This is the fifth 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 the
combined GEMS (Girls in Engineering, Math, and Science) & GISE (Guys in
Science and Engineering) initiatives. The purposes of this initiative in meeting World’s Best Workforce regulations established
by the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) (among the six possible items
for WBWF alignment) are to address Racial and Economic
Achievement Gaps and to ensure that students are Ready for Career and College. Via this combination of two closely related
programs, decision-makers at the Minneapolis Public Schools aim to attract more
female students to the fields of engineering, math, and science; and also to give male
students challenges in science and engineering.
This is an
admirable initiative. But inasmuch as the combination of GEMS & GISE programs only serves approximately 2,675 students of color in this academic year 2017-2018, in a school district of approximately 20,000 students of
color, participation is limited in the extreme. In the absence of intentional programs designed to raise general achievement levels and the academic performance of students lagging behind, performance on mathematics and science assessments will continue to languish.
The impression
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 GEMS & GISE:
>>>>>
Program for
World’s
Best Work Force (WBWF)
Alignment,
2017-2018
Major (WBWF)
Academic Program #5
GEMS & GISE
Projected WBWF
Goals Addressed >>>>>
Racial and Economic Achievement Gaps Closed
Ready for Career and College
2016 2017 2018
Budgetary Budgetary Budgetary
Allocation Allocation Allocation
$900,000 $213,000 $213,000
Students Served (Grades K-8)
Academic Year Ending in 2017
K-5
K-8 Middle High Academic Year
School School 2015-2016
1,648 676 257 -----
Academic Year Ending in 2018
K-5
K-8 Middle High Academic Year
School School 2017-2018
2,629 751 736 -----
Students
Served by Race
(Academic Year Ending in 2017)
African American >>>>>
951
American Indian >>>>>
(Native American)
84
Asian >>>>>
194
Hispanic >>>>>
513
White >>>>>
839
Total >>>>>
2,581
(Academic Year Ending in 2018)
African American >>>>>
1,725
American Indian >>>>>
(Native American)
134
Asian >>>>>
229
Hispanic >>>>>
758
White >>>>>
1,375
Total >>>>>
4,221
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