Time for One High School?
The following is the second of three articles covering the CARES Relief Money.
The opportunity afforded Decatur Public schools by the CARES relief is definitely a once in a lifetime chance. However, we cannot stress enough the importance of focusing these extraordinary resources on endeavors that maximize the chance of realizing true, meaningful improvements. In a previous article, DPS Just Won the Lottery, we outlined the challenges the district faces using these funds within a highly regulated framework. Decatur Public schools did not hit the lottery. They do not have a large sum of additional monies to use haphazardly.
When you enter the question: “how can schools use CARES money?” into Google, over 90% of the results are ad-sponsored links to companies and consultancies offering the latest & greatest in curriculum and instructional methodology. Sadly, it appears that the only people benefiting from the availability of relief dollars are the company’s shareholders. On January 4th of this year, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’ stock price was $3.28 per share. This past Friday, November 5th, is closed at $17.32 – a YTD increase of 428%. As a comparison, the S&P 500 – an economic benchmark for the entire country – is up ‘only’ 27% over the same time frame. We here at DPS Chalkboard want to see a rise in test scores, not in stock prices! It is imperative that these dollars go where they are needed the most – our classrooms.
In our first article concerning CARES money, we outlined how the money can be used to hire additional teachers over the life of the program to help lessen the negative impact that COVID had on teaching & learning. Today, we want to discuss another item for which DPS Chalkboard believes the school district needs to consider using these funds – consolidating Eisenhower & MacArthur into one high school program with two campuses.
In May of 1981, DPS 61 had four (4) separate high schools – Eisenhower, Lakeview, MacArthur and Stephen Decatur. In 1978 – my freshman year – MacArthur had approximately 1,800 students; when you extrapolate that across all four buildings, we had nearly 7,200 high school students in the entire district. Today, in 2021, the school district is served by two separate high schools with a total building population of less than 2,000 students. Using this fact alone, one could make the case for one consolidated high school in the district.
However, the more critical piece of data that points the way towards one high school is academic achievement. When you look at the Illinois Report Card for the high schools, one of the key measurements is SAT performance levels that describe how well students met expectations for their grade level/course. There are four performance levels for high schoolers:
Level 1 – Partially Meets Standards (demonstrates a minimal understanding of the knowledge & skills needed relative to Illinois Learning Standards)
Level 2 – Approaching Standards (demonstrates an incomplete understanding of the knowledge & skills needed relative to Illinois Learning Standards)
Level 3 – Meets Standards (demonstrates adequate understanding of the knowledge & skills needed relative to Illinois Learning Standards)
Level 4 – Exceed Standards (demonstrates a thorough understanding of the knowledge & skills needed relative to Illinois Learning Standards)
The most recent assessment data in 2019 (assessment was waived in 2020 due to the pandemic) shows that in DPS 61 totally 85.8% of high school students failed to meet standards in English Language Arts (ELA) and 86.5% failed to meet standards in Math.
Not only did these students perform below the Level 3 parameter overall, 55% of the students scored at Level 1 in the ELA assessment, and 64% scored at Level 1 in math. At the other end of the spectrum, barely 2% exceeded standards in ELA and only 1% exceeded standards in math.
We believe that if the district created one high school, with two campus – a freshman/sophomore facility and junior/senior facility – they would have a better chance to turn some of these numbers around. You could structure the schools in a way that, as freshmen and sophomores, students could emphasize the fundamentals not only in math and English, but the other disciplines as well. Staff could zero in on the needs of the students according to where they are on the learning spectrum. Clearly, the results show that our students need help with base elements and fundamentals. Let’s examine how we can create an environment where the students learn the skills at a reasonable pace and then progress along as they show mastery of the material. Yes, you want students to make progress and move forward but be certain they can handle the material and simply don’t advance because we turned another page on the calendar.
Along with helping students at one end of the spectrum master the fundamentals and meet expectations, dual campuses will allow those who meet and exceed the standards to focus on true Advanced Placement (A.P.) course work that challenges students to use critical thinking, sharpen their writing skills and expose them to the atmosphere that one would expect to find in a college classroom or lecture hall. Approximately 10 years ago, all the rage was to have A.P. classes that the students could take. As such it did not take long for the benchmark to become the number of students enrolled in A.P. classes rather than the rigor in the classroom or their ability to earn college credit by passing the exam.
Based on the 2019 data from the Illinois Report Card, 477 students in DPS 61 were enrolled in A.P. classes. That is 23.1% of all students; yet only 15% of our students meet state standards. And of those 477 students, barely 21% master the material to the point they earn any college credit. Are we setting up our students to fail? Are we misleading them as to where opportunity truly lies? Perhaps it is time to examine who should be enrolled in advanced placement classes and who should not. Let’s structure our A.P. course work in way that allows the students who excel to not only take classes that employ college-like instruction methods, but also affords them a deep dive into the material they are studying, be it history, psychology, calculus, or physics.
This is not meant to be a personal judgement on who is more capable of doing the work. The fact is that some students are just not college material – and this is okay! Currently, the average salary of a licensed electrician in Illinois with 0-2 years’ experience is $45,700. According to the current DEA contract with DPS 61, a first-year teacher starts at $44,250. Shall we compare the amount of money spent (or debt accumulated) by each person to reach those levels? And it’s not just about the money, we feel every student is entitled to career that allows them to find happiness and flourish as a human being.
Finally, we at DPS Chalkboard also feel that consolidating into one high school will also enhance the extra-curricular activities afforded our students. Obviously the first place your mind goes to is sports and yes this could be a huge boost to those programs. Naturally our sports teams would be more competitive, but more importantly we could ensure there are enough numbers for the schools to even field a team. While involved as parent in the booster club at MacArthur, I witnessed situations where freshman and junior varsity teams could not participate because it took all the students available just to compete at the varsity level. This also holds true for the fine arts. Once a music powerhouse, high schools struggle to field marching bands, orchestras and jazz bands. It was not that long ago when the MacArthur jazz band was the gold standard across the nation. I am also sure that if you ask school’s art teachers, they could talk for hours about what they could do with those programs if they had more than just a handful of students.
Fortunately, we have two renovated high school buildings that can meet the needs of the students at each campus, but if there is something else that is needed, then let’s use the CARES funding to make that happen. Let’s use CARES money to provide the curricula and materials needed to help students master the basic skills to achieve Level 3 outcomes when possible. Let’s use CARES money to make sure we have the curricula and materials available for those students in A.P. classes to truly expand their knowledge base. Let’s use CARES money to ensure that our students have all the equipment, facilities, and supplies necessary to take advantage of the opportunities in sports, music, and the fine arts in order to round out their high school experiences.
The DPS Chalkboard believes that a “one school - two campus” concept could provide tremendous opportunities for our students both inside and outside the classroom.