Beacon school turnaround initiative faces early test

There's a reason Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has been careful to call the University of Virginia its intended partner for the initiative it unveiled earlier this month to turn around 14 struggling schools: The university still might decide it doesn't think the project is worthwhile.

Superintendent Heath Morrison laid out the concept for the Beacon initiative at a school board meeting two weeks ago. It calls on a partner to work with CMS to do a deep analysis of the needs of the 14 underperforming schools, and then lay the groundwork for a lasting recovery. The district said they planned to work with UVa., but said the contract was not finalized. The next day, CMS said it will cost $600,000 a year over three years.

It didn't quite add up for me until I talked about it with Denise Watts, the zone superintendent for Project LIFT. In that role, she has some experience with UVa. Principals at Project LIFT schools get leadership training through the university, and were up there just a few weeks ago. Their school turnaround program is a combination of resources from the business school and college of education, and has worked with districts in 16 states since 2003.

But Watts said that the university won't commit to helping a school district until it's convinced that doing so would be worth their while.

"They want to see some willingness to change," Watts said.

Leaders of the UVa. program are expected to be in Charlotte in early September to interview CMS administrators to make sure they'll be a good fit. They'll quickly make their decision, and then set to work.

It's unclear what the fall-back plan is should the UVa. partnership not go through, which is probably unlikely. Beacon is dependent on having an outside partner, but CMS did cast a pretty wide net when it started looking for one earlier this year.

Salaries and opportunities: A wrap-up

When I reported on Superintendent Heath Morrison's new administrative appointments Tuesday night,  Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools didn't have salary information available for the new jobs in central administration.

They are:  $160,000 a year for Chief Academic Officer Brian Schultz;  $126,900 for Akeshia Craven-Howell,  assistant superintendent of school options,  innovation and design;  and $111,000 for Michele Mason,  executive director of leadership.  They join two new zone superintendents Morrison added earlier this month,  as he revamps administration to provide better support for schools.

Following up on Wednesday's post about Opportunity Culture in Project LIFT,  the consultants from Public Impact who are leading that effort sent me a link to their own blog projecting the benefits for 31 schools around the nation that piloted Opportunity Culture jobs last year.  That would include the four in CMS' Project LIFT.

You might wonder how these numbers can be so striking  --  for instance,  $290,000 to $900,000 per teacher in additional lifetime pay  --   when Project LIFT Zone Superintendent Denise Watts says the jobs are changing and evolving so much that it's hard to nail down local specifics.  The Public Impact report takes 2013-14 data and extrapolates on the assumption that all schools  "implement their models fully over three years."  Watts' report indicates it may be tough to forecast what will happen in those three years.  After Tuesday night's meeting, she checked on the status of the 19 who took opportunity culture jobs last year. Ten will continue in those jobs,  five will be in different opportunity culture jobs,  three lost those jobs when their schools redesigned the plans and one retired.

Stam

Finally,  the bill that would clarify beyond question that charter school salaries are subject to public disclosure is supposed to get a final House vote today.  Who would have guessed it would generate a report on incest and pedophilia from Rep. Paul Stam?

Meanwhile,  the two Charlotte holdouts to the Observer's salary request have said they'll provide the information.  Sugar Creek has already sent their full list and Lincoln Charter's director says that school's is coming soon.  We'll update the charter school database as soon as Lincoln's information arrives.  I asked both school leaders how much they paid lawyer Richard Vinroot to fight disclosure;  both said they have yet to receive the bill.

Update:  Salaries for nine districts surrounding Mecklenburg County went online today.  Thanks to database reporter Gavin Off for rounding up that information.

Opportunity Culture still evolving in Project LIFT

Opportunity Culture jobs may be the hot thing for Gov. Pat McCrory and the N.C. House, but in the Project LIFT schools that pioneered them they're still a work in progress.

Zone Superintendent Denise Watts talked about the quest to create higher paying jobs for great classroom teachers as part of a Project LIFT update to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board Tuesday.  A couple of things are clear,  she said during the presentation and in a conversation afterward:  The jobs continue to attract a lot of interest,  and they can be effective in retaining the best teachers.

Watts

Watts said her office got 800 applications for a small number of jobs at five schools in 2014-15.  It was interesting to see how those numbers broke down,  though:  140 of them passed an initial screening and 65  "elite candidates"  got through three interviews and a data review.  So far 27 have been hired,  her report said,  joining nine who remain from 2013-14.

So how many does that leave still to hire?  Well,  that's where things get murky.  Watts said everything from enrollment projections for her nine schools to the General Assembly's decision on teacher assistants will shape the number of jobs available.  Why assistants?  Because some schools have used assistant positions to bolster pay for teachers taking on extra duties,  so if the legislature eliminates those posts it could become more difficult to make the new jobs work.

Bertrand

When I asked about the teachers who took on the first jobs in 2013-14,  coaching colleagues and/or using technology to reach more students,  Watts hesitated again.  Even during that first year,  she said,  some principals redefined jobs.  And some teachers sought changes.  Watts cited the example of Ranson Middle School math teacher Romain Bertrand,  who took on the responsibility for supervising math instruction in two grade levels,  with about 800 students.  She said he asked to cut back to one grade level in 2014-15,  even though it means a pay reduction,  in hopes of being more effective.

