Community ownership of schools for success

Michael F. Tenbusch,
VP Educational Preparedness

The task of healing the injustices of a broken education system in our state is a difficult one. Problem is, the solutions bandied about rely on some new heroic figure in the form of an emergency manager or some new charter school operators to come to the rescue.

I believe we can do better than that.

For three years now, something unimaginable has been happening at five former failing area high schools in the region. Principals, teachers and an entourage of community partners have taken responsibility for their schools.

Under a critical public eye, United Way and its partners have done something radical on five school campuses across our region. The principals and teachers of those schools and their union have worked together to create personalized, rigorous and nurturing environments for all their students.

In just one year, chronic absences in seven new small schools in Detroit dropped 25 percent, from an astonishing 84 percent down to 63 percent.

Results like these happen when great principals and great teachers are freed to do the hard work of a turnaround plan.
Read Mike’s complete commentary on The Detroit News website at: http://detnews.com/article/20110505/OPINION01/105050336/Community-ownership-of-schools-for-success#ixzz1LVa89564

7 metro Detroit schools to benefit from GM’s $27.1-million gift

The United Way for Southeastern Michigan plans to transform seven more metro Detroit high schools into a series of new and smaller schools using a charitable gift of $27.1 million from the General Motors Foundation.

The money also will pay for seven early learning community centers near the high schools where parents can learn to prepare their small children for kindergarten.

The gift will be used to help restructure so-called dropout factories by creating several new and smaller schools within each building. The program is designed to create smaller student bodies, allowing teachers to give more individual attention, the concept’s supporters say.

GM decided to support the program based on its success at five metro Detroit schools where it’s already in place.

This initiative started in 2008. The United Way for Southeastern Michigan, along with the Skillman Foundation and AT&T, created a special fund to help pay for turnaround consultants to come to the region and work with Cody and Osborn high schools in Detroit, Melvindale High, Pontiac High and Lincoln High in Warren.

The schools are now divided into smaller academies with specific focus areas, such as math, science or health-based curriculums. Each small school began with about 100 freshmen and will add a grade level each year. The maximum size for each school will be about 450 students.

With a class-size target of 20-25, students receive more personalized instruction, said Michael Brennan, president and CEO of United Way for Southeastern Michigan.

Chronic absences were reduced by 25% in the first year, one indicator that that the schools are on track to increase graduation rates, Brennan said.

“When you really look at the research that looks at academic success, it is based on the quality of the teacher-student relationship,” he said. “The turnaround process allows us to improve the environment and increase that relationship.”

Read more at the Detroit Free Press: http://www.freep.com/article/201104070300/NEWS01/104070489

In response to Robert Bobb’s plan to close Osborn High School

MEDIA CONTACT:
Laura L. Rodwan, 313.477.2750 (cell)

Detroit Public Schools’ Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb today released a list of schools slated for closure, as a part of the district’s Renaissance 2012 Plan. Because of the poor physical condition of the building, Osborn High School is on the list and scheduled to close in the summer of 2012.

United Way for Southeastern Michigan, along with the leadership teams and community partners of the four small schools that operate at the site of the former Osborn High School will examine every option and explore every opportunity to find a new home for the schools. In fact, we agree with Robert Bobb that the facility that currently houses the schools is in poor condition and not suitable for continued use.

Since 2008 United Way for Southeastern Michigan, in partnership with dedicated principals, teachers, and community partners, has invested in the transformation of Osborn from a failing school that graduated fewer than 60 percent of students, to a campus of high-performing schools that graduate more than 80 percent of students and prepare students for success in college—within five years.

After one year of planning, Osborn High School ceased operation and in September 2009 four small schools began operation, housed in the same building as the former Osborn High School.  The small schools at Osborn are: Osborn Upper School of Global Communications and Culture, Osborn University of Science, Mathematics & Technology, Osborn Evergreen Academy of Design & Technology, and Osborn College Preparatory Academy.

These schools are on track to achieve their goal, with chronic absences reduced by 25 percent, and early indicators showing promising results. The principals, teachers and students of these schools are motivated, inspired and committed to succeed. More than just programs, the small schools at Osborn are communities of individuals and organizations committed to the success of students.

We are working with Robert Bobb and our partners in the Osborn community on a solution for the continuation of the good work that is underway at these schools.

To learn more about the small schools at Osborn and other turnaround schools, visit us online at www.UnitedWaySEM.org/highperformingschools.  You can access today’s announcement by Robert Bobb on the district’s website at www.detroitk12.org.

