- Gray Plans to Develop Stevens, Franklin and Three Other D.C. Properties
- Franklin School Again Attracting Developers
- SAT Reading Scores Drop to Lowest Point in Decades
- Students Say: ‘Pressure? What pressure?’
Gray Plans to Develop Stevens, Franklin and Three Other D.C. Properties
The Washington Examiner
By Jonathan O'Connell
September 12, 2011
Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s economic development team plans to seek private sector partners this fall to develop five city-owned properties, including two historic former school buildings, the Stevens Elementary School in the West End and the Franklin School downtown.
In addition to the two schools, Gray and his deputy mayor for planning and economic development, Victor Hoskins, will seek partners for property the city owns at 7th street and Rhode Island Avenue in the Northwest – often referred to as Parcel 42 – as well as R.L. Christian Library at 1300 H Street NE and parcels at 2251 Sherman Avenue NW, according to spokesman Jose Sousa.
Sousa said Hoskins has been prioritizing the city's development portfolio and assessing its inventory of properties with an eye on which could be redeveloped.
“We received a significant amount of interest from the private sector on many of these parcels and we believe them to be developments that can be put in place without any District subsidy,” Sousa said.
Former mayor Adrian M. Fenty attempted to redevelop some of the properties, only to see the economy or community opposition scuttle the plans. Fenty initially picked developers for both schools, but the city later severed both relationships.
Stevens, at 21st and K streets NW, opened in 1868 to educate the children of freed slaves but was closed as part of former schools chancellor Michelle A. Rhee’s reform efforts. Fenty sought developers for the property and received interest from nine, including one from developer R. Donahue Peebles, who nearly ran for mayor after not being selected. Fenty picked Chicago-based Equity Residential to turn the school into apartments but later cut ties with Equity after opposition from neighbors and Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2).
Franklin School, overlooking Franklin Square, was built in 1869 and became the city’s first high school in 1880. More recently, it was used as a homeless shelter and fell into disrepair. Fenty received only two proposals for the property and considered Cana Development on a preliminary basis to turn the property into an extended-stay hotel, but the deal failed to progress.
Fenty’s team also chose a development partner for “Parcel 42,” near Howard University, and announced plans to build below-market-rate housing there with Horning Bros. When the deal stalled last summer, affordable housing advocates staged a weeks-long protest by erecting a tent city on the property.
Franklin School Again Attracting Developers
The Washington Examiner
By Liz Farmer
September 13, 2011
D.C. officials say they're ready to take another stab at finding a developer for the city's shuttered Franklin School in downtown Washington now that several private companies have approached them about redeveloping the historic property.
Three prior development attempts have fallen flat, largely because of the high cost of renovating the school. The building's historical designation -- which includes its interior and exterior -- limits what developers can do with the site and greatly increases renovation costs.
Despite the limitations, interest in the site is picking up.
"We've heard from some very interested parties about the space, and based on that interest we believe that there will be some very viable possibilities put forth at that location [proposing a] variety of uses," said Jose Sousa, spokesman for the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development.
Primed for development
The District is pushing five sites to developers: (see article for chart)
The last proposal was in 2009 from Cana Development to turn the 19th century building at 13th and K streets NW into a hotel, but negotiations with the city stalled. Cana principal Michael Morris said Tuesday that
his company was still interested in Franklin School and was planning on resubmitting either the original bid or a new proposal. Morris said the 2009 proposal would have invested roughly $30 million into renovating and developing the school site.
The city is also issuing development solicitations for four other city-owned properties, according to Sousa.
Developers will be sought for the historic Stevens Elementary school in West End, a lot on Rhode Island Avenue and Seventh Street NW, R.L. Christian Library on H Street Northeast, and a parking lot on Sherman Avenue near Howard University.
D.C. Councilman Jack Evans, whose Ward 2 is home to both schools, said he was frustrated but hopeful about the city's plans.
"For residents who have had to live around those areas, for the city and myself it's very frustrating to find ... ourselves still at square one," he said. "My hope is to bring something to those sites that will bring 24-hour-a-day activity."
The Stevens School at 21st and K streets
came close to finding a developer in 2009. But pushback from nearby residents fearful of the site becoming unofficial off-campus housing for George Washington University college students stymied the development.
The Rhode Island Avenue lot also had previous plans for a 100 percent affordable-housing development, but that deal stalled last summer.
Sousa said all proposals for residential developments were subject to the District's affordable-housing requirements, but the city would not offer any subsidy for developers of these five sites.
SAT Reading Scores Drop to Lowest Point in Decades
The Washington Post
By Michael Alison Chandler
September 14, 2011
SAT reading scores for graduating high school seniors this year reached the lowest point in nearly four decades, reflecting a steady decline in performance in that subject on the college admissions test, the College Board reported Wednesday.
In the Washington area, one of the nation’s leading producers of college-bound students, educators were scrambling to understand double-digit drops in test scores in Montgomery and Prince William counties and elsewhere.
“Once you hit a certain mark, you want to maintain that,” said Frieda Lacey, deputy superintendent for Montgomery schools. “Don’t think the decline didn’t bother us. It really did.”
Nationally, the reading score for the Class of 2011, including public- and private-school students, was 497, down three points from the previous year and 33 points from 1972, the earliest year for which comparisons are possible. The average math score was 514, down one point from last year but up five from 1972.
The College Board attributed the lower scores to the growing diversity of test-takers, many of whom are less prepared for college-level work or are learning English as a second language.
“The good news is we have more students thinking about college than ever before,” said James Montoya, a College Board vice president. “Anytime you expand the number of students taking the SAT and expand it the way that we have — into communities that have not necessarily been part of the college-going culture — it’s not surprising to see a decline of a few points.”
