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December 2005
From students on up, changes visible at Hope
Posted Friday, December 16, 2005
Students and teachers help to explain how Hope is turning around.
BY RICHARD C. DUJARDIN
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE -- Hope High School, widely seen not long ago as a struggling urban school, has made remarkable progress during the last several months. But it is still too early to celebrate.
That was the assessment of Nicholas Donohue, the special master for Hope High and one of several school officials who spoke at a forum organized by the Providence Educational Excellence Coalition last night.
It's not enough for Hope High School to become just another "good" urban school, Donahue told the 40 participants in the school basement. To be a true success, he said, it has to "raise the bar of excellence" and become a world-class school that other schools will want to emulate.
A former education comissioner in New Hampshire, Donohue was tapped by Rhode Island's education commissioner, Peter McWalters, to oversee and monitor the implementation of the plan to remake the school of 1,300 students, including breaking the school into three smaller learning academies.
Donohue on Monday released a progress report to the Department of Education. At last night's forum, the principals of Hope's three academies -- Wayne Montague, Leadership Academy, Scott Sutherland, Arts, and Arthur Petrosinelli, Technology and Science, -- were on hand to elaborate on Donohue's comments, as were science teacher Azziha Nurridian and three students.
The students, Brandford Davis, 17, and Michael Harris, 18, said students were impressed that they had more access to computers and to the library, which is now open before and after school, bathrooms were cleaner and the boards in the gymnasium were repaired. Most of all, they said, there was a new sense of order throughout the school.
"And for the first time," said Davis, "the teachers and administrators seem to be on the same page."
Karley Carto, 15, said students who didn't care about school work are now hitting the books and for the first time, "I'm proud to be able to say I go to Hope High."
Nurridian, a teacher leader in the science department, said the teachers feel fortunate that they have time built into their schedule to meet and plan with their colleagues, as well as more opportunity to meet with students. The school has met a goal of becoming more personal, in which teachers have become advisers and meet with 16 or 17 students one period a week to talk about homework, problems at school or home, or whatever else is on students' minds.
Petrosinelli said no longer are students and teachers worlds apart. "Teachers are visible and getting to the point of knowing all the students' names."
Jennifer Wood, legal counsel for the Department of Education, said that a year ago, the crisis at Hope High School dominated her life, causing her many sleepless nights. The decision by McWalters to hold hearings on the future of Hope was the educational equivalent of a "Hail Mary pass," she said, and it worked. It helped to get people's attention.
"Hope High School then was a different place from where we are today. Back then, nothing good was said about Hope High. It was all doom and gloom," Wood said. "Today people are paying attention to Hope, but in a positive way."
Hope High needs to continue to improve in a number of key areas, Donohue said. Instead of being a school where only 48 percent of the ninth graders graduate, it needs to become a school where more than 90 percent graduate.
The school needs to increase the number of graduates ready for college from 25 percent to 100 percent. And while 25 percent of students are proficient on annual tests, at least 75 percent should be proficient, Donohue said.
To get to that point, he said, the school has been making a concerted push to offer special courses to raise the reading levels of its ninth graders -- some of whom were reading four years behind when they entered the school in the fall -- with plans for more such courses for 10th graders.
Frances Gallo, who directs the literacy program in the elementary and middle grades, said many recognize that the origins of reading difficulties are in the lower grades. There's growing evidence, she said, that "we stopped teaching reading too early" -- in the third grade -- and that literacy efforts need to reach back with programs for preschool teachers.
Mary Syliva Harrison, the director of the Rhode Island Children's Crusade and the Providence Educational Excellence Coalition, said one of the purposes of last night's gathering was to encourage the wider community to take a more active role in what goes on at Hope because "we know that what goes on in the school has high stakes for the community."
State joins effort to improve 8 Providence schools
Posted Friday, December 16, 2005
Nine veteran educators serve as "turnaround specialists," working with school staff to identify deficiencies and resolve problems.
