Contributing
to the environment of wretched K-12 education at the Minneapolis Public Schools
is the mediocrity of coverage by reporters at the Star Tribune. The past
several reporters at the Star Tribune covering
the Minneapolis Public Schools have been Steve Brandt, Alejandra Matos, and Beena Raghavendran; Faiza Mahamud now seems to have replaced
Raghavendran, with Anthony Lonetree now covering the St. Paul Public
Schools. Articles written by these
journalists are at best serviceable;
often, their articles betray their misinformation and naivete.
Star Tribune writers Mila Koupilova and Maryjo Webster are
now also covering K-12 education for the Twin Cities Metro and the state; they joined Faiza Mahamud in writing the
first of three articles that I posted this week, asking readers to look for meaning
in subtext and to analyze the articles for quality of reporting.
Please now read these articles again, paying careful
attention to my own comments at multiple points in the heading and the
text >>>>>
Heading and text of Star Tribune article, >>>>> “Graduation
Rate at High Mark: State Record Clouded
by Persistent Achievement Gap” (Page A1, February 28), by Mila Koupilova, Maryjo Webster, and Faiza Mahamud >>>>>
>>>>>
“Graduation
Rate at High Mark: State Record Clouded
by Persistent Achievement Gap” by Mila
Koupilova, Maryjo Webster, and Faiza Mahamud
>>>>>
My
Comment
The “Graduation Rate at High Mark”
title was the large, dark-type heading for the article. This was most likely the fault of another Star Tribune
staffer; I know from my own experience with articles
of mine printed on the Opinion Pages that the title of the author rarely is
what goes as the heading, and in the case of staffers, as opposed to outside
contributors, they may in knowing this not even provide their own title when
they file their report.
In any case, the dark heading puts
the most positive spin on a miserable K-12 education situation in Minnesota, by
emphasizing increasing graduation rates.
Anyone skimming the pages of the Star Tribune without paying much attention to the
subtitle or to those mitigating references in the text very well could come
away thinking, “Oh, good, we’re seeing progress in K-12 education in Minnesota.”
In
fact, going from a graduation rate of seventy-eight percent to eighty three
percent in the span of of five years and calling that success should remind one
of the blues lyric,
I’ve
been down so long,
down
looks like up to me.”
One
way to look good by making progress is to start so low in the first place that
gains to a still low level seem to indicate significant advancement, rather
than the persistence of abysmal conditions.
The
text of the article began as follows >>>>>
Minnesota
high school graduation rates continued to tick up in 2017, but progress stalled
in closing a wide gap between the rates for whites and students of color.
A
record nearly 83 percent of students graduated from high school on time last
year, according to data released by the Minnesota Department of Education. That’s an overall gain of about 5 percentage
points during the past five years.
Yet
a gap of almost 19 percentage points separates the graduation rates of white
students and their peers of color. Only
about half of American Indian students graduated on time last year; roughly two-thirds of black and Latino
students did, compared with 88 percent for whites.
But
the state has made marked gains toward closing those gains since 2012, with
students of color showing more pronounced gains than their white peers over
time.
My
Comment
The writers return again to the
positive spin. This can be seen as
journalistic balance, but in the absence of a generous amount of commentary elsewhere
in the newspaper at which reportorial coverage gives way to analysis, K-12
decision-makers (both central school district staff and school board members) are
continually given an escape route for maintaining academic mediocrity.
The central fact on which readers
should concentrate is that in Minnesota approximately half (50%) of American Indian
students are not graduating within four years and that for African American and
Latino students in Minnesota the figure is thirty-three percent (33%).
In what world is this acceptable?
The text of the article continues as follows >>>>>
“While
our graduation rates have continued to climb and gaps are narrowing, we have
too many students who are not receiving a diploma,” Education Commissioner
Brenda Cassellius said, adding that much work remains to reduce
disparities. Graduation rates for
low-income, special education,
migrant
and homeless students as well as English language learners also lagged
significantly behind the state average.
My
Comment
Brenda Cassellius has been making
these statements for seven years now.
She serves in a Mark Dayton gubernatorial administration that terminated
the MCAs (though still administered) as graduation
requirements, issued a murky Multiple Measurement Rating System (MMRS) that
eased pressures on locally centralized school districts to improve, and in many
ways did the bidding of Education Minnesota and the Minneapolis Federation of
Teachers (MFT), who heavily supported Dayton’s campaigns and those of other Democrat-Farmer-Labor
party politicians.
