State descends on St. Louis Public schools
Roughly 250 school evaluators will spread through hundreds of St. Louis Public School classrooms this week, all part of the state’s “comprehensive review” of the unaccredited district.
St. Louis Public and the state’s department of education will hold a press conference this afternoon on the subject.
And here’s more from the state:
… teams organized by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will visit hundreds of classrooms in schools throughout the district. They will observe lessons and conduct structured interviews with students, teachers and administrators. (See schedule of activities below.)
In all, nearly 250 people from Missouri school districts and the state education agency will take part in the on-site review. The evaluation is part of the state’s accreditation process for public schools - the Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP) - and is intended to provide constructive information for the Special Administrative Board and the administration of the St. Louis Public Schools.
Information gathered during the review will be compiled and given to the school district to help guide the development of its school accountability and improvement plans.
The following week, (May 6-7) a small team will return to St. Louis to work on the written report about the on-site visit and conduct a formal exit conference with the superintendent.
Becky Odneal, DESE’s chief accountability officer, is the team leader for next week’s review and the state agency’s main liaison with St. Louis Public Schools officials. She and other DESE personnel have been working with SLPS staff for several months to prepare for the team visit.
“We want to help St. Louis move forward quickly to regain accredited status, and we are trying to make the accreditation review process more helpful for the school district. This in-depth review can provide valuable insights from impartial observers that can help the St. Louis board and staff refine their school improvement plans,” Odneal said.
St. Louis Public Schools MSIP Review Schedule
Monday, April 27 · 5:00 p.m. Review Team Convenes, Team member orientation, SLPS District Office
Tuesday & Wednesday, April 28-29 · 8:00 a.m. Teams visit assigned buildings until end of school day; student and teacher focus groups in the afternoon.
Thursday, April 30 · 8:00 a.m. Reflect and begin report writing by MSIP assignment. (Conclude by 4:00 p.m.)
May 6-7 DESE report-writing team convenes at SLPS.
Let’s hope they find something GOOD.
Good luck with this. The STL city schools have been garbage for decades now. And the entrenched are not interested in educating kids are raising the standards. This is looked on as a welfare program. This became very apparent when they began to shake the tree several years ago and tried to clean up the incompetence and corruption. The entrenched slugs wanted no part of that.
It’s way past time for the STL City Schools. I’m tired of waiting. Give me my TAX money that the STL schools are wasting and allow me and all of the other parents that actually want our kids to be well-educated in the form of a Voucher so we can send our kids to real schools instead of the city dead-end!
“And the entrenched are not interested in educating kids are (sic) raising the standards.”
Wow…where did YOU go to school?
This is a totally different way of evaluating schools than I have ever heard about. I can find the problems, if any by just knowing the number of students that are on reduced or free lunches. Then, review test papers from each school. and from doing that one will know the problems. It doesn’t take rocket science to to devise solutions.
Sometimes the solutions must be be invoked one step at a time. If truancy is a problem, address that first. If class disrution by students is a problem, that is addressed next. Go through it methodically and look at the curriculm, and teaching methods. Problems should be solved within a year.
I will be very surprised if 250 people descending on schools for a week will accomplish very much. However, I hope it does.
Yeah but Sumner’s getting that great new free “athletic complex.” that should help with the accreditation, right?