March 2, 2005: Co-chair Dorothy Horrell's Presentation to the School Board
DPS Commission on High School Reform
Presentation to the School Board
Dorothy Horrell, President of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation, Commission Co-chair
March 2, 2005
Thank you, Les and Lucia. On behalf of the Commission members and staff, I would first like to acknowledge the members of the school board and Dr. Wartgow for your courage and foresight in calling for a broad-based community group to make recommendations on what must change for Denver’s high schools to improve. It is never easy to open oneself or our efforts up to critique and potential criticism. We appreciate the encouragement and support we have received from you, numerous members of the district’s central staff, and especially the high school principals, teachers and students who welcomed us into their schools and classrooms.
Thank you for making a significant time commitment this afternoon. Here’s how we plan to use our time with you. In the next 30 or so minutes, I will summarize how the Commission went about our work; what we learned about the current state of Denver’s high schools; our vision for the future; the principles that underlie that vision; the strategies that must be put in place to achieve it; and a roadmap for moving forward. Following that, I will ask Commissioners for additional comments and perspectives and then we would like to have a dialogue with you about our recommendations and respond to your questions. If questions come to mind during my presentation, I’d ask that you make a note of them and bring them up during the later discussion.
Your charge to the Commission was to provide recommendations on how to increase student achievement, close the achievement gap, lower the dropout rate and increase graduation rates. You also asked for our recommendations on the use of the mill levy funds targeted for secondary school reform. Early on, we made several decisions that guided our work. First, we focused on high schools because the most serious problems exist there. While several states have established commissions focused on high school reform, few districts have and we believe Denver has the opportunity to be a leader in undertaking a district-wide approach to reform. Secondly, the Commission decided to concentrate on those issues over which the district and schools have direct control. While we recognize that societal factors affect student achievement, schools must not use those realities as excuses. We found schools across the country that serve high-impact students and that are achieving remarkable academic gains and our report includes what we learned about those schools. Third, we agreed to focus on the future and not be constrained by current budget and administrative realities. We believe resources must be redirected to accomplish this reform as the cost of not doing so far exceeds the pain of setting priorities and making hard decisions. We hope the action agenda we propose will help in that process.
The Commission took your charge seriously, and spent the last nine months listening and learning, investigating and deliberating, and finally discerning and articulating what we believe can make Denver’s public high schools the best educational choice for students and their families. Our work included monthly meetings plus a two-day retreat. During our meetings we discussed reform initiatives in Colorado and nationally and evaluated research, best practices, and data. Each Commissioner shadowed a student at one of the DPS high schools and we held a Student/Teacher Forum to hear their ideas about what should change. We convened representatives from nine nationally recognized high school reform models to learn what makes their schools successful. We met with experts in high school reform and spoke extensively with principals, parents, students, teachers and community members.
Any improvement effort must begin with a clear understanding of the current reality. We found many good things happening in all of our high schools and commend the District for undertaking some important initiatives to address student achievement, such as Literacy Studios and the Secondary Teaching and Learning Project.
The Commission found many people in the district, including teachers, principals, support staff, and district-level personnel, working hard and wanting to do what is best for students. However, the structure of most of our high schools is like a relic from the past. Imagine taking a bi-plane and strapping a jet engine on it. In spite of our efforts, it still won’t fly like a jet plane. Likewise, we can’t expect different results and Denver’s high schools will continue to fail far too many of our students until fundamental redesign occurs.
The statistics described in our report make it clear that income, language proficiency and ethnicity are currently strong predictors of low performance for both students and schools. Latino and African American students make up 72 percent of DPS high school population and represent most of the annual increase in enrollment over the past few years. Their success or failure directly affects the District’s success or failure.
We do not believe that CSAP scores should be the only indicator of student achievement. We also looked at the percentage of courses passed with a grade of C or better, performance on the Colorado ACT, enrollment in AP or college-level courses, attendance rates, numbers of suspensions and expulsions, and graduation rates. On every indicator, Latino, African American and American Indian students fare less well than white and Asian students, and schools with high percentages of low- income students perform at lower levels. One exception seems to be Middle College High School at the Career Education Center. These statistics are detailed in the Appendix of our report.
I might add here that we studied the variety of ways that graduation rates are calculated. While the percentages vary, the fact remains that no matter how they are calculated, it is clear that the graduation rate is too low and that is the case for every race and ethnicity. One of our recommendations supports the state’s efforts to use a unique student identifier so that individual student progress can be tracked and accurate, consistent information on dropout and graduation rates can be obtained.
Our analysis shows that English language proficiency is a significant factor in the performance of Latino students. We were struck by the fact that just under 11 percent of high schools students are in English Language Acquisition (ELA) programs, and found that this number masks the true number of students who are still learning English. We learned that it can take five years or longer to gain proficiency in English in order to compete academically with native English speakers, yet the court order mandates mainstreaming after three years. We also learned anecdotally that many English Language Learners drop out of school. How language is taught and the support provided to these students is critical if their performance is to improve.
