Feb 22, 2018

Alternate Universe Superintendent Gary Marvin Davison Moves Forward with Administrative and Programmatic Restructuring at the Minneapolis Public Schools

As the performance of students in the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) languishes under the ineffective administration of conventional universe Superintendent Ed Graff, Alternative Universe Superintendent Gary Marvin Davison has moved forward with the dramatic administrative and academic programming changes that will eventually be made in the conventional universe.

 

Remember that many months ago Dr. Davison terminated the positions of Office of Black Male Achievement Director Michael Walker, Department of Indian Education Director Anna Ross, and Department of College and Career Readiness Executive Director Terry Henry, inviting those staff members to reapply for other positions in the district.

 

Ongoing decisions pertinent to administrative restricting and academic program design have now made the services of Ross and Henry highly tentative and have resulted in an enhanced but very different role for Michael Walker.  Dr. Davison has also jettisoned several other administrative positions and departments that have become superfluous with the overhaul of MPS curriculum and the implementation of academically rigorous teacher and site principal training, highly intentional tutoring and academic enrichment, and outreach to struggling families.    

 

The important decisions and features of the redesign are as follows: 

 

1)  A knowledge-intensive, skill-replete curriculum has been designed and is now in implementation.  The curriculum has been developed by Dr. Davison, staff from the Core Knowledge Foundation created by E. D. Hirsch, and academic department scholars from the University of Minnesota.  The curriculum emphasizes grade by grade knowledge sets for acquisition by students at K-5 in the subject areas of mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, history, geography, economics, literature, English usage, music, and visual art.  This emphasis continues at grades 6-8, at which students also select from rigorous courses in Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and Japanese for specific language of study.  Courses in the vocational and technological arts have also been established at grades 6-8.  At grades 9-12, all students, with a very few exceptions in the cases of students with specified learning challenges (who are still offered a challenging academic program), take Advanced Placement courses in mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, world history, United States history, and English;  and they exercise numerous options relevant to specialized academic options across the liberal arts, foreign languages, and the vocational and technological arts.       

 

2)  All teachers at K-5 are now participating in a Masters of Liberal Arts program designed to give them strong subject area knowledge sets in mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, history, government, economics, literature, English usage, music, and the visual arts.  Degrees conferred in departments, colleges, and schools of education are no longer recognized.   All teachers at grades 6-12 have been evaluated for knowledge of subject area and required to obtain B. A. and M. A. degrees in college and university departments relevant to the fields in which they teach.   New teachers at both K-5 and grades 6-12 now are serving full academic year internships and those experienced teachers who remain on staff have undergone extensive evaluation to determine suitability for providing classroom instruction.  Decisions on employment as classroom teachers in the Minneapolis Public Schools are now made on the basis of completion of the above academically rigorous program and proven classroom effectiveness.

 

3)  One hour a day is now dedicated to enrichment opportunities for all K-5 students.  Volunteers and staff members are now being trained and evaluated for effectiveness in assisting classroom teachers in tutoring students lagging below grade level in mathematics or reading;  and to assist students operating at grade level or above in pursuing special interests during the hour devoted to academic enrichment. 

 

4)   A new Department of Family Resource Provision and Referral has been created.  The Department of Student, Family, and Community Engagement has been disbanded.  Staff members with the ability to connect with families right where they live have been added at each school of the district, and extensive efforts are underway to engage in collective efforts with community organizations, mosques, and churches to address the problems of families that struggle with problems of finances and functionality.     

 

Since teachers are now professionals with broad and deep knowledge and the ability to impart that knowledge to all students, the Department of Teaching and Learning and all positions in that department, typically approximately 45 in number, have been terminated, at a savings of about three million dollars ($3,000,000).

 

Finance Chief Ibrahima Diop has been enthusiastically retained and is now thoroughly evaluating every MPS program for cost effectiveness.  Karen Devet (Chief Operations Officer), Fadi Fahill (Chief Information Officer), Amy Moore (General Counsel), Maggie Sullivan (Human Resources Chief), and Eric Moore (Chief of Research and Assessment [a slimming of his former title] have also been invited to continue their suitably effective work at the Minneapolis Public Schools.

 

Michael Thomas (former Chief of Academics, Leadership, and Learning) now works closely with Dr. Davison as Administrative Superintendent.

 

Michael Walker (former head of the Office of Black Male Achievement) is now director of the  Department of Family Resource Provision and Referral.

 

The former positions and departments (College and Career Readiness and Indian Education respectively) led by Terry Henry and Anna Ross have been disbanded and their employment status continues under review.

 

Former Deputy Chief of Academics, Leadership, and Learning Cecilia Saddler and Associate Superintendents Ron Wagner, Laura Cavender, Lucilla Davila, and Carla Steinbach have all been reassigned as building principals.

 

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With the disbandment of various departments at the Davis Center and the professionalization of  teaching staff, the prevailing median salary for teachers has risen from $67,000 to $87,000.  The programmatic emphasis within the district focuses on teachers and students.  There is great emphasis placed on administrative slimming.  As in the case of college and university professors, teachers are now regarded as masters of their fields, without need of curriculum specialists and the like.

 

In making these changes in the Alternate Universe, Superintendent Gary Marvin Davison is sending a strong signal to conventional universe Superintendent Ed Graff to follow this administrative and academic course or prepare to make his exit in favor of new leadership.    

 

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