This article is the fourth article in a series
presenting figures for programs identified by the Minneapolis Public Schools
(MPS) administration and MPS Board of Education as the key initiatives of the
MPS district to raise student achievement levels, especially those for African
American, Hispanic, American Indian (Native American), Somali, and Hmong
students, for which not even 25% meet grade level standards on the Minnesota
Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs).
Most of these programs have been in place for
many years, with meager results.
Other than these programs, the Superintendent
Ed Graff administration is placing its hopes on the training of staff and
students in Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), the use of Culturally Relevant
Materials (CRM) and the implementation of a new reading curriculum for grades
PK-5.
For reasons that I have detailed in
past articles posted on this blog, none of the programs articulated by the
Graff administration and approved by the MPS Board of Education is adequate to
the task of raising student achievement levels or imparting a
knowledge-intensive, skill-replete education.
That will only come with complete
curricular overhaul, comprehensive teacher retraining, highly intentional
tutoring, resource provision and referral for struggling families, and bureaucratic
trimming so as to direct resources to the students themselves.
These observations will be discussed
at length in my substantially complete book, Understanding the Minneapolis Public Schools: Current Condition, Future Prospect, for
which I will continue to post snippets in the run-up to publication this coming
May 2018.
The program under review here is Fast Track
Scholars, identified for Closing Racial
and Economic Achievement Gaps and Graduation
from High School among the six goals identified under Minnesota Department of Education World’s Best Workforce regulations.
The Fast Track Scholars programs
is closely tied to AVID, cited in a previous article in this series. It a summer program for grade 8 students who
are invited for participation during the summer session following the regular
academic year; all grade 8 AVID students
receive such an invitation. The Fast
Track Scholars program covers a gamut of academic subjects and other activities,
and there is a corollary objective of establishing personal connections to future
high school classmates, counselors, and teachers. Students may earn up to four elective high
school credits in various courses including algebra, literacy, science,
engineering, geography, physical education, health, English as a Second
Language, website design, work readiness, robotics, ceramics, drawing, guitar, and
theater.
Hence, the
objectives of the Fast Track Scholars program are diffuse. Many students enrolled in the AVID program still
struggle to attain grade level proficiency on the Minnesota Comprehensive
Assessments in mathematics, reading, and science. Nothing in the way that the Fast
Track Scholars program is designed addresses the particular skill deficits manifested
by individual students. Thus, this program
is not likely to be affective in raising skill levels so as to close the
achievement gap.
And in a school district of approximately 20,000 students of
color, a program covering only students anticipating matriculation in grade 9,
and within that group fewer than 300 students, will make little difference to
the overall student population; there is
not even a likelihood of affecting the academic performance for the general
grade 9 population.
So while there
are worthy features of the Fast Track Scholars program, the impression still
builds with the review of each program purported to raise overall achievement
levels that that decision-makers at the Minneapolis Public Schools dwell in a
fantasy world, are cynical in advancing programs that they know cannot work, or
are joltingly incompetent.
Consider now the
data pertinent to Fast Track Scholars:
>>>>>
Program for
World’s
Best Work Force (WBWF)
Alignment,
2017-2018
Major (WBWF)
Academic Program #4
Fast Track Scholars
Projected WBWF
Goals Addressed >>>>>
Racial and Economic Achievement Gaps Closed
Graduation from High School
Budgetary Allocations for Academic Years
Ending in 2016, 2017, and 2018:
2016 2017 2018
Budgetary Budgetary Budgetary
Allocation Allocation Allocation
$50,000 $13,000 $13,000
Students Served (Rising 9th)
Academic Year Ending in 2017
K-8
Middle High Academic Year
School School
2016-2017
----- -----
269
Academic Year Ending in 2018
K-8
Middle High Academic Year
School School 2017-2018
----- ----- 189
Students
Served by Race
(Academic Year Ending in 2017)
African American >>>>>
108
American Indian >>>>>
(Native American)
6
Asian >>>>>
20
Hispanic >>>>>
71
White >>>>>
42
Total >>>>>
269
(Academic Year Ending in 2018)
African American >>>>>
109
American Indian >>>>>
(Native American)
7
Asian >>>>>
7
Hispanic >>>>>
47
White >>>>>
19
Total >>>>>
189
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