MPS Department of Indian Education, with Numerous Staffing Changes, Remains an Academic Embarrassment

The Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Department of Indian Education has experienced further staffing changes as of October 2020, with a number of staff members who were still listed as of September no longer with the department.  As indicated by other articles as readers scroll on down this blog, Superintendent Ed Graff continues to shake up his cabinet and key departments, but with no favorable academic effect.

 

Graff is himself not a scholar, nor is Interim Senior Academic Officer Aimee Fearing;  there are no academicians in Graff’s cabinet of MPS leaders;  and there are no scholars in the Department of Teaching and Learning, the Office of Black Student Achievement, or the Department of Indian Education.

 

Thus my key observation---  discussed at length in my September edition of Journal of the K-12 Revolutin:  Essays and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota and my 561-page book (entered in its entirety on this blog in March 2020), Understanding the Minneapolis Public Schools;  Current Condition, Future Prospect---  that there is not a single scholar who has any deep knowledge of a major subject area on staff at the Minneapolis Public Schools remains lamentably the case in this very month of October 2020.

The Department of Indian Education, which exists under a Minnesota legislative mandate, brings special cultural programming to Minneapolis Public Schools sites that have the highest enrollment of American Indian students;  the department also reaches out in family engagement efforts. 

 

The website for the Department of Indian Education vows to provide the following:

 

>>>>>    Support for Instruction

>>>>>    Support for Family Involvement

>>>>>    College Readiness

>>>>>    Advocacy for Families

 

Mission and vision are given as follows:

 

Our Mission

 

Improve American Indian Student achievement and graduation rates through rigorous culturally relevant instruction, family and student engagement, and collaborative partnership with departments, schools, and communities.

 

Our Vision

 

All American Indian students are empowered as lifelong learners to become fully engaged leaders, stewards, and citizens.

 

The Department of Indian Education website provides descriptions of several curriculum initiatives for access by teachers, students, and the community, including the following:

 

>>>>>    Rockin’ to Indigenous Music

>>>>>    Walking the Good Faith

>>>>>    Lunar Energy in Native Culture

>>>>>    Freshwater Ecosystems

>>>>>    Jungle Dress Teachings

>>>>>    Help from the Animals

>>>>>    Plotting the Stars

>>>>>    Sacred Stories

 

But this department is clearly academically ineffective, as witnessed in the following abysmal academic record for MPS American Indian students:

 

Academic proficiency rates for American Idian students enrolled in the Minneapolis Public Schools for academic years ending in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 are given as follows:

 

MPS Proficiency Rates for Academic Years ending in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019

(Results of Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments [MCAs], administered each spring of those years)

 

Math                       2014        2015       2016       2017       2018       2019

 

American                23%        19%      19%       16%       17%      18%

Indian

 

Reading

 

American                21%        20%      21%        22%       23%      25% 

Indian

 

Science                                   

 

American                14%        16%      13%       16%       13%      17%

Indian

 

Peruse the following lists and understand just how little has advanced in terms of scholarly weight with staffing changes in the Department of Indian Education:

 

Department of Indian Education Staff, September 2020

 

1.    Jennifer Simon, Director

       (Cheyenne River Lake)

2.    Diana Leaskas (Lakota), Account Specialist

3.    Shane Thompson, (School Success Program Assistant)

        (Seneca)

4.    Christine Wilson (White Earth), Family Engagement Specialist

5.    Jodi Burke, Counselor on Special Assignment

6.    Tracy Burke, Counselor on Special Assignment

7.    Alicia Garcia, Social Worker

       (Taos Pueblo)

8.    Braden Canfield, Social Worker

9.    Jennifer Weber (Oklahoma Choctaw), District Program Facilitator

10.    Anjanetter Parisien, District Program Facilitator

11.    Tasheena LaChapelle (Red Lake), District Program Facilitator

12.  Mathew Lafune (Fond du Lac)  Ojibwe Language Teacher  

 

Lafune has been added to the MPS Office of Indian Education staff since listings of September 2020.

