Submitted with date of 11 October 2018.
2020 Advisory Committee
October 11, 2018
Annual Letter from the 2020 Advisory
Committee
Minneapolis Public Schools
1250 West Broadway
Minneapolis
MN 55411
Dear Superintendent Graff, Minneapolis
Public School Board, and District Chiefs:
This letter is written on behalf of the
World’s Best Workforce Advisory Committee to Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS),
under Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.11, school districts are to develop a
World’s Best Workforce (WBWF) Annual Report and report summary for each school
year. In addition, the legislation
requires that there be a district advisory committee that provides
recommendations regarding rigorous academic standards, student achievement
goals and measures, district assessments, and program evaluations. In MPS, these recommendations come in the
form of an annual letter, and the following is the letter from the 2017-2018
school year.
The letter is outlined in the following
way:
Contents
Action Steps Requested from the
Committee------- 2
Introduction---------------------------------------------------
4
Inclusion and
Access---------------------------------------- 4
Advisory
2020 Recommendations------------ 5
Inclusion and Access
Literacy and
Curriculum------------------------------------ 5
Advisory
2020 Recommendations----------- 6
Literacy and Curriculum-------------- 6
100
Graduation/ Career and College
Readiness---------- 7
Advisory
2020 Recommendations----------- 7
Career and College Readiness
Relationships and Social and Emotional
Learning-- 7
Advisory
2020 Recommendations---------- 8
Relationships and Social and Emotional Learning
Action Steps
Requested from the Committee
1.
Inclusion and Access
a.
The district structures their communications, school pathway
opportunities, curriculum choices, staff hiring practices, and marketing to
maximize the message to the greater community the value-added impact of a
diverse community of learners can have on the social, emotional, and academic
learning for all of our students and their families.
b.
The school board decisions and school district policies be reviewed and
structured to ensure that our learning communities from schools to classrooms
to after school clubs be inclusive and accessible to all; and that the board’s decision-making be
consistent and aligned to existing district-wide MPS mission, vison, and
values, as successfully shifting the behaviors or initiatives of such a large
district
can take years. There needs to be inclusion for students with
both seen and unseen disabilities.
c.
Report back as to how the comprehensive plan aligns with legislative
goals of WBWF.
d.
Review programs not only in terms of budget and academics, but for how
well they advance the district goals of equity and inclusion for all.
e.
sites should be held accountable for ensuring that the rich diversity of
the students is alos reflected in the school, classroom, curriculum, and staff.
f.
Access to early education and High 5 should be increased to add
locations, delivery models, and availability.
2. Literacy
and Curriculum
a.
Improve reading for students.
Strategies to do this include:
Increase teachers’ ability to teach reading to students; provide a comprehensive pedagogical
professional development reading strategy for all Pre-K through 3
teachers; use a curriculum with reading
foundations that include phonics;
increase focus on early childhood reading skills.
b.
Work more closely with community partners to promote math and literacy
connections in their programs to better align out of school time and in school
time for students.
c.
We are requesting the data report broken down by school, race, ELL,
Special Ed, and HHM regarding the students who are identical as not meeting
criteria under the Reading Well by Third Grade Law and the interventions that
are provided.
d.
Audit curriculum to ensure we are providing high quality, effective, and
culturally relevant curriculum to students.
3.
Graduation/ Career and College Readiness
a.
Add ethnic studies as a requirement for all students, starting in high
school and then continuing to expand down into lower grade levels.
b.
Add Career and Technical Education (CTE) or Career Readiness
requirements for graduation.
c.
Develop comprehensive post-graduation programs and clarify to students
what their options are for graduation.
d.
The district should offer courses that provide students with life skills
to prepare them for their adult lives and life experiences outside the
classroom.
4.
Relationships and Social Emotional Learning
a.
Increase efforts around Social and Emotional Learning
b.
Increase educators’ voice in program decisions.
c.
The school board honor the Equity and Diversity Impact Assessment (EDIA)
process when making district-wide resource decisions and especially when the
decision is related to significant resource allocations and/or impact on MPS
services to students across the district.
d.
Improve the environmental quality of the student learning space.
Introduction
We, the 2020 Advisory Committee, see the
divsersity of our community as a strength and tremendous asset for MPS. As such, we support the Minneapolis Public
Schools promise to the community to provide an inspirational education
experience in a safe, welcoming environment for ALL learners where our students
can acquire the tools and skills necessary to engage confidently in the global
community.
It is important that the district
understand that a diverse learning community is an asset for our students
whether they are academic standouts or struggling in school. Too often, inte3gration is proposed as a
solution from a deficit rather than being properly seen from a growth mindset.
We request that the school board honor the
Equity and Diversity Impact Assessment (EDIA) process when making district-wide
resource decisions and especially when the decision is related to significant
resource allocations and/or significant impact on MPS services to students
across the district.
