Our coverage of the Renaissance Schools plan
Obama's "A" word: Throwing teachers under the bus?
Submitted by Samuel Reed III on Tue, 03/16/2010 - 14:10 | Permalink
The “A” word is becoming the key buzzword in education reform. President Obama’s sweeping education reform plans are anchored on accountability. But does accountability mean some deserving and undeserving teachers will be thrown under the bus?
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West Philly HS – Dissing the community
Submitted by Ron Whitehorne on Mon, 03/15/2010 - 13:07 | Permalink
Last month upwards of fifty people came out to West Philadelphia High to tell School District officials they wanted to keep the current team in place and build on the progress the school has made over the two years. Parents, teachers, students, and community leaders all went on record praising the dramatic improvement in school climate and expressing confidence that Principal Saliyah Cruz and a newly energized staff could deliver academic gains as well.
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Only six providers approved for 'turnaround'
Submitted by Dale Mezzacappa on Fri, 03/05/2010 - 19:31 Posted in Breaking news | Permalink
The School District has approved just six of 28 providers who applied to lead "turnaround" efforts under the Renaissance Schools initiative at low-performing schools:
- ASPIRA, Inc., of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
- Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Philadelphia
- Johns Hopkins/Diplomas Now, Baltimore, Md.
- Mastery Charter Schools, Philadelphia
- Universal Companies, Philadelphia
- Young Scholars Charter School, Philadelphia
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PA is RttT finalist
Submitted by Dale Mezzacappa on Thu, 03/04/2010 - 12:51 Posted in Breaking news | Permalink
Pennsylvania is one of the 15 states and D.C. that were selected as finalists for a share of $4 billion in Race to the Top funding, and Superintendent Arlene Ackerman credits the Philadelphia teachers' contract with helping the state make the cut.
The state now has a better chance to get up to $400 million in additional federal dollars, although Education Secretary Arne Duncan said that the first round of winners is likely to be small. Forty states and DC applied initially. The first round winners will be announced in April.
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Renaissance School provider applicants await the first cut
by Dale Mezzacappa Posted in March 2010 | Permalink
A total of 28 potential managers have applied to run one or more of the 14 potential Renaissance Schools in Philadelphia next school year, in what is one of the most aggressive and fast-tracked turnaround projects in the nation.
In addition, more than 330 organizations have applied to be support partners in these schools, according to District officials.
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West Philly community responds to 'Renaissance' label
Submitted by Eric Braxton on Mon, 02/22/2010 - 13:18 Posted in High schools | Permalink
Thursday evening I attended the Renaissance Community Meeting at West Philadelphia High School. About 50 people attended. Most of them were parents and community members with a few students and teachers in the mix as well. The message they sent was incredibly unified: our school has already started the turnaround; don’t lose that progress.
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Mapping the Renaissance Schools
Submitted by Erika Owens on Fri, 02/12/2010 - 11:23 | Permalink
All Renaissance Eligible and Alert Schools are mapped out below. Red markers are Eligible and blue ones are Alert.
Each school name links to the profile for that school with a fact sheet of school data, some of it relevant to the School Performance Index that was used to determine which schools are on these lists.
The schools are geographically concentrated in a swath running across West Philadelphia, through North Philly and into Kensington. Large portions of the Northeast, Northwest Philly, and South Philadelphia have no targeted schools
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Strategy for positive school culture explored
by Paul Socolar Posted in February 2010 | Permalink
"Any school that does not focus on character, values, the essential part of what it means to be a member of a community, is a school that is always going to have a problem with discipline."
These comments by Pedro Noguera, urban education scholar and professor at New York University, sparked a lively conversation about how to build a positive school climate at a symposium hosted by the Notebook and Need in Deed, a local teacher network, on January 14 at the Comcast Tower.
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Problems with Innovation model
Submitted by Eric Braxton on Tue, 02/09/2010 - 14:54 | Permalink
The Innovation School model was one part of the Renaissance Schools plan that I thought might offer a real way for teachers, students, parents, and community members to come together and create plans to transform their schools together.
I thought this could be a great way to show that with the right resources and flexibility, public schools, with public school teachers can really work. Unfortunately, after reading the plan more carefully, I am not sure that that opportunity exists.
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Quick Takes: Who would be the best person to turn around University City High School?
by Benjamin Herold Posted in February 2010 | Permalink
Click this Adobe Acrobat PDF to see this edition's Quick Takes.
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Renaissance School provider applicants await the first cut
by Dale Mezzacappa
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Make the Innovation Plan public, and make the rubric used to judge the plan public as well.
-- Anonymous responding to West Philly HS – Dissing the community
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