This article is the sixth 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 Jobs
for America’s Graduates (JAG). The purposes
of this program 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 Close Racial and Economic Achievement Gaps, ensure that
students are Ready for Career and
College, and maximize chances for
Graduation from High School.
But there is no
reason whatsoever for thinking that in a school district of approximately
20,000 students of color a program covering no K-8 students and fewer than 600 high
school students is going to contribute anything of significance to raising
achievement levels. And, indeed an
inspection of the numbers indicates that this program is being phased out, with
no budgetary allotment for academic year 2018-2019.
This indicates
that external funding for this program will no longer be available for the
academic year ending in 2019, or that decision-makers at the Minneapolis Public
Schools have concluded that the JAG program has not been effective in preparing
high school students for the workforce.
In neither case do the prevailing circumstances do anything to avert the
impression that builds with the review of each program purported to raise overall
achievement levels that MPS decision-makers 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 Ethnic Studies and Social Justice Fellows:
>>>>>
Program for
World’s
Best Work Force (WBWF)
Alignment,
2017-2018
Major (WBWF)
Academic Program #6
Jobs For America’s Graduates
Projected WBWF
Goals Addressed >>>>>
Racial and Economic Achievement Gaps Closed
Ready for Career and College
Graduation from High School
2017 2018 2019
Budgetary Budgetary Budgetary
Allocation Allocation Allocation
$898,740 $200,000 $0
Students Served (Grades 4-12)
Academic Year Ending in 2017
K-8
Middle High Academic Year
School School
Q1 2016-2017
----- -----
497
Academic Year Ending in 2018
K-8 Middle
High Academic
Year
School School 2017-2018
167
Students
Served by Race
(Academic Year Ending in 2017)
African American >>>>>
148
American Indian >>>>>
(Native American)
35
Asian >>>>>
9
Hispanic >>>>>
43
White >>>>>
13
Total >>>>>
476
(Academic Year Ending in 2018)
African American >>>>>
107
American Indian >>>>>
(Native American)
0
Asian >>>>>
3
Hispanic >>>>>
57
White >>>>>
0
Total >>>>>
167
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