The ultimate question  --  Did those teachers boost student success?  --  has yet to be analyzed.  But Watts said that while the opportunity culture approach may not be proven yet,  the change doesn't mean it's failing.  In fact,  she urged West Charlotte to create some opportunity culture jobs for the coming year in hopes of keeping some academic standouts who were being recruited elsewhere.

The Project LIFT schools will join with 17 more CMS schools in continuing to work on the system next year.  Cabarrus County schools has also signed on with the Public Impact,  the Chapel Hill firm leading the national experiment,  to launch the opportunity culture in 10 schools next year.

And if plans in the governor's and House budgets prevail,  more counties will get state money to start their own pilots over the next couple of years.

Watts said she thinks the additional ventures would be a good thing:  "I don't think it will be a perfected model until we do it a few times."

Charters, tenure, testing and Project LIFT

It's a good week to learn more about education, with an array of public meetings and forums taking place.

At 3 p.m. Tuesday,  Mecklenburg County commissioners will hear a presentation from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools about the county money that's passed along to charter schools.  Some commissioners want to know more about how that money is being spent and whether they can exercise any control.  As required by law,  CMS is passing along about $25 million from this year's $356.5 million allocation to cover costs for almost 11,000 Mecklenburg students enrolled in charters.  With 11 new charters opening in the Charlotte area in 2014-15,  CMS projects it will take another $7.5 million to cover almost 2,300 more charter students.

Pine Lake Prep in Iredell County serves Mecklenburg students

The special commissioners' meeting,  in room CH-14 of the Government Center,  is open to the public.

At 6 p.m. Tuesday,  the CMS board will vote on its version of the controversial  "25 percent plan" to phase out tenure (details of the CMS plan have not yet been released)  and the district's 2014 legislative agenda.  The agenda also includes a report on academic achievement at the Project LIFT schools. That meeting,  in Room 267 of the Government Center, is also open and streamed online.

Cobitz

At noon Wednesday,  Wingate University Ballantyne kicks off a "lunch and learn"  series with assistant professor Chris Cobitz talking about  "What's all this testing in schools about?"  Cobitz is a former testing official with CMS and N.C. Department of Public Instruction.  Bring your own lunch and attend the session at Suite 150 in the Harris Building, 13024 Ballantyne Corporate Place.  (It'll be like Throwback Wednesday if I can make it; I worked extensively with Cobitz and Lloyd Wimberley,  director of the graduate school of education, when they were with CMS.)

Stuckenberg

As they say in the late-night infomercials ... but wait!  There's more!  You can cap off this education marathon by hoisting a mug at  6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Heist Brewery in NoDa,  where there's a  "Policy and Pints"  session scheduled.  Just keeping up with new education advocacy groups these days is a challenge:  This one is sponsored by N.C. Policy Bridge,  a  "grassroots and top roots"  organization trying to get teachers more engaged in public policy discussion.  Kayti Stuckenberg,  a CMS middle school teacher,  is one of the organizers.  Adam Rhew of MeckEd,  which is helping promote the meetings,  says the core group is young teachers associated with Teach For America.  To attend,  RSVP here.

Update: Just found out CMS lawyer Jonathan Sink and CMS administrators will also be at the Tuesday Breakfast Forum this week  (8:30 a.m. at the West Charlotte Rec Center) speaking about the state's charter school law and the district's desire to have similar flexibility.

Project LIFT site: Hello flash, goodbye substance

While finishing a weekend story,  I added a link to the Project LIFT web site.

I routinely link to groups mentioned in articles,  but in this case,  I cringed.

Once upon a time, that site was rich with information.  It described the emergence of a philanthropic group seeking school improvements, detailed the data they used to target West Charlotte High and its feeders,  reported on big donors and outlined how the group planned to spend its money and measure success.  The contract with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools giving the private donor board unique power to help operate public schools was there as well.

Then the site got a makeover.  It is,  as you can see at a glance,  "Bold.  Innovative.  Unconventional."

It's also almost entirely free of substance.

The closest thing I found to any kind of detail about what LIFT is doing was an infographic on first-year milestones.

You can see scrolling logos of big supporters,  but nothing about how much they're kicking in or why they're doing it.  There are catchy branding slogans like "Are you #READY2LIFT?" and   "Our approach to education:  (LIFT) 5 = 90³."  But if you want any details about what that means, too bad.  How are they spending money?  How are they scrutinizing results?  Who's on the board that helps run public schools?  Not there.

I should note that Project LIFT staff have consistently been helpful about answering my questions. So I asked what had happened to all the great information that used to be available to the public at a click.

Community engagement coordinator Denada Jackson said the new site was designed to be  "for all visitors and fast.  Those docs slow it down."

Hmm.  I'm no web designer,  I'm pretty sure all the moving visuals on the new site are more taxing than a few links to PDFs.

Jackson promptly sent me all the documents that I asked for.  But I still wondered:  About two years into the five-year project,  am I the only one who still wants details?  Has the public stopped asking?

"No, I get inquiries weekly from a myriad of people,"  said Denise Watts, executive director and Project LIFT zone superintendent.  She said she's going to  "determine the capacity for the website."

These are the folks who drew national attention for finding a way to link big-money private donors with the power of a large public school district.  Here's hoping they can also find a way to wed style and substance.

