report of the far northeast community committee

7/28/2019 Report of the Far Northeast Community Committee

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ReportoftheFarNortheastCommunityCommittee

We,DenversFarNortheastCommunityCommittee(FNECC),investedwellover1000hoursofvolunteertimetoengageinaprocesswithDenverPublicSchools(DPS),facilitatedbyA+Denver,to

exploreoptionsforschoolimprovementinourcommunity.Werequested,andDPSprovided,asetofbestideasforschoolimprovementinFarNortheastDenver.Weconsideredschoolturnaroundoptions,testingthemwithourFNECCValuesandPrinciplesthatweredraftedandsubmittedtotheDenverBoardofEducationinspring2010.Weactivelysoughtandwelcomedinputfromthecommunityatallofourworksessions.Inthecourseofthisiterativeworkprocess,wedraftedFNECCstatementsofbenefitsandchallengesanddevelopedasetofcommitmentsforstakeholderactionsthatwebelievewillbecriticalforsuccessfulimplementation.We,FNECC,submitthisreporttoDenversBoardofEducationastheyconsiderstrategiesforturnaroundinDenversFarNortheastschoolsonNovember18,2010.

1.BenefitsandChallenges:

We,FNECC,believethatDPSscomprehensiveregionalproposalshouldbringthefollowing benefits:

Higherexpectationsforstudent,teacherandparentperformance

Strongandhighlycapableschoolleadership

Highqualityteachers

Increasedandhighlyimprovedchoicesandoptionsforfamilies

GreateraccountabilitytothecommunityforFNEschoolsandDPS

Provenschoolmodels

Continuityforallstudentsintheircurrentprogramifthatistheirchoice(Nodisplacedstudents,sostudentscurrentlyattendingMontbelloHighSchoolwillhavethe

opportunitytograduatefromMontbelloHighSchool.) Freshstartsforschoolstobuildhealthyandpositiveschoolcultures

Diverseoptions,suchasartsandtechnology

Smallerschoolsandlearningenvironmentsatthesecondarylevel

Maximizinguseofspaceinbuildings

IncreasedandimprovedoptionsretainingstudentsintheFNEregion

Relievingovercrowding


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HighqualityinstructionandservicesforspecialneedsstudentsandEnglishlanguagelearners

And,themostimportantcumulativebenefit:

Significantlyhigherstudentachievementandimprovedoutcomes,empoweringallstudentstopursuetheirpostsecondarydreamsandpreparingthemforengagedand

productivecitizenship.

We,FNECC,anticipatetheproposedschoolimprovementmeasureswillfacethefollowing

challenges:

Disruptiontoschoolscurrentoperations,includinginitialchallenges,suchastransportationandpreparationofcampuses,andongoingchallengesofco-locationtensionsaswellasensuringequitybetweenschoolsandacrosscampuses

Resistancetochangeexacerbatedbypersistentconcerns:1)thatsomethingisbeing

donetoandnotforthecommunity;and2)thatstudentscurrentlyintheschoolswillbedisplacedagainsttheirwill

Recruitingandretaininghighlyeffectiveschoolleadersandteacherscommittedtotheuniquelychallengingworkofschoolturnaround

Providingsupportsforteachersthatwillbeforcedtofindpositionselsewhere

And,mostimportant,webelieve:

Anewbeginningdoesnotguaranteeimprovedoutcomes.Successwillrequire

persistence,supportiveengagementandtechnicalsupport,vigilance,andlong-term

commitmentfromstudents,parents,teachers,andthebroadercommunity.

