You hear it time and again in school reform debates.
Charter schools have advantages that allow them to produce stellar results. Magnets get all the high achievers.
What about bread-and-butter neighborhood schools that comprise the majority of public schools? How do we help them succeed, even when the odds are against them?
Last week, Denver Public Schools Superintendent Tom Boasberg addressed that question when he and highlighted achievement at McMeen Elementary.
McMeen has a challenging mission. About 90 percent of its kids are eligible for free and reduced-price lunches. Half are English-language learners. Students come from 30 to 40 countries. And it is a conventional neighborhood school.
We asked Boasberg what the secret sauce is at , and more importantly, can it be replicated at other schools?
“Their secret sauce is incredibly non-secret, but they make it well,” Boasberg quipped. “McMeen is a tremendous example of how human this business is.”
The answer, Boasberg said, is great teachers, strong leaders and collaboration that results in a positive culture that lives within and outside the school’s walls.
The unwavering expectation is that these kids will learn. They take part by setting goals for themselves. The habits of success — perserverance, respect and compassion among others — are ingrained. Parents are engaged by, among other things, home visits. This has resulted in the school being in the top tier of DPS achievement for the last five years.
Can McMeen be replicated? Boasberg thinks so.
And he’s got plenty of schools that need help. Thirty-one schools, including alternative schools, were ranked in the this year, up from 25 last year.
The answer, as Boasberg sees it, is getting the right group of talented educators in a setting where they believe in the culture and the mission.
This is why flexibility in staffing decisions is so important and union contract dictates on such matters can be an impediment.
There are many paths to school improvement, and they should include charters, innovation schools and magnets. But overarching achievement in a diverse district like DPS has to include excellent neighborhood schools.
The recipe is no secret. What remains is to get it cooking at every school.
