Dr. Davison then gave
a succinct account of the core themes of the speech at the Monday, 7 October
meeting of the MPS Board of Education.
This generated a bevy of blog hits.
Then Dr. Davison gave this same address to a gathering of Alternate
Universe residents in North Minneapolis, inducing wide circulation of the
speech.
This speech may be
taken as delivering the core message of Part Three, Philosophy, in Dr. Davison’s
book, Understanding the Minneapolis
Public Schools: Current Condition,
Future Prospect, and as a concise handbook for the preK-12 Revolution that
will be rocking the hallways of the Davis Center (MPS central offices, 1250
West Broadway) and other edifices throughout the district in the course of the
next many months.
Full comprehension of
this revolutionary program will thus be mandatory reading for all participants
in this exciting transformation--- those
destined to fall as the revolution sweeps the hallways of the district should
in their own self-interest read this document, as well. As they do so, they should study those swept
aside in Tokugawa Japan, Qing China, Romanov Russia, Bourbon France, and the
many colonialized possessions of the British Empire:
Those still clinging
to their sinecures in the Davis Center must understand that the days of the ancien
regime are past and that they must join the revolution or gain metaphorical burial
on the ash heaps of history.
Below readers will
find a slightly more advanced version of the original speech, which Dr. Davion
will be giving in many quarters in the course of the next few days.
The text of his speech is as follows:
……………………………………………………………………………………
Good evening, friends.
My comments this evening will not be
astonishing to those many of you who are already engaged in the development of
the program important details of which I convey to you today. We have been earnestly at work for many
months now implementing the program that looms for entry into the conventional
universe wherein Superintendent Ed Graff and Davis Center staff have been so
dilatory. I thank you all for your
diligent efforts and for the joy that I see on your faces and in the eyes of
the students of the Minneapolis Public Schools as those precious beings come
alive in the world of knowledge.
Thus, this address is at least as vital for
the auditory processes of those now laboring in the corruption that
characterizes MPS actors in the conventional universe. As if this were a new program, I speak to you
today as I did at the incipience of our exciting journey, knowing that there
are staff members in the conventional universe already inspired by our efforts
who long to hear a coherent message of pre-K-12 transformation.
Know, remember, and be ever thoughtful,
then, about the following:
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
We at the Minneapolis Public Schools are
dedicated to the impartation of a knowledge-intensive, skill-replete curriculum
that will enable our students easily to master the Minnesota State Academic
Standards in the context of courses that stretch beyond those standards in
ambition.
Our pre-K-5 students will emerge from their
experiences in those years with abundant knowledge and skills pertinent to
mathematics, natural science (biology, chemistry, physics), English literature
and usage, history, government, economics, psychology, and the fine arts
(visual and musical). Students will have
mastered curriculum associated with Algebra I and many concepts in
geometry; curriculum relevant to the
other subject areas will be similarly advanced.
Upon matriculation in middle school (grades
6-8), students will continue this advanced course of study in the designated
subject areas. Students will master
concepts pertinent to Algebra II, Geometry, and Trigonometry. They will emerge from middle school with
abundant knowledge sets in United States and World History. They will continue to accumulate broad and
deep knowledge in biology, chemistry, and physics, with well-designed
laboratory experiences; keen attention
will be directed toward the associated sciences of health and reproduction. From their experiences at grades pre-K-5 and
grades 6-8, students will have gained a good initial understanding of
Shakespearean literature, Greek drama, and the wealth of literature generated
by and for African American, Somali, Latina/Latino, Hmong, and American Indian
communities. Students will also emerge
from the preK-8 years with knowledge of Western classical music and music from
the traditions of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. They will learn of the roots of rock and
roll, rhythm and blues, and hip-hop in work songs, blues, and jazz--- with the goal of affirming student
contemporary interests while providing context for the development of current
popular styles. During the middle school
experience, students will be given opportunities to advance in a world language
and to explore vocational interests.
During high school (grades 9-12), all
students except those facing severe learning challenges will take Advanced
Placement courses in Calculus, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, United States
History, World History, and a world language.
By the junior (grade 11) and senior (grade 12) years, students will have
ample options pertinent to their driving professional and vocational
interests; and they will all take
courses requiring mastery of academic research techniques and citations in the
context of generating college-level research papers focused on subjects of
driving student interest.
…………………………………………………………………………………………….