Inclusion
and Access
In alignment with MPS Equity and Diversity
Policy 1304 we, the 2020 Advisory Committee, request that the school board
remain committed to this policy and the underlying accountability message:
Every
student deserves a respectful learning environment in which their racial and
ethnic diversity is valued and contributes to successful academic
outcomes. Minneapolis Public Schools is
committed to identifying and correcting practices and policies that perpetuate
the achievement gap and institutional racism in all forms in order to provide
all of its students with the opportunity to succeed. Learning and work environments are enriched
and improved by the contributions, perspectives, and very presence of students
in each of our school and to our mission statements.
Equity, inclusion, and valuing diversity
must remain a core value for the district.
We believe that MPS needs to place greater emphasis on commitment to
these beliefs that are embedded at the school and classroom level. Strategies must extend beyond a simple look
at school-by-school demographics. The
presence of a diverse student body is not evidence of inclusion, if all parts
of that student body are not provided opportunity to participate in many of the
programs within a school.
More intentional consideration must take
place for the student, family, and staff experience within MPS. Do all feel welcome in the school? Are student supports available to ensure that
students of any background can succeed?
Are the voices of all families well represented in school decisions, not
just a vocal and privileged minority?
Are hiring practices equitable?
Self-Evaluation
We request that the school district perform
a mandatory self-examination and assessment of the current equity, diversity,
and inclusion practices within our schools/learning community, and the
district. This self-examination should
be performed for all students in all racial groups and communities including
students with disabilities; in all areas
of the school (classrooms, hallways, after school programs, etc.); and for all types of programming, from IB
programs to Special Education.
As schools and programs are undergoing what
may be a difficult and painful self-assessment, it is important to stress the
harm that is being done not just to those students being left our of certain
programs, but that is being done to the students who are learning without the
full benefits of a diverse classroom that would provide them with a richer
experience.
Assessments of inclusion must include the
voices of all families in the school, not just a vocal and privileged
minority. It is critical to understand
the perspective of families who have felt excluded in the past.
Advisory
2020 Recommendations--- Inclusion and
Access
>>>>> One measure of the cost effectiveness or
a program must whether it advances district goals of academic excellence,
equity, and inclusion. Programs or
communities that historically limit access to certain student groups and
habitually exclude others must be asked to take corrective action.
>>>>> Access should be viewed very broadly,
such that schools are encouraged to look beyond their walls to the rich
experience in the community outside (e. g., neighborhood groups, social
services) for ideas and assistance in ensuring students and their families feel
valued.
>>>>> Inclusion also means that the rich
diversity of students is reflected in the classroom, school, curriculum, and in
the teaching staff. Schools should be
proactively working to ensure their schools reflect the diversity of our
community.
>>>>> Students need to be the drivers of the
way they are learning, including individualized learning plans, student voice,
student-led education, project-based learning, and having curriculum that
reflects the students including race/ethnicity, disabilities, etc.
>>>>> Based on our conversation with high
school students, there is a need for fewer distractions from other students in
the class.
>>>>> Students have asked for broader access
to life skills such as arts and financial literacy in school.
>>>>> There is also greater need for
partnerships with local companies and internship possibilities.
>>>>> Ethnic studies should be a requirement
for graduation.
Literacy and
Curriculum
Early learning and reading at grade level
by third grade is essential in student success and a key indicator of being on
track for graduating college and career ready.
Minnesota’s Reading Well by Third Grade legislation (MN Statute 120B.12)
mandates that districts identify students by the endof third grade who arfe not
reading at grade level and provide interventions until they ae reading at grade
level.
In ST18, the 2020 Advisory enlisted panels
of elementary teachers (PreK-5), literacy specialists, and high school students
from marginalized communities (including students with disabilities, students
who rare highly mobile, students of color, and students of advanced learning)
to share their personal accounts and expertise related to literacy efforts in
MPS. As a result our advisory learned
the following:
1)
Teacher prep programs are not preparing our teachers effectively to
teach foundational skills aligned to the literacy development needs of our
students.
2)
Student representatives informed us at student-adult relationships, academic
comprehension, and keeping students engaged at their individual proficiency
level is extremely important; and that
student behaviors that create complex classroom management issues are ow
students communicate to teachers that schools are not meeting their needs.
3)
PreK students are entering schools with fewer words than years prior and
lacking foundational reading skills, some with exposure to over 20,000 words
than their peers.
Advisory
2020 Recommendations--- Literacy and
Curriculum
>>>>> MPS must continue to host regular and
explicit professional development opportunities for teachers to ensure that
they can successfully engage students in quality and effective instruction
leading to improved literacy outcomes for ALL MPS students.
>>>>> MPS must ensure that ALL curriculum is
of high quality, culturall appropriate, and accelerates the learning of
students in all areas.
>>>>> Access to early education and High 5 is
an effective intervention and programming should be increased to add locations,
delivery models and availability, especially for our neediest learners.
>>>>> Develop a metric with the City of
Minneapolis and community partners to measure enrollment in high quality early
childhood programs.
>>>>> Provide support to the community
utilizing outside and community-based programs to educate parents/guardians
about the importance of early reading literacy and the availability of early
education and High 5 programming. (The
2020 Advisory Committee is aware of the district’s efforts and acknowledges the
Hybrid model referenced on page 8 in response to our 2017 letter.)
