Pathway to Success for Milwaukee Schools
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PATHWAY TO SUCCESS | A PROJECT OF THE WISCONSIN POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE | 1 Pathway to success for Milwaukee schools A project of WPRI — The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute 2013 CONTENTS ii Executive Summary CHAPTER 1 1 Blueprint for Improving Milwaukee Schools 2 Roadmap for Education Reform — Frederick M. Hess and Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj 16 New Schools and Innovative Delivery — Michael B. Horn and Meg Evans 28 Quality Control in a Local Marketplace — Michael J. Petrilli 40 The Recovery School District Model — Neerav Kingsland 50 From “Professional Development” to “Practice”: Getting Better at Getting Better — Doug Lemov 66 Building a Better Pipeline: Thinking Smarter About Talent Management — Ranjit Nair 82 Spare Some Change: Smarter District Resource Use for Transformational Schools — Jonathan Travers, Genevieve Green and Karen Hawley Miles 96 Harnessing Data and Analytics — Jon Fullerton 108 Leading Systemic Reform — Heather Zavadsky CHAPTER 2 128 An Overview of Milwaukee’s K-12 Education System — Michael Ford CHAPTER 3 137 What Milwaukee Thinks About Its Schools: The Results of Polling and Focus Groups — William Howell 143 Appendex 1: Polling from March and November 2012 BIOGRAPHIES 153 WPRI Author Bios — Warren Kozak, Editor EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Two years ago, WPRI undertook a broad examination of our quality of life in Wisconsin. One of the primary threats to our quality of life is the quality of our schools. Milwaukee schools are especially problematic. Almost three generations can’t remember the time when the K-12 schools in Wisconsin’s fi rst class city were fi rst class. And so, WPRI has once again turned its focus to the schools in Milwaukee – all schools including public, charter and private voucher schools. What you will fi nd in the pages of this book attend charter schools and some have chosen is not an indictment of Milwaukee schools but to attend public schools in the suburbs. Yet rather a blueprint for some of the changes that by another measure, really the only measure would begin the turnaround. It lays out the that matters, the Milwaukee education scene is steps needed to return a culture of excellence indeed unchanged. It is at least as disappoint- to Milwaukee schools. In addition, this volume ing today as it was in the late 1980s. Somewhat will also unveil our most profound discovery; telling is that by the most optimistic measure, we discovered the reason why achieving this 28% of MPS students don’t graduate from high turnaround will be really, really challenging. school (26% for students using vouchers to Since its founding in 1987, WPRI has been attend private schools). As for performance, researching and writing about Milwaukee only ten percent of Milwaukee’s eighth graders schools. Over those twenty-six years, WPRI re- are profi cient in reading or math. This explains search has supported many reforms to Milwau- why their average ACT score is 15.9 (the aver- kee schools; school choice being the most fa- age college student has an ACT score of 22) and miliar. During that time, other researchers with why 73% of MPS students who attend UW- other perspectives have supported other reforms Milwaukee are placed in remedial courses. such as reduced class size. The list of reforms Of course, not all is negative. Milwaukee that have been tried in Milwaukee is a long one. schools can point proudly to pockets of success. But, in spite of the breadth of reforms, even the However, widespread success remains a goal, most ardent supporters on either the liberal or not a reality. In spite of the billions of dollars conservative side of the school debate would be spent, the myriad of reforms and the will of the hard-pressed to make the case that the education community to improve, overall student perfor- picture in Milwaukee is in its ascendency. mance is nowhere near where it should be. Why While overall school performance is disap- is that? This simple question is the basis for the pointing, things have changed. Today, fully ambitious volume. WPRI set out to learn what 40% of Milwaukee’s children attend something it will take for Milwaukee schools of all kind to other than a traditional Milwaukee public elevate student performance on a grand scale. school. Some attend private schools, some What is the blueprint for success? THE PERSPECTIVE OF NATIONAL ume you will fi nd recommendations to pro- EXPERTS vide teachers with much more input into their This project has divided the task into two major professional development and a larger input components. First, we sought the input of a into the curriculum they teach. The national wide range of national education experts to train experts who write on these pages have a high their expertise on Milwaukee. You will read regard for the capabilities of urban teachers their thoughts about what must change in Mil- and