The Restructuring of Metro Schools Disrupts Community Program

Reorganization or Disorganization: Metro Nashville Public Schools Undermines Teacher Autonomy and Professionalism

The Restructuring of Metro Schools Disrupts Community Program 

Elyssa D. Durant, Ed.M.

If I didn't know better, I would think that the local media is supporting the ridiculous decision to transfer MNPS principals from one failing metro school to the next after reading "State reorganization moves on to school principal assignments," (Nashville City Paper, July 9, 2008.)

I find it deeply disturbing that the media (and the community) have failed to recognize this for what it is: a desperate attempt to convince the community that we are actively working to improve the quality of education in our public schools. This last minute attempt to restructure neighborhood schools will most likely do more harm than good to the community at large.

The high rate of student mobility in Metro (approximately 40% per year) is compounded by the constant shifting of district-wide changes to school personnel by transferring teachers, administrators, and support staff on a regular basis. Everything we know about the sociology of education in urban schools shows us that there is a strong correlation between parental involvement and student performance.

One thing that makes magnet, lottery, charter, parochial, and private schools so good is the fact that parents, teachers, students and administrators fight to get in, and fight to stay there. The act of choosing, in effect, leads to an enhanced sense of community and builds a supportive, consistent, and structured environment. Good schools are a place where all members of the community, including school administrators, teachers, parents, and community leaders create a sub-culture with a common set of goals and expectations that are reinforced both in and out of the classroom environment.

Successful schools are an extension of the community at large, where everyone works together to create a common set of experiences; creating an environment that encourages parental involvement and community participation. If Metro continues to alienate educators by disemboweling the organizational structure within public schools, we may just lose the few experienced and dedicated teachers we still have left to surrounding districts, cities, and states.

By failing to examine the issue in further detail, the press and our community leaders are failing in their mission to provide the community with the information they need to participate in the political process that is MNPS. The media have a responsibility to examine and provide the community with the information they need to make informed policy decisions.

Elyssa D. Durant © 1995-2013

CROSS PUBLISHED: Nashville News under Metro Nashville Public Schools Undermines Teacher Autonomy and Professionalism

Top Down Policy Failure in Public Education

Top Down Policy Failure in Public Education by Elyssa D. Durant, Ed.M.

Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) does not have the answers, nor does our newly elected Mayor who recently launched an aggressive media campaign to recruit new teachers willing to work within the constraints our over-regulated, under-funded public schools. This article MNPS News glossed over the magnitude of the desperate situation in Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS).

But it does raise questions about the hiring and retention practices by the Board of Ed. The basic fact that students are not making adequate progress is a reflection of the top-down policy failure by MNPS and the Board of Ed. Students are not making adequate progress, and teachers are being shuffled around in a desperate attempt to fix a problem that they do not fully understand.

This data seems to support the need for performance based incentives such as the study on performance incentives at the National Center for Performance Incentives on the Peabody Campus at Vanderbilt University. Teachers in the experimental group receive a $15,000 bonus if their students demonstrate a pre-determined level of achievement and demonstrate proficiency. In conjunction with the RAND corporation, data will be collected twice a year: at the beginning of the academic term to establishing the baseline level of competency for each student. Data is then collecting at the end of the year to measure achievement. Several waves of data will be collected and evaluated over the next several years will be evaluated in conjunction with the RAND Corporation.

In order to fix our broken schools, we need to look at schools that work. There are in fact public schools in urban neighborhoods that are successfully educating the students despite limited budgets, supplies, and adequate funding. So what is it about these schools that allows them to successfully educate disadvantaged, at-risk students and how can we replicate their success?

As an educator employed by MNPS, I earn $10.46 / hour (without benefits) teaching at-risk students. What does this say about the fiscal priorities of our community? My graduate degree in education is from the very same university that Mayor Karl Dean attended in New York City. What does that say about our values as a society? What does that say about the value of a graduate degree from the Ivy League?

I called HR and the "Certificated Office" to inquire about obtaining a provisional teaching license and alternative certification, I was simply told that I was not eligible for alternative certification and without additional coursework, and tuition and fees, I was not deemed qualified to teach in Metro. I am not qualified to teach in Metro since, apparently, Metro "does not teach education." What a joke. To make matters worse- I had to pay them to find out that I was not even qualified to work with Head Start. I went to Head Start! Shouldn't that be enough? I find it difficult to believe that a city so desperate for teachers is not willing to bend the rules just a little or waive the application fee for anyone who is willing to work in such a hostile environment.