CMS gears up teacher recruiting

Want to teach in a place with great weather,  exciting roller coasters and Swedish meatballs?  Then you might want to get in touch with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools,  which is recruiting for current vacancies and the 2014-15 school year.

CMS recruiters have already visited Pennsylvania, New Mexico, New York, Illinois, Michigan and Virginia,  as well as events in the Carolinas,  according to a recent report to the school board.  And the district has created an  "I Am CMS"  marketing campaign that includes fliers,  postcards and such attention-getters as  "I am 'mint' to work for CMS" candies.

The postcard highlights such quality-of-life factors as sports, Carowinds amusement park,  EpiCentre nightlife and the chance to shop for furniture and eat meatballs at IKEA.

On a more serious front,  CMS is hoping the expansion of highly paid  "opportunity culture"  jobs for classroom teachers will help lure top teachers from around the country.  Starting next year,  17 more schools will offer opportunities for their best teachers to take on expanded duties working with other teachers and more students.  Details will vary by school,  but the four-school Project LIFT debut this year offers supplements up to $23,000 a year.

If you want to read more about that program from someone who's in the thick of it,  check out this blog by Ranson Middle School math teacher Romain Bertrand,  who holds one of the new jobs leading multiple classrooms.

Bertrand

"For years, a sad reality has been hurting our educational system, at least here in North Carolina:  If you are good at teaching and you truly enjoy it, the only way for you to expand your impact and advance in your career is to … leave the very same classroom where you currently excel,"  Bertrand writes.  "This paradox has become a dirty little secret that we all whisper:  At one point, I am going to have to leave the classroom."

Bertrand explains how his new job offers a way to work around that paradox  --  without having to move into a  "facilitator"  or administrative job that keeps him from regular contact with kids.

Even as Superintendent Heath Morrison celebrated the Belk Foundation grant to expand the opportunity culture program,  he cautioned it's not the sole solution for enticing great teachers to CMS. North Carolina's low pay scale threatens to undermine the best efforts,  he said:  "We can't be $10,000 below the national average and think the opportunity culture is going to solve that."  Morrison is among many voices calling for a sustained statewide effort to make teaching a higher paid, better respected profession in North Caroilna.

Walk in, walk out or neither?

The Nov. 4 date for a N.C. teacher walk-out and/or community walk-ins to support public education is near. So what's going to happen?

I'm not getting any sense that there will be a big wave of "blue flu"  (or whatever the educational equivalent might be),  let alone an actual walk-out.  As I've written before,  it's risky business for teachers to take such a step,  and a lot of them are as unwilling to deprive their kids of classroom time as they are eager to make a point about pay and working conditions.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools decided not to join Iredell-Statesville in holding a districtwide  "walk-in"  to show support for educators.  CMS will hold educator appreciation events later this month,  while letting individual schools decide whether to mark Nov. 4,  spokeswoman Tahira Stalberte said.

I've heard that parents at Elizabeth Lane Elementary in Matthews are planning a festive welcome and breakfast for their teachers on Monday,  and that Ranson Middle School,  the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators and Project LIFT are planning events at the north Charlotte school.  And I'm guessing plenty of people will go with a  "wear red for public ed"  show of support.

Update: Teachers at Northwest School of the Arts are planning a day of silence. "Teachers will still be at school and will perform their duties, but they will do it without a voice,"  says a post on a Northwest protest Facebook page.  "On Monday many teachers will be using worksheet packets to help students review. They hope to show the public that (1) their voices are not being heard, (2) classrooms will be silent when the teachers leave the profession, and (3) we must support our highly qualified teachers."  The teachers are also asking parents and other supporters to join them outside the school before and after school hours  "to show support and unity."

Another update:  My colleague Tim Funk just shared a statement from the offices of N.C. Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and Sen. Neal Hunt calling on state Attorney General Roy Cooper to  "protect our children's safety" during this  "planned teachers strike."

The Berger/Hunt statement says that  "the North Carolina affiliate of the national teachers’ union has stated on record they  'affirm the desire, and right, of educators to use tactics like a walk-out or strike' – a clear violation of North Carolina law."  The link leads to the N.C. Association of Educators site,  but with an  "Oops ... Page Not Found"  message.  Meanwhile,  the only thing I can find on the NCAE site is the statement they posted several weeks ago saying the group does not endorse the walkout.

What else are the rest of you hearing?

Project LIFT teachers: Absent more than students

Teachers in Project LIFT schools averaged 9.9 absences last year  --  a higher rate than the student average of 9.1 absences.

That was one of the most shocking bits of data in the first-year report on the $55 million five-year project  presented at Tuesday's board meeting.  But you won't find it in the presentation posted online,  and you didn't hear it discussed if you watched the meeting.  Instead,  you might have caught a quick reference to a paper handout distributed to board members.

I got a copy from Denise Watts, the Project LIFT Zone superintendent, after the meeting. It contains the actual data that's available so far to measure the results of the first year.  Many of the items are blank,  to be completed when 2013 test results are released or new parent surveys are completed.

The 71 percent graduation rate at West Charlotte High exceeded the 2013 goal of 66 percent.  This year's target is 78 percent.  And last year's students overwhelmingly topped the goal to earn a total of 100 recovered credits  (essentially makeup courses, often taken online).  They earned 301.

