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| Morrison |
*More choices, from new magnet programs to alternatives for struggling students. I'm guessing some will focus on top performers (Morrison created new magnets for gifted students in Reno) and some will create small settings where at-risk students can get back on track to graduate.
*A study of how well CMS graduates fare in higher education and, to the extent there's data available, the work force. Morrison has been emphatic about a dual focus: Boosting graduation rates but also making sure CMS diplomas are a meaningful predictor of success.
*A push to change the way teachers are recruited, assigned, rewarded and, when necessary, removed. The state is driving some of this, and Morrison has jumped in with talks to principals and a major shakeup of the CMS human resources department. I wouldn't be surprised to see something similar to Reno's "hiring for attitude" program, along with some version of the "culture of respect" work done there.
*Efforts to confront low expectations for minority students, based on Glenn Singleton's "Courageous Conversations About Race." Morrison worked with Singleton in each of his last two districts, and has distributed the book to CMS board members.
*A beefed-up parent engagement push, including efforts to reach families who don't speak English. Morrison has said Parent University is a good first step, but not enough.
*New efforts related to school safety and bullying, with students playing a role in shaping their own programs. CMS hasn't faced a crisis on this front in Morrison's short tenure, but he has identified safety as a perennial top issue.
*Creation of a new set of data and goals to measure CMS progress. Morrison opted not to pursue the CMS school progress reports this year, instead relying on the state's version. But there's no way he'll let the state-mandated letter grades debuting this year stand as the only or main gauge of school success.
*Administrative reorganization, which is already underway. Morrison lights up when he talks about process and procedure. It's deadly dull to many of us, but the organizational framework will shape how well the rest of this stuff works.
*A huge roster of task forces, public meetings and surveys designed to make sure everyone with an interest in CMS has a voice. If you care about the many issues on the table, it's a safe bet you'll have a chance to step up and get involved in the coming year.
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36 comments:
UNIMPEDED VISION
The blog headline "Crystal Ball" is appropriate.
Dr. Morrison is setting one on the table for everyone to use. He probably has some image of parents seated around a table looking in to it together.
Bolyn McClung
Pineville
Here's a no brainer - How about adding vocational programs BACK into high schools? Not every kid is going to college. Mandating that every child is college ready is wasting the time of both the teacher and the non-academic student.
Sounds like he has a testicular prosthesis...
ball gazer!
Ya Mon, Her a Real Jamaican Psychic!
Welcome back Miss Cleo!
We missed you Mon!
We want no more babble. WHat we want is a clear decision. Start times either 8 a.m. no later. Teachers with experience in the class room jsut not a filler. No more that 22 to a class. Schools that are safe. Bus drivers that are not high. Schools that are clean and reflect a positive image. Core Values taught in the schools. No more excuses buckle down approach. Close Project LIFT its a terrible excuse of a joint venture. Back to basics and more families will come back to CMS.
Let's hope there are more options for gifted students.
We spend enough on the "at risk".
It's not the school's fault these kids are "at risk" to begin with.
Schools should focus on kids who want to learn.
Vocational schools aren't a bad idea, either, for those who still want to learn but aren't necessarily interested in "academia".
Bring back reform schools for the rest.
Considering the recent reports that showed a clear lack of direction and process within the IT group and having a non-tech person as CIO, I hope there's some kind of meaningful plan for properly addressing technology too.
I find it most interesting that it appears no one has a "blueprint" of what a "successful" public school operation looks like.
Most likely because how the public school "industry" has been co-opted by the social services people, the elitists, the politicians, and the community organizers.
Let me add this also.
Public debate about public education is driven too much by thiose who want to paint their community in the best light for the sake of business recruitment.
In Charlotte for example, the Charlotte Observer editorial board takes a hard and agressive line against those that speak out on issues with CMS. Additionally, "city leaders" push in their agenda of appeasing "community organizers" for fear of having their city painted in a negative light by the minorties.
Predictions.
One need not look into the crystal ball to have an idea what the ouija board will do.
