Early in his tenure, MCS deputy superintendent of academic operations Irving Hamer identified one overarching problem plaguing the district.
Yes, the district suffers from high poverty rates, low graduation rates, myriad student migration, and sluggish test scores, and Hamer's problem — students overage for their grade level — is either a cause or an effect for all of those things.
In August, Hamer told the school board that by 12th grade, 22 percent of the district's students — more than a fifth — are overage.
About 9,000 are held back during elementary school, 7,000 get held back in middle school, and 10,000 are held back during high school.
In January, the district plans to begin MCS Prep Academy, a program for students 14 years old and older who are at least one year overage for their grade. In its initial stages, the academy will take 200 students from each region of the district.
Those 800 students — registration will begin December 11th, I hear, but I don't know exactly how the students will be chosen — will have an extended school day, go to school 11 months out of the year, have individualized learning plans, and receive accelerated credit accumulation.
The district hopes to enlarge the program for the 2009-2010 school year.
Showing posts with label mcs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mcs. Show all posts
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Young Politicos
After bringing Newark, New Jersey, mayor Cory Booker to Memphis to speak, the Leadership Academy felt like it needed a special event to follow the energetic young mayor.
The result was one of the group's Celebrate What's Right luncheons, this one with a panel of "young politicos."
During the luncheon — held today at the FedEx Institute of Technology — city school board members Martavius Jones and Tomeka Hart, County Commissioner Wyatt Bunker, and City Council members Shea Flinn and Kemp Conrad (as of yesterday) talked about how they decided to run for office, what their youth brought to their respective bodies, and how people could get involved.
"The average age of your district nine reps, now that we got rid of Ol' Man [Scott] McCormick, is 33," Flinn joked.
Moderator Darrell Cobbins went through a list of what he called Memphis' "rich history of young leaders" — which, if we're to be honest, made me sort of think that it's time to get on the stick:
Harold Ford Senior first got elected when he was 29, Fred Smith founded FedEx when he was 27, Dick Hackett became mayor of Memphis when he was 33, and Henry Turley founded his company when he was 36.
The Leadership Academy also played clips of last month's luncheon with Booker.
But the most important message from the young leaders seemed to be about getting involved, whether on a board or commission or just by showing up at meetings. Jones, for instance, began his public service as a member of the the Memphis Alcohol Commission.
(I can also personally vouch that he was a faithful attendee of the school board meetings. He told the crowd he attended them because, at 5:30 p.m. on Mondays, they were most convenient than the County Commission's 1:30 p.m. Monday meetings or the City Council's 3:30 p.m. Tuesday meetings.)
"The power does not lie in the elected official. You're only one in 9 or one in 13. It's the people's government, " Hart said. "We gauge the public's reaction on something by the 100 people who show up at a meeting in a city of 600,000."
When asked what issues Memphis needs to move on, the responses centered around education, crime, taxes, and, what Hart called the "umbrella of the issues," poverty.
"More immediately is lowering the crime rate," Flinn said. "That will allow us to get more economic development. ... In a more abstract way, we need to look at who we are as a community. We need to look at consolidation. We need to look at how we see race."
The result was one of the group's Celebrate What's Right luncheons, this one with a panel of "young politicos."
During the luncheon — held today at the FedEx Institute of Technology — city school board members Martavius Jones and Tomeka Hart, County Commissioner Wyatt Bunker, and City Council members Shea Flinn and Kemp Conrad (as of yesterday) talked about how they decided to run for office, what their youth brought to their respective bodies, and how people could get involved.
"The average age of your district nine reps, now that we got rid of Ol' Man [Scott] McCormick, is 33," Flinn joked.
Moderator Darrell Cobbins went through a list of what he called Memphis' "rich history of young leaders" — which, if we're to be honest, made me sort of think that it's time to get on the stick:
Harold Ford Senior first got elected when he was 29, Fred Smith founded FedEx when he was 27, Dick Hackett became mayor of Memphis when he was 33, and Henry Turley founded his company when he was 36.
The Leadership Academy also played clips of last month's luncheon with Booker.
But the most important message from the young leaders seemed to be about getting involved, whether on a board or commission or just by showing up at meetings. Jones, for instance, began his public service as a member of the the Memphis Alcohol Commission.
(I can also personally vouch that he was a faithful attendee of the school board meetings. He told the crowd he attended them because, at 5:30 p.m. on Mondays, they were most convenient than the County Commission's 1:30 p.m. Monday meetings or the City Council's 3:30 p.m. Tuesday meetings.)