The
text of the article continues as follows: >>>>>
In
Minneapolis, about two-thirds overall graduated on time in 2017--- a 1-percentage point dip--- placing the district just shy of the bottom
for metro graduation rates. But that’s
still up about 14 percentage points over five years ago, representing one of
the biggest gains of any Twin Cities district.
My
Comment
Note that the graduation rate for
all student populations at the Minneapolis Public Schools actually declined
just a bit. This is a very significant fact
in the context of an article that gives a generous measure of approval for
improved graduation rates. If a school
district starts with graduation rates well under fifty percent and then
improves, failure looks like success and even decline for a given year is given
positive spin.
Again, we remember >>>>>
I’ve
been down so long,
down
looks like up to me.”
The
article continues as follows >>>>>
St.
Paul graduation rates inched up to 77 percent, and the districts made modest
headway toward reducing disparities for students of color. In both urban districts, rates remained
lowest for blacks and American Indians, while Latino students made significant
gains in recent years.
Districts
in the west and north suburbs led the metro pack in overall graduation
rates: The St. Anthony-New Brighton
district graduated almost 98 percent of its students on time last year and
posted the largest gains in the past five years. Minnetonka, Orono, and Edina flowed close
behind.
On
the flip side, Brooklyn Center ranked at the bottom of the metro, with half of
students graduating in four years.
There, officials noted that a majority of students attend two
alternative high schools, including a statewide online program loosely
affiliated with the district. They noted
the district’s traditional high school outperformed the state as a whole.
The
state education department touted a decrease in the percentage of high school
graduates who took remedial classes at Minnesota colleges and universities over
the past five years--- a sign that more
students are leaving high school ready to tackle college. But those rates remain high, particularly for
some students of color: In 2016, more
than 40 percent of black high school graduates took such courses, which have
been shown to reduce the odds of finishing college.
My
Comment >>>>>
The stark fact here is that forty
percent of African American students statewide have to take remedial courses
once matriculating on college and university campuses. Since many of those students attend two-year
colleges and those institutions are now frequently addressing academic deficiencies
of entering students via remediation not officially labeled remedial, the
figure is even higher. And for less that
fifty percent (50%) of African American students who do actually graduate from
the Minneapolis Public Schools, the substantial majority require remediation
and, worse, given their initial deficits just cannot perform academically at
the college and university level. They
drop out and all too often go forth to lives that are not at any level as
rewarding as they should be.
The article continues as follows >>>>>
Because
of federal law changes, the state tweaked the way it calculates graduation
rates. Changes included adding
categories for students who identify as two or more races, migrant students and
those who experience homelessness. The
education department recalculated rates for the past five years using the new
approach for an accurate comparison.
In
an interview, Cassellius voiced confidence that the state can meet ambitious
goals it set last year: a 90 percent
statewide rate and racial group rates of at least 85 percent by 2020. She singled out notable gains in recent years
for the new category of multiracial students.
She also highlighted a plan to extend state support this spring to more
high schools with lagging graduation rates, reserved until now for schools with
high numbers of low-income students.
“We
need to keep pressing the accelerator down to make sure every kid graduates on
time and ready,” she said.
In
a statement, Gov. Mark Dayton called the report great news for the state even
as he acknowledged that “unacceptable disparities” remain.
My
Comment >>>>>
Remember my comments above
regarding the Dayton administration and the political corruption of the DFL on
K-12 education issues.
Brenda Cassellius is a friend of
mine.
She is a sincere and dedicated
educator.
I came to favor her selection as
Superintendent of the Minneapolis Public Schools when she was in the running
along with the ultimately elected Ed Graff.
Cassellius has a strong sense of
what must be done to move toward excellence at the level of the locally
centralize school district, but at the state level she must do the biding of the
DFL and Dayton.
The
article continues as follows >>>>>
In
Minneapolis, Superintendent Ed Graff highlighted the “on track” program, which
uses attendance, behaviors, and grades to promptly identify struggling
students, who are then put on a help plan.
He also noted the credit-recovery efforts that helped more than 2,000
students earn credits during the school break.
