This week, my classmates and I wrapped up our week in DPS schools and said goodbye to Denver! Over the weekend, I stayed behind and decided to spend some time at my alma mater, Abraham Lincoln High School (ALHS).
(Lincoln's main hallway)
Lincoln has been around since 1959 and is a mecca in the community. The school is known for its two state championship basketball titles, its visit from President Obama, and its English Language Learner programs. Though a pretty credible school in its quality, Lincoln isn't, and hasn't been, performing well on standardized tests. According to DPS' School Performance Framework (SPF), ALHS is an orange school, meaning it is currently on high surveillance and on its way to being on probation and/or shut down for good. As a school with a student body made up of 97% FRL students and 73% ELL students, I'm not surprised Lincoln is struggling (DPS, 2014). But to DPS and the Office of School Reform and Innovation's (OSRI) standards, this isn't an excuse and the school is being monitored and heavily evaluated, as closure is being considered. Now the rumor going through the grapevine is that Lincoln is applying for innovation status as a last resort to save the school..
So while I was watching Lincoln's varsity boys basketball team take home a win on Friday evening, I had the opportunity to chat with some teachers and administration about the future of Lincoln. Initially, I thought this new innovation status would be Lincoln's saving grace- but teachers disagree. One teacher I spoke with said that Lincoln is in the process of being labeled as a turnaround school. She continued by saying that, with innovation status, the school has been given the "okay" to turn into a Career & Technical Education (CTE) school. She said that the Advanced Placement program, along with her class, is being dropped and replaced with a Concurrent Enrollment Program which offers classes in high school that serve as both high school and college credit for community colleges and state institutions.
Some may agree with the path Lincoln is trying to take. I disagree. I don't believe tracking students to community and technical colleges is the right avenue to take to increase a school's grade on the SPF. I don't think this is the right approach to take with innovation status...
As I discussed before, I think innovation is about doing what is best for the students. Maybe Lincoln admin and district officials think this is what's best for Lincoln students. Maybe since test scores are low, college admittance rates are low, and college retention from Lincoln grads are low, people think it is best to create a whole school that lowers standards for ELL and FRL students. Maybe, for this demographic, technical and career readiness is what's best for the students... Who gets to decide what's best?
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(What's the point of innovation if it isn't going to make progress in the places it matters most?
http://irrationalpassions.com/opinion-xbox-one-stagnation-before-innovation/) |
BUT the school is doing what they are supposed to do with their innovation status. Under OSRI's terms, this change in status will be successful because it will produce "College and Career Ready" kids and scores will go up because standards and expectations will be lowered. (Whitehead-Bust, 2014). Regardless of the underlying manipulations, under innovation status, the school is 1) making an "outside of the box" kind of change, they're 2) changing things in "benefit" of their students, and 3) making a change that will produce higher numbers- because that is ultimately what the district wants to see.
So, as excited as I was to define innovation, and as hopeful as I was for schools like Lincoln, I saw the manipulation that can happen within innovation. I think, until the system changes and stops focusing so much on quantitative data, things like this will continue to happen. I'd like to think that the system will change eventually, but I don't have the first clue on how to make that happen. Though until systemic change, under the disguise of innovation, malpractice and injustice will continue to be served to the kids who deserve an excellent education the most...
Acelynn
School Performance Framework. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2014, from http://spf.dpsk12.org/
Whitehead-Bust, A. (2014) Reform and Innovation at DPS. The Office of School Reform and Innovation, Denver, Colorado.
Acelynn,
ReplyDeleteYour visit to Abraham Lincoln over the weekend is admirable and I am excited to see that you are applying what we have been discussing in class to your past schooling experiences. I definitely agree that it appears as if your school is lowering it's standards to students can find success in trade schooling. I wonder if it is up the students in this community to decide what is best. I also am curious if seeking innovation status will allow students and community members the opportunity to voice what they think is best for the school. It appears to me as if DPS only allows innovation that supports the agenda of internal leadership - as I posted in Eliza's blog, the district does not always listen to what the community wants.
Thank you for sharing and I would love to here more about your time at ALHS,
Amelia
This post was so interesting! I think it's really awesome that you went back to your high school and talked directly to teachers to figure out what the heck is going on there. I find what they are doing to be very wrong, in a kind of obvious way, so I think its interesting that this is actually the path the school is taking. Tracking students to community college does not seem very hopeful for the students' potential and future. Getting rid of the Advanced Placement program is also something I don't agree with.
ReplyDeleteIt is really cool to see you applying the knowledge and insights you've gained this block and using it outside the classroom setting!