that made it easier for parents to apply to charter schools and DCPS at one time instead of having to fill out separate applications.
However, the pace of providing charters empty buildings was not nearly fast enough and that decision proved detrimental to two high performing charter management organizations that came to town for the first time. Harmony PCS and Rocketship PCS were treated as unwelcome strangers as they were thrown to the wind to try and find places to operate. The fact that the Chancellor accused Harmony of cannibalism regarding the school's last minute desperate decision to locate across the street from a DCPS site after the charter tried to coordinate its placement with the city set the relationship between the two sectors back years.
It was unfortunate that the recommendations of the Adequacy Study did not make it into the Mayor's budget. This resulted in FOCUS coordinating a lawsuit against the city over inequities in spending regarding DCPS compared to charters. The move came as a frustrated last resort after multiple efforts to work with the Administration to bring fairness to a situation that sees the regular schools receiving about $100 million a year more than charters. The Mayor did, however, increase the per pupil facility allotment that had not been raised in years. He also for the first time guaranteed local funding for these dollars which used to be dependent upon Federal three sector money to reach the $3,000 level (now $3,072) for each enrolled student.
Perhaps his greatest contribution to charters was giving them a seat at the table. In discussing education policy he included Scott Pearson, the executive director of the DC Public Charter School Board, and the PCSB chairman. He also attended numerous events celebrating the progress of our schools regarding Performance Management Framework results and the opening of new permanent facilities. He certainly gave the distinct impression, and this was regrettably groundbreaking for one of our Mayors, that he did not care whether a child attended a charter or a regular school as long as he or she was receiving a quality education. For that, Mr. Gray should be sincerely thanked.