Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
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The hard way to save a school
(New Omega Principal Tracy Ross )
In today’s DDN, I wrote about the Omega School of Excellence and its effort to totally “reconstitute” the troubled school, a radical approach that included letting all the teachers and administrators go and starting over this year with an entirely new staff.
This is one of the very rare examples anywhere in the country of a total reconstitution.
Last year I wrote about Dayton Public Schools’ use of this tactic. Dayton also took reconstitution seriously in the four cases where they’ve employed it, requiring all the school staff to reapply for their jobs and administrators restaffing the school picked only those teachers who were a good fit with the new philosophy of the reborn school and its new principal.
But in all cases Dayton placed at least some of those teachers back at the school, and sometimes close to half the staff returned. Even so, as I wrote last year, Dayton won accolades for going that far. No Child Left Behind encourages the use of reconstitution for schools that are persistently underperforming. But in most places around the country it’s looked more like “reconstitution lite,” sometimes with changes as mild as just a new principal. So Omega’s total overhaul is exceedingly rare, although it was made easier since the school is small and the teaching staff is only six.
Omega also is an interesting example of the challenges of starting a school from scratch, even with well intentioned and capable founders.
The school grew out of concern at Omega Baptist Church about the problems of middle school youth in Dayton. Church Pastor Daryl Ward and his wife Vanessa Oliver Ward, both ministers, were persuaded that they could help children most by creating a strong middle school option in the city with their own high expectations school. Originally, they pair thought to start a Christian school, but they quickly decided they’d be better off financially to go the charter route.
And Vanessa Ward originally sought out the most challenging school model around — the Knowledge is Power Program, or KIPP. KIPP today is one of the most celebrated new school models. Begun by two young teachers in Houston, KIPP aims to turnaround kids who fall behind with an intensive model. Kids go to school for nine hours a day and on Saturdays for a longer school year than other schools.
Unfortunately, as Ward says, Omega was about a year too soon for KIPP, which in 1999 was really not interested in expanding and had few materials to guide others in replicating the program. (BTW, this is why Dayton, the charter school capital of the country, doesn’t have a KIPP school, a question I’m often asked.) Ward tried anyway and at first with an ambitious KIPP-like program.
But it was hard to maintain. Over time, tight budgets and parent complaints led to cutbacks in Saturday sessions, school hours and other program elements. Then two years ago, as Ward was taken away frequently by family health concerns, the school began to slide into serious academic trouble.
The effort to save the school will be interesting to watch. It’s also the first example I know about of an organization primarily dedicated to reviving schools through reconstitution. That group, KIDS, is an equally ambitious expiriment, and one its founders hope can take its show on the road to other schools soon.
UPDATE: Omega’s revival hits a few bumps.
(Image credit: Jan Underwood, DDN)
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: Charter Schools and School Choice, My Favorite Posts, Urban School Issues
Comments
By dirk sniggler
July 25, 2006 1:34 AM | Link to this
Thank you Joe. Apparently Mr. Ruddick doesn’t know the meaning of “administrator” as opposed to school board members. Administrators are hired. Board members are elected by the public. Isn’t it more than ironic that someone so easily throws around the term “know-nothing” while demonstrating a lack of understanding of the word “administrator.”By Joe Lacey
July 24, 2006 8:32 PM | Link to this
Scott, anyone who wants to argue that the DPS central office has been reconstituted is not being very clear about what has happened since January, 2002. “Reconstitute” as it is used in current school admin law means to clean house, replacing everyone in one swoop. Some may stay but they would have to reapply. Dr. Mack was hired before Littlejohn was elected and promoted from Deputy Super after Dr. McGill left. Stan Lucas was hired to replace Penny Rucker who left because her husband was transferred. This was simply hiring and promoting replacements for random job openings, not some systematic clearing out the house and starting with all new faces. They also have brought in some CPA’s into the accounting staff but they still rely on outside help to do their own annual report. They don’t have the ability to do it in house apparently haven’t had it at least since Dr. Williams days.By Dave
July 24, 2006 12:37 PM | Link to this
Scott, I don’t necessarily believe press statements by politicians, but “When I was Houston’s superintendent of schools, it was my pleasure to work with KIPP founders Michael Feinberg and David Levin in creating the first KIPP school in the nation.” U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, October 1, 2001 (on Ed.gov site — news release that government was giving them $3.5 million). Of course, politicans and consultants wanting public money are both known to stretch the truth.By Mary
July 24, 2006 7:25 AM | Link to this
Scott, your articles in today’s paper were interesting about the new “video game” school. I hope this works for the students.By Scott Elliott
July 23, 2006 11:05 PM | Link to this
Dirk, some would argue the DPS central office HAS been reconstituted. Since Littlejohn & Co. came to power five years ago, we’ve seen a new superintendent and deputy superintendent, plus several other key top administrative posts also have turned over. Same with the treasurer and nearly the entire financial/accounting staff.By Scott Elliott
July 23, 2006 11:02 PM | Link to this
Well, nothing to fear, Dave. I believe KIPP’s founders initially expirimented with their approach while working for Teach for America in Houston but actually started their own school as a charter school when HISD declined to work with them (if I recall correctly). Even so, Houston is a fascinating place when it comes to education. Whether the many innovations begun there have proven to be good or bad is open to debate.By Dave
July 23, 2006 8:28 PM | Link to this
I am rather concerned by all the references I am seeing to Houston schools. Having lived there 15 years, I can assure you that most folks in Texas consider HISD to be one of the worst run districts in the nation, with an administrative “Taj Mahal” you wouldn’t believe. At one point, it was shown that over 20% of the administrators only had degrees from one diploma mill in California. It ranks very low on standardized tests, despite being the launch pad for Dr. Rod Paige and his “No Child Left Behind”. Please, DON’T use HISD as the source of any more innovative programs until they show they can run their own schools competently!By Oldprof
July 23, 2006 7:40 PM | Link to this
Well, well. Another know-nothing pipes up. Dirk, are you new to Dayton, or is your memory simply too short to recall what happened to most of the school board and superintendent who ran the system almost $20m in the red—or of the superintendent who wasn’t getting improvement fast enough? DPS has made progress, but it took decades of neglect to pull it down and it won’t be fixed overnight. You can be part of the solution by acknowledging progress and working for more—or you can continue sniping regardelss of the accuracy of your comments. It’s entirely up to you.By K W
July 23, 2006 2:32 PM | Link to this
Isn’t it hilarious. The newspaper supported vouchers and all kinds of other schools and funding to show public schools how to do it. Now we have another failed charter school and the story is how the principal was having personal problems and it’s okay, we’ll just try again with all that wonderful money donated and etc. and show those public schools, once again, how to do it. Doesn’t he DDN learn. Charter and all the other parochial and variations on public schools just don’t work unless they have hand-selected students, then we get the show about how wonderfully the public schools could do only if they worked as well as this one example.By dirk sniggler
July 23, 2006 10:39 AM | Link to this
Isn’t it funny that we never hear of any attempts to reconstitute the central administrative office of the Dayton Public Schools. Year after year, the staff in the Taj Mahal on Ludlow fail to meet expectations, yet year after year the same central administrators keep their jobs. Hypocrisy perhaps?