Interview: Commissioner Gist on Failing Schools

Interview: Commissioner Gist on Failing Schools

Education Commissioner Deborah Gist on Friday called the designation of seven additional Rhode Island schools as persistently lowest-achieving (PLA) scary, but also said the identification of the failing schools should be viewed as opportunity.

The schools (Carl G. Lauro Elementary School, Providence; Charles E. Shea Senior High School, Pawtucket; Dr. Jorge Alvarez High School, Providence; Gilbert Stuart Middle School, Providence; Mount Pleasant High School, Providence; Pleasant View Elementary School, Providence; and William E. Tolman Senior High School, Pawtucket) are the second cohort of PLA schools identified by the state since 2010.

The state identifies schools as persistently low-achieving by using a formula that indicates which schools have been have struggling on a consistent basis for multiple years. Gist said the formula was tweaked because it previously disproportionately identified high schools over elementary and middle schools.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

Once identified, the schools are then given four potential options for intervention, which fall under federal guidelines. The options include: Restart, which involves reopening the school under new management, such as a charter management organization like Achievement First; Transformation, which brings in a new principal and includes more evaluations for teachers; Turnaround, which gets rid of half of the teaching staff and fires the principal; and school closure.

An Opportunity

The previous cohort included only Central Falls High School and schools in Providence, but the new list added both of Pawtucket’s public high schools. Shea and Tolman were forced to be identified as PLA schools because federal law requires schools that have graduation rates below 60 percent for three consecutive years to be labeled as failing.

Gist said she understands the concern over the label, but also praised the city’s new Superintendent, calling the designation “an opportunity.”

“People in the community see the designation as an opportunity to take things forward,” Gist said.

Superintendent Deborah Cylke, who came to Rhode Island from Nevada, said she was aware of the struggles at the two schools.

“I am disappointed but not surprised,” she said. “When I arrived in Pawtucket a year ago, I was advised that both Tolman and Shea had been in corrective action for a number of years. I view the low graduation rate as a system issue, not solely a high school issue. As we work to select a reform model, I will not allow this to become a divisive issue in Pawtucket. My intent is to work in partnership with our union leaders, School Committee, community leaders, and parents to ensure we collaboratively and successfully address the challenge ahead. We have already initiated numerous measures to address middle-school academics and freshmen success issues. I am confident and optimistic about our abilities to improve achievement and graduation rates in Pawtucket.”

Providence’s Problems

The majority of schools on the list are from the capital city, including Mount Pleasant High School, Providence’s largest school. Commissioner Gist said the city has a lot of underperforming schools clustered together, but noted that not everything happening in any school is bad.

“In Providence, a lot of schools are struggling,” Gist said. “Other schools need the same kind of work to be happening. As the same time, great thing happening in the schools which is why I saw this is an opportunity.”

Only two schools in the city will be allowed to select the transformation option, meaning at least three schools will likely have to make significant staffing changes beginning next year. Gist said RIDE does not have a particular option it would like to see the schools take up.

“Transformation has been consistent in the state, but we [at RIDE] don’t have a preference.”

Teachers' Contract Could Provide Problems

Under the city’s new teachers’ contract, teachers are not supposed to be laid off for the next three years, a stipulation critics have said is damaging to education reform. But Gist said she sees nothing in the contract that will prevent the schools from selecting certain PLA models.

“It’s really up to Providence to determine that,” she said. “Our primary focus is not on the language of the contract, but we don’t think there any barriers.”

 

If you valued this article, please LIKE GoLocalProv.com on Facebook by clicking HERE.