Text 9367, 92 rader
Skriven 2005-02-27 17:34:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: School system
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An example of a way to do things right..

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2005/0314/038.html

On My Mind Reading, Writing, ROI James Nevels, 03.14.05 Get quotes Most 
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Will Burn Cash 'For The Forseeable Future' Should a public school be run 
like a business? In Philadelphia the answer is yes. 

When I started chairing Philadelphia's School Reform Commission three 
years ago, schoolchildren, parents and teachers greeted me with threats 
and protests. I won't forget the sign hoisted by a grade-schooler that 
read, "We Hate You Nevels--Go Home." 

Why such animosity? My commission was making a controversial 
proposition: to run the nation's eighth-largest school district like a 
business. 

After two years of dramatic reforms we're showing striking results. 
Between 2003 and 2004 the percentage of the city's public school 
students scoring "proficient" or better on state exams increased an 
average of eight percentage points in reading and math for fifth grade 
and an average of eleven points in reading and math for eighth grade. 
Our gains are among the largest posted by any of the 50 biggest urban 
school systems in the country, according to the Council of Great City 
Schools. 

How did we--teachers, principals and our chief executive, Paul Vallas--
do it? We defined the district's "customers" exclusively as the 200,000 
children we serve. Not interest groups. Not adult constituencies. We 
held adults accountable for results. 

To start, we instituted businesslike systems. First came a standardized 
curriculum so that all students would learn what we agreed was most 
crucial for success and could easily transfer among schools. 

Elementary school students now spend two hours a day on reading and 90 
minutes on math, double what they spent before. We conduct benchmark 
testing every six weeks in elementary and middle schools and every four 
weeks in high schools. This helps teachers to either dedicate more time 
to a subject in which students are struggling or provide advanced 
instruction in subjects students have mastered. 

We improved conditions for teachers by reducing class sizes in 2,300 
classrooms and by adding 225 academic coaches who help teachers tackle 
deficiencies in literacy, math and science. 

Our code of discipline is one of the toughest in the nation, and even 
extends to acts committed after school hours, off of school grounds. If 
a bully beats up a classmate at a bus stop on a Saturday, we will 
suspend him. In the past he wouldn't even have received a reprimand. A 
high schooler who damages property or commits an assault will be removed 
from his neighborhood school and sent to an alternative education high 
school. We have a district police officer in every school, and we have 
invested millions on metal detectors and video cameras. 

Those reforms cost money, so we had to get the school district's then-
$1.85 billion annual budget on a firm footing. When we took over, there 
was literally no accountability. School officials couldn't even tell us 
how much was being spent on transportation. So we instituted standard 
bookkeeping practices, and then we started to cut the fat. One of the 
many things we learned to do without: an assessment test that would have 
been custom-designed for our district. Instead we use a standard, 
nationally recognized test. 

We raised $25 million in state, federal, corporate and foundation grants 
and increased our budget to $2.3 billion. We're devoting $60 million to 
reducing class size and $40 million to developing alternative schools.

Through negotiations with the teachers' union that resulted in a new 
contract in November 2004, we've overhauled the way we assign teachers. 
The most troubled schools used to get the newest teachers. Now we assign 
teachers to meet children's needs. 

In the face of heated protests we assigned 45 of our 276 schools to 
private managers, including 20 to Edison Schools. The result: Schools 
that were stagnating are seeing jumps of ten points and more in 
proficiency scores. 

We've instituted a new culture of accountability. One of our private 
partners did not produce and we terminated our collaboration. The ones 
that have produced results may receive more schools. That's the way it 
would work in business. That's the way it will work here. 

James Nevels, chairman of the Swarthmore Group, an investment advisory 
firm in West Chester, Pa.,and chairman of the Philadelphia School Reform 
Commission.


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