Michael
Thomas, chief of academics, leadership, and learning, noted that the district’s
high number of English language learners and students with disabilities who
struggle to graduate in four years and touted increases in the district’s
seven-year rate, to 73 percent in 2017---
data the state released for the first time this year.
Still,
a 28 percent percentage-point graduation rate disparity between white and
minority students persists. Graff
acknowledged that the district must redouble efforts to narrow the gap and
ensure graduating students are ready for college and jobs.
The
article continues as follows >>>>>
Michael Thomas is forced into
making statements that he knowsare only fractionally revelatory, hamstringed as
he is in serving boss Ed Graff, who imagines that social and emotional learning,
an emphasis on literacy, verbal testimony to valuing equity, and externally
subsidized and very limited tracking and support mechanisms are going to produce
better (very murkily defined) academic results.
Thomas is a talented administrator who must assert the case for a knowledge-intensive,
skill-replete curriculum as he prepares to be the next superintendent of the
Minneapolis Public Schools.
The
article continues as follows >>>>>
In
St. Paul, officials noted that American Indian, Latino, black, and homeless
students, as well as English language learners and those eligible for free or
reduced-price lunch, outperformed state averages for those groups. They highlighted a “check and connect”
approach in which social workers and other mentors check in with special
education high schoolers at risk for dropping out; the district has also worked to open
opportunities to earn college credit to more high school students.
A
push is underway to improve graduation rates for American Indian students,
officials said, and the district plans to keep closer track of five- and seven-
year rates.
For some students, four years to graduate is an
arbitrary and even inappropriate bar,” said Joe Munnich, assistant director of
research, evaluation, and assessment for the St. Paul district.
Anoka-Hennepin, the state’s largest school system, saw a
2 percentage point drop in its graduation rate, from the 2015-2016 school year
to last year, though the district noted that its students of color outperformed
state averages.
According to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education,
about 70 percent of the state’s students enroll in college in the fall
immediately after graduation. In 2016,
that number was 72 percent of white students compared to 61 percent of students
of color.
“It’s important to note that disparities that are
happening in K-12 education are also happening in higher education,” said
Meredith Fergus, manager of financial aid research for the Minnesota Department
of Higher Education.
My Comment >>>>>
Insufficient academic
preparation at the K-12 level will indeed continue to weigh heavily on the
chances of students to succeed at the collegiate and university level. All of the K-12 commenters cited and quoted in
the article continue to make excuses and to convey in subtext that they do not
feel the necessary sense of urgency in making the changes needed to create a
democratically equitable, excellent program of K-12 education
…………………………………………………………………….
The article provided tabular and graphical material, summarized as
follow >>>>>
On Time Graduation Gains:
2011-12 to 2016-17
All students >>>>> + 5 points
American Indian >>>>> + 6
points
Asian >>>>> + 10 points
Black >>>>> + 19 points
Hispanic >>>>> +
11 points
Two or more races >>>>> + 15 points
White >>>>> + 5 points
BIGGEST INCREASES AND DECLINES IN GRAD RATES
[Note >>>>> Minnesota Districts with the greatest six-year change in their graduation rate
(increases and decreases). Many
districts with large decreases had very high rates
to begin with.
Greatest 6-year improvement, 2011-12 to 2016-2017
Richfield >>>>> +
14 points
Minneapolis >>>>> +
14 points
St. Anthony- >>>>> +
11 points
New Brighton
St. Paul >>>>> + 9 points
Prior Lake- >>>>> + 8 points
Savage
Largest 6-year declines, 2011-12 to 2016-2017
Belle Plaine
>>>>> -
2 points
White Bear Lake >>>>> -
4 points
Mahtomedi >>>>> -
4 points
Randolph >>>>> - 5 points
Shakopee >>>>> - 5 points
…………………………………………………………………….
Summary
Comments >>>>>
Editors at the Star Tribune are not
sufficiently interested in the matter of improving K-12 education. They are not knowledgeable enough on
education issues to make the proper advocacies even if they were inclined to do
so. Furthermore, as employees of a
mainstream newspaper, editors are hesitant to offend the offenders who give
them access for interviews to do lightweight, sycophantic stories even when
articles tend toward the feature rather than the reportorial.
In this situation, readers must
always apply their own analytical reasoning in considering K-12 articles in the
Star Tribune.
For that reasoning to be effective,
readers must ever endeavor to increase their own knowledge of K-12 issues.
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