- Harry Jaffe: D.C. Public School Students Headed for Year-Round Classes [E.L. Haynes PCS is mentioned]
- Henderson Lays Out Five Goals for D.C. Schools
Harry Jaffe: D.C. Public School Students Headed for Year-Round Classes [E.L. Haynes PCS is mentioned]
The Washington Examiner
By Harry Jaffe
April 19, 2012
Kaya Henderson was named chancellor of DC Public Schools last November, but the school system truly became her own this week, when she stood beside Mayor Vincent Gray and described her vision and goals for the next five years.
"I feel really good," she told me the day after the announcement. "In part, I feel like I have just given birth to a baby."
To continue the metaphor, public schools in the nation's capital have been stillborn for decades. Lousy public schools lie at the root of all problems in D.C. -- from crime to unemployment to housing to drug addiction. OK, dysfunctional families share the blame, but everyone knows the schools have failed poor kids for generations and consigned them to remain in the underclass.
So why do I now share Henderson's hope when she says: "People have a sense of possibility. I believe we can do this. We can create a world-class education system for all 47,000 students."
Because Allen Lew, now city administrator, repaired all the schools and built new ones under Mayor Adrian Fenty. Because Fenty's reformers, including Henderson, negotiated a landmark contract with the Washington Teachers' Union that limits tenure, rewards good teachers, and gives the system more leeway over length of the school day and year. Because teachers who fail to teach can no longer remain teachers forever.
And because of the "charter school effect." Charter schools, which operate on public funds but independently of DCPS, now educate more than 40 percent of public school students. More importantly, Henderson is willing to embrace the charters, adopt their successes and charter her own semi-independent schools.
Take the expanded school year.
At Wednesday's press conference announcing Henderson's Five-Year Strategic Plan, Mayor Gray said it was time to abandon the "agrarian concept" that students needed to take the summer off to farm. I asked if Henderson was truly considering a longer school year, how it might be implemented and who would pay.
"Yes, yes and yes," she said. "High-performing charter schools that are doing well with low-performing students are successful in part because their students spend more time in school."
E.L. Haynes Public Charter School, for instance, has a yearlong program, with long breaks.
The new teachers union contract, she says, "has room and space to pilot different working conditions, like extended schools days and years."
On the money side, Henderson's new plan includes a $10 million "innovation fund" to seed changes such as extended school time. Principals can apply for grants to pay teachers to teach later into the day or, perhaps, all summer.
"These kids need to be in school more" was the consensus among Henderson's top staff.
I believe most parents would concur.
The Northwest Current
By Staff
April 18, 2012
D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson says her five-year plan for the school system involves raising math and reading scores by nearly 30 percent and more than doubling the number of students who take advanced courses. These aims are part of Henderson’s five-goal plan to transform city schools into a “world-class” education system, she told DC Chamber of Commerce members last week.
The chancellor — who is slated to receive an honorary doctorate Saturday from Georgetown University for her contributions to education reform — wants to raise the number of D.C. students meeting national grade-level standards in math and reading to 70 percent from the present 42 percent. “No other urban school [system] has students at the 70 percent level,” she said.
To help achieve this, D.C. is implementing a new curriculum, based on a nationally recognized standard called the “common core.” Her second goal is to increase proficiency of students at D.C.’s 40 lowest-performing schools by 40 percentage points.
As things stand now, these students test as low as 9 or 10 percent. Henderson said the District is considering extended-day programs and a longer school year at these schools, as well as increasing the use of technology as a learning tool. The third goal is to raise the rate at which students graduate high school in four years from the current 53 percent up to 75 percent.
The school system is now looking at how less-traditional experiences could help students fulfill graduation requirements, such as internships or paid work as opposed to strictly class credits.
Henderson’s fourth goal is to achieve a 90 percent rate for positive responses from students when they’re asked whether they like their schools. And the fifth goal is to increase overall enrollment.“We are going to move with all cylinders blazing,” Henderson said. She described other goals and possibilities as well, such as offering more options for students who don’t plan to attend college.
The school system intends to restructure Spingarn High School in Northeast to create a transportation academy that prepares students for the maintenance field.
Henderson also said she hopes to work more closely with the charter school community. She raised the possibility that the public school system someday could directly host its own charter schools.
Another idea she discussed was that of closing down certain public schools. “We’re intent on making the hard choices,” she said.
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