Terrell Brown wrote: > Michael's suggestion of a 50% failure rate does ignore a few > facts. There are a number of factors which go into the determination > of a STUDENT is successful, not the least of which is if the student > takes the time to show up. Schools have great difficulty educating > students when the don't know where the student is. > > We also know that successful students have a tendency to stay in the > same school and that excessive transfers between schools hurts the > student's chance of being successful. Minneapolis students who stay in > the same school and attend class generally do well. > > When evaluating the performance of a member of the School Board, its > only fair to base that evaluation of factors where they have influence > or control.
I believe Mr. Brown's assumption that the school board cannot influence or have an impact on truancy or the effects of student mobility is false. I would agree that the current school board certainly has a stake in the public believing that they don't have control of these factors; the implication being that there's no point in electing new members. But to quote Brian Melendez's paraphrase of George Bernard Shaw: "Principles without programs are platitudes." So here are the programs. I believe that truancy can be approached on several fronts. 1) The District needs a comprehensive uniform parent involvement program. I have proposed such a program in the list server some time ago. A teacher should know and have contacted all of the parents of the students they are responsible for. If a student is absent and a parent cannot be reached, the teacher should be able to contact other parents who know the parent in question. If a teacher cannot contact a parent by phone or through a neighbor, then the school's social worker should make a home visit within two days (currently, in the worst case, after five days the parents are sent a letter). 2) The Board should negotiate an agreement with the MPD so that underage youths out on the streets during school hours are questioned to verify that they are not truant. The ability of police to do so and the identification necessary to prove that underage children are not truant may require cooperation with the city council and the legislature. Such a program might reduce crime as well as reduce truancy. 3) Parents should be cited for an infraction if students are frequently truant. If students are habitually truant without good cause, then parents should be cited for a misdemeanor violation. Ultimately, if parents cannot be held accountable for their children, then additional steps should be taken by social services. Student mobility is a major problem in both Minneapolis and St. Paul, but it is not an intractable problem. One of the major difficulties is when students are switching schools within the District that curriculums and assignments are not standardized between schools. I propose that in core subjects such as reading and math that lessons be lock stepped between schools, so that when students move from one school to another they won't fall behind. A strong parent involvement would keep track of students as they moved from school to school to be sure that they don't miss weeks of classes. Ultimately, I would like to see classes taught on skill levels and not according to grades, so that students would take Reading I, II, III, IV, ... ect. This way when students move into the District from other areas they could be tested and placed in the appropriate course, rather than being placed in a grade level where their skills might not be well matched. After visiting and talking to teachers and administrators in the District I believe that the major problems in the schools are due to poor management and not due to a lack of resources, qualified staff, or substandard facilities. Michael Atherton Prospect Park _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
