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CEO pledges to do 'Whatever it Takes' to transform Cleveland's public schools
A MESSAGE FROM Dr. EUGENE T.W. SANDERSCEO, Cleveland Metropolitan School District With the unveiling of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District's Transformation Plan on January 5, I called on the entire school community to join together in a commitment to changing course in our schools and to changing lives in Cleveland.
As we embark on the second decade of the 21st century, it is our hope that we can, at last, do more than offer hope for children and their families. In announcing a bold plan to transform our schools, I made a promise to do "whatever it takes" to ensure a bright future for every child in Cleveland.
We have titled our transformation plan, Whatever It Takes, to stress the urgency of the actions that need to take place in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. After a lengthy process, we know with certainty that we can no longer accept an incremental rate of progress; instead, we must take aggressive actions to advance our schools.
We have talked on many occasions of the need to do more to ensure the academic success of children in Cleveland. We have implemented many different changes in the tools students use and the ways that teachers teach. We have experimented with changes in class time, changes in the length of a school day and school year and the manner and location in which we deliver our academic program. In one innovation after another, we have seen measures of success of which we can be proud.
But we can no longer ask any students to wait for their turn for school reform to reach them. The world around them is changing too rapidly for many of them to ever catch up.
Who among us could have predicted that, in the last five years, we would witness such a boom in digital, mobile technology, the near collapse of the American economic system and the inauguration of an African American President of the United States?
In preparing our students for the rapidly-changing world that awaits them, it becomes more apparent with every decade that the tools students need to succeed and to survive in the 21st century are far different than those we provided to students during the last century and remarkably different from even the education we have provided in the last decade.
It is likely that none of us envisioned the extent to which our own lives would change in just a few years with the arrival of I-pods, MP3s, digital photography, Blackberries, social media and advancements in telecommunications that now connect us to the world, its organizations and its people in unprecedented ways.
We must move aggressively forward to prepare our students for these advancements and those on the immediate horizon.
School administrators and teachers have debated for years about how to best prepare students for 21st century jobs, but what we are facing year after year is the rapidity and unpredictability of workplace and workforce changes.
Each new technological innovation demands an equal and appropriate educational innovation.
WE MUST DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO CHANGE THE CULTURE OF EVERY SCHOOL IN CLEVELAND
With the announcement of the CMSD Transformation Plan, I pledged to do "Whatever It Takes" to ensure that none of our students will attend schools that remain in Academic Watch or Academic Emergency status while other students prepare for their futures in Effective and Excellent learning academies with flexible, performance-oriented cultures.
I made a promise to every family in Cleveland that none of their children would learn in outdated schools, rooted in 20th century classroom models, while charter schools and specialty schools provide other children with hands-on experiences in vibrant, 21st century learning communities.
On January 5, 2010, I did more than present a new "wish list" for students, for their families and for the future of Cleveland Schools. I did more than promise to fix 10 schools and update 10 others. Instead, I issued a declaration to the entire school community that the outdated 20th century policies and practices that continue to send 46% of our kids to the streets without high school diplomas in their hands are no longer tolerable and no longer reparable--they must be replaced.
While we talk of one change, in one school, 10 more changes are taking place in the world around that awaits the participation of our students.
In proposing the CMSD Transformation Plan, I have pledged to first transform our entire central office operation to realign our staff and move full speed ahead with one purpose: to turn vision into victory, to turn goals into accomplishments and to complete the mission we began when we first set foot on our Path to Premier.
We must do whatever it takes to transform our schools now.
THE CMSD TRANSFORMATION PLAN
The complete CMSD Transformation Plan, available for viewing and for downloading on the home page of our District website, proposes to divide our schools into four main categories of school-by-school transformation: GrowthSchools, RefocusSchools, RepurposeSchools and CloseSchools.
The Strategic Development Initiative that resulted in development of the plan was a comprehensive process involving three foundation-funded assessments of CMDS's specialty programs, turn-around strategies and facilities. The final Transformation Plan is based not only on staff and community input, but also on objective, data-based research.
Community forums held at schools throughout the city have played a vital role in gathering input for school-by-school recommendations.