"The power does not lie in the elected official. You're only one in 9 or one in 13. It's the people's government, " Hart said. "We gauge the public's reaction on something by the 100 people who show up at a meeting in a city of 600,000."
When asked what issues Memphis needs to move on, the responses centered around education, crime, taxes, and, what Hart called the "umbrella of the issues," poverty.
"More immediately is lowering the crime rate," Flinn said. "That will allow us to get more economic development. ... In a more abstract way, we need to look at who we are as a community. We need to look at consolidation. We need to look at how we see race."
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
A Compromised Position
In the ongoing tussle over more than $57 million in city funding, the City Council's budget committee this morning approved a compromise.
Under the terms of the compromise, the city schools would give the city $57.5 million from its reserve fund. The city would then allocate that money back to the school system to meet a state maintenance of effort clause and save the city schools from staring down the gun barrel of a $423 million state funding cut in October.
"The ball will be in MCS' court to fund it," council attorney Allan Wade said. "If they do not fund it, it will be their choice to not fund it."
But when council member Barbara Swearengen Ware asked if the school system was in agreement with the compromise, there seemed to be some reluctance from the district.
"The $57.5 million would satisfy the maintenance of effort test," said Irving Hamer, the district's deputy superintendent of academic operations. "The amount under dispute is how much the district will send the city."
Hamer later said that the committee meeting was the first time he had seen the proposed resolution in writing and that "neither I nor my colleagues are in a position to say that we accept."
"I've read it enough to know it doesn't really solve our financial problem," Hamer concluded.
But committee members decided to go ahead and approve the resolution, sending it on to the full council.
"This will allow them to get their full $423 million from the state," Wade said. "It is not intended to solve every problem MCS has. That's what the lawsuit is about."
Under the terms of the compromise, the city schools would give the city $57.5 million from its reserve fund. The city would then allocate that money back to the school system to meet a state maintenance of effort clause and save the city schools from staring down the gun barrel of a $423 million state funding cut in October.
"The ball will be in MCS' court to fund it," council attorney Allan Wade said. "If they do not fund it, it will be their choice to not fund it."
But when council member Barbara Swearengen Ware asked if the school system was in agreement with the compromise, there seemed to be some reluctance from the district.
"The $57.5 million would satisfy the maintenance of effort test," said Irving Hamer, the district's deputy superintendent of academic operations. "The amount under dispute is how much the district will send the city."
Hamer later said that the committee meeting was the first time he had seen the proposed resolution in writing and that "neither I nor my colleagues are in a position to say that we accept."
"I've read it enough to know it doesn't really solve our financial problem," Hamer concluded.
But committee members decided to go ahead and approve the resolution, sending it on to the full council.
"This will allow them to get their full $423 million from the state," Wade said. "It is not intended to solve every problem MCS has. That's what the lawsuit is about."
Friday, August 15, 2008
MATA v. MCS
Usually I don't do this, but after I read Friday's story in the Commercial Appeal about MATA having a problem with unruly MCS students at its downtown hub, I was a little perplexed.
A MATA road supervisor apparently ordered several MCS students off a bus, saying they couldn't go to the North End terminal and would have to find an alternate route. MATA representatives had also sent a letter to area schools saying the MCS students were not allowed at the MATA terminal after school because of safety and security concerns.
I'm sympathetic to MATA and its more mature customers' concerns, to a point. Large groups of teenagers anywhere can become loud, unruly, rude, and intimidating.
But if you have a system that filters almost everybody through a central hub, that means teenage riders are going to be filtered through that central hub, too. If you have a system that concentrates people at a central destination, you have to expect that people will concentrate at a central destination.
And under MATA's system, the direct bus route is almost unheard of.
A short trip from Midtown to downtown often means a transfer at the downtown hub.
A trip from Germantown proper to Wolfchase Galleria mall sometimes means a transfer at the downtown hub.
So in my mind, MATA's partly to blame. I'm not saying that all the students are behaving themselves, or getting on the earliest bus they can, but my guess is the reason they're at the downtown terminal in the first place is because they're waiting for a bus.
(Why else would anyone want to go there?)
Not to mention that you can't bar a group of people from using a public service. Luckily MATA seems to realize this. In reporter Jody Callahan's story, MATA spokesperson Alison Burton was quoted as saying that MATA could not prohibit students from using the terminal.