But teacher absences at the nine LIFT schools came in well above the 2012-13 target, which was to average six missed days per teacher.  Apparently based on last year's reality,  the 2013-14 goal has been bumped up to 7.9.  For students,  the goal is to bring the average down to 8.1 days this year.

Another bleak spot:  Students in the nine schools, which include the elementary and middle schools that feed into West Charlotte,  averaged 1.7 out-of-school suspension days per student.  That would equate to 170 per 100 students, using the calculation for  N.C. school report cards. That's similar to the rate reported for West Charlotte High in 2011-12  (176 per 100) and well above the rates reported that year for the  schools with younger students.  This year's goal is to bring the zone average down to one suspension per student.  (That doesn't mean each student gets suspended;  some students earn multiple suspensions and run up the total.)

Dads can be rock stars at school

It's easy to be cynical about absentee fathers,  but watching men come to school with their kids Monday morning was inspiring.

Jamison Smith with nephew and son

"You have to be in a child's life,  especially in school,"  said Rahim Nash,  who brought his 9-year-old son Arkivius to Allenbrook Elementary.  Nash said his own father never showed up at school,  but he wants things to different for his son.

"Both parents need to be involved,"  agreed Michael Strong,  who brought 7-year-old Donovon even though he knew he'd have to rush to get to work across town.

The  "Million Father March"  movement focuses on low-income minority communities,  where dads are more likely to be missing from the family and academic struggles are endemic. Project LIFT,  which made a big push to get men into schools on Monday,  serves that kind of community.

But I'm willing to bet schools from Cornelius to Ballantyne would like to see more dads in schools.  Women still tend to take the lead role in parenting and school volunteer work,  regardless of race or income.  And whether we like it or not,  that means men get extra attention from the kids when they show up to have lunch or read with a student.  A male presence at school sends a message  --  and it's a very different one than kids get from pop culture.

It can be tough for working parents,  male or female,  to break away during school hours.  But think of it this way:  Where else can you count on being looked up to,  literally and figuratively?

Anthony Gardner documents his daughter's first day

(These photos are shot by Jeff Siner; click here to see the Observer's "back to school" slide show.)

Calling dads for first day of school

Project LIFT hopes to join the Million Father March in a big way,  summoning fathers and male stand-ins to walk 7,500 students to school Monday morning.

The march is an effort led by the Chicago-based Black Star Project,  designed to boost academic achievement among African American and Latino students by getting fathers involved in their education. This won't be the first time local groups and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools parents have taken part, but LIFT has extra money and energy behind the push.

Parent engagement is a key part of the five-year, $55 million quest to turn around West Charlotte High and its eight feeder schools.  Those schools have high poverty levels and a large number of students being raised by single moms or grandmothers,  so Project LIFT is also recruiting local fraternities and members of Men Who Care Global and 100 Black Men of Charlotte to escort students on the first day.  While the first-day walk is symbolic,  the real goal is lasting involvement by fathers and male mentors.

LIFT staffer Christian Friend posted on the project blog about the impact of having a loving but distant father and losing him too early.  "For years I resented by father," he writes.  "I resented not having more time with him. I resented the lack of attention and emotion I got from my father. As I approach 40, I really appreciate my father.  ...  His work allowed him to provide a great life for my brother and I. More importantly than that, my father blessed me immensely because I did see him and I knew he loved me.

Click here to read more about the Project LIFT effort or to register.  Of course,  dads at any school can take part by showing up with their child on Monday  --  and staying involved afterward.

CarolinaCAN targets N.C. teacher pay, tenure

A national education-reform group is launching a North Carolina branch to push for changes in teacher pay, tenure and evaluations.

The N.C. Campaign for Achievement Now, or CarolinaCAN, is the seventh state spinoff from 50CAN, a national group trying to create like-minded organizations across the country. CarolinaCAN will formally debut today with an analysis of shortcomings in student achievement,  followed by a "Year of the Teacher" push for evaluations,  pay and layoffs to be linked to student results and other measures of effectiveness (find the issue brief at the CarolinaCAN web site above).

"Our state has an honored tradition of education leadership,"  the introduction says. "But there is so much more needed to support and leverage our great teachers. Three reforms will help us get there: improving our statewide teacher evaluation system, reforming the state’s outdated tenure and layoff systems, and creating meaningful rewards for excellence. This brief outlines the shortcomings of the current evaluation, tenure, layoff and compensation policies, and proposes reforms to re-position North Carolina as a national leader in teacher excellence."

Kowal

Julie Kowal,  a North Carolina native formerly with the education consulting firm Public Impact,  is the new group's executive director. Public Impact is working with the Charlotte-based Project LIFT to design new "opportunity culture" jobs that give highly effective classroom teachers higher pay for taking on more responsibility.

Figuring out how local this new group is takes some teasing out.  50CAN,  which originated in Connecticut,  has a plan to spend almost $7 million on education policy campaigns in the seven states (Rhode Island,  Minnesota,  Maryland,  New York,  Pennsylvania and New Jersey are the others).  That money comes from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,  the Walton Family Foundation and other major donors,  says Fiona Hoey,  the group's media and marketing director. So far the site lists no donors specific to North Carolina,  and the advisory board has yet to be named.

