METRO SCHOOLS TO BE TRANSFORMED
‘There’s hope where there was no hope’
Program offering cutting-edge curriculum aims to build on successes seen elsewhere
Central High in Detroit, the first public high school in Michigan, has undergone many changes.
The latest, coming in the fall, could be the most dramatic.
The 153-year-old monument to public education is one of seven in a new program that divides traditional high schools into smaller student bodies — or “schools within schools.” The goal is to create tight-knit schools with specialized themes inside buildings where fewer than 60% of students graduate on time. Some schools have higher rates but show signs of slippage. This month, the GM Foundation announced a $27.1-million gift to the United Way for Southeastern Michigan to administer the transformations. Two already have changed to the small-school format but need money and expertise. Five will create small schools afresh for the fall. Schools still have to decide what choices they will offer students, in some cases allowing them to vote on programs they like, such as engineering or renewable energy studies. Nationally, the approach has had mixed results. The concept recently lost the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which paid for some programs nationwide. And nearby Toledo Public Schools just canceled its program, among other districts. But in metro Detroit, the program builds on the success of five high schools that were redesigned two years ago. Attendance is up and disciplinary problems are down, according to the United Way. “For 2 1/2 years we’ve battled this perception that nothing can be done, that we need to shut these schools and start over,” said Michael Tenbusch, vice president of educational preparedness at the United Way. Now, he said, “there’s hope where there was no hope.”
Bajrama Causevic, 15, of Hamtramck gives a presentation Thursday at Hamtramck High, one of seven schools picked for a transformation. Under the program, teachers will get to spend more time helping individual students, the principal said.
ANDRE J. JACKSON/Detroit Free Press
Passion for learning is goal
School leaders hope transformation program will give students tools for success
Construction workers will install mini-wind turbines, a greenhouse and koi ponds in the courtyard of Ford High School in Detroit as they transform the building into three specialized schools.
New outdoor fencing will separate the revamped campus from the outside world, including a nearby plot of grass where a student was shot and killed three years ago. Principal Layne Hunt knows the history, the challenges and the odds for his students. He said he hopes the schools within schools concept will bring higher graduation rates, academic success — and greater stability to the working-class neighborhood. Hunt walked through his school’s courtyard last week. It soon will be filled with the turbines and other real-world tools so students can learn hands-on about the possibilities of renewable energy. “It’s going to be beautiful,” he said. “The kids get the possibilities. We’re trying to change their paradigm so they (understand) this is not only relevant, but it’s necessary.” Changes under way Ford has been developing three smaller schools under one roof — one for students interested in environmentally friendly and renewable energy, one for business and technology careers and one for freshmen. But after just one year, the schools are still in transition and under development. The changes under way at Ford and six other metro Detroit high schools are the latest phase in a broader effort to transform troubled high schools into smaller, self-contained learning communities, or “schools within schools.” Officials are banking on the more intimate academic settings to decrease truancy and crime, increase individualized attention for students and ultimately catapult graduation rates. As part of this latest phase, the seven schools will get new companion community centers where parents can learn how to prepare young children for kindergarten. The schools within schools concept already is showing success at five schools in the region that were redesigned two years ago as part of the United Way for Southeastern Michigan’s Networks of Excellence. It’s a venture fund designed to boost graduation rates at so-called dropout factories from below 60% to 80% or more in five years. It’s also for some schools that have higher graduation rates but are showing signs of slipping. Chronic absences at the five schools were reduced by 25% the first year — an important indicator that they are on track to boost graduation rates, said Michael Brennan, president and CEO of United Way for Southeastern Michigan. A big donation Impressed with the initial successes, the GM Foundation announced this month its largest gift ever — a five-year, $27.1-million donation to the program. Along with Ford, the high schools that will receive grant money are Central in Detroit, Hamtramck, River Rouge, Harper Woods, Madison in Madison Heights and East Detroit in Eastpointe. Each of the small schools at Ford and in the other buildings will serve a maximum of about 450 students