ONE-D Response from Mr. Tenbusch

Letters Turnaround teamwork can work for schools

The July 28 article regard­ing a school turnaround was disappointing in both its tone and content (“Redesign firms for Detroit schools get mixed grades”). It condemned the four companies selected to redesign low-performing high schools and described one of them as offering “no panacea.” Let’s set the record straight. There has never been, and never will be, a panacea in education.

Turnaround partners, such as the Institute for Student Achievement, have a clear track record in dramatically improving graduation rates and modestly improving achievement scores:

■ Overall, ISA schools maintain a lower than 2% dropout rate.
■ ISA schools demonstrate strong average attendance rates of 91%-93%.
■ Over 70% of students pass their math, English, social studies and science classes.
■ ISA partner schools average a graduation and college going rate higher than 85%.

The article referred to a report I authored (“Meeting the Turnaround Challenge”) that demonstrates the need for turnaround partners to work hand-in-hand with union and school leaders to dramatically alter the status quo in our re­gion’s failing high schools.

This is the focus of our work at the United Way for South­eastern Michigan — in part­nership with others, including union leadership and civic organizations such as the Skill­man Foundation and New Detroit.

We expect Detroit high schools Cody and Osborn, along with three suburban schools United Way is also funding, will ultimately achieve graduation rates higher than 80%.

I salute financial manager Robert Bobb’s commitment to applying best practices that other cities have done across the nation to their advantage.

I regret that the Detroit Free Press failed to provide bal­anced coverage on an issue so critical to our region’s future. Michael Tenbusch Vice president for educational preparedness, United Way for Southeastern Michigan

Many shameful years

I loved comments by Detroit Board of Education President Carla Scott about the school board drawing a line on provid­ing a substandard education to the children. What does she think has been happening in Detroit Public Schools for the past 30 years? The board should all resign in shame.

George Neack Brighton

UPDATE: One-D (Intermediaries)

Redesign firms for Detroit schools get mixed grades

By CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER

The four companies charged with redesigning 17 low-performing high schools in Detroit have spotty records turning around student achievement at other struggling schools they have been selected to help in the region and across the nation, studies show.

Robert Bobb, the emergency financial manager for Detroit Public Schools, maintains that the compa­nies have a “proven track record of raising student achievement.”

However, experts and a review of achievement data show modest gains in some cases and losses in others.

Heading off more criticism from parents and some school board mem­bers, DPS officials clarified the school redesign effort, saying the companies will not manage the schools, but rath­er assist the staff and provide train­ing, curriculum and security plan­ning.

“This is not a takeover,” said Bar­bara Byrd-Bennett, chief academic and accountability auditor for DPS.

If you go
The Detroit Board of Educa­tion is to meet Thursday to discuss plans to bar the emer­gency financial manager, Rob­ert Bobb, from hiring the four companies. The meeting is to begin at 5 p.m. and be followed by a 6 p.m. committee of the whole meeting that Bobb is expected to attend. The meetings are to be at the Detroit Public Schools Welcome Center, 3031 W. Grand Blvd.

Would these firms improve DPS?

By CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITER

The most well-known and criticized of the four companies selected this month to redesign 17 Detroit high schools is Edi­son Learning Inc., formerly the Edison Project founded in 1992 to manage charter schools. Edison managed Inkster Public Schools from 2000 to 2005. In 2005, MEAP scores at Inkster High fell in all but one category with the highest score at 40% of students passing the reading exam.

Those statistics highlight concerns about whether Edi­son Learning and three other consulting firms will be helpful in turning around performance at struggling schools.

The district also is vetting additional consultants to help redesign other low-performing schools, said spokesman Steve Wasko. Keith Johnson, president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, said hiring the four firms is a bad move. “They don’t have a track rec­ord of success behind them,” Johnson said.

Edison Learning, a New York-based for-profit company, is to consult at six of the schools; Ed Works, an Ohio-based non­profit, is to consult at five schools; the Institute for Stu­dent Achievement, a for-profit based in Lake Success, N.Y., is to consult at three schools and Model Secondary Schools Pro­ject, a small for-profit company in Bellevue, Wash., will work at three schools.

All but Edison specialize in creating small learning commu­nities in large high schools.

Hiring the consultants shows guts and inspires hope, but it is no guarantee, said Sha­rif Shakrani, codirector of the Education Policy Center at Michigan State University. “In some places, they have had success. In other places, they have not had very tangible success,” Shakrani said of the companies.

“The important question is, ‘What lessons have they learned…and how will they be able to apply that?’ ”

EDISONLEARNING INC.: The most well-known and contro­versial of the firms, the Edison Project, has been in the Phila­delphia School District where it manages 15 schools — down from 20 in 2002 because of low performance. Joseph Wise, chief education officer for Edison Learning, said its consulting work in eight Ha­waii high schools mirrors its plans for Detroit. After one year, the Edison students showed a 6.4% increase in math achievement while other stu­dents increased just 2%, said Mike Serpe, spokesman for Edi­son Learning. “We’re using Hawaii and Philadelphia as a framework for what to do and not do,” Wise said.

EDWORKS: Ed Works primarily creates small high schools through the Ohio High School Transformation Initiative as well as the Ohio Early College High School Network that al­lows students to graduate with associate’s degrees. Test scores at Ed Works schools vary, but graduation rates tend to rise. At DPS, the company is to help staff create personalized learning plans for each student, revamp curriculum and review expectations, a relationship that usually lasts about five years, said Executive Director Harold Brown. Dal Lawrence, past presi­dent of the Toledo Federation of Teachers, said Ed Works’ schools have resulted in good partnerships, but no panacea. “The jury’s still out,” he said.

INSTITUTE FOR STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT: ISA has been planning this fall’s launch of four small high schools within DPS’s Cody High and five in Os­born High with funding from the Greater Detroit Education Venture Fund. ISA has developed 80 small schools nationwide, often on a5­year contract, touting the small schools approach as more en­gaging with higher graduation and college-acceptance rates. ISA’s spokeswoman did not re­spond to requests for comment.

Michael Tenbusch, vice president of educational pre­paredness for United Way for Southeastern Michigan, au­thored the study “Meeting the Turnaround Challenge” last year, which reported that ISA will not work with a school un­less allowed to help select the principal. “ISA has a very effective model,” he said.

MODEL SECONDARY SCHOOLS PROJECT: MSSP developed the Detroit High School for Tech­nology, a small school located within Pershing High, with funds from the Gates Founda­tion. The graduation rate exceeds 96% each year, but standard­ized test scores lagged after the grant expired in 2005. This year, the 178-student school saw 4% of its students pass the Michigan Merit Exam in math and 24% in reading. Now MSSP expects a 3-year contract, but the kinds of pro­grams to be developed — tech­nology or health-related, for ex­ample — will be up to staff and parents, codirector Linda Kel­ler Mac Donald said. “It’s De­troit’s high school and it’s a De­troit decision how this gets or­ganized.” Shakrani of MSU said within a year DPS should know wheth­er the companies are worth­while based on factors such as ninth-grade retention and fail­ure rates and disciplinary sus­pensions.

REACH! (Detroit Childrens Museum Re-Imagined)

CAUSE AND EFFECT

DPS-TIMBUKTU Informal Regional Educational Initiative

21st Century Digital Learning Environments (UPDATE)

Elliot Soloway: Ed-Tech Classroom Climate from Education Week on Vimeo.