The CarolinaCAN site says the national group recruited "a group of independent, nonpartisan organizations dedicated to top-notch schooling to consider joining forces to help improve the education landscape" in North Carolina, with those organizations helping 50CAN  "and local partners" create CarolinaCAN and launch "The Year of the Teacher."  The N.C. founders,  in addition to Public Impact and Project LIFT, are  listed as KIPP charter schools in Charlotte and Gaston; the Charlotte office of New Leaders (recently joined by former CMS Chief Operating Officer Millard House);  Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina; and Teach For America offices in Charlotte and eastern North Carolina.. Teach For America President Matthew Kramer chairs the 50CAN board.

In other states,  including Minnesota and Rhode Island,  CAN political action groups have pumped money into state legislative and local school board campaigns.  Hoey says there's no plan for CarolinaCAN to get involved in this year's Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board race,  though she says she's not in a position to rule anything out for a group that's just getting off the ground.

Project LIFT, Freedom Schools split up

Last summer, Freedom School Partners helped launch Project LIFT by holding reading camps at eight schools that feed into West Charlotte High.

Students in Freedom School last summer

This summer the two groups have gone their separate ways.

For LIFT leaders, it's proof of what they said when they launched their school improvement quest:  If private donors are going to put up $55 million, educators must be ruthless about spending it on programs that demonstrate an academic payoff.

"It's a quality program,"  Denise Watts, Project LIFT Zone superintendent, said of Freedom Schools, "but not necessarily the program we need to accelerate student learning.  They are great, but just not for the content that we're working on now."

Freedom Schools,  a program created by the Children's Defense Fund,  offer students a focus on reading, self-confidence and cultural awareness.  Classes are taught by college interns.

Building Educated Leaders for Life, or BELL, also worked with Project LIFT kids last summer. That program,  taught by certified teachers,  offers sessions in literacy,  math and science.  At the end of last summer,  BELL had produced gains that could be measured on the exams given at the start and end of the session.

This summer four of the eight LIFT elementary and middle schools are bringing their students back in July,  using a year-round calendar to reduce academic losses during the long summer break. Project LIFT just announced that the Arts & Science Council has been chosen to provide free enrichment programs (focused on arts and sciences, naturally) during fall, winter, spring and summer breaks for those students.  Students from the other schools are getting BELL summer classes again.

For Freedom Schools,  the split with Project LIFT is a setback to a planned expansion in the Charlotte area. Last year there were 25 sites and 1,600 students across the county;  this year there are 19 sites and 1,200 kids.  Executive Director Mary Nell McPherson says the local group is back to building its program the way it always has,  working with churches,  universities,  schools and other groups willing to provide volunteers and financial support.  Five new host sites signed on this summer, she said.

Fresh eyes on public education

Until this summer,  I never associated urban education reform with Davidson College, a private liberal arts school on a tranquil suburban campus.  But the college's new education scholars program has placed summer interns in the thick of Charlotte's quest to turn around inner-city schools. 

Davidson education scholars at work

The eight undergraduates are working with key players, mentoring high school students and living uptown at Johnson C. Smith University's Mosaic Village.  Among the assignments:  Shadowing  Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Deputy Superintendent Ann Clark,  helping the public-private Project LIFT analyze data and plan strategy, working with support and advocacy groups ranging from Teach For America to Communities in Schools,  and connecting directly with schools,  including CMS' Billingsville Elementary and Sugar Creek Charter School.  The students have a range of career plans,  but all see themselves making a difference in education.

The real-life experience is bound to teach them things they'd never learn in a college classroom,  even from the best of professors.  Their views are likely to energize the groups they work with and broaden the public discussion.  Part of their assignment is to blog about what they're thinking and learning.  They've already weighed in on digital education,  discussed the frustrations imposed by web filters designed to protect kids and discovered that red tape can bog down well-intentioned projects.  And one of them has demonstrated video blogging skill that leaves  me in the dust  (not that that's hard to do).

I got to meet the scholars early on,  talking to them about CMS and blogging during their orientation.  They struck me as smart, energetic people who ask good questions.  I'm eager to read more about their summer.  Maybe in a few years we'll all get to see some of them in action.

Evaluating Project LIFT

The decision to revamp N.C. testing put a major kink in Project LIFT's plan to chart five years of academic trends at West Charlotte High and its eight feeder schools. Test scores from 2012,  which were supposed to form the baseline for measuring changes that started this year,  won't bear much relationship to results on new tests that will be evolving over the next couple of years.

Watts

In a report to the school board Tuesday,  Zone Superintendent Denise Watts outlined an evaluation plan that will be carried out by Research for Action,  a Philadelphia-based nonprofit.  The delay in 2013 test results means the first-year report won't come out until January.  While the change between 2012 and 2013 might not mean much,  the researchers will compare performance with similar  "comparison schools."  They'll also look at attendance, retention and behavior  --  measures that should have some continuity with past years.

For anyone who has missed it,  Project LIFT is a $55 million,  five-year investment from foundations that want to make a significant difference in long-struggling westside schools.  Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools created a groundbreaking public-private partnership that gives the private donor board a strong role in hiring, firing and other key educations decisions.

