> The recent announcement of the contract extension for Dr. Patricia Harvey and > the comparative information about Harvey's and other superintendents' > salaries in districts of comparable size (Dec. 20 Star-Tribune) has sparked > some interesting discussion by list members. Sooner or later the question > will come down to this: "Is Dr. Harvey worth her salary?" My observation is > that Dr. Harvey has been good for the St. Paul Public Schools, students, and > ultimately the future of the city of St. Paul. As the co-founder and > director of Support Our Schools, I have worked extensively with district and > school leadership during the past seven and a half years. Here are some of > the accomplishments and improvements (in no particular order) I have observed > during Dr. Harvey's tenure as superintendent: > > Site Councils > Dr. Harvey instituted site based management (site councils) system wide. > When Harvey arrived, about half of the 70 + schools had site councils. A > district cannot be centralized for some schools and decentralized for others. > The district needed to go one way or the other, and Dr. Harvey wisely chose > the decentralized path. Decentralization of the St. Paul Schools remains a > work in progress. While approximately half of the district's revenue is > allocated at the school level, the other half is still administered by > central office, though the vast majority of that half is directed to schools > rather than "kept" by central office to run the bureaucracy. Some site > councils are very active in the operation of their schools, while others are > not. The point is that each school has the opportunity to use site councils > to build stronger partnerships between parents, teachers and staff, > administrators and the students themselves. The district's Office of > Leadership Development works continuously to train new and existing site > council members in school knowledge, leadership and process skills. In the > interests of full disclosure, my organization has for several years partnered > with the Office of Leadership Development to develop and conduct training > seminars for site councils, and to work with individual site councils on > specific leadership, process, and functional needs. > > Strategic planning: > Dr. Harvey mandated that each school will have a strategic plan (known as the > School Continuous Improvement Plan, or SCIP for short). The SCIP is drafted > at the school level and the document is approved and monitored by the site > council. In its early incarnation, the SCIP was primarily a compliance > document, but over time the document was redesigned to be more of a big > picture, planning document. School leaders now have a "checklist" to review > on a regular basis to see if they are carrying out the steps they identified > to improve their schools. These plans are public and most if not all are > posted on each school's website. It is no longer "business as usual" at our > schools. > > Incidentally, there is a district wide strategic plan that also provides > "check points" to see if the district as a whole is doing what it set out to > do. > > Leadership Development > This administration has developed a rigorous leadership training program > (using the Lominger leadership model) for aspiring principals, that is > separate from the state's certification process. Aspiring principals must > apply for the program and pass an extensive screening process before they are > admitted. Participants go through sophisticated training in seven major > leadership categories encompassing 28 individual competencies overall. The > training program brings in a wide variety of leaders from various disciplines > to expose participants to many kinds of leadership styles and skills. Once > participants have graduated from this training program, they are not > automatically given a principal assignment. Before they are assigned a > position, they go through an equally rigorous selection process at the school > level, described below.> > > Principal selection process > This administration has engaged site councils and school communities in the > process of the selection of new principals when vacancies occurred. At the > school level the community comes together to identify what is important at > the school and what kind of leadership the school needs. The site council > develops a committee that screens applicants, drafts the interview questions, > and interviews candidates of their choosing. The council selects three > candidates who are suitable for the position and submits those names to the > superintendent's office. The superintendent's office reviews all vacancies > and makes the final assignments. More than 30 new principals have been > placed with this process. I know of only one case where in the end the > school did not receive one of its top three choices. The vast majority of > the principals placed with this method have been successful. As a site > council member I have personally headed two search teams (at different > schools) as well as coaching 8 - 10 other site councils through the process. > At least part of the reason for the success of these placements lies in the > high level of support the new principal has in the building. Teachers, > staff, parents and students (in cases where a vacancy occurs in a high > school) are thrilled to have input into the selection of their leadership, > and they assume a higher level of ownership for the success of "their" > candidate. > > Engaging the community > This administration (and the school board) has made significant progress in > reaching out to the schools and the wider community on key district issues. > In the past seven years I have participated in separate task forces that have > addressed communications, the student weighted funding formula, > accountability, site based management, strategic planning, internet use, > school choice, and the budget. The dialogue that has resulted between the > district and the communities through these task forces have had several > benefits. District processes and procedures--complicated as they remain--are > more transparent. The respect and trust level that each "side" has for the > other has increased--there is less "us" vs. "them" than there was a few years > ago. Ongoing partnerships with community businesses and organizations have > been developed. > > A focus on reading > The administration has worked hard to focus city wide attention on reading > with the initiatives St. Paul Reads and the 25 books program, where each > student is expected to read 25 books during the school year. These programs > are the most visible of many efforts to place more emphasis on reading > development among students. For results, see below. > > Aligning curriculum. > Early in her tenure, Dr. Harvey worked to further align the district's > curriculum with both the state performance standards and the standardized > testing programs the district used to measure its own accountability. The > intent in this area was not so much to "teach the test," but to structure > learning so that teachers covered the materials that students would be tested > on. > > Academic progress > The above steps that have 1) engaged more people in decision making and 2) > developed leadership skills among administrators, teachers and staff, and > parents, and 3) opened district processes to higher levels of scrutiny and > input from the public have, in my opinion, contributed to improved academic > performance of St. Paul students over the past several years. Some > highlights: > * > In the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (given to 3rd and 5th > graders), between 1999 and 2004, students performing with "solid grade level > skills or better" increased in 3rd grade reading from 32 to 53 percent, a > gain of 21 percent. Grade 3 math increased from 32 to 53 percent, an > increase of 21 percent. In 5th grade reading, solid grade level skils or > better performance increased from 36 percent to 55 percent, an improvement of > 19 percent. In math, 5th graders went from 27 percent to 56 percent, an > improvement of 29 percent. Fifth g> rade students also take a writing exam. > In this assessment, scores improved from 47 percent to 68 percent, an > increase of 21 percent. > > * BST scores. Between 1999 and 2004 the percentage of 8th graders > passing the Basic Skills Test in reading on the first attempt increased by 8 > percent, while the percentage of students passing the math test decreased by > one percent. Tenth grade students passing the writing tests on the first > attempt increased from 63 to 78 percent, an increase of 15 percent. > * Graduation rates: Between 1999 and 2004, the district's average four > year graduation rate increased from 54 to 58 percent, an increase of 4 > percent. During the same period, the number of students dropping out of > school decreased by 12 percent and students continuing in school after four > years to earn their diplomas increased by 7 percent. Of course, let's not forget the hard work of the students themsleves. And, let's not kid ourselves that these numbers are wonderful. They're not. Though they show improvement in all but one category (8th grade BST scores in math) these data make it abundantly clear that there is still a long way to go to help every student achieve at the desired levels. Still, it should be noted that these improvements have taken place even as revenues have remained stagnant or declined (overall the district has cut in the neighborhood of $50 million in the last 4-5 years) and student needs have become more severe (today about 70 percent of St. Paul Public Schools students qualify for free or reduced lunch, about 70 percent of our student population are students of color, and approaching 40 percent speak a language other than English at home). > I have to believe that Dr. Harvey's leadership has played a role in the > improved performance of the students. Being a superintendent of a large > urban school district has got to be one of the toughest jobs in the country. > I think we have been lucky to have Dr. Harvey these past five years. For the > reasons noted above, I think the board made a wise decision to extend her > contract, and at the end of the day, I think she's earned her compensation. > Roger Barr > Support Our Schools > > > > > > >
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