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February 2006
Hope High School to team up with area colleges
Posted Thursday, February 16, 2006
School officials say the network of partnerships is a way to help students see college as a real option after high school.
BY LINDA BORG
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE -- Hope High School is teaming up with five area colleges to give students a real taste of college work and to give teachers an opportunity to deepen their knowledge by working with college faculty.
Yesterday, Hope High School's three principals announced partnerships with Rhode Island College, Rhode Island School of Design, Johnson & Wales University, Roger Williams University and Brown University.
Although no one formally tracks these kinds of agreements, Hope High School appears to be a leader in terms of the breadth of its partnerships with colleges and universities.
The new partnerships fit neatly with state education Commissioner Peter McWalters' order of conditions for Hope High School in which he says that the school must help students connect what they are learning in the classroom with careers in the real world. These partnerships will eventually lead to student internships in business, industry and the arts, school officials said.
"This is an important beginning," McWalters said yesterday. "But I won't be happy until the school day is longer and better mixed. Our kids need to have access to [college programs] during the school day."
By bringing higher education to the high school campus, the principals hope that college will become a real option to teenagers whose parents have had little or no college experience.
"At private schools, students ask, 'Where are you going to college?' " said Arthur Petrocinelli, principal of the Technology Academy, one of three small learning communities at Hope. "We want our kids to start thinking, 'Where am I going to college?' not just 'Am I going to college?' "
Both sides will benefit from the arrangement: the high school will receive expertise from college faculty, while the colleges have a "lab" where student teachers can learn from experienced professionals.
Some of the partnerships are not new. RISD has been working closely with Hope for three years. This year, Paul Sproll, chairman of the college's arts education program, has been spending most of his day at the high school's Arts Academy.
Most of the relationships, however, have been developed this year.
Rhode Island College President John Nazarian approached Hope High School, inviting the three principals to dinner a couple of months ago.
According to Petrocinelli, "All three of us had a heartfelt discussion about what RIC can do for Hope."
A lot, as it turns out.
Starting March 2, RIC will offer college-level courses at the high school free of charge. In addition, RIC education majors will mentor high school students interested in a teaching career and college students will be available for one-on-one tutorials.
RIC will also offer Hope teachers a variety of professional training, including help in designing their curriculum. And Hope teachers will be able to take graduate courses at the college at no cost.
Finally, parents will be invited to take college-level courses at the high school free of charge.
Starting with next fall's freshman class, RISD will offer three consecutive years of art classes at Hope. High school juniors will be eligible to apply for RISD's prestigious summer arts program.
RISD will continue to offer two four-year scholarships to high school seniors, but now the school will make a concerted effort to prepare students for admission. Prior to this agreement, the scholarships had often gone unfilled because students could not meet the college's admission standards. Finally, RISD's student teachers will do their internships at Hope High School.
Johnson & Wales University is already helping Hope's Technology Academy develop a curriculum as well as a strategic plan on how to expand the school's computer technology.
When Petrocinelli arrived at Hope this summer, he found two rooms filled with disconnected computers. He enlisted the help of Frank Tweedie, dean of technology development at Johnson & Wales, who helped the school get its computers up and running.
"It's gotten to the point where our curriculum has outpaced our technology," Petrocinelli said, adding that Hope's technology curriculum has become the model for the district.
Finally, Johnson & Wales has promised to give all of its surplus computer hardware to the high school.
Roger Williams University has adopted Hope's Leadership Academy. Beginning this fall, the university will offer two courses for college credit, Law in Contempory Society and Introduction to Criminal Justice.
High school teachers will be able to enroll in graduate courses during the summer and university faculty will assist the school in developing its law and public-safety curriculum.
Brown University has been involved with the Providence school district for some time. Now, someone from the college will help the high school coordinate its partnerships.
The Community College of Rhode Island was briefly involved with Hope High School three years ago. Students visited the college, where they were tested to see if were prepared to do college-level work. But that program was abandoned after money was no longer available to bus students to and from CCRI's Providence campus.
Yesterday, Providence Schools Supt. Donnie Evans described the partnerships as "building a web of support around Hope High School."
"Partnerships help elevate the work we are doing," he said. "Without our partners, there would be no Volunteers in the Schools, no Alliance for After School activities, no Crusaders and no plan for Providence schools.
"It's an old idea," he said. "It's called teamwork and the big winners are our schools."
Discontent builds over behavior code
Posted Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Teachers say the code of conduct, which is being revised, unfairly restricts what they can do, while students complain that it is not being enforced consistently.
BY LINDA BORG
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE -- The school district's new code of conduct is meeting with a lot of resistance from teachers, who, in some cases, feel they are being punished as much as the students.
Because of the criticism from faculty members, Deputy Supt. Frances Gallo has been meeting with Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith and other teachers to revise the student behavior policy.
Last night, a couple of School Board members seemed surprised to find out that the code of conduct had not been implemented uniformly throughout the district.
"I'm having a problem that these policies are not consistent from school to school," said board member Maila Touray.
Gallo confirmed that principals were given the option of enforcing the code this year while members of the school administration and the union tweaked the language.
But that flexibility has apparently led to some confusion among students, who said that schools are punishing them for behavior that is permitted under the code of conduct that was adopted late last year.
