Article #4 >>>>> >Journal of the K-12 Revolution: Essays and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota<, Volume XI, Number One, July 2024

Insubstantial Credentials and Failed Performance of Yusuf Abdullah, Another Likely Key Aide to Sub-Mediocre New Superintendent Lisa Sayles Adams

 

With the ouster of Rochelle Cox and Aimee Fearing, the quality of advisers that will remain on staff at the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) under sub-mediocre new superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams will be greatly diminished. 

 

Three cabinet members who are likely to remain as advisers to Sayles-Adams are Shawn-Harris-Berry, Yusuf Abdullah, and Laura Cavender.

 

Abdullah will remain as an associate superintendent position.

 

Abdullah moved to the Davis Center (MPS central offices, 1250 West Broadway) during the Graff administration (2016-2022) from a position as building principal of Henry (now Camden) High School.  He has very humble academic credentials, as do almost all of those having responsibility for academics at the district:  teachers, principals, Davis Center academic division staff, associate superintendents, and superintendent.  And Abdullah was a failure as principal at Henry, as the academic proficiency rates of students indicate.

 

Peruse, then, Adullah’s insubstantial academic credentials (which feature no graduate degree in a key subject area field [i.e., mathematics, physics, history, government, economics, English literature]) and review the abysmal academic proficiency rates at Henry High School, including those recorded during the years of Abdullahs’s tenure as principal.

 

Yusuf Abdullah (Associate Superintendent)

 

Academic Degree/Credential

 

Superintendent License/Educational Leadership (General)

(St. Cloud State University, January 2022-August 2022)

 

Educational Administrator License

(St. Cloud State University, 2008-2010)

 

M.Ed. Urban Education and Leadership

(University of Minnesota/Duluth, 1999-2006)

 

Bachelor of Applied Science, Health and Physical Education

(University of Minnesota/Duluth, 1994-1999)

 

 

Henry High School

 

 

School Data by Comparison to Districtwide Data

 

             School  District

Native American                3%        5%

African American             52%      35%

Asian American               24%        5%

Hispanic American         13%       65%

White American                8%      19%

Receive ELL Services      17%      17%

Free/Reduced Lunch      69%       48%

Special Education           19%      15%       

 

Henry

 

Reading

 

2014  2015  2016  2017  2018  2019  2021  2022  2023

 

 50%   33%    32%  31%   75%    63%   63%   43%  65%

 

(241)  (218)  (28)   (7)      (8)      (19)   (16)     (7)   (31)

 

Math

 

2014  2015  2016  2017   2018  2019  2021  2022  2023

 

 46%   52%    59%    14%   -----     -----    43%   5%     -----

 

(214)  (181)  (17)     (7)      (---)     (7)     (---)   (21)    (---)

 

Science

 

2014  2015  2016  2017  2018  2019  2021  2022  2023

 

 20%   31%    29%    29%   57%    57%  20%   7%    48%

 

(174)  (42)  (14)       (7)      (7)       (7)   (10)    (14)  (14)

 

Article #5 >>>>> >Journal of the K-12 Revolution: Essays and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota<, Volume XI, Number One, July 2024

Insubstantial Credentials and Failed Performance of Laura Cavender, Another Likely Key Aide to Sub-Mediocre New Superintendent Lisa Sayles Adams

 

With the ouster of Rochelle Cox and Aimee Fearing, the quality of advisers that will remain on staff at the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) under sub-mediocre new superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams will be greatly diminished. 

 

Three cabinet members who are likely to remain as advisers to Sayles-Adams are Shawn-Harris-Berry, Yusuf Abdullah, and Laura Cavender.

 

Cavender will remain as an associate superintendent position.

 

Cavender moved to the Davis Center (MPS central offices, 1250 West Broadway) during the Graff administration (2016-2022) from a position as building principal of Bryn Mawr Elementary School.  She has very humble academic credentials, as do almost all of those having responsibility for academics at the district:  teachers, principals, Davis Center academic division staff, associate superintendents, and superintendent.  And Cavender was a failure as principal at Bryn Mawr, as the academic proficiency rates of students indicate.

