Los Angeles teacher Mike Stryer co-founded NewTLA, the reform caucus in UTLA (United Teachers Los Angeles) in 2010. Now he’s leading new unionism efforts at Future Is Now Schools, increasing participation of classroom teachers in union governance and policy-making. We asked Stryer for his take on the current state of union-driven reform and its implication…
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After spending over a decade in Baltimore City as a principal, district leader, and external partner to the public schools, one thing is abundantly clear to me: districts need all the help they can get to turn around low-performing schools. Successful turnaround requires smart and accountable partnerships that use flexible conditions to build capacity for…
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Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a Schools That Can panel on turnarounds. The panel was moderated by Jennifer Husbands from AUSL, and featured speakers from Democracy Prep, EdPower, Scholar Academies, Milwaukee College Prep, and the Urban Science Academy. It was heartening to see folks so passionate about putting students first, but one question…
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Good news for turnaround supporters this week. A major study by UCLA’s National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) found that Green Dot’s turnaround approach is yielding encouraging gains in student achievement: test scores, graduation rates, course-taking, persistence, and college-readiness. Almost twice as many Green Dot students were considered ready for…
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New report out today by Bob Balfanz suggests up to 7.5 million kids are absent at least 10% of the time, a month a year. Tough to learn if you don’t show up. Not surprisingly, combating chronic absenteeism is one of the first steps that successful turnarounds tackle…and is a leading indicator of progress. More…
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Why should charters have all the innovation fun? They shouldn’t, said DC Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson at New Schools Venture Fund Summit yesterday in SF. “You don’t have to go outside the district to innovate,” she said to applause (coverage here). We’ve been making the same argument too. Allies always welcomed. Nice to have…
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Several notable stories from the past week in turnaround: Spotlight state reform: STG President Justin Cohen on CT Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposed education reform plan, including a statewide Commissioner’s Network for low-performing schools. More encouraging signs for SIG: EWA’s Emily Richmond reports on a recent study suggesting that SIG schools in California are making…
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Everyone thinks they know the Central Falls story. High drama. Teacher firings. President Obama’s comments. What most people don’t know is that underneath the drama around creating the right conditions, there was a coherent academic plan. And after just one year of transformation, Central Falls High School raised its four-year graduation rate from 54% to…
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Mark you calendars for a webinar on May 9th from 2pm to 3pm EST discussing the recently released Advance Illinois report, Illinois Progress Report 2011-12, Improving our Lowest-Performing Schools, which examines the early reforms unfolding in 10 Illinois high schools that received the first round of School Improvement Grant awards in 2010. The event is…
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Instructional focus is one of the hallmarks of successful turnaround schools — the ability for school leaders and teachers to tailor their curriculum to raise student achievement. At least eight more turnaround schools, already receiving federal school improvement grants, will be further integrating arts into their programs over the next two years, thanks to an…
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Illinois is looking for experienced school administrators, teachers, and others who have engaged in the turnaround of low performing high schools to review the most recent round of SIG grant applications. Interested? Details below. * * * Grant Readers Request for Illinois FY 2013 School Improvement Grants The Illinois State Board of Education’s Innovation and…
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Illinois’ bottom 95 high schools enroll only 15% of the state’s high school students, but have more than 40% of the dropouts. A new report from Advance Illinois and Mass Insight’s School Turnaround Group takes a close look at what’s happening in the 10 schools that received school improvement grant (SIG) money in year 1.…
read moreOur blog features commentary and insights from our staff and, from time-to-time, special guest bloggers about school improvement practices and policies that are changing student lives and changing schools. Contact jschneider@massinsight.org for more information.