BY KAREN A. DAVIS
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE -- Leaders of the state Department of Education, Providence School Department, Providence Teachers Union and the Education Development Center Inc. met yesterday morning to officially sign a partnership agreement that requires them to work together to improve student achievement at six middle schools and two high schools.
Under the "corrective action agreement," the state Department of Education makes a commitment to provide technical assistance, expertise, support and resources to the schools, which also means hiring the Newton, Mass.-based Education Development Center, a private, nonprofit company.
The School Department makes a commitment to support intervention strategies suggested by the state and development center to help them achieve their school improvement goals.
The teachers union makes a commitment to support the improvement strategies, including dedicating time and resources to the initiative and meeting regularly with the other partners to regularly review progress.
Corrective action at Hope and Mount Pleasant high schools and six of the district's eight middle schools was deemed necessary because the schools fell short of state improvement standards for three consecutive years, said Mary Canole, director of the Education Department's Office of Progressive Support and Intervention.
Under a mandate by the federal No Child Left Behind law, the state was compelled to intervene, Canole said. The federal law states that when schools fail to make adequate yearly progress for four years, the district must take corrective action.
State officials are not typically seeing cases where student achievement is lacking in the entire student body, Canole said. Rather, different groups of students -- such as those affected by poverty, those with special education needs, those in certain demographics or those who speak English as a second language -- are typically failing to make improvements.
"They needed to improve and they were making some progress, but it wasn't happening fast enough," Canole added.
Intervention could have come in the form of restructuring, moving personnel or providing technical assistance, Canole said.
After some discussion, state and local school officials decided that they would enter into a partnership that would provide technical assistance and resources to the struggling schools.
Canole noted the agreement is a "completely different type of intervention" from the heavy-handed action Commissioner Peter McWalters took when he appointed a special master at Hope High School and handed down a plan for improvement.
In this case, improvement teams have already been created at the middle schools -- Nathan Bishop, Nathaniel Greene, Oliver H. Perry, Roger Williams, Esek Hopkins and Samuel W. Bridgham -- and at both high schools, according to Leslie Hergert, managing director of the Education Development Center.
At the beginning of the school year, the Education Development Center hired nine veteran educators to serve as "turnaround specialists," to work with school staff to identify deficiencies in discipline, instruction or teacher training and help find ways to resolve the problems. Eight of the veterans are assigned to one school each and the ninth is jointly assigned to both high schools.
Since September, the facilitators -- who have served as teachers and administrators at schools throughout New England -- have spent two days a week at their assigned schools.
While they have not taken over the schools or told the schools what they must to do improve, the facilitators have provided an outside perspective and special expertise from their years of educational experience, Hergert said.
School officials, including Supt. Donnie Evans, praised the partnership yesterday and acknowledged that making improvement is not something the School Department can do all alone.
Canole said the real benefit of the agreement is that it does not allow partners to walk away when problems or "rough spots" crop up.
Steve Smith, president of the union, said teachers are eager to do what needs to be done to improve student achievement.
However, he said, the School Board should fight any attempts to cut the city school budget next year because the district cannot survive further cutbacks in programs, counselors or nurses.
McWalters said the agreement engages his office in the improvement process at city schools and also signals a commitment by the partners to make sure that every student in the system is learning.
While Providence schools are the first to have the turnaround facilitators and were the recipients of all of the Department of Education's $700,000 intervention money this year, Canole said city schools were the first to be analyzed and identified as lacking in improvement. Other districts may reach the point of needing corrective intervention in upcoming years.
A much smaller-scale intervention initiative is being employed at Woonsocket Middle School, she said, noting that the intervention response will be designed to address the needs of the school.
"We're hoping this [partnership strategy] will be a model for other districts," Canole said.
With staff reports from Linda Borg
Social worker is on a mission to get students back in school
Posted Thursday, December 15, 2005
BY BY LINDA BROG
Journal Staff Writer Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE -- Central High School had 137 no shows at the beginning of the school year. Now it has one.