Peruse, then, Cavender’s insubstantial academic credentials (which feature no graduate degree in a key subject area field [i.e., mathematics, physics, history, government, economics, English literature]) and review the abysmal academic proficiency rates at Bryn Mawr Elementary School, including those recorded during the years of Abdullahs’s tenure as principal.

Laura Cavender (Associate Superintendent)

Academic Degree/Credential

                            

M. A.  Curriculum & Instruction

(University of Nebraska/Lincoln)

 

B.A. or B.S., Education 

(University of Nebraska-Lincoln)

                                                                  

Licensures:        

 

Pre-Kindergarten

District Superintendent

K-12 Principal

 

 

School Data by Comparison to Districtwide Data

             School  District

Native American                4%        5%

African American             52%      35%

Asian American                18%        5%

Hispanic American            8%      14%

White American               17%     41%

Receive ELL Services        21%     17%

Free/Reduced Lunch        76%     48%

Special Education             20%     15%

 

Reading

 

2014  2015  2016    2017  2018 2019  2021  2022  2023

 

  22%    27%   18%    22%    22%  16%  16%    17%   21%

 

(187)  (196)  (186)  (171)  (163) (147)   (57)  (149) (137)

 

Math

 

2014   2015  2016  2017  2018  2019  2021  2022  2023

 

 35%     28%   33%   25%   20%   14%  22%     11%   17%

 

 (50)    (63)   (52)     (60)   (56)    (51)  (16)    (145)  (131)

 

Science

 

2014  2015  2016  2017   2018 2019  2021  2022  2023

 

  20%    25%   25%   10%   20%    8%    19%   6%     10%

 

(567) (532) (547) (510)  (514)  (492)  (172) (47)   (41)

 

Front Matter and Contents >>>>> >Journal of the K-12 Revolution: Essays and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota< Volume X, Number Twelve, June 2024

Volume X, No. 12                                         

June 2024

 

Journal of the K-12 Revolution:

Essays and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota        

 

An Assessment of Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education and Davis Center Staff Most Responsible for Abysmal Student Academic Proficiency Rates as of June 2024:  Incompetence and Sycophancy Under Sub-Mediocre Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams

 

A Five-Article Series      

 

A Publication of the New Salem Educational Initiative

Gary Davison, Editor       

 

An Assessment of Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education and Davis Center Staff as of June 2024:  Incompetence and Sycophancy Under Sub-Mediocre Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams

 

A Five-Article Series        

          

Gary Marvin Davison

Copyright © 2024

New Salem Educational Initiative

 

Contents

 

Introductory Comments:  Conditions at the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Have Reached a Nadir under Sub-Mediocre New MPS Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams

 

Article #1

 

Brief Comment on Each Member of the Current Particularly Intellectually Challenged Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education

 

 

Article #2

 

Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Academic Core and Instruction Staff Must Take Responsibility for Abysmal Academic Proficiency Rates of MPS Students

 

Article #3

 

Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Office of Black Student Achievement Staff Must Take Responsibility for Abysmal Academic Proficiency Rates of MPS African American Students

 

Article #4

 

Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Department of American Indian Education Staff Must Take Responsibility for Abysmal Academic Proficiency Rates of MPS American Indian Students

 

Article #5

 

Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Office of Latine Student Achievement Staff Must Take Responsibility for Abysmal Academic Proficiency Rates of MPS Latine Students

Introductory Comments >>>>> >Journal of the K-12 Revolution: Essays and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota< Volume X, Number Twelve, June 2024

Introductory Comments:  Conditions at the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Have Reached a Nadir under Sub-Mediocre New MPS Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams

 

Conditions at the Minneapolis Public Schools(MPS) have reached a nadir for the period of June 1914 through June 2024 of my intensive investigation into the inner workings of this school district.