As you might imagine,  when you have groups such as the Bank of America Charitable Foundation,  the Leon Levine Foundation and the C.D. Spangler Foundation putting up $10 million each,  they want solid data on whether their money is making a difference.  And CMS leaders want answers about whether Project LIFT strategies,  from teacher recruitment efforts to year-round schools,  produce strong enough results to justify spending public money to expand them.

One year isn't nearly enough to prove the project a success or failure,  but it'll be interesting to see the tracking start.

CMS seeking boost from grants

As the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board prepares for a public hearing on the 2013-14 budget tonight, they'll also be signing off on grant requests that could bring in millions of extra dollars.

The big-ticket requests are for government money.  A School Improvement Grant request seeks up to $6 million a year for three years to improve academic performance at Byers and Druid Hills preK-8 schools and Hawthorne High.  According to the proposal,  all three are eligible for additional federal Title I money because they've been identified as persistently low performing.  Byers and Druid Hills have already been targeted for other CMS turnaround efforts,  including strategic staffing, conversion to K-8 schools and Project LIFT.  Hawthorne is currently an alternative school serving pregnant teens and students who have fallen behind in high school.  Superintendent Heath Morrison's budget proposal calls for converting it to a health-sciences magnet school,  with the grant money used to design the new program.

Another request seeks $1.8 million from the U.S. Department of Education to improve physical education opportunities at 30 elementary schools.

Smaller grant requests would help CMS extend digital devices and science/tech programs in schools.  Six requests to the Jimmie Johnson Foundation totaling almost $411,000 would buy iPads and otherwise improve technology at Barringer, Cornelius, Long Creek and Nations Ford elementary schools, Metro School for disabled students and Cochrane Academy,  a 6-12 school with a math-science focus.  The budget calls for creating an iMeck Academy at Cochrane,  with high school grades converting from neighborhood to magnet seats.

CMS is also seeking about $74,000 from the American Honda Foundation to create a summer STEAM camp at Piedmont Middle.

Details on the grant proposals are listed on the board agenda. Click here for details about speaking at the budget hearing  (tonight's meeting does not include public comments on other topics).

Recruiting tool for charters?

The surge in Charlotte-area charter schools means competition not only for students, but for teachers.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has long been trying to craft a new type of pay scale that would entice and keep talented instructors.  Project LIFT is taking the lead, rolling out new classroom leadership posts next year in four of the westside CMS schools it encompasses. Teachers tapped for those positions will earn up to $23,000 a year extra for continuing to teach while overseeing colleagues.

But one charter school director says the emphasis on testing in traditional public schools,  particularly as it is used to rate and pay teachers, gives her a better shot at recruiting faculty.

Warner

Joy Warner, executive director of the Community School of Davidson, told the audience at a recent MeckEd forum on charters that she created her school because she hates the testing craze. She said CMS schools in her part of the county have excellent teachers,  but they're hobbled by a system that puts far too much emphasis on test scores.  The push to create "value-added" ratings,  using students' year-to-year progress on those tests to calculate each teacher's effectiveness,  is "bad math,"  Warner told the group,  which included educators and advocates from a range of backgrounds.

"With the pendulum where it's going,  great teachers are going to fly out of the classroom,"  she predicted.

North Carolina's charters are required to give students the same state exams as other public schools,  and they get the same school ratings based on those scores.  Warner said she doesn't have a problem with that,  but believes those tests shouldn't be allowed to dominate the school year.

Unlike other public schools,  charters don't have to use the state's teacher pay scale.  That could mean higher pay,  though charters have to work with roughly the same public money that other schools get.  Warner said at her school the paycheck isn't the draw.  "I think every teacher deserves to make at least $60,000 a year,"  she said.  "We're at about half that."

Charters also aren't bound by tenure,  a move the state legislature is considering for all public schools.  "Great teachers don't need tenure,"  said Warner,  "and bad teachers don't deserve it."

Meanwhile,  CMS leaders say they're eager to work with the state on crafting better ways to evaluate and pay teachers.  The teachers who have been advising them are enthusiastic about creating classroom leadership jobs that bring extra pay for extra leadership and proven skills.  But Superintendent Heath Morrison and the board said part of the problem is that base pay in North Carolina is just too low.  Unless there's more money to work with,  some said,  performance pay and career ladders won't be enough.  Morrison said CMS will by lobbying for  "strategic compensation"  coupled with an overall pay hike.

That last part may be a tough sell to cost-conscious legislators.

Hattabaugh: Board members bullied teachers

A clash that started two weeks ago with a school board presentation on teacher effectiveness continues to roil Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools leadership.  Interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh, normally a mellow guy, sent a strongly worded memo to the board accusing two members of bullying faculty, "behavior so egregiously unfair that I cannot remain silent" (read it below).


During the Feb. 28 discussion of  "hard to staff schools," board member Richard McElrath peppered teachers with questions about that label.  Somali Davis-White, a teacher at Thomasboro Academy,  attended the meeting as part of a teacher study group that crafted the report.

Afterward,  McElrath and board member Joyce Waddell made unannounced visits to Thomasboro and other schools that are part of Project LIFT.  I talked to McElrath the afternoon of March 1 about some of his remarks at the meeting, and he told me he was visiting LIFT schools to ask principals and teachers about the philanthropic program and its support of segregated schools.  A few hours later,  Hattabaugh emailed board members about complaints he'd heard from the Thomasboro visit.