 

No longer with the department as of October 2020 were these staff members that had been listed in September 2020:

 

Gary Lussier, District Program Facilitator  (Red Lake)

 

Miskwa Mukwa Desjarlait, Youth Engagement Specialist

        (Red Lake)

 

Department of Indian Education Staff, September 2019

 

1.    Jennifer Simon, Director

       (Cheyenne River Lake)

2.    Diane Leskey, Office Senior Specialist

3.    Jodi Burke, Counselor on Special Assignment

4.    TBD, Counselor on Special Assignment

5.    Tracy Burke, Counselor on Special Assignment

6.    Alicia Garcia, Social Worker

       (Taos Pueblo)

7.    Braden Canfield, Social Worker

8.    TBD, TOSA, Special Education

9.    Anjanetter Parisien, District Program Facilitator

10.  Gary Lussier, District Program Facilitator

        (Red Lake)

11.  TBD, District Program Facilitator

12.  Shane Thompson (School Success Program Assistant)

        (Seneca)

13.  Christine Wilson, Family Engagement Specialist

        (White Earth)

14.  Miskwa Mukwa Desjarlait, Youth Engagement Specialist

        (Red Lake)

 

Changes at the Minneapolis Public Schools Department of Teaching and Learning Add to Bureaucratic Burden, with An Absence of Scholars Still Describing This Superfluous and Ineffective Staff

Many changes in staffing have occurred at the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Department of Teaching and Learning, a department that constitutes a bureaucratic burden, now magnified by expansion of the department from 22 to 25 members.  The department should not exist, representing as it does a lamentable application of a bandaid for the fact that teachers are so ill-trained;  but Teaching and Learning staff members are just as academically lightweight as are Superintendent Ed Graff, Interim Senior Academic Officer Aimee Fearing, and most of the district’s teachers.  With the rise in teacher quality that will come in the K-12 Revolution with a vigorous retraining program, the Department of Teaching and Learning will be disbanded and a current approximately two million dollar ($2,000,000) burden cast off.

 

Examine the many changes that occurred in staff listings between September 2020 and October 2020

 

>>>>> 

 

Department of Teaching and Learning Staff List as Given in September 2020 (unchanged since December 2019 on the website)                                                     

 

Aimee Fearing, Executive Director of K-12 Academics

 

Ashley Kohn, K-12 Library Media Information DPF

Christen Lish, K-8 AVID Coordinator

Christina Ramsey, K-8 Talent Development and Advanced Academics

Chris Wernimont, 6-12 Math DPF

Donell Shinder, Science Materials Handler

Hibaq Muhamed, 6-12 Literacy DPF

Jeanne Lacy, Executive Assistant

Jeff C. Carlson, Materials Coordinator

Jennifer Rose, K-12 Science DPF

Julie Tangeman, K-5 Literacy, Science DPF, Davis Center

Katie MacDonald, Materials Handler

Kelley McQuillan, 9-12 Talent Development and Advanced Academics

Lisa Purcell, K-12 Social Studies DPF

Marium Toure, K-5 Math DPF, Davis Center

Mark Berg, Science Materials Handler

Nora Schull, K-12 Arts DPF

Paula Kilian, 6-12 AVID Coordinator

Sara Naeglie, K-5 Literacy DPF, Network

Sara Loch, K-12 Health/Physical Education DPF

Tara Newhouse, Senior Handler of Living Organisms

Timothy Lilla, Senior Materials Handler

Tommie Casey, AVID Program Manager

 

Teaching and Learning Staff, October 2020

 

Notably absent on this list is Aimee Fearing, who still officially occupies the Interim Senior Academic Officer position as of October 2020 but is no longer listed as Executive Director of the Department of Teaching and Learning:

 

MPS Teaching and Learning staff as of October 2020 is given as follows:

 

Abdi Ogle, Cultural Facilitator

Ashley Kohn, K-12 Library Media Information District Program Facilitator (DPF)

Christen Lish, K-8 AVID Coordinator

Christina Ramsey, K-8 Talent Development and Advanced Academics

Chris Wernimont, 6-12 Math DPF

Dina Brenny, Account Specialist

Erin Clarke, K-8 STEM DPF

Jeanne Lacy, Executive Assistant

Jenn Ross, K-12 Science DPF

Jennifer Hanzak, K-5 Math DPF

Julie Tangeman, K-5 Literacy, Science DPF, Davis Center

Kelley McQuillan, 9-12 Talent Development and Advanced Academics

Lisa Purcell, K-12 Social Studies DPF

Lori Ledoux, K-12 Arts Specialist, Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA)

