Statewide Education
Summit
April 18, 2008
PREPARING ALL STUDENTS FOR COLLEGE AND THE
WORKFORCE
Panel Summary
Mike Feinberg, Co-Founder, KIPP
“First, I’d like to review the five (5) pillars on which the KIPP educational approach is based: 1) more time on task, 2) choice and commitment, 3) power to lead, 4) high expectations, and 5) great results. More time on task means there are no shortcuts. The school day is 7:30 am to 5:00 pm Monday-Friday and 4 hours on Saturday. There is also an extra month of education in the summer. We are asking teachers to work miracles with students and they need more time in which to do it. The choice and commitment piece means that the ultimate accountability is to the kids and parents and creating a school where they want to come and excel. It forces continued examination of what we are doing to serve our students. The power to lead means hiring great school leaders who have control over their staff and budget and who are not shackled in their ability to do what is needed. If you create good leaders who are also good managers and empower them to make decisions, they will then be accountable for great results. People make the difference. High expectations are clearly defined and observable. They are possible because of alignment through the system that sets students up for success. Great results happen because we teach kids to progress at the right pace. The challenges to public education include the general environment and freedom to do what is needed. There is a culture of compliance in the public schools rather than of effectiveness. Charter schools are the research and design wing of public education, and the Legislature needs to step up with equivalent funding and recognize what we are doing to help people believe that this is possible and working. Charter schools are proving that the day excuses end is the day solutions start.”
Marvin Moore, President of the Board of Education, Houston Independent School District
In addition to his educational service, Mr. Moore is a businessman with an aerospace company where the motto is always test before launch. He began his association with education by tutoring in Harlem and has a real passion for what education is all about. He joined the KIPP school board first so his vision for his current position is not the standard view.
“The challenge in education that has always existed, I believe, is that there is a persistent link between poverty and achievement but no school districts have solved this. There is hope in raising the standards kids should meet but we should also learn and collaborate with schools like KIPP which have solved this problem. What has the Houston Independent School District (HISD) done to meet this challenge? Accountability was the first issue to be examined, and then leadership was decentralized. Competition was added in terms of magnet programs and charter schools because it can help promote progress if handled properly. Finally, the focus was placed on every kid’s achievement beyond passing. Every student’s continued growth matters with value added achievement. The current agenda for HISD is twofold – focusing on human resources and also leadership development. Recruiting and retaining excellent teachers with the goal of keeping school systems about the students as well as developing great leaders to do the work of leading great schools are the current emphasis for the Houston school system. What is needed to accomplish this? First of all, we need to increase the focus on value added growth and caring about the growth of every student every year. The ceiling needs to be raised for everyone. We also need more flexibility in terms of state funding for extended programs and removal of the barriers that exist for collaboration with charter schools. We need support for structural change and repair for the funding system for schools because it is not adequate at present.”
John Fitzpatrick, Executive Director, Texas High School Project
“The vision of the Texas High School Project is that all students will graduate with readiness for success in college, a career, and life. The project aims to increase high school graduation rates, promote a college-going culture, create a statewide capacity for high school reform and change, and bring about sustainable high school improvement. We focus on the kids who need it the most. Through a public/private alliance, attention is invested in the classroom, the campus, the district, and with teachers. The TAKS standards are a floor for achievement, and they do not prepare students for college or workforce readiness. Public schools view graduation as a finish line with no ownership of what happens beyond that passage in terms of college or workforce preparation. We need to transition from this point. House Bill 1 is a start toward this goal that requires every student to take four (4) years of science and mathematics. College readiness and workforce readiness are the same. Presently, however, we have two (2) separate tracks and students have to make a choice. Instead, we need to figure out how to prepare every student for some kind of post-secondary training. The Early College High School is one solution. It is based on quality teaching and learning derived from a rigorous curriculum, high expectations aimed at college for all students, effective teachers, and committed principals. The P-16 educational track needs to be realigned with collaboration between public education and higher education. Parents need to be engaged, and pathways for education should create demand among student. Finally, a partnership among all levels of education is necessary to acknowledge that the current system just isn’t working.”
Richard M. Rhodes, President, El Paso Community College (EPCC)
“In El Paso County, 80% of the population is Hispanic and of lower average income. College attendance is not always the end result for students. Traditionally, the approach in higher education is to wait and see if students are coming and then test them to see if they are ready for college. At EPCC, through a grant program from the Lumina Foundation, we created a program called Achieving the Dream. The first step was to examine placement test data and determine how many students needed remediation before starting college work. Math was determined to be the greatest need. A college Readiness Consortium was formed, and it was discovered that EPCC had been doing a poor job of explaining to students how to prepare for a placement test. This resulted in the realization that it would be necessary to get to the students while still in high school to insure that they were ready for college. An assessment protocol was designed and delivered to the high schools in the area. Needs were determined so that intervention could be provided before placement tests were administered. This created a college bridge to take courses before entering college. This practice of going into the high schools significantly reduced the number of kids requiring remediation after they entered college. When students take a placement test, they exhibit what they can recall at the time not what they can really learn. It was also discovered that it is best to enter college as soon as possible after high school and that the concept of dual credit (starting to take college courses in high school) is very effective. The Early College High School program puts students through a “boot camp” for college readiness with two-week interventions. These students rise to the high expectations, and they mirror the environment in which they are placed. The passionate student-centered faculty also helps the students to meet the high standards expected of them.” Mr. Rhodes highlighted the success of this program by introducing several students who explained their education enthusiasm and achievement in their own words. More information can be obtained at the web site for El Paso Community College at www.epcc.edu.