Thanks to the persistence of Priscilla Mello, a social worker, the school has been able to account for the other no shows, students who registered at the beginning of the year but never turned up.
Fifty-eight children left the state or the country, a few dropped out and signed up for a general education diploma class, but most returned.
"You try to call but the phone has been disconnected," Mello says. "You knock on the door, but no one's home. You speak to a neighbor, but they don't have a forwarding address."
Mello's job demands that she be part gumshoe, part advocate, part therapist and part best friend. It can also place her in harm's way.
"You're trudging through someone's yard, hoping their dog doesn't attack you," she says. "If the kids are home, they're often hostile. The neighbors think you're from immigration. And the hallways can be pretty intimidating."
Mello has logged more than 200 home visits this year alone. She goes out at night and on weekends, when families are more likely to be home. She is relentless, tapping her community sources, ferreting out clues that might lead to where the child has moved.
As her colleague, Donna McKenna, puts it, "It's like climbing Mount Everest."
Getting the students to show up is half the battle, according to Principal Elaine Almagno: "You can't teach these students unless they're here, and so we have to work at getting them to come to class."
Central, like other Providence high schools, has a policy for bringing students back into the school fold. Students who have missed five consecutive days of school get a home visit. If no one is home, Mello returns. Next, she sends a registered letter to the last known address. About 60 percent of the students contacted by phone return to school.
"I've gone into some homes and talked to the student while he was lying in bed," Mello says. "I ask him to get up and get out of bed. I tell him that his parents are really concerned about his education."
Each school is responsible for every child, especially those who are younger than age 16. The school can't drop a student from its rolls without evidence that he or she has moved, transferred or formally dropped out.
Sometimes, the stories are heart-wrenching. One 15-year-old student stopped going to class because she had a baby and the infant was sick. The guidance staff helped her figure out how to return to school and find childcare.
McKenna remembers one especially poignant conversation with a 10th-grader who refused to attend make-up class because his mother was very sick and in the hospital.
"He came to me and said, 'I don't care if you find me dead in the gutter,' " McKenna recalled. "He didn't care about his life."
McKenna didn't give up on him. "Yes," she said, "you need to be with your mom right now but I expect you to come back. I chased him. I kept saying, 'How are you doing?' "
This year, he is not only back in class, but applying to Community College of Rhode Island.
"Every time I see him," McKenna says, "he says, '06, 06!' and does this little dance."
So many times, all these teenagers need is an adult who will listen to their stories. Sometimes, all they need is an adult to help them make a plan. Take this make-up course. Fill out this college application form. Finish this paper.
"We're so close to some of these kids that we know what they had for breakfast," McKenna says.
"They are amazed," Mello says, "that someone cares enough to find out where they are and how they're doing."
When a student is determined to drop out, the guidance staff tries to find a way for them to continue their education by enrolling in a GED course or a job training program. The West End Community Center, for example, offers GED classes for young women who are pregnant.
There is some evidence that the effort to track down no shows is working. One recent Monday, 82 percent of Central's 1,650 students was in class. A few years ago, it was 67 percent.
Ninth-graders have the highest absenteeism rate, not only at Central but around the district. Guidance counselors say it's because the students are starting to check out in middle school.
Others are simply afraid of what they will encounter in a huge new building. Will older students pick on them? Will they be pressured to join a gang? Will any one help them if fall behind? What about sex?
That's why Central has assigned incoming freshmen to a team; those students will stay with the same five or six teachers for the entire year. Because the teams are small (no more than 100 students), teachers know if someone starts skipping school or showing up late. And the adults are more likely to ask what's going on at home.
The crackdown on no shows, however, is part of a shift toward a more personal approach to guidance counseling, according to department head Renee L. Bailey.
Today, guidance counselors are much more visible. They show up in homeroom and walk the hallways during passing time. They stay late to meet with students and their families. They help students make up missed work or find internships. And they actually go into English classrooms and teach mini-lessons on whatever issues are raised by the texts.