Hattabaugh's memo sparked a heated discussion of school board behavior last night,  one that's likely to continue at Friday's meeting on the superintendent search.  Today I got a copy of Hattabaugh's email to the board.


From: Hugh E. Hattabaugh
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2012 6:08 PM
To: Ericka Ellis-Stewart; Mary T. McCray; Eric C. Davis; Tom Tate; Richard McElrath; Joyce Waddell; Amelia Stinson-Wesley; Tim Morgan; Rhonda Lennon
Cc: George E. Battle
Subject: Action Required: Review of Board Policy Constituent Services

Dear Board members,

On Wednesday, two Board members visited Thomasboro Elementary.  They spoke with several teachers,  challenging the assertion put forth at Tuesday’s Board meeting that Thomasboro is a  “hard to staff”  school.  One Board member suggested that racism was a factor in that description of Thomasboro.  Both members asked questions but did not allow teachers to answer them,  talking over teachers and the principal as they tried to answer the questions they’d been asked.  The Board members spoke in a denigrating way about one of the teachers on a work team to her Thomasboro colleagues as they gathered for a meeting.  The work team’s discussion of the challenges facing the school was characterized as  “dirty laundry”  that should not be aired in public.  The Board members suggested to several teachers that they had been tricked or treated unfairly in matters of salary.  They spoke in a critical way about Project L.I.F.T. to several teachers and the principal.

All of these actions violate the Board’s own policy governing how Board members interact with staff and the public.  I have attached Policy BHE,  Constituent Services,  for your reference.  It states in part:  “Each Board member will avoid involvement in management activities or giving direction to staff  …  In making this commitment, Board members recognize that their involvement in management and administrative matters creates confusion among district employees,  leads to dysfunctional management systems,  undermines the authority of the Superintendent and the administration,  and weakens the Board…”

To this clear and unequivocal statement of why the two Board members’  actions on Wednesday were in violation of Board policy,  I would add the following:

What message has been sent to staff by these actions?  How can teachers avoid the conclusion that speaking up can lead to a visit from Board members who will bully and belittle them in front of their colleagues?  How will these actions affect teacher and staff morale?

What message does this send to the public about the Board’s role in governing CMS and its responsibility to work in the district’s best interests,  helping all students and schools?

What message does this send to potential superintendent candidates about Board governance and a clear division of duties between the superintendent and the Board?

What message does this send about transparency of district operations and equitable treatment of employees?

I recognize that my speaking out in this way puts me at some personal risk.  However,  the behavior reported to me by the staff at Thomasboro was so egregiously unfair to our teachers and staff that I cannot remain silent.  As the superintendent,  I ask that Board members please follow the policies that you have set.  We may disagree often about what the right choices are for CMS.  Such disagreement is expected and even healthy.  We are dealing with the future of children and all of us have great emotional investment in our work.  But we must remain civil and professional in our dealings with one another.  Open disrespect and abuse of the staff by Board members is wrong . It is damaging to CMS.  It can do very serious harm. Therefore I feel I would be remiss in my duty if I did not share with all of you my very serious concern about this matter.

Respectively,

Hugh E. Hattabaugh
Interim Superintendent
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Government Center
600 East 4th Street
Charlotte, NC 28202

Were LIFT school visits out of line?

After two Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board members made an unannounced tour of Project LIFT schools recently, colleague Rhonda Lennon says it's time for a public discussion of the proper way for board members to deal with CMS staff.

Lennon added the discussion to Tuesday night's agenda, with the support of members Eric Davis, Tim Morgan and Amelia Stinson-Wesley.  "We need to as a board address where the line is -- how do we behave in public, what we're supposed to be doing," Lennon said today.

On March 1,  board members Richard McElrath and Joyce Waddell visited schools in the new Project LIFT Zone, asking principals and teachers what they think of the effort to improve nine west Charlotte schools with private donations.  The board voted unanimously in January to approve a contract that gave the philanthropic board an unprecedented role in running those schools,  but McElrath said he still has questions and concerns.

“I’m just trying to get my head around the real focus of this program. I’m just confused about the long-term plan,”  McElrath said,  adding that he's especially concerned that it focuses on supporting  "segregated schools in segregated neighborhoods."

Lennon said board members have to realize that even if they're voicing personal concerns,  employees see them as the voice of authority.  She said the board needs to talk about a perennial question:  How to voice dissent without undermining board decisions.  "If we have a 9-0 vote, should someone be out in the community saying they don't support it?"

Preparing for LIFToff

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools'  new Project LIFT Zone officially opens on Feb. 27,  but Zone Superintendent Denise Watts reported to work this week.  The zone is the offspring of a union between CMS and Project LIFT,  designed to see what $55 million in private money can do to turn around nine struggling schools.

Yes, the earlier reports said eight schools.  That's the first news out of the new administrative office: Ashley Park PreK-8 School had been left off the list of schools that feed into West Charlotte High, so the new total is nine.