Marium Toure, K-5 Math DPF, Davis Center

Meghan Gasdick, K-5 DPF Literacy

Melody Lockwood, Multi-Tiered System of Support Coordinator

Molly Siebert, K-5 Social Studies DPF

Molly Vasich, 6-12 English Language Art/Reading DPF

Nora Schull, K-12 Arts DPF

Paula Killian, AVID Middle School Coordinator

Paula Jacobson, Cultural Facilitator

Sara Loch, K-12 Health/Physical Education DPF

Tara Finn, Fine Arts/ Teacher on special Assignment (TOSA)

Tommie Casey, AVID Program Manager

 

Ogle, Brenny, Clarke, HHanzak, LeDoux, Gasdick, Lockwood, Siebert, Vasich, Jacobson, and Finn (eleven staff members in all) are new to the Department of Teaching and Learning.

 

These staff members no longer appear as of October 2020:

 

Donell Shinder, Science Materials Handler

Hibaq Muhamed, 6-12 Literacy DPF

Jeff C. Carlson, Materials Coordinator

Katie MacDonald, Materials Handler

Mark Berg, Science Materials Handler

Tara Newhouse, Senior Handler of Living Organisms

Timothy Lilla, Senior Materials Handler

Superintendent Ed Graff Continues to Reconfigure His Cabinet, with No Prospects for Improvement in Academic Quality at the Minneapolis Public Schools

Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Superintendent Ed Graff continues to reconfigure his cabinet, which contains considerable talent at the leadership positions for finance, operations, and special education but leaves in place Aimee Fearing, whose academic credentials are as insubstantial as Graff himself, as Interim Senior Academic Officer.

Nothing in Graff’s program featuring Social and Emotional Learning;  Multi-Tiered System of Support;  Literacy;  and Equity contains any substantial prospects for the provision of knowledge-intensive curriculum with properly trained teachers.  And the academic portion of the New Comprehensive District Design is full of education establishment jargon, with no indication of the overhaul necessary to provide knowledge-intensive, skill-replete education to the long-waiting students of the Minneapolis Public Schools.

As to the most recent tinkering that Graff has done pertinent to his cabinet, Suzanne Kelly now bears the title of “Executive Officer/Office of the Superintendent,” rather than “Chief of Staff.”

All of the former “chiefs” have had their titles changed, now typically listed as “senior” officers instead.

Two Davis Center (MPS central offices, 1250 West Broadway) staff have been added to the leadership group that acts as cabinet:

>>>>>    Ryan Strack

Administrator, Board and Government Relations

 

Strack’s responsibilities are identified as follows:

 

The Administrator, Board and Government Relations, is responsible for staffing the Board of Education and facilitating the policy development process.

 

>>>>>    Celina Martina

Executive Director of Engagement and External Relations

 

Martina’s responsibilities are identified as follows:

 

Engagement and External Relations is responsible for creating opportunities and building capacity for engagement of families and other stakeholders with our schools. Housed within the larger Communications, Engagement & External Relations division, engagement and external relations functions include: student placement services, family resource center, Parent Advisory Councils (PAC), Parent Academy Program, and overall support to school-family partnerships.

Otherwise the leadership group is the same as has been the case for many months and in most cases years, given in entirety as follows:

Ed Graff               >>>>>         Superintendent, Minneapolis Public Schools

 

Ryan Strack         >>>>>         Administrator, Board and Government Relations

 

Aimee Fearing   >>>>>        Senior Academic Officer

 

Eric Moore          >>>>>         Senior Accountability, Research, and Accountability Officer

 

Ibrahima Diop   >>>>>         Senior Finance Officer

 

Maggie Sullivan   >>>>>      Senior Human Resources Officer

 

Justin Hennes                      >>>>>      Senior Information Officer

 

Karen Devet          >>>>>      Senior Operations Officer

 

Suzanne Kelly      >>>>>      Executive Officer, Office of the Superintendent  

 

Amy Moore           >>>>>      General Counsel

 

Shawn Harris-Berry            >>>>>      Associate Superintendent

 

Lashawn Ray         >>>>>      Associate Superintendent

 