Earlier this year, I collaborated with my colleague John Branston on a story about MATA and how it was handling the opportunity of rising fuel costs. You can read that story here.
But this latest information calls into question something that I continue to wonder about: Who does MATA's system work for?
It doesn't seem to work for people who have other means of transportation, but who might want to take public transit.
I had heard it was designed to get Memphis' working poor to their jobs, but that recently was called into question.
And it doesn't seem to work for students.
Who's left?
And before you answer MATA management, I've heard it doesn't work for them, either.
A MATA road supervisor apparently ordered several MCS students off a bus, saying they couldn't go to the North End terminal and would have to find an alternate route. MATA representatives had also sent a letter to area schools saying the MCS students were not allowed at the MATA terminal after school because of safety and security concerns.
I'm sympathetic to MATA and its more mature customers' concerns, to a point. Large groups of teenagers anywhere can become loud, unruly, rude, and intimidating.
But if you have a system that filters almost everybody through a central hub, that means teenage riders are going to be filtered through that central hub, too. If you have a system that concentrates people at a central destination, you have to expect that people will concentrate at a central destination.
And under MATA's system, the direct bus route is almost unheard of.
A short trip from Midtown to downtown often means a transfer at the downtown hub.
A trip from Germantown proper to Wolfchase Galleria mall sometimes means a transfer at the downtown hub.
So in my mind, MATA's partly to blame. I'm not saying that all the students are behaving themselves, or getting on the earliest bus they can, but my guess is the reason they're at the downtown terminal in the first place is because they're waiting for a bus.
(Why else would anyone want to go there?)
Not to mention that you can't bar a group of people from using a public service. Luckily MATA seems to realize this. In reporter Jody Callahan's story, MATA spokesperson Alison Burton was quoted as saying that MATA could not prohibit students from using the terminal.
Earlier this year, I collaborated with my colleague John Branston on a story about MATA and how it was handling the opportunity of rising fuel costs. You can read that story here.
But this latest information calls into question something that I continue to wonder about: Who does MATA's system work for?
It doesn't seem to work for people who have other means of transportation, but who might want to take public transit.
I had heard it was designed to get Memphis' working poor to their jobs, but that recently was called into question.
And it doesn't seem to work for students.
Who's left?
And before you answer MATA management, I've heard it doesn't work for them, either.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Age and Education
Memphis City Schools deputy superintendent of academic operations Irving Hamer calls 9,000 elementary students a "ticking bomb."
They are students who, during K-5, have already been held back by at least one grade.
"I can practically say categorically that these students do not graduate," Hamer told the MCS board at its most recent meeting.
Add to that the almost 7,000 students who get held back during middle school, and the almost 10,000 that get held back in high school, and the district is looking at 22 percent of its students being overage by the time they reach 12th grade.
Hamer, who arrived at the district 10 days ago, has a plan to recruit 2,000 college students to improve literacy among overage students. Once reading skills improve, the district would follow up with a summer reading clinic for those same students.
They didn't go into it last night, but I assume those same overage children also pose a challenge to school safety and security.
MCS might be looking at students who have been held back because of academic achievement but, across the nation, the age of children in schools has gotten older, mostly because they are starting school later. A recently released study by the National Bureau of Economic Research shows that 40 years ago, 96 percent of six-year-olds were in first grade or above. In 2005, only 84 percent of those children were in first grade or above.
Conventional wisdom tells parents to hold younger students back in kindergarten, especially if they are small for their age or are boys. Some schools, with a nod to high stakes testing, think the extra year gives students a better chance to meet federal benchmarks.
But that might not be the case. From the study's abstract:
"The relatively late start of boys in primary school explains a small but significant portion of the rising gender gaps in high school graduation and college completion. Increases in the age of legal school entry intensify socioeconomic differences in educational attainment, since lower-income children are at greater risk of dropping out of school when they reach the legal age of school exit."
They are students who, during K-5, have already been held back by at least one grade.
"I can practically say categorically that these students do not graduate," Hamer told the MCS board at its most recent meeting.
Add to that the almost 7,000 students who get held back during middle school, and the almost 10,000 that get held back in high school, and the district is looking at 22 percent of its students being overage by the time they reach 12th grade.
Hamer, who arrived at the district 10 days ago, has a plan to recruit 2,000 college students to improve literacy among overage students. Once reading skills improve, the district would follow up with a summer reading clinic for those same students.
They didn't go into it last night, but I assume those same overage children also pose a challenge to school safety and security.
