Free from state rules, two counties more innovative

By D. Aileen Dodd

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A group of international students who struggle with math scrawl division problems on their desktops in red marker as their teacher coaches and even praises them.

“It saves on paper, it erases — and the kids love it,” said Forsyth County fifth-grade teacher Mary Kay Buquoi, who works with students still learning English.

“Remember to borrow from your neighbor, Jose. ... I’m not going to be able to remind you about that on the benchmark Friday.”

In Gwinnett County, teacher Jennifer Craig recounts tales of the Pony Express and shares an advertisement from the era seeking “young, wiry fellows, not over 18‚ willing to risk death daily for $25 a week.” She engages each student in the lesson, pausing to answer questions. Craig’s class size is smaller than most private schools’ — down to five kids in the state’s largest school district.

Freedom from state mandates on education has allowed Gwinnett and Forsyth counties’ public schools to be more innovative. The districts are the first in Georgia to enter into contracts with the state under the Investing in Educational Excellence, or IE2, law affording them greater flexibility to ignore red tape and bypass restrictive rules in exchange for more accountability for student achievement.

Teachers, principals and parents are noticing an improvement. Ideas birthed by teachers that change how students learn are being approved and implemented faster by principals who no longer have to wait for feedback from their bosses.

“We are a school system that prides itself on being innovative,” Forsyth Superintendent Buster Evans said. “Our principals know what they need to do to make their schools most effective.”

Georgia’s IE2 legislation allows school systems to seek flexibility from rules regarding class size, teacher certification, seat time in class, teachers pay, duty-free lunch and graduation requirements, among other things. Schools can use this freedom to reallocate resources to help students meet or exceed state standards.

Every Georgia school district will have to decide by 2013 whether its to seek a flexibility contract.

Matt Cardoza, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, said several districts are discussing the possibilities of IE2, but only Fulton County Schools is in talks with the state.

The pioneer of the movement, Gwinnett County Public Schools, has received several inquiries from metro Atlanta school systems about how IE2 is working. “We have talked to a lot of other systems that are looking at what is best for them,” said Steven Flynt, Gwinnett’s chief academic officer.

In Gwinnett, local schools were given the authority to pick the area of flexibility they wanted and the weakness they wanted to improve first. Most schools chose class size as a flexibility so they could fit more students onto the roster by splitting them between classes. The savings from larger classes overall helped schools hire other staff they needed to allow some teachers to teach small groups.

At Meadowcreek Elementary, for example, fourth- and fifth-grade students receive science and social studies instruction from specialists focusing on the subjects. Flexibility has allowed the school to pick teachers to teach science and social studies full time in longer periods to improve the test scores and comprehension. Classes split in half for social studies and science.

Said Craig: “We can really get into it. The kids get it more. They enjoy coming in here with smaller numbers. It’s a great baby step for moving into the middle school mode.”

With half her classmates gone for science class, Ashley Agustin, 8, found it easier to focus on multiplication. “In a big class, a lot of people scream out,” she said.

Principal Kelli McCain said her teachers chose the method, the area of flexibility and got the buy-in from parents before she approved it. “My mantra is I don’t want to change for the sake of change, I want to change because it is the right thing to do,” McCain said. “Flexibility allows us to make decisions that are in the best interest of the child and not based upon red tape or guidelines we have to follow.”

In Forsyth, the district launched a massive campaign to include parents in the decision to apply for IE2, including asking them how their neighborhood schools should improve. Each school’s IE2 plan is posted on the district’s Web site. Schofield said the freedom afforded by IE2 in areas such as staffing and materials will help the district save $10 million to $15 million in five years.

While Gwinnett is moving slowly to implement IE2, Forsyth has jumped in with both feet.

At Mashburn Elementary, students in English for Speakers of Other Languages programs and the Early Intervention Program can receive both remedial help and language coaching in the same room because funding red tape has been cut.

At Riverwatch Middle, gifted students and those who nearly qualified for the program receive the same high-level instruction in an advanced language arts class. With flexibility, the principal was able to open up the gifted class to other students who got good grades in the subject and did well on national and state standardized tests. The same consideration was given for students in science.

“It’s more work and stuff, but I like it,” said Hunter McKernan, 13. “It’s like a high school class.”

At Forsyth Central High, because of seat time and graduation requirement flexibilities, some seniors have a shortened day. No longer required to fill a seven-period day, they take the classes necessary to graduate and leave when they’re done, which frees up more electives for underclassmen to select.

Principal Rudy Hampton said the improvement will help students get a jump on graduating and getting into college.