Readers
should be highly attentive to the wealth of information that I provide in
Chapter Thirty-Eight: School Profiles,
in Part One: Facts. The perceptive reader will discern that the
academic performance of the Minneapolis Public Schools is universally wretched,
most obviously so at schools with student populations overwhelmingly on free or
reduced price lunch and those bearing the burden of an abusive national
history.
Thus a
perusal reveals that a majority of students at many Northside schools such as
Jenny Lind, Lucy Laney, Cityview, Nellie Stone Johnson and Bethune preK-5
schools do not evidence grade level proficiency in mathematics, reading, and
science; this is true, too, at Southside
schools such as Anderson and Jefferson; and
those of Northeast Minneapolis such as Sheridan. Students at Olson and Franklin middle school (grades
6-8) also perform far below grade level in these key skill and subject areas on
objective assessments (MCA data given in Chapter Thirty-Eight are similar to
performance as measured on the National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP]). And while opt-out rates at Henry, South, and
Southwest high schools skew MCA data, student academic performance on the ACT
college preparedness assessment at Minneapolis Public Schools highs schools is
in general abysmal, with two of the lowest performing schools located on the
Northside: The average ACT score at
North High School is 15.6; the
comparable figure of 16 prevails at Henry High.
That average ACT performance hovering around 16 is witnessed also at
Roosevelt and Edison, while the figures at South and Washburn tend toward a
score of 20; the top average ACT score
is recorded by students at Southwest High School, where a figure of 23
pertains. Even that score, at a school
with an affluent student body, is a mere two points above the national average
and specifically is at just the 60th percentile. For the other scores, be aware that a score
of 16 is at only the 20th percentile; that of 20 at the 55th
percentile. For the district median of
16, this means that students perform worse that 80% of those taking the ACT
assessment.
This
objective account makes mockery of the MPS motto that every student shall be “college
or career ready.”
And the
deeper story is even worse:
No student
at the Minneapolis Public Schools is properly educated.
Even the
63% who do graduate within four years walk across the stage to receive a piece
of paper that is a diploma in name only.
The Minnesota State Academic Standards are not being taught as required
by law, so that student knowledge sets in the key academic areas of
mathematics, natural science (biology, chemistry, physics), English (literature
and usage), history, government, and economics are woefully inadequate.
Students
from schools with affluent populations such as Burroughs and the Lake Harriet schools; Armatage Middle School; and Southwest High School evidence higher
assessment scores because they hail from families with higher college and university
attendance profiles, have higher exhortation to achieve well enough to gain
university acceptance, and in some cases have access to professional tutoring
and academic enrichment programs. Also,
since the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers maintains a teacher contingent
that is not committed to students facing the greatest life challenges, more
experienced teachers who may have the knowledge to teach Advance Placement (AP)
courses gravitate to the mellower teaching environments. But given the low number of masters degrees
possessed by teachers in subject areas that they teach, even AP instruction in
many courses at the more affluent schools lags.
Peruse
those school profiles carefully.
Analyze
them discerningly.
Then
proceed to Part Three: Philosophy for an
understanding as to how we got in this mess.
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