MPS Superintendent Ed Graff’s Failed “Social and Emotional Learning” Strategy As Revealed in Achievement Levels during His Tenure in Anchorage, Alaska

Given Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Ed Graff’s emphasis on “Social and Emotional Learning,” his record in promoting this pedagogical approach during his tenure as superintendent at Anchorage, Alaska, should be examined.  Mr. Graff won the Exemplary Social and Emotional Leadership  Award from CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning) in 2016.

 

Mr. Graff’s award was so impressive to school board members in Anchorage that they declined to renew his contract at the end of that very year of 2016 when he won the CASEL award.  Graff served as superintendent in Anchorage for three academic years:  2013-2014, 2014-2015, and 2015-2016.  The most recent figures available to me are for academic year 2014-2015, the second of the three academic years for which Graff served as superintendent.

 

A look at those figures strongly suggests why Graff’s contract was not renewed, and the reason why the school board was less than impressed with the Social and Emotional Learning strategy as utilized by Graff:   

 

    Results for Academic Year 2014-2015

 

       All Grade Levels

 

                                                               Language Arts

 

Does Not          Partially Meets         Meets              Exceeds

Meet                 Meets                         Standard         Standard

Standard          Standard

 

Student

Categories

 

African                 35.1%                  42.1%                          20.5%                  2.3%

American

 

White/                 13.3%                  33.7%                          44.3%                  8.5%

Caucasian

 

Hispanic               28.3%                  42.3%                          26.9%                  2.5%

 

 

Alaska                   42.4%                  37.5%                           18.1%                 1.9%

Native

American/

American

Indian

 

Hispanic               35.1%                  42.1%                          20.3%                20.5%

 

All Grade Levels

 

                                                       Mathematics

 

Does Not          Partially Meets         Meets              Exceeds

Meet                 Meets                         Standard         Standard

Standard          Standard

 

Student

Categories

 

African                 29.5%                 51.3.%                        16.9%                  2.3%

American

 

White/                 12.9%                  39.7%                          36.5%                  10.9%

Caucasian

 

Hispanic               23.4%                  50.9%                          21.8%                  3.9%

 

 

Alaska                   29.0%                  50.3%                           18.2%                 2.5%

Native

American/

American

Indian

 

Thus, fewer than 22% of African American and Alaska Native American/American Indian students in Anchorage in the given time frame met academic standards in either mathematics or language arts.  That same figure holds for Hispanics in terms of language arts;  for mathematics, the figure is a bit higher but still just 29.4%.  For White/ Caucasian students, the figures are higher, but still under 53% for both mathematics and language arts.

 

These are abysmal results, actually worse than those that I have posted on this blog many times for the Minneapolis Public Schools.

 

Reference to those figures shows that fewer than 27% of African American, American Indian, or Hispanic students showed proficiency in mathematics and reading, and that the given figures hold for Hispanic reading levels;  for mathematics, the percentage of Hispanics demonstrating proficiency is a bit higher but still under 34%.  Proficiency figures for White/ Caucasian students in the Minneapolis Public Schools during academic year 2014-2015 were just under 78% for mathematics and 81% for reading.  

 

Hence, an examination of the objective academic results in Anchorage, Alaska, during the tenure of Ed Graff as superintendent indicate that student academic performance in that school district was worse than the comparable performance of students in the Minneapolis Pubic Schools.

 

What, then, emboldens Graff to pursue in the Minneapolis context the Social and Emotional Learning Strategy that failed in Anchorage?

 

What justifies leading the members of the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education on a trip to Chicago to receive the wisdom of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), the organization that granted him an award during the very year that the Anchorage school board declined to renew his contract?

 

An examination of the objective data given above strongly suggests that endeavoring to instill self-confidence and social skills in young people, while clearly worthy, is not a strategy for academic achievement.

 

For academic achievement, Graff and Minneapolis school board members might consider coming back early from that wasteful meeting in Chicago, beginning immediately thereafter to initiate a program for basic skills acquisition, knowledge-intensive curriculum, and teachers trained to impart such skills and knowledge sets---  along with a family outreach program capable of ensuring that precious young lives of all demographic descriptors can benefit.