Head-of-the-class reformer

Atlanta schools Superintendent Beverly Hall peered over the shoulders of two fifth-graders working on computers.

She talked with the girls for a few minutes before going to another room at Beecher Hills Elementary. As she left, one girl said to the other: “She doesn’t look like a superintendent. She looks like she should bake cookies.”

At first glance, Hall resembles a spunky grandmother who wears bright colors and bold accessories. But she’s a tough-talking CEO hired in 1999 to turn around Atlanta’s failing public schools.

She’s succeeding.

When she arrived, fewer than half of the district’s fourth-graders passed state reading tests and fewer than one-third graduated on time. The latest results show that 86 percent of fourth-graders passed the test and 72 percent of the students graduated on time.

This turnaround has attracted national attention.

Hall was named the nation’s top superintendent Friday by the American Association of School Administrators, beating out superintendents from Indianapolis, Trussville, Ala., and Fayette County, Ky.

Atlanta, said the association’s executive director, is “a model of urban school reform.”

“Under her leadership, Atlanta Public Schools will be one of the first urban systems to fully reform its k-12 system,” said Sam Williams, president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. He said the schools, under Hall’s leadership, have made “incredible gains in graduation rates and test scores.” Hall’s supporters credit the gains to her business-style approach of running the state’s sixth-largest school district with about 49,000 students.

She required schools to implement academic reform programs. She replaced 89 percent of principals. She closed about 15 small schools and upgraded other campuses.

“Beverly has all the qualities you find in world-class CEOs,” said John G. Rice, vice chairman of GE and chief executive officer of GE Technology Infrastructure. The GE Foundation gave the district $22 million to improve math and science.

“She can develop and articulate a vision and then take those words off the page and make change happen,” Rice said.

The qualities Hall’s supporters find so admirable are the traits her critics find so repugnant.

They said Hall’s autocratic style alienates many teachers and parents.

While test scores have improved, they said most of the gains occurred in elementary schools. Enrollment has dropped as parents leave the city or enroll their children elsewhere, they said.

They described Atlanta as a bloated bureaucracy that has made the district one of the most expensive in the state. The system spends about $11,000 per student, about $3,300 more than the state average.

“For the amount of money we spend, we should be seeing more improvements,” said Patrick Crabtree, president of the Atlanta Association of Educators. “It’s not just money. Our voices have been silenced because she doesn’t listen to anyone who has a different opinion. She doesn’t listen to parents, and she doesn’t listen to teachers.”

Hall acknowledged that she has critics, but she said that happens when a leader tries to change a system.

“We are on the right track, and I will not let us stop or slow down,” Hall said. “There are people who are fighting to keep the status quo, but I can’t let that happen.”

When Hall was hired, she was Atlanta’s fifth superintendent in about a decade.

Back then the district was considered among the worst in the state and taxpayers demanded change from years of wasteful spending, said Emmett Johnson, a current Atlanta school board member who was on the board when Hall was hired.

Hall had a strong background in troubled, urban districts.

Born in Jamaica, she came to this country for college, and when she graduated from Brooklyn College in 1970, she became a junior high English teacher in New York City. In her second year there, she was named that school’s top teacher. Moving through the ranks at the nation’s largest school district, she became deputy chancellor for instruction.

In 1995, New Jersey hired her to run Newark’s struggling schools, which had just been taken over by the state.

Her nearly 10-year run in Atlanta makes Hall one of the longest-serving urban superintendents in the country, well ahead of the average three-year tenure. Her pay last year of about $350,000 puts her among the highest-paid superintendents in the state.

One of the biggest challenges of Hall’s tenure was responding to a mounting scandal over the district’s multimillion-dollar classroom technology program. She inherited the program, funded by federal E-rate technology grants, that became the subject of a 2004 federal investigation. Two former Atlanta school employees were jailed for taking thousands of dollars in bribes.

While Hall was not working for the district when E-rate started, the investigation was a public relations blow to a system trying to turn around and improve its image. Hall says she had no idea that criminal activity was going on and that the district has since developed better procurement policies and implemented other oversight.

Johnson said the community remains confident in Hall. She has won about $156 million in private and federal grants for the district, including a $10.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to improve Atlanta’s high schools.

Hall, 60, smiles and laughs often, but her tone means business.

During a recent meeting with 10 elementary school principals, one principal acknowledged his students struggle with math. Hall reviewed the school’s test scores, looked at the principal above her glasses and said: “I know.”

The principal explained teachers are using new methods to teach math, and he predicted students would pass state tests in high numbers. Hall smiled and said: “I’ll be watching.”

While gains have been made, Hall said the district still has more work to do.

Part of the challenge is the district’s high percentage of low-income children, who typically perform worse than kids from affluent homes. About 76 percent of Atlanta’s students come from low-income homes, compared with the state average of about 53 percent.

Other educators consider Hall a dynamo with a laser focus on student achievement, said Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, a coalition of the nation’s largest school districts.

“There are very few examples where urban systems have improved so substantially in so many areas,” Casserly said. “Her claim to fame is to make steady academic achievements in a district that has not seen that before.”

Parents say Hall still needs to address the lack of consistency in the quality found across the system. They said she needs to discuss problems that still exist and possible solutions.

“Overall the district is moving in a positive direction,” said Shawnna Hayes-Tavares, who has four children in the public schools. “I don’t expect her to fix everything at once, but she needs to step it up.”

Johnson said Hall collaborates with teachers, parents and business, civic and religious leaders on ways to improve schools.

Hall’s contract keeps her in Atlanta though June 2011. School researchers have said a complete overhaul can take up to 15 years.

When asked whether she’ll stay that long, Hall joked she didn’t think she’d be here for 10 years.

“I will say that I’m more optimistic now than ever before,” Hall said. “For the first time in my career, we know what we need to teach children and for them to succeed. We’re succeeding in Atlanta.”

KEY PROGRAMS

Hall has launched numerous initiatives since she arrived in 1999. These programs are supported by grants and non-profit groups. Here are the key programs:

> Performance targets. Hall set academic goals for each school to meet annually. If schools succeed, everyone who works there —- teachers, principals, custodians, etc. —- receives cash bonuses.

> Project GRAD. Hall made the lowest-performing schools adopt this research-based program that includes highly regimented 90-minute daily reading lessons. Students who succeed are eligible for college scholarships.

> High school transfor-mation. The district is converting its high schools into smaller academies, each focused on a career such as medicine, engineering and fine arts. Hall says providing students with personal experiences and more challenging lessons will improve graduation rates.

> Math/science initiative. The district has increased teacher training and developed new lessons to improve student achievement in math and science.

> New principals. Hall has replaced 89 percent of the district’s principals, and the district started its own training program to develop new principals.

Source: Atlanta Public Schools

ATLANTA’S ACHIEVEMENTS

Student achievement has improved since Beverly Hall became superintendent. Atlanta Public Schools still lags state averages; but the gap has narrowed, as measured in three grades.

2000 Passing rates

System….4 reading….4 math….6 reading….6 math….8 reading….8 math

Atlanta ..47%……….43% ……52%……….47% ……60%……….36%

State ….65%……….62% ……71%……….66% ……75%……….54%

2008 Passing rates

System….4 reading….4 math….6 reading….6 math….8 reading….8 math

Atlanta ..86%……….68% ……86%……….58% ……82%……….50%

State ….87%……….70% ……91%……….69% ……91%……….62%

Graduation rate

……….2002 ……..2008

Atlanta ..39%……….72%

State ….62%……….75%

Source: Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, Report Card, various years.

NOTE: Graduation rates were calculated differently prior to 2002.