We received a great deal of help in tracking down statistics from DPS staff, but the data exist in a variety of places, are not presented in a consistent format and cannot be traced to individual students or circumstances. Putting together profiles of individual schools took countless hours and what they tell us is incomplete. We strongly recommend that DPS develop a comprehensive, timely, user-friendly data system that allows for a better understanding of what is happening to each student and within each school. We also recommend that the assessment of each high school, which I’ll discuss later, dig deeper into the statistics.
All of what I’ve just shared underscores the need for fundamental and dramatic reform of the high school experience in DPS. We know that all young people need higher skills to be successful in an increasingly competitive economy. Economic analyses show that high school dropouts not only limit their lifetime earnings potential but also are more likely to need public assistance. The future health and vitality of our families, our communities, and our state require high schools to become places where all students achieve to high standards and develop the skills to be contributing members of our society. What we are recommending may appear on the surface to be common sense and not revolutionary. However, we believe that if you take our recommendations and implement them with a determined sense of purpose and unshakeable resolve that will bring about revolutionary change.
We believe the transformation must begin with a powerful vision, one that clarifies the aim and helps to guide the priorities, and unites and leverages the collective efforts of students, teachers, administrators and the broader community. We propose a new vision statement which states:
Denver’s public high schools will be the best educational choice for students and families. Every student who enters high school can and will graduate having mastered rigorous and relevant learning in an environment that fosters strong, positive relationships. All high schools will be of high quality.
We believe this vision is achievable. How can that happen? We found examples in Denver and elsewhere of successful schools. They share a laser-like focus on improving student achievement and they organize and focus their resources on achieving that goal. They keep students at the center of their work. They provide students with the support and guidance they need to be successful. They take responsibility for the success of their students. They set high, clear standards and break expectations into specific goals. They build the systems to support their goals and hold everyone accountable for results. They organize their schools so that strong, positive relationships exist among adults, between students and adults and among students. They have effective school leaders who set the tone and have the tools to foster success. Every proposed action is measured by the response to the question: how does this advance and support student learning?
Let me elaborate a bit on our vision. It suggests three legs of the stool that support student achievement: Rigor, Relevance and Relationships.
The first R--Rigor involves setting high expectations for every student. It means that when students graduate, they are ready for the real demands of college and the workplace. These high expectations must be translated into the district’s standards, assessments and graduation requirements. The Commission believes that the district’s graduation requirements should be based on mastering knowledge and skills rather than on completing Carnegie units, which are focused on seat time. Once a student can demonstrate proficiency in core competencies, he or she should be able to graduate whether that takes more or less than four years. While the State’s content standards and grade level expectations provide a good starting point for the majority of the subjects, the district should supplement them with standards that measure decision-making, critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Developing and adopting the standards should involve input from teachers and external stakeholders. The standards should be universal across the district and every school should be held accountable for achieving them.
It is not enough for the standards to be clearly spelled out. They must be incorporated into lessons and classroom instruction and assessments must be developed to assure that students are achieving them. Within each school, there should be common understandings of what constitutes proficiency and that should be reflected in consistent grading policies. Teacher evaluations should include the extent to which their students are proficient in meeting the standards.
There is a good deal of debate across the country and within the district about how much of the curriculum should be standardized across schools and how much should be left to the discretion of individual schools and teachers. One way to address this issue is to insist on common standards and assessments; provide curriculum guidance to schools describing the essential skills to be developed and the major themes and questions to be explored, and give teachers the flexibility to use materials, experiences and assignments that meet the needs of their students. The intent is not to have every teacher develop his or her own curricula, but rather to have the school collectively agree on the materials and instructional approaches to be used in concert with the school’s educational design and philosophy.
The Second R—Relevance means making school and classes meaningful to students and related to real-world experiences and expectations. Students are more apt to stay engaged when they understand how concepts and ideas apply to their everyday lives, interests and future plans. Learning should be both rigorous and relevant. Schools can create distinctive programs with unique themes or areas of emphasis such as the Denver School of the Arts or the Center for International Studies, which offers seven foreign languages and an emphasis on world citizenship. Students’ culture, traditions, heritage and historical experiences should be integrated into the curriculum. Other strategies to make learning relevant include involving students in special projects, internships, and community service; providing the opportunity to study subjects in-depth and choosing questions to research, or using interdisciplinary work to examine issues from multiple perspectives.
