Inadequacy of >Strategic Plan: Acceleration 2020< of the Minneapolis Public Schools

A close look at Strategic Plan: Acceleration 2020 of the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) reveals the document’s stark deficiencies as a guide for excellence in K-12 education.


This document was approved at a September 2014 meeting of the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education.


Via the program advocated in the pages of the work overseen by then Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson and Chief Executive Officer (now Interim Superintendent) Michael Goar, the public schools of Minneapolis were to advance educational excellence and equity for all students enrolled in the district.


Six high-level goals were given in the document: 1) Improved Student Outcomes; 2) Equity; 3) Family and Community Partnership; 4) Effective Teachers, School Leaders, and Staff; 5) Stewardship; and 6) Resources for Students and Schools. Goals offered in what was termed the “big, bold spirit of the 5-8-10 plan” included the following, to be attained in the run-up to year 2020:


>>>>>   5 percent annual increase in students overall meeting or exceeding state standards in reading and math;


>>>>>   8 percent annual increase in students meeting or exceeding state standards in reading and math for MPS’s lowest performing students;


>>>>>   10 percent annual increase in the four-year graduation rate.


Officials at MPS declared that “Our targets are intentionally high to reignite a sense of urgency in the system and ensure that everyone is operating with growth mindset.  Meeting these targets is absolutely possible. Under this plan, we will achieve our vision of every child graduating college and career ready.”


Toward the achievement of Goal Number One, Improved Student Outcomes, officials at MPS stress that teachers at Grades Pre-K through Grade 3 should have routines in place for development of student reading and language skills; that teachers at Grade 4 through Grade 12 and for adult learners should abet the development of such skills via guided academic conversations and “close reading”; and that teachers at Grade 6 through Grade 12 and for adult learners develop students’ math and science vocabulary and content knowledge using “literacy strategies.” Also stressed are core instruction for all categories of learners; personalized learning opportunities; readiness at key points of transition from one major age grouping to another; behavioral interventions that minimize suspensions; and the availability of ethnic studies courses in high school.


Toward the achievement of Goal Number Two, Equity, officials at MPS stress the use of student data as examined and then acted upon by Professional Learning Communities of teachers at each site, problem-based learning and critical thinking; multiple pathways to graduation via dual enrollment, Post-Secondary Options (PSEO), credit recovery, community-based GED and literacy programs, and online learning; and availability of world languages. Associate Superintendents are to monitor progress toward the goal of equity and the given sub-goals; and staff at all schools are to be given proper supports, with enhanced supports at High Priority Schools and Focus Schools.


Toward the achievement of Goal Number Three, Family and Community Partnership, officials at MPS stress engagement with families of students, with appropriate language translation and interpreting services, with training for teachers in communication with families, and with great effort made to provide accessible locations and flexible times for familial participation. They also stress increases in corporate support, grant funding, and volunteers--- with ongoing monitoring of community partnerships for effectiveness.


Toward the achievement of Goal Number Four, Effective Teachers, School Leaders, and Staff, officials at MPS stress the need for diversity in hiring, identification and placement of individuals particularly suited for teaching and staff roles to meet the needs of students at certain schools, and the provision of training and supports for staff in performing to expectation. There is also emphasis placed on providing leadership training and career advancement opportunities; and on implementing Quality Compensation (Q-Comp) to promote staff retention and career development.


Toward the achievement of Goal Number Five, Stewardship, officials at MPS stress accountability on the part of administrators at all levels for the implementation of Strategic Plan: Acceleration 2020 via ongoing assessment of effectiveness and adjustment of strategies as necessary; use of the Baldrige Criteria for Education Organizations as a guide to ongoing staff training in planning, management, decision-making, and data collection and utilization; and central office adjustments to abet increased school autonomy.


Toward the achievement of Goal Number Six, Resources for Students and Schools, officials at MPS stress “zero-based budgeting” to assure that funds are used where they are truly needed, with allocations prioritized for the classroom, and with attention to services pertinent to transportation, food security, instructional technology, school environment, and athletics that have a direct impact on students’ lives. All of these goals are to be attained in the context of an inclination toward school autonomy and upon the conviction that the individual site--- the school--- is the meaningful unit of change and that school staff members should have flexibility to meet the needs of their particular student population.


