In a message dated 6/12/2003 9:09:24 AM Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Julie Quist) writes: > > So what is the overall effect of the MPS career > system? The Minneapolis SLC system results in an > education in which our children will not be educated > beyond their station in life. > Thank you. Ensuring that students are not educated beyond their station in life is the actual strategic goal of the Minneapolis Public Schools administration and board of directors, though the district says it is focused on improving student performance and that "closing the gap" is its strategic goal.
The curriculum tracking system in Minneapolis is the model that the State has been trying to push on all school districts (e.g. the profiles of learning), but the best results are obtained by school districts that are organized as one big learning community with a common, college-bound curriculum for the general student population. They are educating all of their students beyond a level that is minimally required to function as low wage workers and prison inmates. Many school districts in Minnesota have high school graduation rates of more than 90% and first-try pass rates on all sections of the Minnesota Basic Standards in excess of 90%. The statewide averages for those measures of educational quality are not much below 90%. I think that if the Minneapolis School District were to break down its graduation and MBST first-try pass rates by curriculum track, you would find graduation and MBST first try pass rates of about 90% for the college bound students and about 25% or less for the not college bound students. As Julie Quist noted, Small Learning Communities designed to provide a broad, college preparatory curriculum are very popular. There were not enough spaces available for students who designated the college prep SLCs as their first choice in the first round of the SLC lottery. And most students can't get into these programs due to the entrance requirements. According to the Minnesota Department of Education, the Small Learning Communities are one of the "options" offered by the Minneapolis School District to students attending poor performing schools. A Grant Application for "Minnesota's Voluntary School Choice project implies that Small Learning Communities have already delivered on the Minneapolis School District's promise of improved graduation rates, stating that, "...The Choice is Yours program also gives Minneapolis Families enhanced options into popular magnet programs within the MPS districts. Magnet programs report graduation rates AS HIGH AS 95% [emphasis added] vs. a 42% district average overall. [Note that the overall graduation rate for magnet programs is not given]. In a cohort analysis of students entering 9th grade in 1996, only 23% of students who did NOT enter a MPS magnet/ Small Learning Community program graduated in 4 years. [The Small Learning Community didn't exist in 1996] The proposed project targets the 12,232 students now attending AYP [Adequate Yearly Progress] MPS schools, but will also be available but will also be available to all students (approximately 100,000) in Minneapolis and other participating suburban districts. -Page 16. Section (B) i. the likelihood that the proposed project will result in a system change or improvement. Application for Federal educational assistance for "Minnesota's Voluntary Choice Project," dated August 16, 2002, project director: Barbara Zohn, Minnesota Department of Education. Despite denials from the superintendent and school board members, the Minneapolis Public Schools does have a curriculum tracking system that begins with part-time tracking in the early elementary grades (Students in the early elementary grades in most MPS schools are segregated by perceived academic ability into different reading classes, and students designated as 'gifted' are guaranteed the option of participating in a gifted program (classes with an enriched curriculum). The district also encourages Intra-classroom ability grouping and 'team teaching.' "Team teaching" is done to facilitate between-classroom ability-grouping in reading and other subjects in the early elementary grades. Team teaching also allows specialization by subject area without necessarily ability grouping student by classroom, but subject specialization in the early elementary grades is not common practice and is not consistent with best practices, especially with the core academic curricula, i.e., Language Arts, math, science and social studies. -Doug Mann, King Field School Board candidate in 2002 (one of the elite 8) Educationright.tripod.com TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
