sustainable turnaround strategy - pastorek

8/8/2019 Sustainable Turnaround Strategy - PASTOREK

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LA: Good News/Bad NewsGood News:

Dedicated hard working educators

Academic Achievement is up dramatically Gap closing is significant

Bad News:50 th in 4 th grade ELA

16,000 dropouts per year ( 5% of 7 th through 12 thgraders)

108 schools under Recovery School D istrict;additionally, over 100,000 more children are below grade level ( 500+ schools (nearly 50 % of schools))



AssumptionsPositive: M ost kids want to be successful in schooland successful in life.Positive: M ost teachers, principals, administratorsand parents want to help children to be successful inschool so they can be successful in life.Positive: Some of our schools successfully educate

large numbers of children who are minority, poorand/or have inadequate parental support.Negative: The education system is not designed toallow schools or educators to innovate.Negative: There are many impediments to

institutionalizing best practices in schools.



T he Urgency of NOW F ar too many children are being failed by adults¶complacency to figure out a solution to failing schools.

We cannot be timid or incremental about correctingthis problem.

We cannot shoot for perfect when dealing with failingschools. We cannot let ³perfect´ be the enemy of

³good´. We cannot be risk averse. We must take and managerisk. We must have low risk and high risk portfolio.If there is only little risk, there is little reward.



T he School is the Center of Change and Innovation

N either state government, nor the district can ³fix´the problem from the top down. Doing so, drivesgood leaders and educators away from schools.Rather, the role of state government and the districtshould be to:

remove barriers to change and innovation and

provide quality support for the school to fix itsown problems.give flexibility and autonomy to the school to bethe center of change and innovation (charter or³charter-like´).

hold schools accountable.



Recovery School District ± A T urnaround Strategy In its original conception, the Recovery SchoolD istrict was a very modest idea that was borneof the frustration of state policy makers withdistrict failure to turnaround failing schools.The original conception has since beenshaped, molded and reconceived to respond

to different stimuli and circumstances.



Recovery School District ± A T urnaround Strategy Prior to Katrina, LA created a Recovery School D istrict where individual chronically failing schools (statewide) would be turnedover to qualified charter school providers.

Why?School Reconstitution plans were ineffective.

Traditional state takeovers were largelyineffective.Charter school offered important possibilities:

unfettered by state or local interference.true reconstitution.real local control



Recovery School District ± A T urnaround Strategy Place chronically low achieving schools understate control. Recovery School D istrict

becomes a ³turnaround zone³.State control meant that the state wouldcontrol the building and the funds for theprior year student population.

All existing employees must re-apply for jobsin the school (with priority).

All obligations of the district to the school orits employees were abrogated.



Recovery School District ± A T urnaround Strategy Phase 1 - 4 N ew Orleans schools were placedin Recovery School D istrict (RS D ) prior to the

storm and were chartered.Phase 2 - Katrina ± released the pent upfrustration with the N ew Orleans PublicSchools. Chronic district failure - 90 % of schools in N ew Orleans to be placed in RS D .

Again, the idea was that ³all´ schools would beCharter Schools.Clearly, this was an anomalouscircumstance.



Recovery School District ± A T urnaround Strategy The state ³authorized´ many charter schools.But, there weren¶t enough quality charters torun the number of schools needed in N OLA.

Adaptive ± we adopted a hybrid strategy ±³ traditional´ central office running traditionalschools³ traditional´ central office authorizing and holdingcharter schools accountable.

All focused on N ew Orleans.Phase 3 - we recognized that we had otherschools in other parts of the state that were

failing.



Recovery School District ± A T urnaround Strategy Over the next 2 years, first, 10 schools eligible;then, 33 schools eligible for takeover.

We had to measure capacity to takeover. Adaptive - Concluded to takeover some, butplace others into ³receivership´ via an M OU.

Takeover or ³receivership´ ± but, the key wasto:

remove the barriers to change andallow the institutionalization of best practices.



K ey StrategiesRather than following the common paradigmfor school takeovers nationally ± that is,

taking over entire school districts with alltheir dysfunctions, central office bureaucracy,employees, and restrictive collective

bargaining agreements - the RS D takes overonly individual schools, their employees, their

students and their funding.Reconstitute the school as charter or charterlike schools.