MCS might be looking at students who have been held back because of academic achievement but, across the nation, the age of children in schools has gotten older, mostly because they are starting school later. A recently released study by the National Bureau of Economic Research shows that 40 years ago, 96 percent of six-year-olds were in first grade or above. In 2005, only 84 percent of those children were in first grade or above.
Conventional wisdom tells parents to hold younger students back in kindergarten, especially if they are small for their age or are boys. Some schools, with a nod to high stakes testing, think the extra year gives students a better chance to meet federal benchmarks.
But that might not be the case. From the study's abstract:
"The relatively late start of boys in primary school explains a small but significant portion of the rising gender gaps in high school graduation and college completion. Increases in the age of legal school entry intensify socioeconomic differences in educational attainment, since lower-income children are at greater risk of dropping out of school when they reach the legal age of school exit."
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
School Cynicism
When I first began working at the Flyer, I covered education. Basically, the woman I replaced as calendar editor liked that beat, and though I didn't have any particular affinity for educational issues, it seemed as good of a beat as any.
(In general, I think education is considered a good assignment for cub reporters. Most of the people you cover are educators so not only don't they mind answering dumb questions, they actually see it as part of their mission in life. The beat also will get your feet wet re: construction issues, budgets, data sets, and, if you're a lucky little reporter, scandal.)
It's been a while since I've really covered education in any depth, however. Since Janel Davis relocated to the D.C. area, I've considered John Branston our key education reporter.
Despite all that, I agreed to interview new Memphis City Schools superintendent Kriner Cash.
The resulting interview, weeks in the making (you have no idea! and I don't think it's fair to go into on the blog, but if you see me out and you want to hear an interesting story, I'll by more than happy to share), is currently up on the Flyer's website.
Once I actually got to talk to him, Cash was easy to talk to. But I have to say, I think a lot of the things he said sound very similar to what Carol Johnson said during her first interview with me. We're going to work hard, hold people accountable, change the perception of the school system, build coalitions ...
And while all those things still sound good, I guess I've gotten more cynical.
When I first started thinking of questions for the new superintendent, the one I kept coming back to was: Why would anyone want that job? (I'm not the only cynic. Most people I asked who weren't the superintendent had one answer — money.)
It seems to me that they're set up to fail, getting a hero's welcome the moment they step in the door (and, okay, maybe they deserve a hero's welcome for wanting to step in the door in the first place) and then we find out they're just as human, just as flawed, as everyone else.
I mean, we're talking about a billion dollar operating budget here.
I'm sure that Cash will work hard and build coalitions, but even with a public mandate, I'm not convinced it will make a difference.
And, obviously, I'm not sold on that changing perception thing, either.
But I'd be happy to be proven wrong.
(In general, I think education is considered a good assignment for cub reporters. Most of the people you cover are educators so not only don't they mind answering dumb questions, they actually see it as part of their mission in life. The beat also will get your feet wet re: construction issues, budgets, data sets, and, if you're a lucky little reporter, scandal.)
It's been a while since I've really covered education in any depth, however. Since Janel Davis relocated to the D.C. area, I've considered John Branston our key education reporter.
Despite all that, I agreed to interview new Memphis City Schools superintendent Kriner Cash.
The resulting interview, weeks in the making (you have no idea! and I don't think it's fair to go into on the blog, but if you see me out and you want to hear an interesting story, I'll by more than happy to share), is currently up on the Flyer's website.Once I actually got to talk to him, Cash was easy to talk to. But I have to say, I think a lot of the things he said sound very similar to what Carol Johnson said during her first interview with me. We're going to work hard, hold people accountable, change the perception of the school system, build coalitions ...
And while all those things still sound good, I guess I've gotten more cynical.
When I first started thinking of questions for the new superintendent, the one I kept coming back to was: Why would anyone want that job? (I'm not the only cynic. Most people I asked who weren't the superintendent had one answer — money.)
It seems to me that they're set up to fail, getting a hero's welcome the moment they step in the door (and, okay, maybe they deserve a hero's welcome for wanting to step in the door in the first place) and then we find out they're just as human, just as flawed, as everyone else.
I mean, we're talking about a billion dollar operating budget here.
I'm sure that Cash will work hard and build coalitions, but even with a public mandate, I'm not convinced it will make a difference.
And, obviously, I'm not sold on that changing perception thing, either.
But I'd be happy to be proven wrong.