Input from a Community Advisory Committee comprised of parents, educators, community leaders and public officials was helpful to independent consultants who made the final recommendations and assisted in developing the plan. Three external audits were conducted to take a hard look at where Cleveland's schools are today and to determine what we must do now to address disparities in the quality of education we deliver.
The Council of Great City Schools audited our specialty programs, Education First reviewed our turnaround strategies and the Boston Consulting Group studied our use of school facilities.
We owe a significant debt of gratitude to Ronn Richard and the Cleveland Foundation, and also to David Abbott and the George Gund Foundation, for funding this critical strategic development initiative.
The integrated process involved some of the nation's best consultants who conducted an objective, fact-based analysis of where Cleveland Schools are today and identified "pockets of success" on which we can build for the future of all of our schools.
Acting on these critical recommendations is a matter of life and death for too many of our students. We can no longer take the time we have taken the last three years to delay and debate our course of action. The path is clear. We must act on these recommendations now and do "whatever it takes" to ensure the success of all students.
GOALS OF THE CMSD TRANSFORMATION PLAN
The Transformation Plan is now, and will ultimately prove to be, less about the schools that we must close in Cleveland, and more about the doors we must open for the children who attend our schools.
We have pledged to do whatever it takes to provide, not just some of our students, but all of them with the knowledge and skills they
need now to reach their potential with the following transformation goals:
1. We will graduate all students ready to compete in the 21st Century.
2. We will provide high quality schools in every neighborhood so that all
families have choices.
3. We will hold everyone accountable for success-teachers and principals,
central office staff, parents and students, and community.
4. We will recruit, support and retain high-quality principals and teachers.
5. We will expand what is working today and be bold in rethinking and changing
what is not working.
6. We will attract and retain students and families in Cleveland.
7. We will right-size the District by eliminating excess capacity, addressing
overcrowding and ensuring effective use of resources. By the 2014-2015 school year, the Cleveland community should expect every school in the ClevelandMetropolitanSchool District to be rated Continuous Improvement or above and 50% of Cleveland's schools to be rated Excellent or Effective on the Ohio report card. We will do "Whatever It Takes" to make it happen. CREATING EFFECTIVE SCHOOLS The key ingredients of an effective school are well known and documented. Cleveland, like all other cities throughout the nation, has examples of successful PreK-8 schools and high schools, and we have schools that are doing much better than other urban schools in the state and nation.  We have learned through our own successful innovative practices that students learn best in small, safe and personalized schools. Students learn better when staff members and school leaders have high expectations for them and provide a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum that incorporates technology and critical thinking skills. We know that family involvement in a student's education is one of the most important ingredients for student success. At its core, the CMSD transformation includes a school-by-school plan to improve academic performance in every one of these critical areas. THE ROLE OF CHARTER SCHOOL COLLABORATION IN REFORM As part of the proposed Transformation Plan, I have called on the District to actively engage with successful charter schools both here in Cleveland and throughout the nation. With approval of the Transformation Plan by the Cleveland Board of Education next month, we will move immediately to seek charter school partners for two critical opportunities: 1. To offer one of our existing schools for charter with a request to join our organization as an academy within one of our existing schools. We refer to this as the "blended model." 2. To offer vacated school buildings to charter schools for their operation and management, providing increased school choice in our neighborhoods. As we move forward, we will also explore opportunities for national charter organizations to manage low-performing schools in the District. Real change--transformative change--the kind of change that means life or death for many of Cleveland's children--will require a shared commitment by everyone in the Cleveland community to increased accountability, to increased choice and competition and to honest and meaningful self-assessment as we turn our schools into the 21st Century learning centers they must become for our students. We must do "Whatever it Takes" to make it happen. Public schools, more than any other modern organization, have long been viewed by the public as being resistant to change. But thre is, in fact, so much change occurring in schools that leading school reformers say teachers and school administrators are overwhelmed by it. What's missing in our ever-changing public schools, however, is what is at the heart of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District Transformation Plan--accountability. School change doesn't mean anything to a child, to his parents, to his teachers, to his school or his community, unless it is accompanied by clear improvements in student performance. Our schools will forever see their share of change, but we must commit ourselves to no longer being what too many urban school districts find themselves to be--"change inept." It is one thing to change our direction; it is quite another to change ourselves. From top to bottom, we have pledged to change the way we operate in the ClevelandMetropolitanSchool District. Even more, we have committed ourselves to having something extraordinary to show for our school reform efforts--the success of each and every child in Cleveland.
