May 16, 2020

Article #1 >>>>> >Journal of the K-12 Revolution: Essays and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota< >>>>> Volume VI, Number 12 >>>>> Academic Replacement Plan as MPS Is Taken Apart Piece by Piece >>>>> Guiding Philosophical Principles


The replacement plan for the academic portion of the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Comprehensive District Design shares with the district’s original plan an enthusiasm for the definition of a well-round education in accordance with the following from the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): 


 

ESSA Definition of a Well-Rounded Education

 

>>>>>    MPS supports the federal definition of a well-rounded education

 

>>>         …..  courses, activities, and programming in subjects such as English, reading, or language arts, writing, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, global languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, geography, computer science, music, career and technical education, health, physical education, and any other subject, as determined by State of local educational agency, with the purpose of providing all students access to an enriched curriculum and educational experience.

(Every Student Succeeds Act: S. 177-298)

 

More concisely, the definition consistent with that of ESSA that will guide the Minneapolis Public is the following  >>>>>

 

>>>>>    An excellent education is a matter of excellent teachers imparting a knowledge-intensive, skill-replete education in the liberal, technological, and vocational arts to students of demographic descriptors in grade by grade sequence throughout the preK-5 years.

 

An excellent teacher is defined as follows  >>>>>

 

>>>>>    An excellent teacher is a professional with broad and deep knowledge, possessing the pedagogical ability to impart that knowledge to students of all demographic descriptors.

 

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Three main components will drive the replacement plan for the academic portion of the MPS Comprehensive District Design:

 

>>>>>    curriculum overhauled for knowledge-intensity;

 

>>>>>    teachers trained so as to manifest ability to impart such a curriculum;

 

>>>>>    aggressive program of skill remediation to raise fundamental proficiency for those students languishing below grade level.

 

Curriculum will be completely overhauled at grades preK-5, with an emphasis on mathematics; natural science (biology, chemistry, physics, and subcategories in those main fields);  history and social science (government, economics, sociology, psychology, and anthropology);  world literature and English usage;  and fine (musical and visual) arts.  Introductions to these fields will begin at prekindergarten and become ever more sophisticated, following a careful sequence, as the student progresses to grade five.  

 

Emphasis on the fields of the liberal arts will continue in middle school (grades 6-8), with the addition of course options in world languages and the technological and vocational arts.

 

Course offerings in high school (grades 9-12) will continue with the emphasis on the liberal, technological, and vocational arts.  All high school students except those facing particular cognitive challenges will take Advanced Placement (AP) courses in calculus, government, United States history, world history, English, biology, chemistry, and physics;  and care will be taken to challenge all students to the extent of their capability.  Upon a solid academic foundation, high school students will opt for a range of courses in history, the social sciences, literature, and philosophy, according to their personal driving interests.  All students will conduct multi-source research during grade 12 and produce a 15-page paper with proper citations that follows from those driving interests.  Also following those interests and personal goals, students will select from a range of course options in the liberal, technological, and vocational arts as they prepare for the particular post-secondary training that will allow them to reach their professional aspirations.

 

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All teachers will be trained as professionals of deep and broad knowledge.

 

For teachers at grades preK-5, this will mean attaining a Masters of Liberal Arts degree that will give them subject area knowledge in mathematics through calculus;  biology, chemistry, and physics;  history (with inclusion of components in a range of social sciences);  world literature and English usage;  and the fine (musical and visual) arts.  This master’s degree will be earned at Minneapolis Public Schools sites via evening and summer courses taught by professorial field specialists from colleges and universities.  This degree will require the production of a master’s thesis of 50 pages or more in a major academic discipline.

 

Teachers at grades 6-8 (middle school) and 9-12 (high school) will required to earn master’s degrees in major academic disciplines.

 

No degrees will be accepted from departments, schools, or colleges of education or in the field of education. 

 

Veteran teachers will be evaluated for knowledge and pedagogy as key to continued employment in the Minneapolis Public Schools.

 

Prospective teachers will serve a full year of successful internship before consideration for employment at the Minneapolis Public Schools.

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Aggressive skill remediation will be provided to students languishing below grade level in mathematics and reading.  Although such remediation will occur at middle and high school levels as necessary, for those students who begin and continue attendance at the Minneapolis Public Schools this instruction will typically occur at the grades preK-5 level, so that middle and high school readiness is assured.  Most such instruction will occur during the regular school day during an daily hour designated for academic enrichment, with each student working on skill remediation or topics of driving personal interest as appropriate.  Additional skill remediation will be provided after school as necessary.

 

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Thus, knowledge intensity will drive curricular overhaul.

 

Teachers will be trained for capability to impart knowledge-intensive curriculum.

 

Students will be foundationally prepared to move to higher levels of knowledge and skill development via remediation and enrichment.

 

These programmatic elements will produce students who upon graduation from high school have an abundance of deep and broad knowledge in the liberal, technological, and vocational arts;  and are prepared to move forward in post-secondary pursuit of driving personal and professional goals.

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