2.Implementationrequirements

Tomeetthesechallengesandenactallbenefits,webelieveDPSmustcommittospecifictasksand

responsibilities,specificallythefollowingfourcriteriaandtheircomponents:

Notesoncriteriaandcomponents:

ThefinalworksessionforFNECCoccurredonOctober26,2010.Atthismeeting,FNECCandcommunitymembersheardalternativeproposalsforFNEschoolsandreviewedpotentialimplementationcriteriaforthisstatement.Theycontributed

recommendationsandmodificationsthatledtothecurrentstructureoffourcriteriawithnumberedcomponents.Inafollow-upsurvey,30FNECCmembersprovidedfeedbackonwhattheyperceivedtobethemostimportantofthefourlargercriteriaandtheircomponentparts.Thecriteriaarelistedinorderoftheirrankedimportance.Theircomponentsarelikewiselistedinorderofrankedimportance,

withonebeingthecomponentrankedmostimportant.Alllistedcomponents


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receivedanaveragerankingofabove4(important)onascaleof1(notimportant)5(veryimportant),andtheiraverageratingsareprovidedinparentheses.


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ImplementationPlan:ProduceadetailedimplementationplanwithatimelinenolaterthanJanuary

31,2011,includingbutnotlimitedto:

1.Specificgoalsandobjectiveswithatimelineforimplementation(4.72); 2.Oneteamleadertoensurethereisconsistentandclearcommunicationofthe

processtothecommunity(4.62); 3.Scheduleofworkshopstoprovidejobsearchassistancetodisplacedteachers(4.33);

4.Aplanfortheimmediateestablishmentofasupportstructureagrouptosupporttheprincipalsandteachersenactingtheplansandtobedirectlyresponsiblefortheprogressofthiswork(4.29);

5.Specificstafforstaffteamidentifiedbynameandtheirmeasurableoutcomes,inplaceinschoollocationinFNE(4.03).

MeasuringProgress:Establishandbroadlypublicizethemeasurementsthatprogressonthe

implementationplanwillbeassessed,includingbutnotlimitedto:

1.Effectivesurveysofstudentsthatprovidemeaningfulandusefulinformation(4.78);

2.Effectivesurveysofparentsthatprovidemeaningfulandusefulinformation(4.74);

3.Effectivesurveysofteachersthatprovidemeaningfulandusefulinformation(4.74);

4.Meaningfulmeasuresofparentparticipationthatprovideusefulinformation(4.67);

5.Scheduleandresultsoftestsduringyeartomeasureprogress(4.38); 6.Meaningfulmeasuresofschoolculturethatprovideusefulinformation(4.37); 7.Studentattendancerates(4.37);

8.Teacherattendancerates(4.35); 9.Budgetreportstooversightcommitteesatlineitemlevelspecificaspossible

(4.32);10.Stateexamresults(4.00).

Communications:Createarobustcommunicationsplan,includingbutnotlimitedto:

1.DPSmustimplementaneffectiveoutreachstrategy(4.93); 2.Provide/assignaparentliaisonforeachschoolonepersonresponsiblefor

parentcommunicationandcoordinationofactivities(4.86);

3.PlantoengageSpanishspeakingparents(4.86); 4.Monthlymeetingswithschool-leveloversightcommittees(4.41); 5.Quarterlymeetingswithregionaloversightcommittee(4.41); 6.Developamobilephonetextingcommunicationfunction(4.04).


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Accountability:DPSmustbeheldaccountabletothecommunityandmustestablishatminimumthe

following:

1.Publishreportsonprogress(4.82); 2.Oversightcommitteeateachofthe6schools(4.78);

3.

3yeartimelineforfundamentalreevaluationofthereform(4.78); 4.Reportonallmeasures,includingbudget(4.78); 5.Regionaloversightcommittee(4.52).

88.5%ofrespondentsansweredYestosignontothefollowingstatement:

We,FNECC,committodoourpart:Toprovidestrongcommunitysupportforschoolimprovement,

wewillstaywellinformedandengaged,serveasambassadorsfortheseeffortsinthecommunity,

dowhateverwecantohelpourschoolssucceed,attendquarterlyaccountabilitymeetings,hold

ourselvesaccountableforourcommitmentsandtocontinuetobefair,honest,andtransparentin

fulfillmentofourrole.

report of the far northeast community committee

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