The Third R—Relationships deal with how people interact and treat each other. A critical component of creating positive relationships is creating a culture and environment in the schools and throughout the district that is safe, comfortable and characterized by a climate of trust, respect, caring and dialogue. High schools that foster strong, positive relationships among adults, between students and adults, and among students see a pay-off in learning, through increased attendance, decreased drop out rates, and fewer behavior problems. Students in schools and programs that build strong relationships feel that they are supported, know that they have someone to turn to in times of need and success, and develop the necessary understanding about how to succeed in school and prepare for their future. Adults, who work in organizations where relationships and trust are strong, find that there is less need for procedures, rules and policies, and issues of motivation, commitment and change take care of themselves. Providing advisors and mentors to each student, allowing sufficient time and resources for teachers to plan and work together, and giving teachers and students a meaningful voice in decision-making are some of the strategies included in our recommendations.
Our research found that the principles imbedded in these three R’s have resulted in significant improvements in academic achievement, by closing the achievement gap and increasing graduation rates in other schools and districts around the country. Figure 9 in our report details attributes for each of the three R’s and such a list could be used as a planning tool and checklist to help each school achieve the vision. While the concepts may be simple, they are not easily accomplished and require a systematic plan to bring about change. That brings me to our six strategies:
1. Treat students as individual learners. We know that each young person is a unique individual and learns in a unique way. The factory model of high schools allows many students to move anonymously through four years, selecting from a smorgasbord of classes, accumulating credits and if they are lucky, they proceed to graduation. Imagine instead an environment where each student is supported in assuming responsibility for his or her own learning; where each has an individualized plan of study that ensures a rigorous and relevant high school experience directly related to their higher education and career goals; where each has a significant relationship with at least one adult who connects with them on a regular basis, knows what is happening in their lives that may be impacting their attendance and performance and is able to help them navigate whatever issues might stand in the way of their success in high school.
2. Make every high school a high quality school. This is part of the vision we have proposed and suggests that it should be impossible for a student to make a bad choice in selecting a Denver public high school. What we discovered in our formal research of high quality schools was echoed when we visited with students at our Student/Teacher Forum. It is not rocket science and is achievable at every school. We include in our report a listing of what students say would improve their learning. We also analyzed what makes schools such as Denver School of the Arts and Middle College more successful than others in the district and include those lessons. We compiled strategies of what the research shows works for Latino and African American students. What is notable is the similarity between each of those two groups as well as the best practices of effective schools everywhere. A few of the common elements are: a clear vision and focus that guides the educational design of the school and is consistently reflected in the curriculum and assessments; students and staff both choose to be at the school; a focus on learning--for the students and the teachers; high quality instruction and support for teachers to improve; changing the rigid time structure and no longer being prisoners of the master schedule; and scaling the environment either through smaller schools or smaller learning communities to strengthen relationships and provide more personalized support.
3. Empower Principals with Authority, Responsibility and Accountability for School Operations and Student Success. The Commission believes that principals are the most important leaders in the system. It is within each school that the culture of success and achievement is nurtured, where positive relationships between adults and students are developed, and where the accountability for learning and student achievement resides. We believe that hiring, developing, retaining and rewarding high quality, effective principals must be a priority for the district. Principals must have the capacity to lead change and assume increased responsibility for the performance of their schools. To accomplish that, they must be given the authority and the responsibility to obtain and utilize the human and financial resources in ways that support them accomplishing the goals of the school. Principals should have the authority to hire and fire the teachers and other staff within the school, they should lead the planning that involves internal and external stakeholders to create the vision and design of the school, they should be evaluated on how well the school improves student achievement, closes the achievement gap, increases graduation rates and creates a culture that fosters strong, positive relationships. The stakes become very high and principals will need training and ongoing support to assume these responsibilities. And, their compensation should reward their success.
4. Engage Teachers as Full Partners in Achieving Educational Excellence. The one ingredient that is most likely to make a difference in student learning is the quality of teaching. All school reform efforts will end in disappointment if they do not fundamentally improve what happens in the classroom. Teaching must be dramatically changed and improved if we are to see improvements in student achievement. It starts with hiring highly qualified teachers with strong content knowledge and pedagogical skills. Teachers must receive on-going professional development that is based on best practices and is directed at improving instruction and classroom management. They should work in an environment in which they feel valued, respected and trusted. They should have the opportunity to help shape the philosophy and design of the school and provide input into the decisions that affect student learning. They need to be given time to work together to define common standards for what defines good work and have opportunities to learn from each other.
The Commission believes that the collaboration between the district and the DCTA that led to the development and piloting of ProComp should become the norm for that relationship. We recognize that the District/DCTA Agreement is currently being negotiated. We believe the Agreement must proactively promote high school reform. Every element of the Agreement should lead to increasing student achievement. This requires substantial changes in how issues such as hiring, transfers, working conditions, and responsibilities are addressed.