in classes of about 20 to 25 students, as budgets allow. The United Way also wants to fund turnaround efforts at the remaining15 dropout factories in the region — or advocate that some or all be closed, the United Way said. River Rouge High, like Ford, already has begun the transformation process. Last fall, its students were separated into two learning communities. Ninth- and 10thgraders were placed into an academy that uses technology in classes where students learn through real-life projects instead of quizzes and traditional lessons. Next fall, the grant funds will be used to buy computers so all students can take part, said Arlene Gibson, principal at River Rouge. Immediately, “I could see a difference. Students are stepping up as leaders; they have voice,” she said. School districts across the nation from Los Angeles and New York to Toledo have turned to smaller learning communities to address low graduation rates and test scores. Last year, 28 school districts won $52 million in Smaller Learning Communities grants from the U.S. Department of Education to redesign high schools. Trouble in Toledo In Toledo, the small learning communities initiative that began at two buildings will end this fall after seven years. There were few improvements in scores on the Ohio Graduation Test. Toledo’s initiative began with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. “We saw an initial rise in attendance and a decrease in discipline,” Gault said. “We saw some small (academic) gains, but over the course of time, they weren’t sustainable.” The America Institutes for Research based in Washington, D.C., which evaluated the Gates small schools initiative in 2006, concluded the changes did not improve test scores. There are some pitfalls to avoid in order to try to make the redesigned schools work, said Mengli Song, a principal research scientist for the institute’s study. “Many of the states that supported small schools spent a lot of time and effort in terms of new organization structure and probably at the expense of attention to real curriculum and instruction,” she said. In metro Detroit, the United Way plans to build seven new early learning communities to help train parents to prepare children for school. At one of the existing centers last week, Motria Cox, 30, of Detroit held her 3-month-old daughter’s face nestled into her shoulder. They sat in a parenting class near a sign that read, “Children must have the building blocks they need to take advantage of a high performing educational system.” The mother of three also is caretaker for four nieces and nephews. About once or twice a week, she drops by one of the centers for free training on child rearing, nutrition and cognitive development for young children. There also are free gift cards and playgroups. “I’ve been coming since last year, I go to all of the different sites,” Cox said. “You learn exactly what types of steps you need to know. They teach you how to go about things the right way.” Annemarie Harris, director for early childhood initiatives at the United Way, said boosting graduation rates and Michigan’s economy cannot start at school. “We need a student base, and we need to start at birth.” More individual help At Hamtramck High last week, the student reports on classical operas varied. Several students worked on an analysis of “Aida” by Giuseppe Verdi. Another student, for whom English is a second language, asked why the music history class was studying Oprah. The student body speaks 27 languages, and about one-third are classified as English language learners, said principal Rebecca Westrate. Under the schools within schools program, teachers will get to spend more time helping individual students, she said. Hamtramck plans to poll its students and parents before deciding which career tracks to offer. Some already have said they want more engineering and medicine-related classes. “I wanted to be a doctor when I got here in ninth grade, but there were no classes” geared to medicine, said sophomore Hadwan Hadwan, 16. “Then they took away an engineering class, such a big thing for those of us who want to go into engineering. It was really a heartbreak.” After working in a small high school in Highland Park, Westrate has seen the success firsthand. She said the graduation rate will rise if students are taught subjects they care about in small settings. “We want them to come here and find what they’re passionate about.” • CONTACT CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY: 313-223-4537 OR CPRATT@FREEPRESS.COM
Randy Weaver, 14, of Harper Woods cracks open “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee in his ninth-grade English class on Thursday at Harper Woods High. Like Ford, the school will undergo a transformation.
Hadwan Hadwan, 16, of Hamtramck has ideas for new classes: “I wanted to be a doctor … but there were no classes” geared to medicine.
Site coordinator Jessica Rodriguez leads a class at the Early Learning Communities center in Detroit on April 13. The United Way plans to build early learning communities to help train parents to prepare kids for school.
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