Such ambitious curriculum will require
thorough retraining of teachers, especially those at grades preK-5. Teachers at that grade level will engage in a
full year of study for a Masters of Liberal Arts Degree focused on mathematics
through calculus and accordingly advanced material in English literature and
usage, history, biology, chemistry,
physics, and the fine arts (visual and musical). Aspiring preK-12 teachers will write a
master’s thesis on a topic of driving interest within the subject areas given
above. Upon receipt of their Masters of
Liberal Arts degree, aspiring preK-5 teachers will serve a full year of
internship to determine suitability for employment as teachers in the
Minneapolis Public Schools.
For teachers at grades 6-8 and 9-12, both a
bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in a major subject area within mathematics,
the natural sciences, history, government, English literature, music, painting,
sculpture, world language, or the technological or vocational arts will be
mandatory. No degrees from departments,
colleges, or schools of education will be accepted. Upon verification of receipt of the master’s
degree, aspiring teachers at grades 6-8 and 9-12 will then serve a full year of
internship to determine suitability for employment as teachers in the
Minneapolis Public Schools.
…………………………………………………………………………………….
Curriculum and teachers are at the core or
our successful knowledge-intensive, skill-replete education for the students of
the Minneapolis Public Schools.
Three other programmatic features
characterize our district:
1)
At least one hour each day in preK-5 will be devoted to enrichment
activities, with assertive skill-acquisition or advanced academic exploration as
appropriate for the given student;
hence, each student will advance from the preK-5 experience able to demonstrate
grade level performance in mathematics and reading; possessed of an abundant store of commonly
shared skill and knowledge sets; and
with additional experiences pertinent to the driving personal interests of the
given student. Classroom teachers will
according to their rigorous training be highly adept at imparting the knowledge
and skill sets and serving the individual needs of students; we will also make generous use of highly
trained Education Support Professionals and volunteers.
2)
As we continue to streamline the Davis Center bureaucracy, we will
eliminate many departments while adding one, a Department of Resource Provision
and Referral, staffed with well-paid Education Support Professionals and others
comfortable with on the ground, in the home interactions with families facing
the gravest life challenges.
3)
In streamlining the bureaucracy, we will eliminate the Department of
Teaching and Learning and the position of Associate Superintendent. Academic decision-makers will henceforth come
from the teaching ranks, possess academic master’s degrees, have proven
experiences of success as classroom teachers, and acquire any additional administrative
expertise via intensive training sessions prior to moving into the
administrative assignment. Such academic
decision-making positions will be greatly reduced, since the curriculum will be
firmly set and teachers will have proven ability from the training that we
provide or require: Curriculum will be
embedded in our specified knowledge and skill sets and in the brains of our
professionalized teaching core, featuring teachers receiving a median of
$85,000 and Educational Support Professionals receiving a median of $65,000 in
annual salary.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Thus, curriculum overhaul, teacher
training, and the points given immediately above constitute our program for the
delivery of a knowledge-intensive, skill-replete education to our precious
students., of all demographic descriptors.
We also declare the following as guiding
principles:
>>>>> We will ensure that students of all
demographic descriptors are eager for and prepared for the acquisition of
commonly shared knowledge and skill sets, and that they also have ample
opportunities to explore their driving personal interests; the latter will be important in the course of
the preK-12 years and gain particular emphasis at grades 11 and 12 as students
envision their postsecondary lives. We
will make no rigid distinction between students on academic versus vocational
tracks but rather offer similar curriculum with opportunity to explore driving
personal interests.
>>>>> We will abide by all pertinent laws, but
we will not as a district emphasize racial integration. Rather, we will make each school an institution
of academic excellence, respect both the common and ethnic-specific humanity of
each student, and create an environment wherein the goals of artificially
structured integration are reached by our culture of human understanding,
knowledge, and conviction.
………………………………………………………………………………………
Finally, we will proceed each day making
sure that students know why what they are learning is vital to their lives,
with this message conveyed by teachers and all staff imbued with the strongest
possible conviction as to the importance of a knowledge-intensive,
skill-replete education.
We will send students forth upon graduation
to lives of cultural enrichment, civic preparation, and professional
satisfaction by virtue of the preK-12 education of excellence that we have
provided to them.
In doing this we will provide a model for
locally centralized school districts across the United States, in the
conviction that the time is now for making this nation the democracy that we
imagine ourselves to be.
I love you for the efforts that you have
made and will continue to make as we prepare to take our program from the
alternate into the conventional universe.
My greatest gratitude and profound respect
goes out to each one of you---
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