5. Offer Families and Students a Choice among High Quality High Schools that Reflect Students’ Learning Styles and Interests. Students in every neighborhood should have access to a variety of quality high school options that are able to attract students on the basis of their distinctiveness. As mentioned in an earlier strategy, every school must be high quality. Schools do not need to look alike but rather provide a choice of learning environment. That might come from being organized as K-12, 6-12, 9-12 or ungraded. It might involve a partnership with a college or university. It might focus on a theme or a unique learning philosophy. No matter the design, the school must assure that the students meet the district’s standards and reflect the attributes that define high quality schools. Concentrated efforts must be made to provide good information to all students and their families so they have adequate information on which to base their decision and have an equal opportunity for choice. Providing transportation must be part of the strategy to ensure that all students have access to the schools of their choice and that district policies foster integration. The development of these distinctive models may come from the redesign of existing comprehensive high schools, the opening of new schools in vacant facilities, or contracts that the district might issue for internal and external proposals. The process must be public and involve input and participation from the community’s stakeholders.
6. Create a New Role for the District and Reshape Its Relationship with Schools and the Community. High-performing schools require leadership and support from a high-performing district. Just as each school must align its structure, systems and programs to focus on student achievement, the district must align its operations to focus on supporting the work of the schools. Many studies suggest that districts organized for student success share similar characteristics. They set clear expectations for schools, but do not dictate how they should be operated. They create a collaborative environment within the district and with the community. They help develop the capacity of principals and teachers to increase student achievement. They build data systems to collect and interpret information that is used to inform decisions. They provide assistance to their own staff and to the schools in how to understand and apply the data. They allocate resources in a way that will maximize student achievement. They seek a balance between central control and school-based decision-making. They align operations on all levels around common goals and superior service. They build public support for reform.
Included in our recommendations for the District is that in concert with key public and private stakeholders, a "Denver Compact for High Performing High Schools" be created. This could be modeled on other Compacts such as Boston and Washington DC and would help design, support and monitor the implementation of a long-term plan for high school reform based on the Commission’s recommendations. I’ve talked earlier about the district’s role in hiring, developing, retaining, and compensating strong, effective principal leaders, We recommend that performance contracts be developed between the district and each principal that specify the results that are expected from the principal and the school, as well as the District’s obligations to the school. To assure that resources are directed to the places where they are needed the most, we suggest that the district evaluate the idea of a weighted student formula. Each student would be assigned a weighted dollar amount based on certain factors such as grade level, socio-economic status, language proficiency, or special education needs. When the student enrolls in a particular school, he or she would bring that funding to the school. Finally, we are concerned that the there be adequate resources to undertake the reforms we recommend. Analysis of how current funds are spent should be done to identify resources that can be redirected to support reform efforts. The priority should be on those investments that will result in improvements of student achievement.
I’ve tried to describe for you the principles and strategies we believe could result in dramatic change and improvement in Denver’s high schools if they are undertaken with vigor and a resolute sense of purpose. Our report includes an implementation plan and timeline that continues through the 2005-06 school year. We are fortunate that voters approved a $2 million annual mill levy to support changes in DPS secondary schools. We recommend that many of the activities be started with those funds and expect that once the community begins to sense the possibilities, other resources will become available.
The roadmap we’ve outlined includes the underlying concept that the board and district will engage all stakeholders in conversation about the recommendations and their implementation. We recommend the first step be the creation of a template that outlines the standards and benchmarks for assessing student success and school quality based on the principles of rigor, relevance, and relationships. The standards should include both quantitative and qualitative indicators that are detailed in our report. Each school would use the template to assess how well it is meeting the standards and benchmarks and the effectiveness of any current reform strategies they have undertaken. In concert with their students, parents, and community members, each school would develop a plan that achieves the district’s standards and benchmarks and allows for innovation and creativity in the educational design, philosophy, and structure of their school. Resources should be available for outside assistance and support in the development of the plans. We suggest that priority be given to schools with low levels of student achievement. This template could also be used to evaluate proposals for new schools.
We recommend that each principal be evaluated on his or her capacity to lead change and assume increasing responsibility for his or her school. Performance contracts should then be created between the district and each principal that outlines expected results and ensures accountability.
Other steps that I’ve mentioned previously include the importance of the District/DCTA agreement supporting these recommendations and creating the Denver Compact for High Performing High Schools. Additional action steps are described in the report.
I will conclude by saying that what the Commission is recommending is ambitious, yet achievable. The District and the Superintendent must take the lead but the entire community must make a commitment to do our part to help transform Denver’s high schools so that they become the best educational choice for students and their families. We believe this community can achieve what few others have, a district in which all students achieve to high standards and are well prepared for success in higher education and the work force. This requires a change in culture and a change of will. We appreciate the opportunity you have given us to assist you. We are excited about the work we have done and can’t wait for you to get started; there is not a moment to lose!
At this time I’d like to ask Commissioners to add comments or additional thoughts and then we’ll move to the discussion.