Detroit Free Press: Detroit ready to turn a new page

Changes aim to improve each classroom
BY CONNIE K. CALLOWAY • May 4, 2008

This is an exciting time for Detroit Public Schools.

Over the next weeks and months, educators, community leaders, teachers, staff and parents will review data to work on new educational designs to enhance rigor, relevance and relationships for our students. With the strong support of foundations and agencies, including the Skillman Foundation and United Way, we plan to have one campus ready to go for the upcoming school year.

There is a growing discussion across Detroit surrounding community-wide awareness and ownership of the need to create data-driven educational models that assure that our children will succeed academically and graduate with skills that will support the future growth and vitality of our city and region.

All of our principals now have complete reports on their schools' academic, demographic, student conduct, enrollment and graduation data. We've also created a glossary of terms to assure that all participants can use the Language of Achievement.

As an example, the data report for one of the schools we are reviewing indicates it is a high school that did not make annual yearly progress in English/Language Arts or mathematics. Its AYP history from 2004-05 to present shows that it has moved from Phase 2 to Phase 4, and its Michigan School Report Card history shows that this school has received a "D-Alert" grade in each of the three past years.

A more rigorous curriculum means increasing the level of challenge in our academic standards. Academic rigor incorporates competitive proficiency levels in language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, the arts and technology required for success beyond high school. Relevance is to better address the need of the employment market, to better prepare DPS graduates to enter the workforce at skill levels needed to move our city and state forward. Building sustained positive relationships between students and educators is key to increasing the graduation rate, maintaining student engagement, and course completion.

Our actions will significantly move Detroit Public Schools toward the AAA Schools model, where everyone is held accountable, is expected to add value, which will result in increased academic achievement for our students, thus positively impacting the communities we serve. This paradigm shift filters every school function through the lens of effective instruction, what is best for each child.

Models in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Providence and elsewhere are working and give hope for this initiative. Gov. Jennifer Granholm's proposal for smaller high schools, which aims to reduce the dropout rate and requires partners in the process, creates an opportunity for Detroit to step forward to submit multiple proposals for this funding.

Remember, the heart of instruction is what takes place in the classrooms of this district.

Teaching and learning are the most important business of DPS. Please take care of the children; they are our investment in our future.

CONNIE CALLOWAY is superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools. Write to her in care of the Free Press Editorial Page, 615 W. Lafayette, Detroit, MI 48226 or at oped@freepress.com.