The disappointing SAT scores come as schools have made major efforts to raise scores on state standardized tests under the 2002 No Child Left Behind law. Some critics of testing say the intense focus on state reading and math exams has taken its toll on higher-order thinking skills.
“We have score inflation on state tests, because that’s what teachers are drilling, and lower performance elsewhere,” said Bob Schaeffer, spokesman for an advocacy group called FairTest.
Locally, average SAT scores were down significantly from 2010 scores reported last year. In Fairfax County, it dropped 10 points, to 1654. In Prince William, it dropped 18 points, to 1490, and in Montgomery, it dropped 16 points, to 1637. The composite score for D.C. public schools dropped seven points, to 1220.
The maximum score is 800 for each subject, including a writing section, and 2400 overall.
Colleges have used the SAT to gauge applicants since 8,040 students took the first exam in 1926. Since then, the voluntary test has been taken by a less and less elite group and has become a closely watched measure of school system performance. However, many factors outside the classroom, including family income and education levels, can influence the results. Schools in poor neighborhoods tend to have lower scores.
For the first time, the College Board said, more than half of all high school graduates — or 1.65 million students — took the exam. That was up from 47 percent in 2010. Test-takers were also more diverse than ever: Forty-four percent were minorities; 36 percent were the first in their family to go to college; and 27 percent did not speak English exclusively.
Whether the decline in SAT reading scores reflects a broader pattern is unclear. This year’s reading scores on the ACT, a rival college admissions test, held steady.
On the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a federal series of tests, 12th-grade reading scores in 2009 rose slightly from 2005. But there was a decline in NAEP scores on that measure since 1992.
Local school systems did not have long-term trend information readily available Wednesday, but many reported significant declines since last year.
Lacey, of Montgomery, said the results may have been influenced by changing demographics, the increasing popularity of the ACT as an alternative test and a decrease in students who take the SAT more than once. Another significant factor is a change in the College Board’s calculation, which now accounts for students who took the SAT for the first time later in their senior year.
Maryland’s largest school system has set a goal to increase the number of students taking the SAT and ultimately to narrow the racial disparity in college enrollment. So far, more than 80 percent of white and Asian students in Montgomery take the test. But for the class of 2011, 63 percent of the county’s black students and 48 percent of Hispanic students took the test — rates largely unchanged from the year before.
Montgomery’s decline in scores followed a surprising 28-point jump in performance last year. The portion of graduates who took the SAT dropped by five percentage points in 2010, to 71 percent.
Many education officials see declining scores as a wake-up call. They say students need more rigorous classes in high school to prepare for college.
“Students are thinking about life beyond the walls of their high schools. But there is a clear indication that some of these students have not taken into account the need for a stronger academic program while in high school,” said William Reinhard, spokesman for the Maryland State Department of Education. “Just taking the SAT is only one step toward their future, and not the first step that should be taken.”
Students Say: ‘Pressure? What pressure?’
The Washington Post
By Jay Mathews
September 14, 2011
We have had a lively debate in the Washington area, and other regions blessed with competitive high schools, about the demands we make on students.
Much of the talk has been about the documentary “Race to Nowhere.” The film’s creator, Vicki Abeles, told me its popularity is proof of a “silent epidemic” of “pressure-cooker education” nationally.
How much academic stress do students feel? Hart Research Associates just asked them. The answer was: not a lot. Of a representative sample of the high school Class of 2010, 69 percent said the requirements for graduating, including tests and courses, were “easy” or “very easy.” And 47 percent said they totally or mainly wish they had worked harder in high school. An additional 16 percent partially feel that way.
The Hart poll, done for the College Board, was not inspired by discussions of “Race to Nowhere,” College Board officials say, but it is relevant. It includes a question about the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs; those college-level courses and extra-long final exams that are often said to be crushing our youth.
My view is that although homework, tests and college admission can be too stressful for some students, the real failing of our high schools nationally is that they apply too little pressure, not too much.
I panned “Race to Nowhere” for leaving the impression that all high schools were grinding our youth into sausage. The film ignored the fact that the average teenager, according to University of Michigan research, spends less daily time on homework than it takes to watch one episode of “Glee.”
(Although there is no data to prove it, the affluent and college-oriented Washington area probably leads the nation in percentage of high-schoolers doing more than an hour of homework a day. But even here a sizable number do less.)
Of the Class of 2010, 44 percent wished they had taken different courses. Of those regretting their course choices, 40 percent said they should have taken more or higher level math courses and 33 percent said more or higher level science courses. Also, 37 percent said they wished they had taken courses that prepared them for a certain job.
The sample of 1,507 graduates, conducted by phone and online a month ago, included 43 percent who enrolled in a four-year college, 25 percent in a two-year college, 6 percent in a trade school or training program and 26 percent who did not enroll in school. Fifty-nine percent were white, 18 percent Hispanic, 16 percent black, 4 percent Asian and 3 percent in other categories.
“Race to Nowhere” was right to warn schools and parents that students should not be overloaded. I only wish the film had not gotten stuck on the bizarre notion that AP is unnecessary torture.
I asked Abeles about that. She believes it. She said the rigor that AP courses imposes “is mandated memorization and regurgitation of data at the expense of rigor attained through rich and engaging courses and deep learning.”
The 588 students in the Hart survey who, unlike Abeles, had actually taken an AP or IB course recently had a different view: 82 percent said those courses were more worthwhile than their other courses, and 73 percent said they were more interesting.
Some critics will say you can’t trust a survey paid for by the College Board, sponsor of AP. They are entitled to their opinions. But Peter Hart has been at this a long time. I worked with him on a survey he did for The Washington Post in 1974.
His reputation is solid. His results fit what I have heard from many high school students over the years and seem in tune with reality. U.S. high schools are not in trouble because they are too rigorous.