Michael Atherton wrote:
>
> I am a little worried that Ms. Shreves cites a report that
> emphases teaching as the major contributor to student achievement.
> Although, I generally agree with the report's findings, I believe that
> changing the level of quality of teaching is probably one of the most
> intractable problems in educational reform. Because of the
> unions it is almost impossible to move incompetent teachers out of
> the system. We should work on these problems, but realize that
> results will bypass entire cohorts of students.
>
Research indicates that we will not close the achievement gap unless we
put our efforts into ensuring uniformly high teacher quality. This is an
extremely important issue, and as a parent with kids in the system, I
truly understand the urgency expressed by Michael. We are focusing our
efforts on this issue right now, so that we won't bypass entire cohorts
of students.
> I would like to suggest one more reform that can be implemented
> and tested fairly easily. If you would like to know why students
> drop out of school you should ask them. Many students see
> no relevance in the courses they are required to take. Why?
> Because they do not plan to go to college and the courses will
> not help them obtain quality employment.
In fact, the Minneapolis school district is completing just this type of
research on why our high school students drop out, and in a majority of
cases, it's because the students are in 11th or 12th grade, but have
credits of a 9th grader, and therefore are not "credit ready" to
graduate, and they give up. We intend to focus on this issue as part of
our high school reform plan, so that we can reverse this trend.
I want to thank all of you who are committed to the success of public
education and are willing to engage in this dialogue.
Catherine Shreves
Chair, Minneapolis School Board
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