Effort to Improve Providence Schools De veloped from Bottom Up (RI)

October 29, 2010

Longer school days.

An extended year for teachers.

Additional time devoted to English and math.

Virtual classes at the high school.

Wraparound social services at the elementary schools.

These are just some of the measures that four Providence schools, identified by state Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist as among the worst in the state, have devised to turn themselves around after years of low student achievement.

The four schools are Charlotte Woods Elementary School, Lillian Feinstein Elementary School at Sackett Street, Roger Williams Middle School and the Sanchez complex, which includes two high schools, the Providence Academy for International Studies and the Health, Science and Technology High School.

What is remarkable about this effort is that it is coming from the bottom up. Typically, school reform is developed by the superintendent and staff and imposed on the individual schools. Under this model, the principals and teachers have decided which reforms will boost student performance.

A labor-management partnership that is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation will oversee the changes. The partnership, led by Supt. Tom Brady and Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith, calls for the union and the administration to put aside past grievances and collaborate on a series of far-reaching reforms.

“This totally goes against the culture of both parties,” Brady said this week. “Traditionally, management would put out a policy, and Steve Smith would come and tell me what’s going badly. Now we put out the policy together.”

One of the most striking results of this partnership is that both sides have agreed to put aside the teachers’ contract when any aspect becomes a hurdle to school reform.

Starting in September 2011, all four schools will have a longer school day, ranging from 75 additional minutes at the two elementary schools to 60 additional minutes at the high schools. Typically, management would have to negotiate this matter with union leadership. Not any more. Teachers, of course, will be compensated.

Teachers will also be required to work a longer school year: 10 days devoted to professional training. Any teacher who wants to work at one of these schools will have to reapply for the job and sign an agreement that commits the teacher to the school’s new expectations. Something similar was done at Hope High School when the state, in 2005, ordered the school to make sweeping changes.

One of the biggest efforts involves devoting more time and effort toward boosting math and English language skills. At Feinstein Elementary, struggling readers will receive up to 90 additional minutes of small-group instruction. At Sanchez, all high school students will be required to take “lab” electives, additional courses in reading, writing, science and math.

Because student test scores are so low, Sanchez students will also take longer classes, called “blocks,” for core subjects like math and English. One possibility is holding a “Saturday academy” to help students catch up on credits so they can graduate.

The Sanchez complex has one of the most exciting proposals: to create a college-like campu s, where students select courses from a wide syllabus, sign up for classes online and have the opportunity to enroll in virtual classes. Students will also be offered a rich selection of electives available on site and at various community organizations.

And the leadership team will be modeled after a college campus, with a dean of teaching and learning, a dean of discipline and a dean of student affairs and operations.

Meanwhile, Woods and Feinstein will become “full-service community schools,” offering all kinds of support for families and children. Case managers and social workers will be on site to help families obtain medical care and mental health services and the schools will also offer adult literacy classes and classes in healthy living.