MAGNETS:
How many magnet schools does CMS currently operate? How many are full magnets and how many are partial magnets? Which are academically successful and which aren't? What will the additional costs be to transport kids to more magnets? What will the additional costs be to train and hire teachers for specialized magnet programs? What about the Horizon's Program for gifted students? What about Cato Middle College, The Performance Learning Center and all the other "alternative" options currently available? What's the probability that adding more magnets will close the achievement gap? What is the primary mission of CMS magnet schools? What's the impact on neighborhood schools when magnets are added? Are charter schools magnet schools? What differentiates a "leadership" magnet from a regular school of "followers"? Might it be more advantageous to streamline and focus on making CMS' current magnet schools the best they can possibly be? In other words, taking CMS' good magnet schools and turning them into something nationally great.
CMS had successful magnet schools for academically high achievers at Baringer and Davidson IB. CMS double-dead killed and buried both.
Alicia Durand
magnet school graduate
Magnet schools cost more to operate because of their specialized curriculums. Non-magnet suburban schools in CMS receive significantly less money than non-magnet urban schools. If additional magnets are added in Charlotte's urban areas, what will the average yearly per-pupil spending be? Will it stay the same or will additional money be taken out of suburban schools to cover the costs of adding more urban magnets? Will CMS open additional magnets in overcrowded suburban areas? If so, where? Why am I having a deja vu moment?
Magnet transportation costs a fortune. Soon we will have schools on a 10:00-5:00 bell tier to pay for it.
Heath , My crystal ball shows 5000 more parents leaving CMS next fall. Your grades falling again on average of 3% and LIFT failing. It also shows you not being with CMS in 3 years. Broad Foundation or NAACP will hire you to be their lackey as you are today. Just sayin!
2:13, not true. Additional magnet cost for transportation was less the $500 per pupil for the year. It was well worth the additional performance. It was better that the additional $6k to $8k spent on urban schools with no additional performance.
And in combination to one of the points 12:32 was making, the neighborhood school performance was suspected but never proved to have dropped. With the cutback in busing last year, CMS ivory tower is hoping these better students, because they were the serious students and parents, will give an artifical bump in urban school performance they can claim is proof of their plan to keep spending the additional money in the urban schools. However, next year, 3 charter schools are approved to open in West Charlotte. And once again, these students and parents will exit these neighborhood schools.
2:13
Having attended a great magnet school, I'm a huge fan of models that work because I don't believe in a one-size-fits all public educational system. I also value the original mission of magnet schools which were mostly established around the country in the 1970's as an alternative to federally mandated forced busing laws in a effort to encourage peaceful, VOLUNTARY racial and socio-economic integration - which I believe benefits everyone. If you create something wonderful, people will come. However, I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea of adding additional magnets when many seem to lack a clearly distinctive curriculum while others struggle to fill vacancies and haven't proven to be all that successful. In the meantime, there are magnet schools in CMS that are good but not all that they could be. I also question the impact additional magnets will have on neighborhood schools with a history of chronic struggles. Anyone who's lived in Charlotte for any length of time knows there are some magnets that are used primarily as escape routes from undesirable neighborhood schools which, common sense suggests, only adds to and complicates the problem. Also, just because one magnet program is successful in one place doesn't mean it can be replicated just anywhere else. Where a magnet school is located is crucial to it's success.
My 33 cents
Alicia Durand
Alicia, CMS definitely closed Davidson IB, and I suspect most would say that even though there's a 300-student IB magnet at Alexander it's not the same thing. But where are you getting Barringer being double-dead killed? It had 300 kids placed in the TD magnet this year (with a wait list). The neighborhood component affects the school's overall stats, but I still hear from people who think highly of Barringer's TD magnet.
...and anyone who lived 90 miles down the road in Columbia, SC knows that during busing, Richland School District 1, the urban district, didn't care about magnets.
All they cared about was race and getting as many white kids in the prior "seperate but equal" black schools as possible.
It took my father retaining a lawyer to get me into the "magnet" I had signed up for prior to busing lines being drawn, which was in the high school I had originally been scheduled to attend.
It is the same "diversity-driving-guiding-principle" that continues to ruin public education and the reason why it will continue to fail.
