Good News for MPS

The Milwaukee Schools are improving!

Only 53 are considered failing compared to 56 the year before.

WOO HOO!!!

From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The list of Wisconsin schools that fell short of benchmarks tied to the federal No Child Left Behind law grew from 87 last year to 95 this year, but the number of Milwaukee Public Schools in two key categories shrank, according to preliminary data released Tuesday by the state Department of Public Instruction.

...Thirty-two MPS schools were identified as being in need of improvement - failing to make adequate yearly progress for at least two years in a row - and face sanctions. This is down two from 2005-'06. The number of MPS schools identified as failing to make adequate yearly progress this year was 53, down from 56 in 2005-'06.

Way to go, MPS! Progress! Forward!

...Nearly two dozen Milwaukee elementary schools, including several non-district charter schools, were cited for failing to make adequate yearly progress, a precursor to being identified as in need of improvement if they fail to make adequate progress again next year.

The lack of proficiency at the elementary school level is perhaps the most disturbing because it points to problems that likely started in the earliest grades, MPS administrators said.

"I think it tells us we need to examine our primary instruction and make sure that our programs in K-4, K-5, first and second grades are doing better," said Deb Lindsey, MPS director of research and assessment.

"We need to examine programs that are offered to ensure that they are preparing kids to do well in grade three."

There are problems at the middle and high school levels as well.

Of the 32 MPS schools identified as being in need of improvement, 28 were middle and high schools.

To be fair, MPS middle and high schools are doing remarkably well considering all the interruptions by police during the school day and all that meddling by irate parents.

...She said much of the lack of proficiency among MPS students stemmed from issues of poverty - a contention echoed by Jack Jennings, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Center on Educational Policy.

In other words, don't blame MPS. Blame a lack of jobs. Blame unreasonably high expectations. Blame Bush and that pesky No Child Left Behind.

...He said reform and intervention could come in the form of more literacy teachers to longer school days to better curricula to more experienced teachers in schools whose students hail from impoverished backgrounds.

"The most important things are the quality of the teacher, whether the curriculum is a demanding curriculum and whether students have enough time to do well," Jennings said. The release of schools that failed to make adequate yearly progress drew criticism from Wisconsin Education Association Council President Stan Johnson.

"This AYP list does not address the societal gaps that make learning more difficult for disadvantaged students, especially our youngest learners," Johnson said.

Lindsey, the MPS research director, said interventions, such as literacy coaches and increased instructional time, can reverse negative trends.

"While poverty certainly plays a role, I believe in the power of teachers and educational interventions," Lindsey said. "We have a lot of work to do in providing teachers with a good toolkit of interventions."

TRANSLATION: "Providing teachers with a good toolkit of interventions" = Higher taxes

QUESTION: Will flexible handcuffs be included in the toolkit?