Article #3 of a Five-Article Series >>>>> The Sea of Corruption That Is the Minnesota Department of Education >>>>> The Fraudulent Regional Centers of Excellence (RCEs)

The chief initiative on which the success of the North Star Accountability depends is a cooperative arrangement with six Regional Centers of Excellence (RCE), located in Rochester, Marshal, Sartell, Thief River Falls, Mountain Iron, and Fergus Falls;  additionally, the Minneapolis Public Schools and St. Paul Public Schools act as their own RCEs, purportedly in consultation with and the support of MDE staff.  In all, the sites have only 45 staff members, meaning only seven or eight staff members per RCE.

 

This all a massive gambit.

 

Here is an introduction to the RCEs in the words of staff at MDE, from the department’s website:

 

Minnesota’s Regional Centers of Excellence (RCE) deliver a wealth of support and services straight to schools -- and it’s working. Centers are staffed by specialists with a full range of expertise, including math, reading, special education, English language development, equity, graduation support, implementation, data analysis, school leadership and district support.

For districts or charters with schools identified under the accountability system, the RCEs provide on-the-ground assistance to create the capacity and conditions that support change and continuous improvement. The Centers partner with leadership teams to facilitate school improvement efforts focused on equity for underserved student groups.
 

Once designated, comprehensive support and improvement (CSI) and targeted support and improvement (TSI) schools must conduct a needs assessment, build and strengthen leadership teams, and develop school improvement plans, but they don’t have to go it alone. The schools can get help from Minnesota’s Regional Centers of Excellence. In addition to content expertise, center specialists offer an outside perspective on schools’ efforts to increase student outcomes.

In 2015, the Regional Centers of Excellence were named one of Harvard Ash Center’s Top 25 Innovations in Government.

 

In attempt to sell the putative Regional Centers of Excellence to the public, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) has posted feel-good features of certain staff at RCE sites.

 

One of the chief mantras of education professors and the education establishment with which they infect their vacuous notions is that of “critical thinking,” of which they do so little but that they use as a smokescreen behind which lurks massive failure to provide vital knowledge and skill sets to the students of Minnesota.

 

Regarding the Regional Centers of Excellence, state officials claim and convey the following:   

 

August 20, 2018

 

The Regional Centers of Excellence (RCEs) work in conjunction with the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) to help schools make long-lasting improvements to student learning, providing hands-on support to help guarantee that every student has the opportunity to reach his or her full potential. The RCEs are made up of a team of education specialists, called advocates, who travel across the state to help guide schools and districts through the process of identifying needs, creating an action plan, and implementing changes to improve student outcomes. RCE school advocates specialize in the areas of literacy, equity, math, special education, English language development, high school graduation, and principal and district support.

 

The most important resource advocates bring districts is active implementation, a systems-based approach that links all of a system’s moving parts and builds a process that creates a way to sustain the good work being done by schools. Advocates do a lot for their schools and bring their unique backgrounds and expertise to each unique situation and challenge.