According to Bailey, Central High School's guidance department has become a model for the state.
"In the old days, a guidance counselor sat in his or her office and did college recommendations," Bailey says. "Now we look at the child's social and emotional well-being."
However, with a caseload of 250 students each, guidance counselors are overwhelmed. Often, it's the neediest child who gets the most attention. But what happens to the silent majority, the students who aren't in crisis but need a little push?
"The kids who do well are lost in the shuffle," Bailey says.
"You congratulate them in the corridors," McKenna adds.
Large urban high schools need more guidance counselors, not less, the guidance team says. They need to be open long after the bell rings at 2 p.m. And they need to offer smaller alternative programs within the framework of the regular high school.
Positive strides at Hope
Posted Tuesday, December 13, 2005
BY LINDA BORG
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE -- The principals, teachers and students at Hope High School have made an extraordinary effort toward turning a school that was once considered dirty, dark and dangerous into a community where everyone pulls together.
"Hope has made enormous strides in terms of culture, climate and order," said special master Nicholas Donohue in his second progress report to state Education Commissioner Peter McWalters. "While the school's progress has been strong, the effort by faculty, principals and staff has been inspiring."
Donohue says the main reason things are going well at Hope is the professional competence and determination of its three new principals: Wayne Montague, Scott Sutherland and Arthur Petrosinelli. Each principal runs one of the high school's small academies.
Even more remarkable, Donohue says, is that the leadership team lost a principal, Kate Carbone, less than a week before classes began. Sutherland took over for Carbone as head of the Arts Academy.
"These three got the train back on its track," Donohue wrote in his report, which was released today. "They are serious about building effective community partnerships. They are visible and present in the school, its hallways and classrooms. They have led the beginnings of what could eventually become a renaissance of Hope."
Donohue was hired by McWalters in March to make sure that Hope follows through on the commissioner's intervention order.
Wayne Montague, one of three principals at Hope High School, congratulates Amanda Mossatti at an honor roll breakfast this month. Behind them are, from left, guidance counselors Stephanie Saint-Aubin and Jimps Jean-Louis, and principal Arthur Petrosinelli.
McWalters came close to taking over the troubled East Side high school in February after he became frustrated by the slow pace of reform by school and district leaders. The state initially got involved with Hope three years ago when the dropout rate soared and test scores remained dismal.
This year, McWalters told the school to do three things: get students to school, keep them in school and increase the aspirations of all students, especially the freshmen. According to Donohue, Hope has accomplished the first two goals and is working hard on the third.
McWalters couldn't comment on the report because he hadn't finished reading it, a spokesman said; The Providence Journal received an advance copy last week.
IN JUST THREE months, Donohue says, the principals restored order to a chaotic building. Students are no longer milling in the hallways during class. The hats and hoodies are off and the cell phones are silent. Students treat the adults and each other with respect.
As a result, attendance is up, and fighting and insubordination are way down. The number of suspensions has dropped to 153 this fall, from 258 during the same period last year, the report says.
The principals say it's because they repeat the same mantra every day: Carry yourself with dignity. Respect yourself and your peers. Come to school on time and ready to learn.
"The transformation of Hope in terms of tenor and order cannot be overstated," Donohue wrote. "The school is under control. The students are focused and in class. The teachers are able to direct their attention to instruction."
Last year, less than a third of the Hope students on a state survey reported a strong sense of belonging. This year, a majority of students say they feel comfortable talking with at least one adult about their studies, Donohoe said.
"I'm a senior, and this year is the best," said Maureen Baumann during a recent open house. "The principals are your friends, but they're also strict. Mr. Montague always tell us, 'Whatever you do, do it first class.' "
The principals have tried to build a culture of belonging by holding pep rallies and parent nights, and by publicly recognizing strong attendance.
On Dec. 1, Hope held its first honor roll breakfast. Afterward, 125 students from each of the academies -- arts, technology and leadership -- came forward to receive their awards.
