A Note to My Readers
In the days
to come, please look for articles such as this one, in which I pose questions
for Minneapolis Public Schools personnel as I work toward the conclusion of my
new book, Understanding the Minneapolis Public Schools: Current Condition, Future
Prospect.
The first
example of an article bearing such questions is the following, giving the
questions that I have posed to Superintendent Ed Graff:
Part One
Questions to
Those with Responsibility for the Overall Academic Program
For Minneapolis Public
Schools Superintendent Ed Graff
1.
Please state as succinctly as possible the philosophy of K-12 education
that drives programming under your direction as Superintendent of the Minneapolis Public
Schools.
As
Superintendent of the Minneapolis Public Schools, your philosophy of education
should undergird your communications to the staff under your direction for
developing academic programming at the Minneapolis Public Schools. Thus, your answer to this question is of
great importance as a matter of public information.
For your
reference, my own answer to that question would be as follows:
My philosophy of education in
its most succinct rendering is that the purpose of K-12 education should be to
give students the opportunity to go forth at graduation to experience lives of
cultural enrichment, civic preparation, and professional satisfaction.
Undergirding
this philosophy are definitions of an excellent K-12 education and the
excellent teacher as follows:
An excellent K-12 education is a
matter of excellent teachers imparting a knowledge-intensive curriculum in the
liberal, technological, and vocational arts to all students in grade by grade
sequence throughout the K-12 years.
An excellent teacher is a
professional of deep and broad knowledge with the pedagogical skill to impart
that knowledge to students of all demographic descriptors.
My own views are similar to those
of E. D. Hirsch. In my nearly complete
book, Fundamentals of an Excellent Liberal Arts Education, the
curriculum that I present is a logical follow-up to Hirsch’s Core Knowledge course of study,
emphasizing grades pre-K through grade six.
My own book gives compact courses
in economics, psychology, political science, world religions, world history,
American history, African American history, literature, English usage, fine
arts, mathematics, biology, chemistry, and physics for high school students,
college students, and adult readers.
In his book, The Schools Our Children Deserve
(1999), Alfie Kohn wrote a detailed counterview to that espoused by Hirsch in
the volume, The Schools We Need and Why We Don’t Have Them (1996). Kohn and other so-called “progressive
education” proponents maintain that the key components of an excellent
education are “critical thinking skills” and motivation to become a “lifelong
learner”; such advocates convey the view
that a sequentially, systematically accumulated body of knowledge is not
important, because as to any factual information needed in a given situation,
“You can always look it up.”
In your reply to my question,
please honestly and clearly tell me with whom you agree most, Hirsch or
Kohn. There is a heavy tendency to
waffle on this question by blending the two views. I am always doubtful of such waffling. My own statement would be the following:
I heavily favor the knowledge-intensive
education advocated by Hirsch: Genuine
critical thinking must proceed upon a firm knowledge base, and the propensity
for lifelong learning most likely occurs in those who in childhood and
adolescence developed a respect for factual knowledge.
Please be as clear in your
answer to this question as I have been in stating my own views.
2.
What is your vision for the Focused Instruction program that began
during the tenure of Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson?
I am of the
view that Focused Instruction languished under Interim Superintendent Michael
Goar and that you as the new Superintendent of the Minneapolis Public Schools
will not be inclined toward reinvigoration of this program.
Would you confirm those observations?
My attraction
to Focused Instruction is found in the program’s promise as a conduit for
knowledge- intensive education of the Core Knowledge type:
Is this your vision for Focused
Instruction? If not, please be clear
about your non-agreement with me.
If you were to express agreement with me,
please explain what you have done to develop an understanding of Hirsch’s Core
Knowledge program. My previous meetings
with you have indicated to me that you were not at all familiar with Core
Knowledge.
And whether or not you do agree, please
give me a clear account of your vision for Focused Instruction and your plan of
action for completely implementing the program.
Please be as clear in your
answer to this question as I have been in stating my own views.
3.
Please explain what you are doing to address the abysmal academic
performance of African American, Hispanic, and American Indian students; and students on Free and Reduced Price
Lunch; at the Minneapolis Public
Schools--- as similarly revealed in the
Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs), the National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP), and the Multiple Measurement Rating System (MMRS).
Two and
one-half years into the Acceleration 2020 Strategic Plan of the Minneapolis
Public Schools, performance of these students is generally flat or getting
worse, despite the goal of the strategic plan that the percentage of these
chronically low-performing students improving so as to attain grade level
performance shall rise eight (8) percentage points per year.
What actions are now being taken by those
under your direction to elevate student performance in accordance with the
goals of the Acceleration 2020 Strategic Plan?
Please be very clear in your answer to this
question.
4.
Do you have plans for developing and overseeing a district-wide program
of tutoring for students who are not according to MCA, NAEP, and MMRS results
performing academically at grade level?
Answers to
questions that I have posed to staff at the Minneapolis Public Schools confirm
that there is no staff member with specific responsibility for developing and
overseeing a district-wide program of tutoring for students who are not
performing at grade level. Those answers
also confirm that such tutoring as is provided is rendered by several different
organizations and is not consistent from school to school.
Do you have plans to designate a person
with overall responsibility for tutoring, and to develop a well-articulated,
coherent tutoring program that is consistent from school to school?
Please be very clear in your answer to this
question.
5.
Do you have a plan to expand the Office of Student, Family, and
Community Engagement or otherwise connect with economically challenged or
troubled families?
When young
people are hungry, have heard gunshots in the night, have family members who
suffer from substance addiction, have parents who cannot pay to keep the heat
on in winter, or face other problems associated with grinding poverty, getting
to school or staying focused if managing to attend may be challenging.
Do you have a plan for reaching out to
these families right where they live, either to provide services directly or to
connect them with services that meet their needs?
Please be very clear in your answer to this
question.
6.
Do you have a plan to provide thorough training of teachers to assure
that a competent (and, as we look toward the future, truly excellent) teacher occupies
each classroom of the Minneapolis Public Schools?
People in
many positions at the Minneapolis Public Schools clearly acknowledge that
teacher quality is a problem in your school district. I have in many places given evidence for my
view that the reason for the mediocrity of teachers lies in the low level of
training and expectations inherent in the programs of departments, colleges,
and schools of education.
Providing
teacher training--- not really
retraining or mere “professional development,” but the main training that
teachers should receive before ever taking positions in the classroom--- will be expensive and require great skill
and subject area knowledge on the part of those doing the training.
Do you acknowledge the problem of teacher
quality?
If so, what is your plan for providing the
necessary training for prospective teachers in the Minneapolis Public
Schools?
The “Grow Your Own” program seems
inadequate to the severity of the problem.
Do you agree?
Please be very clear in your answer to this
question.
7.
Do you have a plan for cutting staff positions at the central offices of
the Minneapolis Public Schools at 1250 West Broadway (Davis Center) and
ensuring that every central office staff member is serving a useful function
pertinent to the provision of an excellent K-12 education?
You currently
have approximately 550 staff members employed at the Davis Center at a cost recently calculated by me at
$37,361,274. Your Department of Teaching
and Learning currently has 51 members on staff for a total expenditure
approaching $3,000,000, which is quite a few staff members at quite a great
cost, in a district wherein the teaching quality is so mediocre and the level
of learning is so low.
Do you have
a plan for paring this and other departments that evidence bureaucratic
overstaffing, so that resources may be shifted toward areas that do need
additional quality staffing, such as for tutoring, teacher aides, and family
outreach?
Please be very clear in your answer to this
question.
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