have very specifi c ideas about how that waukee schools. The most important message capability can be maximized. is that small, comfortable changes will yield This volume contains eight thought-provoking small, isolated improvement. As Rick Hess and essays. Each include specifi c actionable Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj note in the opening chap- items. If the totality of the recommendations ter, Milwaukee’s educational ecosystem, and its was implemented, Milwaukee schools would various component systems simply do not sup- undoubtedly show improved test scores the likes port enough instructional excellence—and that of which we have not seen in several decades. sometimes they even impede it. Understanding that we are tackling systemic reform is a crucial MILWAUKEE’S WILL TO CHANGE fi rst step. For Milwaukee schools to experience However, our research found an inexorable widespread improvement, fundamental changes power prevalent in Milwaukee that is prevent- must be made from top to bottom. The most ing the kind of changes recommended by impactful changes are not big, sweeping policy national experts. The power to block reform changes but rather practical changes that affect does not wrest with the unions or the educa- what goes on inside Milwaukee classrooms. tional bureaucracy or even with state and local Among the many observations from this distin- politicians. While the unions, the bureaucracy guished panel of experts, two stand out. and the politicians each plays an important role • First, schools must be laboratories of inno- in shaping the condition of Milwaukee schools, vation, not implementers of rigid rules and we have identifi ed a power more infl uential than regulation. Too often, policy makers have any of these. The ultimate power shaping the exerted too much control and have ended condition of Milwaukee schools is in the hands up squashing the entrepreneurial energy in of the public. schools. The regulation of inputs and pro- Professor William Howell from the Univer- cesses has been public education’s primary sity of Chicago conducted two ground-breaking quality-control strategy for 100 years and surveys of the Milwaukee public on questions it will take a herculean effort to move away related to education. He found that the condi- from that well-worn model. tion of Milwaukee schools is what it is because • Second, schools must empower their teach- that is what the public wants. Stated differently, ers to maximize their impact on students. Of the Milwaukee public is unwilling or at least course teachers are at the core of Milwau- reluctant to support a change in the basic way kee’s ability to deliver high quality education education is provided. You will see in Howell’s throughout the city. In the pages of this vol- analysis of Milwaukee public opinion polling a complex, nuanced picture. Whereas most cautious, incremental change is all that will advocates (and there is no shortage of advocates garner public support. Second, one reason the in education) would have us reduce education public does not support specifi c reforms such issues to easy to understand black and white as a longer school day, is because they have not issues, the reality is far less tidy. heard a persuasive case made for why more Polling shows that the public does under- time on task will improve student performance. stand the defi ciency of Milwaukee education Reformers have not done a very good job of performance. Not surprising, most people translating research into a message that reso- say they support a “major overhaul” of public nates with the public. Of course this communi- schools. We also found more support than op- cation challenge is exacerbated by the advocates position to charter schools and for vouchers. of the status quo whose message – that without However, when asked about specifi c more money performance cannot be expected to changes, their enthusiasm wanes. For example, improve. polling showed little support for either a longer To better understand the poll results, Howell school day or a longer school year. The public conducted focus groups with Milwaukee parents also thinks the school district, not school prin- and separately with Milwaukee teachers. He cipals, should make teacher hiring decisions. found something that, quite frankly, he had not Less than half of the public supports the idea of been searching for. What he heard from parents students taking on-line classes. Moreover, the of children in charter and private voucher public is supportive of two institutions that edu- schools was that they were much more satis- cation reformers have long had in their sights; fi ed with their children’s education than were the public school board and the teachers’ union. the parents of children in MPS. Similarly, the Finally, the only thing the Milwaukee public can teachers in charter and private choice schools coalesce around is spending more money. In were more satisfi ed and fulfi lled than their MPS Milwaukee, the concept that more spending will counterparts.