Detroit’s role in increasing graduation rates

Original article: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100614/OPINION05/100610086/1322/Detroits-role-in-increasing-graduation-rates&template=fullarticle

ONLINE COMMENTARY
BY GEN. COLIN POWELL AND ALMA POWELL

Graduation season is once again upon us, and as parents we know the indescribable feeling you have when your child walks across the stage to receive a high school diploma. It’s a mixture of pride and joy, followed by anxiety about their future, and even a little sadness at the thought of letting go.

But just five short years ago, many parents and young people in Detroit did not experience that pomp and circumstance of high school graduation. With nearly three-quarters of students in some schools failing to earn a diploma, Detroit found itself with the lowest on-time graduation rate of the nation’s largest cities.

Thankfully, the industrious spirit that has defined this city for generations prevailed, and a group of committed citizens and organizations came together to help turn the tide. Led by the United Way for Southeastern Michigan in collaboration with AT&T, Ford Motor Company Fund, the Skillman Foundation and many more community partners, organizations and elected officials, the Greater Detroit Education Venture Fund was created and is working to improve graduation rates at the 30 high schools in Southeastern Michigan currently graduating less than 60% of their students.

In the two years since its inception, the fund has launched five “turnaround schools,” including Cody and Osborn High Schools in Detroit, that were closed and then re-opened as nine new, smaller learning communities on the same campus last summer. Although it will be years before we see the full impact of the work of these schools, the ripples of change can already be felt after just one year in the turnaround model.

Projected graduation rates for the class of 2013 at these schools now range from 71% to 95%. One 9th-grader at Cody High School started school with a 1.8 GPA and now has a 3.0.

This progress is a product of tireless effort undertaken by the schools’ principals, teachers, parents and students. And there is much still to accomplish.

We are particularly hopeful about the work Detroit is doing because it was the first city to host a Dropout Prevention Summit, sponsored by America’s Promise Alliance, in April 2008. It was at that very summit that the idea for the Venture Fund took form.

Detroit is one of several communities nationwide where the Alliance is devoting extra time and resources to help build local partnerships that will better serve young people. The fund has attracted support from the corporate, philanthropic, government, community-based and education sectors, as well as parents and young people themselves.

Research has shown that incremental reforms simply do not work in turning around low-performing schools. We need tailored solutions with strong support from school districts, partner organizations and the community.

These community partnerships are not only essential to increasing graduation rates; they help ensure that all sectors of the population see their stake in the success of youth. The simple truth is that improving graduation rates is not just an education issue; it’s a community issue. We cannot expect more from our schools and our young people until all Americans are prepared to get more involved in the building blocks for school success outside of the classroom.

Three months ago, we stood with President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan to stress the importance of this community-based model during the launch of a new multi-year campaign to help end the high school dropout crisis. Grad Nation will mobilize Americans of all ages, income levels and ethnicities nationwide – in communities large and small – to end the high school dropout crisis and ultimately prepare young people for the 21st century workforce.

For the past two years the Alliance has held more than 100 dropout summits in all 50 states. The nation knows we have a dropout crisis and the time has come for community action.

Through the Venture Fund, we are proud to say Detroit is helping lead the way. The city serves as evidence that when we work together, good things happen. It also reminds us that the best days are ahead for both Detroit and the nation. This work is a marathon effort, not a sprint.

We believe that the city that “put the world on wheels” can once again be in the driver’s seat – this time in a different race – the one to save our children.

Gen. Colin Powell and Alma Powell are founding chairman and chair of America’s Promise Alliance, the nation’s largest partnership network devoted to improving the lives of the nation’s young people. The Alliance is hosting its board meeting in Detroit this week to showcase the Venture Fund’s work.

Consensus is the opiate of the people

The dropout epidemic has been defined by John McCain and others as the civil rights issue of our time. Why then, do those of us fighting for that right spend so much time in conferences trying to get consensus on what to do?

Continue reading.

She had my heart at that cleaning toilets part

Recently we brought a small bus load of 15 people on an Impact Tour of our work for the Venture Fund. On the 20 minute ride to Cody 9th Grade Academy, I painted a picture of what high-performing, high-poverty high schools look like, and then walked into the school to see how it would compare. It was amazing.

Dr. Gabriela Gui, the school’s infectiously enthusiastic leader, greeted us with smiles and a lot of high-octane energy. She explained that she is an immigrant from Romania: “I started out here as a substitute…No that’s not right. I started out here cleaning toilets and sleeping in my car. But then I became a substitute, then a teacher, an assistant principal and a principal…I can tell you that the new Cody High School is going to be one of the best high schools in all of Michigan.”

Read more.