>>>>> MPS should utilize our legislative
lobbyisty to express our concerns about teacher prep programs not education our
teachers how to teach foundational literacy skills.
Graduation/
Career and College Readiness
Students should graduate from MPS college
and career ready with the life skills to navigate a 21st century
global society. To get there, students
need to be engaged in and responsible for their own learning, offered
experiences in the real world and guided to think about their future. Minnesota Statutes, section 120B.125 requires
all students beginning no lter than 9th grade to have a Personal
Learning Plan around several key elements.
A student’s plan should be looked at as a life plan that includes
academic scheduling, career exploration, career and employment-related skills,
community partnerships, college access, all forms of postsecondary training,
and experiential learning opportunities.
According to legislation, school districts
must implement these requirements for all students starting no later than grade
nine.
The 2020 Advisory concurs with the value
and importance of this section of the World’s Best Work
Force legislation and believes that MPS students should be engaged in coursework that prepares them for success after high school graduation, includes real-world experiences, and provides them with information and access to multiple post-high school options to further their education or enter directly into the world of work.
Force legislation and believes that MPS students should be engaged in coursework that prepares them for success after high school graduation, includes real-world experiences, and provides them with information and access to multiple post-high school options to further their education or enter directly into the world of work.
Advisory
2020 Recommendations--- Graduation/ College
and Career Readiness
>>>>> In
our panel , high school students expressed conflict between academic
requirements for graduation and the need to work to take care of
multi-generational family needs.
Students expressed they were consistently encouraged to pursue traditional
course-taking options by counselors and NOT to seek alternative pathways or
opportunities to acquire the array of credits required by the state and MPS for
graduation.
>>>>> Students need to be prepared for what
happens after high school and exposed to work that matters, so they can envision
their future careers. Toward that end,
students need “real life” skills to prepare them for their adult lives (like
financial basics, how to find housing, insurance, career exploration, etc.) and
real-life experience outside the classroom.
>>>>>
Explicit and readily available
career exploration and career/college counseling needs to be available to
students, so that informed choices can be made during high school with regard
to course choices, as well as development of learning
plans and post-high school goal setting.
>>>>> coursework needs to be catered to meet
both student interest and career needs.
All students should have Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Ethnic
Studies (ES) courses. Vboth CTE nd ES
should be aligned whenever possible to MPS graduation requirements and state
academic standards, thus allowing more creative design of the student high
school experience and maximizing the hours of the school day.
>>>>> Student voice should be more heavily
involved in the learning plan, particularly as students approach
graduation. To honor diverse
perspectives and modes of learning, schools should better utilize
individualized learning plans, student voice, student-led education, art
electives, and project-based learning.
>>>>> Opportunities to participate in Career
& Technical Education should be available to all students, not segregated
by region based on a decades-old de-segregation distribution model. Experiential learning partnerships with local
industries and community organizations should be leveraged to provide MPS high
school students career exploration and foundational skill preparation prior to
graduation that includes access to courses related to future workforce needs of
the Twin Cities Metro (i.e., healthcare,
engineering, manufacturing,
business, information technology, human services, and agriculture).
>>>>> Students should be educated on
alternative paths to graduation, including PSEO, 3-year graduation path (21.5
credits), IB/ AP and CTE in order to meet their personal learning goals and
pursue post-high school career and/or educational opportunities.
Relationships
and Social and Emotional Learning
From our conversations with high school
students invited to meet our committee as well as based on our experiences as students,
parents, staff, and community members, thee Workforce 2020 committee members
share a strong belief in the importance of relationships between students and
staff as determinants of success.
The 2020 Advisory believes the district is
rightly emphasizing social emotional learning and supports its role in
developing positive relationship skills for both students and staff. We also believe resources should be allocated
to support this work as an integral component to the district’s school
improvement plan.
Advisory
2020 Recommendations--- Relationships
and Social and Emotional Learning
>>>>> Staff
development opportunities giving teachers tools to improve their relationship
building skills--- especially ways they
can better know their students.
>>>>> Creating space amidst the demands on
what teachers teach to conduct activities allowing teachers to better know
tyhjeir students and for students to be better understood and heard in the
classroom.
>>>>>
Building-wide experiences for
students and staff t engage in quality relationship building with each other
and their surrounding community.
Sincerely,
The 2017-2018 MPS WBWF Advisory Committee
Co-Chairs:
Victoria Balko
David Weingartner
Members:
Sheri Beck
Elizabeth Campbell
Kimberly Caprini
Peggy Clark
Erin Clotfelter
Lynne Crockett
Kenneth Eban
Sara Etzell
Graham Hartley
Tara Kennedy
Greg King
Margaret Richardson
Collin Robinson
Julie Sabo
Elizabeth Short
Heather Walker
Deacon Walker
Liaisons:
Kim Ellison --- Board Liaison
Jennie Zumbusch --- Staff Liaison
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