Friday, July 18, 2008
School Suit
I've been at Chancery Court all morning for the hearing on the city funding cuts to MCS, and this won't come as a surprise to any of you legal eagles out there, but I ALWAYS forget how boring court is.
I'm pretty sure I caught at least two people sleeping (in fairness, maybe they were just resting their eyes) and the only thing that keeps me from nodding off is writing down everything anyone says.
Interestingly enough, there weren't any City Council members in attendance (save the gallery appearance of former member TaJuan Stout Mitchell) and lawyer Jay Bailey said he had sent a subpoena to council chair Scott McCormick at city hall, but that McCormick hadn't yet been served.
Council attorney Allan Wade said that Myron Lowery is supposed to be in attendance this afternoon and that seemed to appease Bailey (he needs a representative of the council there for appeal purposes, I believe. Don't quote me).
I guess we'll see.
I'm pretty sure I caught at least two people sleeping (in fairness, maybe they were just resting their eyes) and the only thing that keeps me from nodding off is writing down everything anyone says.
Interestingly enough, there weren't any City Council members in attendance (save the gallery appearance of former member TaJuan Stout Mitchell) and lawyer Jay Bailey said he had sent a subpoena to council chair Scott McCormick at city hall, but that McCormick hadn't yet been served.
Council attorney Allan Wade said that Myron Lowery is supposed to be in attendance this afternoon and that seemed to appease Bailey (he needs a representative of the council there for appeal purposes, I believe. Don't quote me).
I guess we'll see.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Rent subsidies for students?
A few years ago, the Memphis City Schools realized they had a problem with student migration.
The district regularly — and rightly — argues that it is challenged with educating a majority of students who come from low income families. These students might have fewer educational resources at home; they might not get enough sleep at night or enough to eat for breakfast; and they also might change schools at least once or twice a year.
All of which can contribute to lower test scores and, more importantly, stop children from learning.
Student turnover can be a serious problem, as students changing schools suffer a break in instruction. Students who haven't moved are also affected by a high turnover rate, as teachers have to take extra time with new kids.
(And in a city like Memphis where people ask "Where do you stay?" instead of "Where do you live?" it seems to betray a very transitory culture.)
MCS realized it couldn't stop families from moving around inside the city limits, but it could make its curriculum uniform district-wide so that children who did move in the middle of the year wouldn't miss anything.
But a Flint, Michigan, program is trying a very different solution. This from the NYT:
"In some of Flint’s elementary schools, half or more of the students change in the course of a school year — in one school it reached 75 percent in 2003. The moves are usually linked to low, unstable incomes, inadequate housing and chaotic lives, and the recent rash of foreclosures on landlords is adding to the problem, forcing renters from their homes. The resulting classroom turmoil led the State Department of Human Services to start an unusual experiment, paying some parents $100 a month in rent subsidies to help them stay put — a rare effort to address the damaging turnover directly."
Not only do students live in the same place for two years under the program, they also remain with the same teacher and classmates for all of second and third grade. And results from a 2004 group showed that third graders scored significantly higher on standardized tests.
The district regularly — and rightly — argues that it is challenged with educating a majority of students who come from low income families. These students might have fewer educational resources at home; they might not get enough sleep at night or enough to eat for breakfast; and they also might change schools at least once or twice a year.
All of which can contribute to lower test scores and, more importantly, stop children from learning.
Student turnover can be a serious problem, as students changing schools suffer a break in instruction. Students who haven't moved are also affected by a high turnover rate, as teachers have to take extra time with new kids.
(And in a city like Memphis where people ask "Where do you stay?" instead of "Where do you live?" it seems to betray a very transitory culture.)
MCS realized it couldn't stop families from moving around inside the city limits, but it could make its curriculum uniform district-wide so that children who did move in the middle of the year wouldn't miss anything.
But a Flint, Michigan, program is trying a very different solution. This from the NYT:
"In some of Flint’s elementary schools, half or more of the students change in the course of a school year — in one school it reached 75 percent in 2003. The moves are usually linked to low, unstable incomes, inadequate housing and chaotic lives, and the recent rash of foreclosures on landlords is adding to the problem, forcing renters from their homes. The resulting classroom turmoil led the State Department of Human Services to start an unusual experiment, paying some parents $100 a month in rent subsidies to help them stay put — a rare effort to address the damaging turnover directly."
Not only do students live in the same place for two years under the program, they also remain with the same teacher and classmates for all of second and third grade. And results from a 2004 group showed that third graders scored significantly higher on standardized tests.
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