This morning at Coolidge Senior High School, Mayor Adrian Fenty and Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee announced reform plans for the 27 DCPS schools that require restructuring under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for failing to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for five years in a row. As we’ve mentioned before, the five restructuring options offered under NCLB include: reopening the school as a public charter, replacing all or most school staff relevant to AYP failure, collaborating with an external partner, submitting to a State takeover, or developing another major restructuring effort.
The 27 schools in restructuring status are: Anacostia SHS, H.D. Woodson SHS, Eliot JHS, Ballou SHS, Ronald H. Brown MS, Browne JHS, Johnson JHS, Cardozo SHS, Garnet-Patterson MS, Shaw JHS, Coolidge SHS, Hart MS, Green ES (will be closing at the end of this school year), Dunbar SHS, Kramer MS, Miner ES, Eastern SHS, Lincoln MS, Moten ES, Roosevelt SHS, MacFarland MS, Stanton ES, Spingarn SHS, Sousa MS, Truesdell ES, Webb-Wheatley ES, and Woodrow Wilson SHS.
The plans will be put into effect for the 2008-09 school year. Mayor Fenty said, “With restructuring plans now underway, the school system can begin to take a critical step toward education reform by strengthening school leadership, and improving teacher instruction and student learning in restructuring schools.”
D.C. Wire has posted a good summary of the plans. In short, either the principal or the instructional staff will be replaced or asked to reapply at 17 of 26 schools on the list. Five schools will work with a private partner and seven will work with an alternative plan, with Coolidge HS and Dunbar HS having been placed on the list for more than one restructuring option. None of the schools will be turned into public charters or delivered to the State.
According to a DCPS release, these plans were developed after six months of deliberation and many community meetings with parents, faculty, administrators and staff at restructuring schools. Schools that will be partnering with an external organization will continue to work with the Chancellor to select that group, with announcements expected in June.
Full details after the jump.