 

The superintendent selection process that I witnessed during the 2015-2016 academic year was a two-stage debacle that lamentably resulted in the selection of lackluster Ed Graff;  but the superintendent search of this past 2023-2024 academic year resulted in a vote for an even worse candidate after the most corrupt selection process in the history of the Minneapolis Public Schools.

 

The corruption and ineptitude of the current iteration of the MPS Board of Education in conducting the most recent superintendent search are magnified when one considers that Board members bore witness to the most effective leadership that MPS has ever had during the time span (July 2022 through December 2023) in which Interim Superintendent Rochelle Cox led the district.  

 

During this period, Board members were blessed with a relentless focus on academics in presentations at monthly regular business and Committee of the Whole meetings.  Cox nurtured the talent of Senior Academic Office Aimee Fearing;  together, Cox and Fearing oversaw the implementation of promising programs pertinent to Intervention Triads, online high-dosage tutoring, online ACT tutoring, as well as nascent efforts to implement in-house teacher training and to advance knowledge-intensive, skill-replete curriculum sequenced grade by grade over the preK-12 years.

 

But rather than selecting Rochelle Cox as the long-term superintendent, MPS Board of Education members variously led or relented to the corrupt selection process that resulted in the selection of a sub-mediocre, mean-spirited superintendent in Lisa Sayles-Adams, who has ousted her rival Cox and also dismissed Fearing---  both of whom quickly moved to the Fridley Public School District.

 

In this edition of Journal of the K-12 Revolution, I examine the membership that oversaw the disastrous process that resulted in the selection of hapless Lisa Sayles-Adams as superintendent, then I present the Davis Center (MPS central offices) staff most responsible for the wretched academic proficiency rates of students at the Minneapolis Public Schools.  The combination of a corrupt and inept MPS Board of Education and academic departments that have no hope of improving under the sub-mediocre Lisa Sayles-Adams put the Minneapolis Public Schools in the worst position that I have witnessed in the course of my ten years of intensive investigation into the inner workings of this particular example of a wretched urban school district.

Article #1 >>>>> >Journal of the K-12 Revolution: Essays and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota< Volume X, Number Twelve, June 2024

Article #1

 

Brief Comment on Each Member of the Current Particularly Intellectually Challenged Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education

 

The current membership of the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education is a particularly inept and intellectually challenged group, the worst that I have witnessed in my ten years of intensively investigating this school district.

 

Before this iteration of the Board took office in January 2023, I thought that I had witnessed the worst assemblage of Board members in the previous contingent, with such status quo members as Kim Caprini, Nelson Inz, and Jenny Arneson (with whom current member Kim Ellison was closely linked).  And the assemblage just prior to the latter iteration included the most objectionable individual members whom I have witnessed, KeriJo Felder (for her egocentric claims to represent North Minneapolis views, despite a relatively short tenure on the Northside;  and ill-focused advocacy and erratic views on major issues) and Bob Walser (the silliest, most trivial member of all of those I have witnessed).

 

But this Board had a chance to be a pathbreaking contingent:

 

Sharon El-Amin and Adriana Cerrillo came to the Board with election wins in November 2020;  Joyner (then going by the name, Sonya) Emerick followed in 2022.  Each of these candidates accomplished the difficult task of winning, despite not having Minneapolis Federation of Teachers/Education Support Professionals (MFT/ESP) endorsement.  El-Amin and Cerrillo seemed to know that the status quo must be jettisoned, as did Emerick, the latter a particularly keen advocate for LGBTQ and special needs students.

 

But Sharon El-Amin, serving as chair during the 2022-2023 academic year, oversaw a very routine and corrupt process that led to the lamentable selection of sub-mediocre Lisa Sayles-Adams as superintendent;  Cerrillo and Emerick showed absolutely no courage or powers of discernment in succumbing to the degraded process that led the Board to opt for monotonic mediocrity Sayles-Adams.

 

Faheema (known at first as Fathia) Feerayarre, Abdul Abdi, Collin Beachy, and Lori Norvell also won election in 2022.  All four were endorsed by the MFT/ESP cohort, with Beachy and Norvell having particularly close ties.  They never seemed to offer the promise that did El-Amin, Cerrillo, and Emerick, although in time Abdi emerged as the best of an otherwise lamentable contingent of Board members.

