Reply to Coffee in Lincoln Park with David Catania

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[quote=Anonymous]Catania's thoughts on sorting out middle and high schools, copied from another thread. Thoughtful, complete and based on his many hours of visiting schools and seeing the gaps first hand

Anonymous wrote:

Ensure Equal Programming Across District Schools— 
With a Focus on Middle Schools Horizontal Equity in Programming, 
Vertical Alignment of Feeder Patterns

School quality is the primary issue facing District schools. The lack of high quality academic programming throughout the District results in overcrowding at some schools and massive under enrollment at others.

Every morning we see the impact of this disparity in quality as approximately 60,000 students chose to commute to schools 
that are not their assigned by-right neighborhood school in an effort to attend schools perceived to be of higher quality. And while perception alone plays a large part, the reality is that for too long schools have not had consistent and equitable academic programming. For instance, a middle school in one part of the city may offer expansive language and enrichment programs while a middle school across town has far fewer of both.

The impact of this inequity is most obvious as students transition to middle and high school. Recently, there has been great interest in improving the quality of District middle schools – and with good reason. A young person’s middle grade years are some of the most formative and often times challenging. Creating a high quality middle school takes hard work, talented school leaders and teachers, and engaged parents. Middle school quality is also a function of horizontal equity among the elementary schools within its feeder pattern. The consequences of disparities in quality and preparedness between the feeder elementary schools manifest themselves in middle schools, impacting every student and the school as a whole.

Until recently, this problem was exacerbated by the District’s legally mandated social promotion policy. Prior to David’s Focused Student Achievement Act, DCPS students could only be retained in the 3rd, 5th, and 8th grades unless their parents consented. The result was that students were often passed along despite not mastering academic content. This failure cascaded upward until the students reached 9th grade, at which point they were required to pass both algebra and English in order to be promoted to the 10th grade. It is no surprise that nearly 30% of District 9th graders fail every year as a result of entering high school on reading and math grade levels well below those required to pass high school classes.

Further, feeder patterns must be aligned with regard to programming and expectations as students progress from kindergarten through 12th grade. The leadership and faculty of a feeder pattern should have regular communication and contact with one another to deliver a consistent and cohesive academic pathway. This greater vertical alignment and integration ensures academic quality control and that students are provided the supports they need to succeed. Indeed, DCPS’s highest achieving feeder pattern—the Wilson HS feeder—already employs this practice of vertical integration with great success.

As Mayor, David will ensure that there is horizontal equity across the District so offerings are consistent regardless of whether a student attends a school in Northwest or Southeast. He will require all of our public schools to have the same high standards and curriculum with adequate room for differentiated learning. He will also see to it that feeder patterns are vertically aligned and coordinated to better support students. This will improve schools and student performance alike for the long term as well as strengthen feeder patterns across the city.

But, let's be fair and compare this to Murlel Bowser's education white paper. Here what she says about middle schools:

"Invest in our middle schools so that every child can attend a quality school like Alice Deal close to their own neighborhood."

http://murielformayor.com/wp-content/uploads/position-paper-education.pdf 
[/quote]

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