Willingness to use alternative schoolmanagement models



K ey Strategies Allow the infusion/institutionalizationof best practices.M odify or Remove the rules.M ost importantly, the Recovery SchoolD istrict is transformed from being thetop down management district office toa support entity.External support entities are formed toprovide alternative support to RS D .



What is WorkingExpanded choice attracts national education entrepreneurs,improving schools through healthy competition, and expandsquality options for parents and students.

Allowing schools to recruit and retain staff based on meritand performance (site selection) is producing a higher-quality workforce with higher expectations, a superior work ethic and content-area mastery.

A data-driven curriculum and instructional managementsystem that is based on proven models.M ore instructional time on task in the form of a longer schoolday and longer school year.Establishment of local school leadership teams via TAP(Teacher Advancement Program).M odernization of all core classrooms with tech-

nology to help deliver instruction and facilitateinterventions.



Change in ³Percent Basic and Above´RSD Spring 2008 to Spring 2009

Grade T est ELA Math Science SS

3 i LEAP +5 +6 +12 +6

4 LEAP +8 +1 +11 +9

5 i LEAP +7 +6 +3 + 56 i LEAP +16 +17 +10 +16

7 i LEAP +10 +1 5 +13 +13

8 LEAP +6 +3 +4 +2

9 i LEAP +13 +1 5 -- --10 GEE +11 +18 -- --

11 GEE -- -- +6 +10



RSD Direct-Operated and Charter SchoolsComparison of LEAP, i LEAP & GEE to State Growth

GROW TH in

Students Scoring Proficient (Basic & Above)

ELA Math Science Social StudiesG rade i LEAP 3 3 1 5 3G rade LEAP 4 5 3 6 5G rade i LEAP 5 6 5 (1) 4G rade i LEAP 6 9 8 7 10G rade i LEAP 7 9 7 7 (2)

G rade LEAP 8 1 2 2 (3)G rade i LEAP 9 10 12 NA NA

G rade G EE 0 (2) (2) 8Improvement N o Change Decline



Graduation Rates by Individual School - 2007 to 2009School 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009

# eligible # graduates % # eligible # graduates % # eligible # graduates %

G.W. Carver * * * 24 20 83 % 77 68 88 %

Joseph S. Clark 66 26 39 % 93 55 5 9% 113 90 80 %

Walter L. Cohen * * * 53 31 58% 62 40 6 5%

F rederick Douglass 172 49 28 % 81 42 52% 123 97 79 %

John M cDonogh 306 10 5 34 % 137 105 77% 116 104 90 %

L.E. Rabouin 146 73 50 % 144 89 62 % 223 162 73 %

Sarah T. Reed 170 8 5 5 0 % 132 101 77 % 189 138 73 %

Algiers Technology * * * 14 11 79% 38 36 9 5%

O.P. Walker 221 206 93 % 256 244 9 5% 218 204 94 %

1081 544 50% 934 698 75% 1159 939 81%

Note: T his report only includes high schools with a senior class. An asterisk * denotes no senior classin this year.



F ourth Grade Results: Orleans + RSD

Percent Meeting the Promotional Standard

200 5 to 2009; State improved 6 percentage points; Orleans improved 1 5 points2008 to 2009: State improved 1 percentage point; Orleans improved 8 points

200 5 48 %

2006 41 %

2007 48 %2008 55%

2009 63 %



Eighth Grade Results: Orleans + RSD

Percent Meeting the Promotional Standard

2006 to 2009; State improved 7 percentage points; Orleans improved 1 5 points2008 to 2009: State improved 3 percentage point; Orleans improved 9 points

2006 37 %

2007 43 %2008 43 %

2009 52%



N ext Phase ± Scaling Up,

Including the D istrict Offices

Adaptive - Create district partnerships

agreements between RS D and some or all of the 500+ chronically low achieving schools voluntarily agree to remove the barriers andinstitutionalize best practices.

Adaptive - Included in this, transform theparticipating district office to become like theRSD .



T hanks

Leslie Jacobs

Paul Vallas



LA¶s Recovery

School District

A turnaround zone where we:

welcome and practice innovation every day.respond to unforeseen or the unexpected

by adapting so that the enterprise can

meet the needs of the schools we serve.remove the barriers to change inschools so that schools can control theirown destiny

sustainable turnaround strategy - pastorek

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