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Stating that the school is the unit of change, with attention to the needs of particular populations, is one of those expressions that can float into the ears of people without giving offense and even seeming favorable--- but actually may be harmful, depending on those devils called details.

In reality, in the United States the locally centralized district itself must be the unit of change.




At that level, we must specify a knowledge-rich curriculum for implementation throughout the schools of MPS, for impartation by knowledgeable teachers trained by the school district itself. With the definition of an excellent education, the identification of a knowledge-rich curriculum, and the training of knowledgeable teachers accomplished, then most functions of the central bureaucracy could be moved out to the individual sites, with principals and teachers given responsibility for implementation.


With the central bureaucracy having acted meaningfully as the original unit of change, the sites will then become subsidiary units of change.


In articles to come--- and not surprising to readers of articles past--- I will analyze in considerable detail the deficiencies of Strategic Plan: Acceleration 2020 that is now the guiding document for the attainment of educational excellence in the Minneapolis Public Schools. For now, consider the following fundamental observations:


Remember that an excellent education is a matter of excellent teachers imparting a knowledge-intensive, logically sequenced curriculum in the liberal (mathematics, natural science, history, economics, literature, fine arts), technological, and industrial arts to students of all demographic descriptors throughout the K-12 years.


And remember that an excellent teacher is a professional of deep and broad knowledge with the pedagogical ability to impart that knowledge to all students.


Remember also that the purpose of a strong K-12 education in the liberal, technological, and industrial arts is to provide maximum probability that students will graduate with the likelihood of living lives of cultural enrichment, civic participation, and professional satisfaction.


With those succinct definitions and observations, I have provided more detail in my vision of an excellent education than officials at the Minneapolis Public Schools have given in their entire Strategic Plan: Acceleration 2020 document.


In the latter document, the most specific statements are those pertinent to goals for student achievement; and those identifying the school as the unit of change. But those statements seem to assume that annual increases in math and reading skills (5% annually for the general student population, 8% for previously lowest-performing students), and 10% annual increases in the four-year graduation rate; can be attained without highly specific approaches for achieving results. And MPS officials focus measurable goals on basic skills, while relying on site-based school innovation, multiple pathways, and linguistic and advanced course opportunities to forge a path to excellence.


Compare such “Hail Mary” approaches to my own approach, summarized above and detailed in articles posted on this blog focused on the meaning and purpose of excellent education; and the need for thorough training of teachers;  all of whom come ill-prepared to enter the classroom by virtue of the abominable training that they get in departments, schools, and colleges of education.


We will achieve educational excellence for all of our precious children when we specify a knowledge-rich curriculum for implementation in grade by grade sequence throughout the K-12 years. Teachers of such an information-heavy curriculum must have a much stronger knowledge base than they have now.


As I have detailed in other articles, the knowledge base of our K-5 teachers is particularly wretched and must be rectified via mandatory acquisition of a challenging Masters of Liberal Arts degree for knowledge mastery in math, natural science, history, economics, literature, English usage, and the fine arts--- with a required master’s thesis and a full year of internship served under the guidance of the best teacher available; this Masters of Liberal Arts degree must be superintended at the central school district (MPS) level, with instruction provided by professors and other experts in their fields of specialization.


Secondary (Grade 6 through Grade 12) teachers should possess an academic master’s degree (granted in legitimate disciplines, not from faculty composed of education professors) and serve the same full year of internship as given for K-5 teachers.


The level of specificity that I have provided---even in the few lines given above, and in much more detail in articles dedicated to these components of an excellent education--- is what is missing from the Strategic Plan: Acceleration 2020 document of MPS.


This week the three finalists for the position of Superintendent of MPS will gather on Wednesday (2 December 2015) at Webster School in Northeast Minneapolis for questions and interaction with the public; and for interviews (8:00 AM - 3:30 PM) and Public Comment (5:30 – 7:00 PM) on Thursday (3 December 2015) at the MPS central office building on West Broadway.


These finalists for the superintendent position should be asked closely what they will do to fill in the many gaps of Strategic Plan: Acceleration 2020 with appropriate detail and specific definitions as to what constitutes an excellent education and who may be properly identified as an excellent teacher.