Audio Schools on longest test-score slide look for turnaround (story audio) Photos Tron Jones Thandiwe Peebles Karon Cunningham Tools E-mail this page Print this page Sponsor

Schools on longest test-score slide look for turnaround
by Tim Pugmire, Minnesota Public Radio
April 19, 2005

Tron Jones, a third grade teacher at Lucy Laney school, helps two of his students with a reading assignment. (MPR Photo/Tim Pugmire)

Another round of statewide testing is underway in schools, and the stakes have never been higher. Last year, for the first time, eight Minnesota schools were identified for "corrective action" after missing testing goals four years in a row. Another year of poor performance moves those schools closer to restructuring. In Minneapolis, superintendent Thandiwe Peebles has been working closely with most of those schools to keep them from facing further sanctions.

Minneapolis, Minn. — Thandiwe Peebles became superintendent of Minneapolis schools last summer shortly before state officials released an updated list of under-performing schools. The list showed one St. Paul school, but seven Minneapolis schools, had reached the third phase of performance sanctions.

"In baseball, three strikes you're out," Peebles said. "That's the name of the game. Those are the rules. We're playing by the rules that have been set up. We have to play by the rules."

Peebles came to Minneapolis with a reputation for turning around failing schools in Cleveland and New York City. She quickly put her strategy to work in Minneapolis. Her corrective action plan for six schools included beefing up leadership training for principals and professional development sessions for teachers. She also upgraded the curriculum and required frequent testing to measure how students are doing.

"There had to be things missing in order for this school to be failing that long," Peebles said. "And if you've been around long enough as an experienced supervisor, you know exactly what those things are. And that's what we attacked."

Under the federal education law known as No Child Left Behind, schools that miss testing goals for two consecutive years must allow students to transfer. A third year requires after-school tutors. Schools that fall short four years in a row must implement corrective action plans. After five years, the schools face the possibility of reorganization, state-takeover or conversion to a charter school.

Lucy Laney Community School is one of the schools trying to avoid that fifth year of low test scores. In a third grade classroom, student Candacee Speed uses her journal to answer questions about a reading assignment. Teacher Tron Jones wants to know if his students can correctly identify a problem described in the story. Under the superintendent's plan, Jones and his colleagues took a different approach to reading this year as they prepared students for the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments, or MCAs.

"We gave them a lot more exposure with some practice MCAs tests from the past on a weekly basis," Jones said. "As well as these journals are also new this year, where they're required to write a reflection of their ability to comprehend what they've actually read on a particular story that particular week."

This north Minneapolis school has persistently fallen short on the reading and math tests in both third and fifth grade. Nearly 90 percent of the students live in poverty. There's also a lot of turnover each year among students and teachers. But first-year principal Karon Cunningham took comfort from her superintendent's support and assistance. She also grew increasingly optimistic about his year's tests.

"My message to the staff, from the beginning of the school year, is that this is a tough job," Cunningham said. "We have a tough, long road ahead of us. But it does not mean we can't make these gains. We can do it. We just have to think differently. We have to work together in a different way."

Schools throughout Minnesota will complete their year's reading and math tests by early next month. State education officials will use those scores to update the list of schools not making adequate yearly progress. They'll also determine if any of the eight corrective action schools move into the next phase of sanctions.