 

In many articles over the last few months, I have analyzed the corrupt superintendent selection process and the individual shortcomings of each Board member.  Below I give very brief assessments of the individuals in this particularly intellectually challenged group of MPS Board of Education members.

 

 

District 1  >>>>>     Abdul Abdi

 

Abdi has a background in business and finance, an expertise he brings to the MPS Board of Education as finance committee chair.  He seems to understand the importance of upgrading academics at MPS better than the others.  But Abdi served on the corruptly conducted MPS Superintendent Selection Task Force and, while seeming to be a supporter of superlative Interim Superintendent Rochelle Cox, he showed no courage in opposing the corrupt process that led to the selection of Lisa Sayles-Adams. 

 

District 2  >>>>>     Sharon El-Amin

 

El-Amin served as Board chair during the 2022=2023 academic year.  She was an embarrassment in conducting meetings, never mastering Robert’s Rules of Order, but worse, she was the chief conniver whose machinations positioned Lisa Sayles-Adams to gain appointment as superintendent.

 

District 3  >>>>>     Faheema Feerayarre

 

Feerayarre is the laziest and most technically inept member of this lamentable assemblage of Board members.

 

District 4  >>>>>     Adriana Cerrillo

 

Cerrillo has a self-image as a radical but she has been an ineffective Board member who served on the corrupt Task Force and demonstrated no courage in opposition to the manipulations of El-Amin or the corrupt processes that led to the selection of Sayles-Adams;  Cerrillo gives evidence of succumbing to status quo processes and enjoying the perquisites of Board membership, giving the lie to her self-image as a radical.

 

District 5  >>>>>     Lori Norvell

 

Norvell led the corrupt Task Force, which became so boisterous and contentious that staff of BWP & Associates had to be brought in to mediate when Task Force members, reportedly Titilayo Bediako and Nekima Levy-Armstrong, precipitated a voluble argument.  Norvell has strong ties to the MFT/ESP and is an agent of the status quo establishment.

 

District 6  >>>>>     Ira Jourdain

 

Jourdain saw into the corruption of the superintendent selection process better than the others and was the most enthusiastic supporter of Rochelle Cox;  but his courage withered as the selection of Sayles-Adams went forward.

 

At-Large   >>>>>     Joyner Emerick

 

Emerick is an eloquent advocate for LGBTQ and special needs students with a general inclination toward needed change;  but they/she/he also succumbed to the lamentable superintendent selection process.

 

At-Large   >>>>>     Collin Beachy

 

Beachy attended the spring 2023 Annual New Salem Educational Initiative Banquet and for many months seemed poised to become a promising member of the MPS Board of Education.  But he succumbed to and may have even agreed with the process that led to the unfortunate selection of Sayle-Adams, and as chair since January 2024 Beachy as been the most autocratic, controlling force in opposition to free speech comments from the public that I have witnessed over ten years of intensively investigating the inner workings of the Minneapolis Public Schools.

 

At-Large   >>>>>     Kim Ellison

 

Ellison has now been an ineffective member of the MPS Board of Education for twelve years.  She was a supporter of Rochelle Cox and seemed to be poised to redeem her undistinguished tenure on the Board, but her courage and discernment withered as the corrupt selection process ensued. 

 

……………………………………………………………………………..

 

Student representatives have served on the MPS Board of Education since 2015, and in 2020 an additional representative was added to the original single student representative for each academic year.  These students by definition provide a student perspective, but they never make any substantive difference in matters of policy that pertain to academic improvement. 

 

The current student representatives are as follows:

 

Student Representative   >>>>>     Elliston Rounds (North High School)

 

Student Representative   >>>>>     Leo Peralta (Roosevelt High School)

 

Article #2 >>>>> >Journal of the K-12 Revolution: Essays and Research from Minneapolis, Minnesota< Volume X, Number Twelve, June 2024

Article #2 

Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Academic Core and Instruction Staff Must Take Responsibility for Abysmal Academic Proficiency Rates of MPS Students

 

The Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Academic Core and Instruction Department staff is responsible for all matters pertinent to student academic progress and therefore must take responsibility for the wretched academic proficiency rates for the student population as a whole and for each demographic group in particular.