Ron Wagner          >>>>>      Associate Superintendent

 

Brian Zambreno   >>>>>     Associate Superintendent

 

Rochelle Cox        >>>>>      Associate Superintendent, Special Education

 

Celina Martina     >>>>>      Executive Director of Engagement and External Relations

Julie Schultz Brown     >>>>>      Executive Director of Marketing and Communications

Voters Who Care About Quality Education in the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Must Vote for Sharon El-Amin, Adriana Cerrillos, and Michael Dueñes (Respectively to Oust KerryJo Felder, Replace Bob Walser [Who Is Not Running for Reelection], and Rid the District of Kim Ellison)--- and Then They Must Recognize Priorities for Overhaul of MSP Curriculum and Staff

Voters on 3 November have a momentous opportunity to move the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) toward provision of knowledge-intensive education for students of all demographic descriptors.

 

In the aftermath of the election, the community will still be abysmally represented by (in order of offensiveness) Nelson Inz, Jenny Arneson, Kim Caprini, Ira Jourdain, Siad Ali, Josh Pauly;  but Walser’s merciful decision not to run and the other two candidacies opens the way for Sharon El-Amin to replace KerryJo Felder (District 2), Adriana Cerrillos to win the seat mercifully abdicated by Walser, and Michael Dueñes to gain the At-Large seat currently occupied by ineffective politico Kim Ellison.

 

El-Amin, Cerrillos, and Dueñes will bring fresh perspectives and an openness to their membership on the MPS Board of Education.  As they move through the campaign season and prepare to take their seats, they should be aware of the actual problems of the district and the program for remedy of existing ills: 

 

Teacher Quality

 

As a matter of forward-looking policy, El-Amin, Cerrillos, and Dueñes must require Superintendent Ed Graff, Chief of Staff Suzanne Kelly, and other top decision-makers at the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) to oversee thorough training of all teachers to ensure that they have the requisite subject area knowledge, pedagogical skill, and sensitivity to students of all demographic descriptors necessary for the level of teaching excellence that MPS students must have:  Teacher training in departments, schools, and colleges of education underprepares teachers and makes district-provided training necessary. 

 

On the foundation of such training, teachers should then be given substantial pay raises, while the positions of the 22 staff members in the Department of Teaching and Learning, the seven-staff member Office of Black Student Achievement, and four Associate Superintendent positions can be eliminated.  

 

Curriclum Overhaul

 

Curriculum needs to be completely overhauled for the delivery of logically sequenced, grade by grade impartation of knowledge sets in mathematics, natural science, history, government, economics, literature, English usage, and the fine arts from kindergarten throughout the K-12 years.  Teachers retrained in the manner indicated above will be prepared to ensure that all students have the knowledge and skill sets they must have across a broad liberal arts curriculum that is sensitive to all cultures, delivered with full faith that all students can thrive academically.  At the K-5 level, one hour a day should be designated for enriched learning experiences, entailing either intensive skill remediation or additional time for exploration of subjects of driving personal interest, as appropriate to the individual student.

 

Academic Overhaul That Must Be Detailed in the Comprehensive District Design (CDD) 

 

The emphasis of the Comprehensive District Design (CDD) on community schools, geographic centralization of magnet schools, and rationalized transportation, all of which will capture additional resources, are all positive features of this new plan for the district approved by the MPS Board of Education in May 2020.

 

But nothing changed in mainline academic programming in the CDD:  What was offered was merely the typical jargon. 

 

Thus, MPS decision-makers must work to design the approaches to teacher training and curricular overhaul indicated above, so as to deliver rigorous, knowledge-intensive curriculum to students of all demographic descriptors to achieve the equitable education avowedly at the core of the CDD, consistent with the stipulations of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).  

 

Defeating Felder and Ellison and replacing Walser, so as to bring Sharon El-Amin, Michael Dueñes onto the board will improve prospects for the provision of excellent education to MPS students of all demographic descriptors. 

 

These new board members then must recognize priorities for overhaul of staff and curriculum;  and the need for a vigorous and ambitious program for retraining teachers.

 

Voters must be alert to the opportunity before them on 3 November, then they must stay alert to ensure that the needed transformation at the Minneapolis Public Schools occurs.