The teenagers, many of whom are honor roll first-timers, were beaming. After each name was read, the applause was thunderous. Every student got a hug from a guidance counselor.
"This is a tribute to you and your hard work," Petrosinelli told students. "You are the leaders of the school, and we depend on you to carry the school academically."
Aminta Betts beams over the certificate she received for making the honor roll. Students were cheered and hugged for the accomplishment.
Now that the school is orderly and safe, Donohue says, the next challenge is raising academic standards. In the past, students have complained that teachers don't hold them to high standards or expect them to attend college.
Donohue says expectations are starting to change.
TWO UNIVERSITIES, Johnson & Wales and Roger Williams, are helping faculty members create curricula from scratch for the Technology and Leadership Academies. The Arts Academy has already developed a curriculum with assistance from the Rhode Island School of Design.
Because so many freshmen need remedial help, Hope decided to offer double periods of algebra and English this fall. The principals say it doesn't make sense for students to take exploratory courses in arts or technology if they haven't mastered their multiplication tables. Next year, the school wants to focus on the basics during the school day, while offering electives in technology, law and business and the arts after classes end.
Meanwhile, Hope is about to announce a new partnership with Rhode Island College, in which RIC would offer college-level courses in the humanities and science, not only to students but to their parents.
But many challenges remain. Now that the staff has created a common culture for Hope High School, it needs to develop separate identities for each of the three academies.
The building's physical condition continues to pose huge problems, Donohue says. On the first day of school this year, a leak shorted out wires in a classroom, forcing evacuation of the entire building and shutting down classes for most of the morning. The leaking roof still hasn't been fixed.
Looking back, looking ahead
Where Hope has made progress
* Created a safe, orderly school
* Established three distinct academies
* Focused classrooms on learning
* Reached out to parents
* Formed partnerships with area universities
Where improvements are needed
* Raising student performance
* Developing stronger identities for each of the three academies
* Making substantial improvements to the school building
* Creating Individual Learning Plans for each student
* Making student advisories -- regular meetings between adults and groups of students -- more meaningful
Donohue says some classes "remain without the necessary texts and supplies to cover the most basic approaches to learning and teaching." He says that the science labs are not fully operational, the media lab is outdated and not all the computers are networked.
But Hope is hardly the only school with daunting physical deficiencies. "Providence is in serious need across the district," Deputy Schools Supt. Frances Gallo says. "Our buildings are old. They haven't had the care they should."
With discipline restored, Donohue says, it's time to shift gears and focus on raising student achievement. He says students still say they find little relevance in any classroom experiences.
Student advisories, in which a small group of students pairs with the same adult every week to talk about common interests and problems, are up and running. They are meant to build stronger relationships between students and teachers, but staff and students say they seem disjointed and unfocused.
The school has yet to implement Individual Learning Plans, although a crucial piece will be completed by the end of this month. These plans are supposed to chart the student's future, identifying his or her academic, social and career goals and spelling out what courses the student needs to graduate.
DONOHUE SUMS UP Hope's progress as follows:
"Having made a good start, the pieces need to come together."
Parental involvement is emerging and needs to improve. Professional training is under way but needs to be more focused. A student government has formed, but teenagers need a greater voice in decision making.
"Finally, there is a lot of activity at Hope but it is not always apparent how a particular activity fits into the larger plan for improvement," Donohue says.
For Hope's three principals, the biggest challenge is winning full accreditation from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, a voluntary organization that accredits schools across New England.
Hope received a warning from the association 18 months ago and is up for review this spring. If the school becomes fully accredited, "It will be just us and Classical High School," Petrosinelli says. "Imagine that."
Central High School has lost its accreditation, and Mount Pleasant is on probation.
As Hope looks to the future, Donohue says, it has a choice.
It can decide that being an above-average high school in a district of struggling ones is good enough, or it can strive to become an outstanding school. Donohue hopes the staff chooses the latter.
"I think Hope has a good chance of becoming an excellent school," he says, "no matter what the comparisons."
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