 

With that observation in view, first peruse the abysmal proficiency rates of students in the Minneapolis Public Schools, then consider the particular MPS Academic Core and Instruction staff members who must take responsibility for these results.

 

 

Minneapolis Public Schools

 

Student Academic Proficiency Rates

 

Based on Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment Results

for Academic Years 2013-2014 through 2022-2023

 

 

               African      American  Latine  Asian/    White  All

               American  Indian                     Pacific                 Students

                                                                    Islander

 

2014                    

 

Math        22%           23%          31%     45%         77%      44%

 

Reading    22%           21%          23%     41%        78%      42%

 

Science     11%           14%           17%    31%         71%      43%

 

 

2015

 

Math         23%           19%           32%     50%        78%         44%

 

Reading    21%            20%          25%      40%       77%         42%

 

Science     15%            16%           18%      35%      75%         36%

 

 

2016

 

Math          21%           19%           31%      50%     78%         44%

 

Reading     21%            21%          26%       45%     77%         43%

 

Science       13%            13%         21%        42%    71%         35%

 

 

2017

 

Math           18%            17%          29%       49%     77%        42%

 

Reading      21%            23%           26%       41%    78%         43%

 

Science        12%           17%           19%       35%     70%        34%

 

 

2018

 

Math           18%            17%          26%       50%     77%        42%

 

Reading       22%           24%          27%       48%     80%        45%

 

Science        11%           14%          17%        37%     71%        34%

 

 

2019

 

Math            18%           18%          25%        47%     75%        42%

 

Reading        23%           25%         29%        50%      78%       42%

 

Science         11%            17%        16%        40%       70%      36%

 

 

2021

 

Math               9%             9%           12%       46%       62%      35%

 

Reading        19%           20%           20%       54%       74%      40%

 

Science         11%             9%            10%       43%       61%      36%

 

 

2022

 

Math             10%            9%            12%        39%      61%      3%

 

Reading        18%          22%            18%        49%      71%      42%

 

Science           8%             9%            11%        36%      60%      33%

 

 

2023

 

Math              8%            10%           12%         25%       61%     35%

 

Reading       16%            19%           16%         33%       72%     41%

 

Science           6%             2%             9%          27%      59%      31%

 

Academic Core and Instruction Staff, June 2024

 

Billy Perkiss, World Languages District Program Facilitator

Brandy Siddiqui, Social/Ethnic Studies Content Lead

Chas Thomsen, Science Content Lead

Courtney Caldwell, English Language Arts & Literacy Content Lead

Debra L. Andersen, Professional Development Coordinator

Efe Mensah-Brown, Math 6-12 Content Lead

Jeanne Lacy, Executive Assistant

Jeanne Lawless, Math K-5 Content Lead

Jennifer Hanzak, Math K-5 Content Lead

Julie Ripplinger, Literacy K-5 Content Lead

Kelly Merritt, Literacy K-5 Content Lead

Kelsie Leonard, Math 6-12 Content Lead

Kimberly Bice, Director Literacy

Kristin Caquelin, STEM K-8 TOSA

Kyle Hansen, Health/Physical Education Content Lead

Laura Shakespeare, Talent Development Coordinator

Lori Ledoux, Arts District Program Facilitator

Many Belim, Library/Media K-12 Content Lead

Marie Olson, Literacy Early Childhood Education

Natalie Tourtelotte, Director K-12 Programs

Paddy Emerson, Social/Ethnic Studies Content Lead

Rodert Kohnert, College Credit Programming Content Lead

Shauna Kidimu, Math Early Childhood Content Lead

Sizi Goya, Director Math

Stephanie Nordstog, Interim Executive Director

Tommie Casey, Director AVID Programming