The state Department of Education could not offer any realistic solution to the simple fact that I cannot afford to pay the fees associated with the application fees certification requirements. If the Mayor really needs applicants, perhaps the city should comp the application fees necessary to be considered for employment. They are strangely unfamiliar with the political process, and teachers are expected to implement and carry out policies that were designed by academic professionals or educational consultants. If MNPS truly wants a better-qualified staff, then the Mayor, the Board of Education, and school administrators need to take a closer look at the methods used to recruit, retain, and reward qualified individuals willing to sacrifice their financial stability for a career in public service.

The high rate of student mobility is compounded by the constant shifting of school personnel. Many schools may just lose the few experienced, dedicated teachers they still have left have, to surrounding districts, cities, and states. Such instability in the system may even prompt the younger set to leave the profession all together and discourage future teachers from applying for jobs in Metro. Now that I realize my education was a complete waste of time and money, is it any wonder that I am ready to give up on teaching and maybe even ready to leave Nashville for good. The local hardware store has more to offer including benefits!

Everything we know about the positive outcomes in neighborhood schools is their strong reliance upon community buy-in and parental involvement. One thing that makes magnet, lottery, charter schools, parochial, and private schools so good is the fact that parents, teachers, students, and administrators fight to get in, and fight to stay there. The act of choosing, in effect, leads to an enhanced sense of community and builds a supportive, consistent, and structured environment.  Calling rezoning and teacher shuffling in Metro "Project Fresh Start" is ridiculous-- it would be more accurate.

The state Department of Education could not offer any realistic solution.

The high rate of student mobility is compounded by the constant shifting of school personnel

The Board need to take a closer look at the methods used to recruit, retain qualified educators.

Elyssa D. Durant © 2009-2017

ALSO PUBLISHED News: Top Down Policy Failure in Public Education

Nashville schools offer Vanderbilt degrees for top teachers | tennessean.com | The Tennessean

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Teachers willing to work with some of Metro Nashville's toughest-to-reach middle schoolers for at least five years could earn free master's degrees from Vanderbilt University.

This year, the university will admit 24 teachers into a special graduate program paid for by Metro Schools but offered at a deep discount by Vanderbilt. The degree will focus on urban middle school education and require teachers to select a focus in literacy, math or science.

The goal is to increase the number of top-quality teachers in Nashville's lowest-performing schools and make Metro a more attractive place to work. It's also one more way the district is trying to engage students in learning during the critical middle school years.

"The single biggest factor of successful student learning is the classroom teacher," said Camilla Persson Benbow, dean of education and human development at Vanderbilt University's

Peabody College.

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• Poor kids' teachers earn less in Metro

U.S. News and World Report named Peabody the No. 1 graduate school

in the nation last year.

Educators say it's hard to find high-quality middle school teachers who understand adolescents, can work with a diverse population, and have the skills to teach higher-level courses such as algebra.

Metro Schools' look at middle-school education comes as others across the nation look for similar reform at that level, realizing that it's a critical time that determines whether students will graduate.

Incentive for teachers

Veteran educator Pamela Ross, who teaches sixth grade at Wright Middle School, said the master's program shows officials are serious about trying to improve urban education.

"It's a boost for teachers, it's an incentive, and it's letting us know education is being taken seriously," she said. "That an institution such as Vanderbilt would be willing to do that is just awesome."

Applications are being accepted now, with classes slated to begin this summer and work in middle schools to begin in the fall. Teachers probably will be assigned to one of four middle schools, though Metro officials haven't settled on the number of schools or which ones they'll be.

via beta.tennessean.com

how quickly they forget!

http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asps=9108181

In what Universe does this make sense...????If this policy is intended to open the door to all students, then why does the University require students to disclose their parent’s income? The last time I checked, the application to the graduate school required a financial statement of disclosure-- not just from students, there parents too. This always seemed odd, especially for graduate students over the age of 18.

If financial need is no longer a factor, then presumably the University has waived all fees associated with the application process, right? Perhaps this statement was issued in anticipation of the HUGE, HUGE, loss of the endowment fund???

I guess that makes some people believe the University is more focused on learning than with earnings, well, then...I hope you have a more convincing argument than this! Who knows, maybe they might even cut you a little slack in light of the disastrous financial disclosures. I truly hope you do call me when you launch your next “giving campaign. “ I would personally rather donate to sharks.

To say that “hard working, great kids ...who want to be at Vanderbilt," will be able to attend for free, makes you sound like an idiot. It also sounds like a public relations disaster just waiting to happen.

Now c'mon, Zeppos-- I thought you were one of the good guys? Don't be saying stupid things like that!

No wonder you guys are going broke!Originally published 2/9/09... I was making $10.46/hr at Jere Baxter. Vanderbilt sued me for $3000. I can't even afford the application fee....

Elyssa Durant, Ed.M.
Unemployed & Angry as Hell
Nashville, TN USA

Posted via web from ElyssaD's Posterous