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Great City Schools leader applauds city, schools for 'taking bold step' to improve Cleveland's public schools
 One of the highlights of the January 5 press conference where the CMSD Transformation Plan was unveiled was the appearance of Michael Casserly, Executive Director of the Council of the Great City Schools, a national coalition of the country's largest urban school systems. In addressing a large audience in the AdministrationBuilding auditorium, Casserly congratulated Mayor Frank Jackson and CEO Dr. Eugene Sanders for making important strides toward school improvement, stepping up professional development of teachers, emphasizing STEM programming, enhancing community partnerships, creating pacing guides for student instruction and initiating a series of tough reviews and studies by external experts to set the stage for meaningful reform. "In his State of the Schools speech last February, the CEO asserted that the Cleveland school district would focus on preparing children for life and work in the 21st century," said Casserly. "This was a signal that a comprehensive revamping of the school district was necessary and improved performance was imperative." Casserly said that components of true school reform--accountability for results, parental choice, better instruction, more effective professional development, data-based decision-making, and tighter management and operations-are all present in the proposed CMSD Transformation Plan. "By building on solid data and a year's worth of study and debate, this initiative makes good on Dr. Sanders' promise," he said. Casserly talked of the enormous government pressure for city schools to reform educational practices. "We are being challenged to improve student achievement to levels that America and Cleveland has never asked of its schools," he said. "Many will give up in the face of criticism and skepticism, but leaders of Cleveland's schools are rising to the occasion and putting a plan in place to revamp how the schools do business on behalf of your children." The plan, said Casserly, could not have come at a more critical moment. "Your graduation rate is too low. Your dropout rate is too high. There are too many elementary and secondary schools whose performance is below par," he said. "Many of your buildings are underutilized, and trend lines on national assessments are flat." The Director of the Great City Schools urged Cleveland school leaders to take advantage of resources being made available at the national level for the kinds of reforms proposed in CMSD's Transformation Plan. "The quality of research on what works and doesn't work in schools has never been better," he said. "And the number of people and organizations ready to roll up their sleeves and help you has never been greater." Casserly referred more specifically to the U.S. Department of Education monies made available through President Obama's "Race to the Top" initiatives and School Improvement Grants that call for reforms that are consistent with the Strategic Development Initiative Dr. Sanders unveiled on January 5. "If we have learned anything in the reform of urban education across the country, it is that having everybody's shoulders to the same wheel gets better results than having everyone going in different directions," he said, encouraging the support, participation and investment of the Cleveland community, teachers' organization, government officials and others. "The public needs to now that what is being proposed here in Cleveland is in harmony with the strategies of the fastest improving urban school systems across the country," said Casserly. "In fact, Cleveland will be on the leading edge of many of these reforms if it stays true to this initiative." Casserly likened Cleveland and other urban schools to a playing field that is "distinctly uneven." "This playing field is defined around ideas about who is valuable in this society and who is not," who we have high hopes for and for whom we have no hope at all, who we have high standards for and for whom we have no great expectations," he said. "But our job is not to reflect and perpetuate these inequities or let them define us or hold our kids back. Our job is to overcome them." The director concluded his remarks calling on all present to play a role in Cleveland's mission of providing hope for a better future to all children in the city. "The great civil rights battles that were fought by the previous generation were not fought over access to mediocrity, over access to excellence," he said. "It is my hope that all of you see in this new plan for the Cleveland schools the same promise that I do and that, for the future of the children of this Great City, you will pull together to make it real."
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CMSD's vision of model, 21st century learning academies inspired by current District innovations
Work towards raising student achievement and personalizing the educational experience for high school students is already happening in Cleveland's schools.