"Students at Hope High School are not following the code of conduct," said one student, Symia Lyles, a member of Direct Action for Rights and Equality, a community action group. "Students are getting suspended for using headphones, but it helps me work better."
The code allows students to wear personal music devices during project-based activities and cooperative learning. The revised policy, however, strictly forbids the use of these devices in classrooms and in the hallways during passing time.
Another student, Jeremiah Joseph from the Cooley Health, Science and Technology Academy, said that students are being suspended for "reasons that are unethical."
"We're usually late for a reason," he told the School Board. "We're trying to come to school, but maybe the bus drives by us and we're late. Then our parents are supposed to come to school, but they can't, and we get suspended."
The code of conduct rewards positive behavior rather than placing the emphasis on misbehavior. The goal is to help children resolve their problems so they can stay in the classroom. The theory is that it makes no sense to suspend a child for minor infractions, because the child will fall behind and ultimately become even more alienated from school.
In the original policy, the teacher is supposed to deal with Level 1 behaviors such as talking back or refusing to follow directions. But teachers balked at this rule, because it would force them to keep unruly students in the classroom at the expense of the other students.
The revised policy, however, gives the teacher much more leeway to send the child to the principal's office. It says that the teacher is "encouraged and has the right to call upon an administrator to assist in the delivery of consequences."
Teachers also reacted strongly to a provision that prohibited teachers and students from using cell phones during the school day. The language has been changed to permit faculty members to use cell phones during their free periods.
"The major complaint," Gallo said, "was that the document was too restrictive for teachers. The fact that kids were walking up to them and correcting their use of cell phones created a problem around the issue of respect. "
But School Board President Mary McClure said she felt it was inappropriate to include rules governing teacher behavior in the student code of conduct.
Gallo and Smith concluded by saying the policy was a work in progress, adding that they will continue to get feedback from teachers, parents and student leaders before putting the finishing touches on the regulations. The hope, Gallo said, is that a revised policy will be in place by the fall.
Educators disappointed by amount of state aid
Posted Wednesday, February 8, 2006
The cost of paying for teacher retirements will eat up $3.2 million of the governor's $3.9 million in new school aid, Providence school officials say.
BY LINDA BORG
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE -- The Providence schools are getting almost $3.9 million in new state aid under Governor Carcieri's budget proposal, but city school officials say that the money will barely cover the added cost of teacher retirements.
"It's very disappointing," said Mary McClure, president of the School Board. "Almost the entire [local aid] increase goes toward the increase in teacher retirements. The governor is giving us money with one hand and taking it back with the other."
Providence School Supt. Donnie Evans had a similar reaction.
"It's not enough when you consider the increases in health care and the cost of living and then add to that increased retirement costs," he said. "It is level-funding."
Although the figures are preliminary, the district estimates that it will need an additional $16.5 million to maintain the current level of school programs next year, according to school spokeswoman Maria Tocco. That figure represents a 5.5-percent increase over this year's $300-million budget.
The cost of paying for teacher retirements will eat up $3.2 million of the governor's $3.9 million in new school aid, Tocco said.
In his budget, Carcieri would also increase aid to the Metropolitan Career & Regional Technical Center by almost $600,000 next year, for a total appropriation of $9.4 million. The Met is a network of small alternative high schools in Providence; students spend much of their day in jobs and internships in the community.
Charter schools would be another beneficiary of Carcieri's budget. The state's 11 charter schools, 4 of which are located in Providence, would get an additional $2 million next year.
McClure said this budget "shows a continued infatuation with charter schools and the Met School," and argued that the state is not really meeting its obligation to fund public education.
Providence has taken a series of budget hits in recent years. More than $11.5 million worth of positions has been eliminated during the previous two years, and more than $25 million has been cut during the past four years, according to school officials.
Mayor David N. Cicilline bailed out the district this year by giving the schools an additional $4.4 million. That allowed the School Department to reinstate 20 guidance counselors and about 28 teachers. It also spared the district from cutting varsity athletics and curtailing bus routes.
Carcieri's staff paints an entirely different picture of this year's state aid to schools. State budget officer Rosemary Booth Gallogly said that the state's public schools were the big winners in the budget, noting that schools would receive an additional $41 million in state aid, a 5-percent increase over this fiscal year.
Moreover, Carcieri has proposed $2 million worth of math and science initiatives, more money for adult education and an upgraded computer system to track adult education and K-12 students.
But those new programs fell on deaf ears yesterday in Providence.
"It's hard to be excited about these new initiatives when we don't have enough money to cover our heating bills," McClure said.
Carcieri's budget, she said, "shows a lack of commitment" to the large urban districts that educate the majority of public school students in Rhode Island.
McClure was also underwhelmed by Carcieri's plan for a pilot program that would extend the school day in Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls -- the three districts that the governor would like to subsume under one larger school district. Providence, she said, knows how to extend its school day; it simply can't afford to pay for it.
Evans said the latest local aid proposal only underscores the need for a statewide funding formula, something that the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council and several mayors, including Cicilline, proposed two years ago. Until the state determines what it costs to provide an adequate education to every child, school aid will depend on the whims of the General Assembly, which doesn't vote on local aid until long after most schools have set their budgets, Tocco said.
Cicilline, who couldn't be reached for comment yesterday, has long championed a state funding formula on the grounds that it would be the only way to smooth out the inequities between rich and poor school districts.
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