This kind of public-private partnership to run public schools is unique for CMS and rare in the nation, so the new zone (Project LIFT Zone is the official name) will be watched closely.   Here's what I've learned so far:

Watts will make $150,000 in her new job, with private money covering the cost (she was earning just under $135,000 a year when she left a similar position with CMS last summer to lead LIFT).  She's a CMS employee, reporting to Chief Academic Officer Ann Clark, but she'll also continue her fund-raising and partnership work with donors as executive director of LIFT.  CMS will hire an executive director (paid with public money) to handle the day-to-day oversight of the schools.

Christian Friend will also be a LIFT zone executive director,  with his $100,000 salary paid by private money.  Friend moves from the CMS accountability office  (where he earned $83,600) and will handle evaluation,  strategy and project management,  Watts said.  Part of the plan is that LIFT will require all groups that get grants to set aside 5 percent to cover the cost of independent third-party evaluation,  she said.  Donors want to be sure they've got a good handle on what's working and what's not.  Board members told the school board they expect some of their efforts to fail,  and it's important to be able to identify and replicate what's really working.

The LIFT Zone plans to have its offices in the Beatties Ford Road corridor,  amid the neighborhoods and schools the staff is working with.  But the building isn't available yet,  so for now the staff will work from the old Villa Heights Elementary,  along with the two central administrative zones that oversee CMS' high-poverty Title I schools.  Clark says CMS does not plan to relocate or reduce staff in those zones,  which currently have the nine LIFT schools on their roster.

The administrative mechanics will no doubt spark debate,  as people puzzle over an arrangement that gives private donors a previously unheard-of role in running public schools.  But the most intriguing part remains to come,  as we see what LIFT can do with schools, families and neighborhoods.

CMS board says 'I do' to Project LIFT

The leaders of Project LIFT are getting a warm reception from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board, as they describe the CMS/LIFT partnership as an effort that unites westside families and corporate leaders in a chance to transform struggling schools and neighborhoods.

"Let's just go.  I'm ready to go,"  said school board member Tom Tate,  who said he was skeptical when the contract was presented before today's board-to-board confab.

"I can't think of a better partner to get married to,"  said Eric Davis,  referring to board Chair Ericka Ellis-Stewart's comment yesterday comparing the unprecedented partnership to a marriage.  "I'm in.  I'm all in."


The $55 million,  five-year plan for eight westside schools includes new efforts to put top-notch teachers in every classroom,  summer programs and year-round school to keep kids from losing academic ground during breaks,  technology for students and homes,  and charter-like flexibility for all public schools.  The philanthropy group would hire a lobbyist to work with the state legislature,  and pay the salaries of three administrators who would oversee the schools  (CMS would pay for two more staffers in that office).

"You have 100 percent blessing from me,"  said Rhonda Lennon,  who said she wants to see this kind of support, innovation and flexibility extended to all schools.  "Whether they're from the peninsula or whether they're from the projects, every child deserves it,"  she said.

LIFT board members said they're following the lead of CMS officials,  especially Chief Academic Officer Ann Clark,  in everything from pushing for flexibility to pursuing specific partners and strategies.   "They directed us.  They guided us.  They got us excited,"  said co-chair Stick Williams of the Duke Energy Foundation.

CMS board Chair Ericka Ellis-Stewart said the private money is "adding some muscle mass to help us do the heavy lifting."

Denise Watts,  the former CMS administrator who recently became LIFT's executive director,  would head the effort as a CMS employee whose salary is paid by Project LIFT and who would also report to LIFT's board.  She said the eight schools were chosen because they are at the bottom on virtually all measures of academic success,  and because spreading the money to more schools would dilute it.  But she and others say if results come in,  donors will be eager to replicate what works.

"When this community has shown success,  the money has always followed,"  said Michael Marsicano of the Foundation for the Carolinas.  If West Charlotte,  which now graduates just over half its students in four years,  were to hit 90 percent graduation,  "I guarantee this community will find the money to spread it across the system."

The LIFT folks gave the school board a 45-page draft of the group's strategic plan, and the board is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a contract.

***

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board has reconvened for the second day of its retreat feeling optimistic, but knowing huge challenges lie ahead.  Members say yesterday's talks helped them get past some of the hard feelings generated in recent weeks.  Facilitator Mary Kendrick, who was unknown to many members before the session started,  got rave reviews from everyone.

On Friday,  the board unanimously and enthusiastically agreed they want the next superintendent to be a "change agent."  Today they faced the tougher question:  What does that mean?

"I'm still not convinced that there is a true commitment to a change agent,"  Tim Morgan said.  "Maybe everybody has a different view of what a change agent looks like."

Tom Tate agreed:  "What are the changes that we want?  Does change mean what we are doing right now we don't want to do anymore?"

"We use the same words to define so many different things," concurred Kendrick.


The audience at this morning's retreat is tiny but powerful: Stick Williams and Anna Spangler Nelson, co-chairs of Project LIFT; Michael Marsicano, head of the Foundation for the Carolinas; Dr. Ophelia Garmon-Brown, a LIFT board member who's also a leader in community health care; Denise Watts, a former CMS administrator who's now LIFT's executive director; and Howard Haworth, a former state Board of Education chairman who remains engaged in education advocacy.

Most of them are here for the most meaty item up today:  A proposed partnership between CMS and the philanthropic Project LIFT to run and revive eight westside schools. That discussion is about to begin.