Middle schools rile DPS board

Middle schools, student discipline and teacher effectiveness were all on the table at a Denver Board of Education work session Monday night, a meeting that saw some old differences flare up.

The most contentious issues were middle school performance, enrollment and financial support. An administration report highlighted these developments:

  • Proficiency scores for DPS 6th-8th graders have jumped 19 percent in math, 13 percent in reading and 11 percent in writing since 2005.
  • DPS 6-8th-grade students reduced their reading gap compared to the state average by 10 percentage points since 2005.
  • The report also showed nearly a four-fold increase in DPS budget allocations to middle schools over the past five years, and a 13 percent increase in middle school enrollment since 2006.

The rosy picture was not enough to allay concerns of some board members, including Jeannie Kaplan, who reported on a meeting she held on Aug. 1 at which dozens of community members – sparked by calls for reform by the community group Padres & Jovenes Unidos – complained of a perceived disparity in DPS attention to charter and innovation schools as opposed to traditional neighborhood schools.

Andrea Merida / File photo

Referring to a broader range of enrichment activities at charter and innovation schools, Kaplan said, “If it’s good enough for our new schools, it really should be good enough for all of our kids across the city. … How do we give support to our traditional schools? How do we eliminate this two-tiered system?”

The sentiments were seconded by board member Andrea Merida.

“Many parents in middle schools around this town, and in the deep southwest, feel they get no support from the district,” said Merida, whose District 2 encompasses southwest Denver.

She was in mid-sentence when Superintendent Tom Boasberg grabbed his microphone and said, “That’s just flat-out false.” He referred to “emotional rhetoric” before Merida then cut him off.

“Emotional rhetoric?” she said, her voice rising. “Are you calling the feedback I get from my constituents emotional rhetoric? You bet that it’s emotional …”

Discipline report encouraging

Board members also were briefed Monday on discipline trends for the district.

DPS reported 664 fewer suspensions in 2010-11 compared to the previous year – 8,892 versus 9,556. Similarly, expulsions decreased by more than 43 percent; 105 for the 2010-11 year, down from 185 the previous year.

African-American students received 30 percent of out-of-school suspensions even though they represent 15 percent of the student body.

Hispanic students, comprising 60 percent of the student population, received 58 percent of the suspensions. White students, who make up 15 percent of the DPS enrollment, received 9 percent.

Data showed 9.93 percent of boys received one or more suspensions, while 4.73 percent of the girls did.

While the decreases in suspensions and expulsions were applauded, several board members voiced concern about the statistics on African-American students.

John Simmons, executive director of DPS student services, said the district is not different from most urban districts.

“I think that school districts are a reflection of society,” he said. “We have disproportionality in society, and our charge is to eliminate that societal ill within our schools. We are not separate from society, but we should be leaders in this regard.”

Evaluation pilot expands

The board also was briefed on the expanded pilot version of DPS’ Leading Effective Academic Practice (LEAP) program. It saw a limited pilot run in 16 schools in the 2010-11 school year.

The program was developed over the past two years with the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, funded by a $10 million, three-year grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

LEAP is billed by DPS as providing more meaningful feedback and targeted training and support for teachers. It uses observations by both peers and principals, as well as feedback derived from student surveys.

This year’s pilot won’t include student growth as a part of a teacher’s evaluation because the district has determined that component requires further development and discussion. State law requires evaluations be based 50 percent on student growth by 2014-15.

“We never refer to this as an evaluation system,” Boasberg said of LEAP, during a break in Monday night’s session. “That’s talking about the tail, and not the dog. … It does have an evaluation component. But this is about professional competence, professional development, and feedback.”

The board heard from a half dozen principals and teacher leaders who said their faculties are quickly warming to the program.

“I’ve had more strong conversations about teaching and learning in the last four months with teachers and administrators than I have the first 16 years,” said John Youngquist, principal of East High School.