Bill Stevens - there's no blueprint or template for successful public schools just like there's no template for a successful business.
One size does not fit all with educating students, nor does one size fit all for running a school district.
One thing is for sure, the blueprint for the past 40 years hasn't worked.
Time to implode the current model and build a new one...
Ann,
I stand corrected. Thanks.
Alicia
Rumor had it that Baringer was killed after the defunct "Choice Plan" fiasco. Why it isn't always a good thing to rely on rumors!
Alicia
Jeff,
I agree with your blueprint/template point which is why individual states - not the federal government or the Broad Foundation - should be the driving force in educational reform efforts. For better and for worse, it's why we have local school boards. I think a universal Common Core curriculum is a good thing but not at the expense of turning every teacher and classroom of kids into standardized widgets. Diversity in education should include diversity in educational approaches. On the bright side, CMS has adapted to changing student enrollment realities and made great strides in educational offerings outside of traditional school settings giving parents and students broader choices.
The proliferation of charter schools is interesting because it remains to be seen how they will ultimately affect CMS. We're in the middle of another great experiment. Some charter schools have proven highly successful. Other charter schools perform worse than their public school counterparts. Add additional magnets to the mix, and it's a lottery bonanza on steroids. On top of this, Charlotte has a plethora of private schools to choose from for parents who can afford to pay. I was standing in the middle of the rain forest once on another continent and met a family from Charlotte. The FIRST question they asked me was where my children went to school!
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Alicia - I agree with everything you wrote. Give states more control over their education and those that do it well will see an influx of families seeking good schools which will lead to economic growth.
advice to new Sup - start all schools between 7:30-9:00am. Increase the No transportation zone to .75 miles and insist that the buses are at over 50% capacity. What a waste of our $$, ridiculous 7:15 and 9:15 start times and buses still running all over town practically empty.
Yes to 6:55. Bring back vocational training and prepare our kids for the real world. My child does not need to take calculus and Latin 3. sorry, just stating the facts. and how about a prep class for all seniors on how to live in the real world, like cooking, cleaning, writing checks, resumes, using basic tools, etc... No joke.
8:14 - No that is called the Gorman Transportation plan and its working. They dont want crowded busses just like CATS ! Heck it would be cheaper to build lightrail to all the schools the way this CMS throws money around.
Anonymous 8:18 - your child absolutely needs calculus and Latin 3 because it teaches them how to think, ask questions and solve problems.
My calculus teacher was the best teacher I had. I don't use differential equations at all in my daily life, but the processes he taught us about solving problems I absolutely use every day.
But I agree that schools should also teach economic basics like compound interest, balancing checkbooks, simple interest and so on - but not at the expense of higher level classes.
Sorry Jeff but this is only public education. Too many special interests groups have co-opted it for their personal empire building. Basic public education is straight-forward. It has only become screwed up since special interests like diversity, social justice, etc. have tried to take control.
With all the problems CMS has, today's CO highlights:
a) 2 new football stadiums.
b) 2 of Heath's highest priorities are pre K and diversity.
Rediculous.
to Jeff - I took calculus in HS and it was a waste of my time. I did not pursue engineering or math careers. I think the point some posters are trying to make is that not every HS student needs to take these high level classes and that they might be better served taking classes with more "real life" applications.
VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS NOW
It will be a WRECKING BALL if Hair Morrison continues with the LaTarja diversity experiment.
I managed to complete graduate school without calculus or Latin. Granted, I'll never make as much money as someone with a MBA but being a banker was never my calling. Modern dance makes you think, ask questions and solve problems. For $36,000 a year, my son is currently taking calculus in college as a business major as well as tile making and a course about the finer nuances of NASCAR. He decided to skip the course about Woodstock. Next year, he'll travel on foreign exchange somewhere to "engage" himself with the world because it's important to know what kind of beer they drink in Spain.
I think vocational schools are a good thing.
Heath seems like a nice guy. He also understands Ericka E-S is his boss. Totally understandable, yet will reinforce why having E E-S and her black centric focus is so devastating to public education.
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