At Max Hayes High School, for example, we are already envisioning the school as a fully-functioning industrial park, where students, adult learners and industry training are occurring simultaneously. Already educators are inspired as they envision a school with an outdoor classroom where students learn how to operate heavy machinery. A component of this school, if implemented, would include city housing stock donated to the school for renovation and sale.
The success of current innovations in our District inspires not only visions like these for our schools, but also the development of a host of comprehensive reform models for CMSD high schools.
Under the proposed Transformation Plan, students can expect to see even more individualized academies focused on a wide variety of topics of interest to them. Some of the innovations the District is considering as part of the transformation include: a robotics program at East Tech High School, a multi-media radio-television-newspaper program at John F. Kennedy High School, and a technology academy similar to the program at SuccessTech High School.
Other innovations being explored include increased project-based learning at the Garrett Morgan campus, an international culture school in the Lincoln-West neighborhood, and an Honors Advanced Placement academy at Collinwood.
Chief Academic Officer Eric Gordon is looking closely at differentiated, self-directed school models where students assist in the constructing their own high school curriculum. Such innovations have led to increased student success by allowing students to explore unique topics based on their personal interests.
While other city districts look to Cleveland to model their practices after our own current successful innovations, CMSD continues to look closely at what's working in other urban district, with the intent to expand student choices even more.
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National school models offer a variety of options as CMSD moves toward transformation
Work towards raising student achievement and personalizing the educational experience for high school students has led to the development of numerous comprehensive school reform models. CMSD's Strategic Development Initiative included substantial data, reports and research that support the implementation of these reforms. Here are only a few of the many options being explored as part of CMSD's transformation: EXCELerator High Schools run by the College Board that use a model Advanced Placement curriculum. BIGGER PICTURE SCHOOLSProven, successful schools founded in the work of Dennis Litky, that focus on at-risk students, and provide individualized, personalized education. TALENT DEVELOPMENT ACADEMIESSchools designed at JohnHopkinsUniversity that a focus on a rich 9th grade experience followed by three-year career-based academies. NEW TECH MODELA project-based learning model with a nation-wide network of support. FACING HISTORY AND OURSELVESThe highly-regarded, successful program in the New York City Schools that focuses on a civic and social awareness curriculum. NEGOTIATED CURRICULUMA flex school model that allows some students to design their high school career.  In addition to changes at the high school level, the CMSD Transformation Plan will continue to direct its K-8 schools via themed curriculum such as, an arts-themed school or a STEM-themed school, and reformers talk about STEM-themed schools at the K-8 level in the broadest sense-Medical/Health, Power/Energy, Sustainability, etc. Also under consideration for CMSD's younger students are language-themed schools that would include dual language programs and international cultural programs. Other K-8 reform models include a Communications Wrap-Around Model, in which health and human services providers are brought to the school to provide specialty programs for unique populations, a NewcomerAcademy for immigrants, and Montessori programs.
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Education, science leaders tour MC²STEM High School, as 'model' educational innovation in U.S.'
A team of educational leaders from Baltimore, Maryland, along with their STEM partners at TowsonUniversity and NASA, visited Cleveland's MC²STEM high schools on January 12 to gather information useful for launching similar innovations in their schools.
CMSD's Chief Academic Officer Eric Gordon said the growing reputation of the MC²STEM High Schools at GM's NelaPark and the Great Lakes Science Center is proof that educational innovations in Cleveland are working.
"It's an honor to have such distinguished educators visit our schools and to know they view our students and programs as models for their own education reforms," said Gordon. "It meant a lot to our students and teachers to know they are serving as models for other schools in the nation."
Dr. Bernice Alston, Deputy for Education at NASA Headquarters was among more than a dozen education experts who visited STEM classrooms, labs and exhibits in Cleveland and said she plans to write about CMSD's successful academic model in her two current research projects: Communities of Proven Practices with STEM Scholar Programs and Successful K-20 STEM Pipeline Projects.
Among the distinguished guests who joined 9th and 10th grade STEM students for a tour of their schools were:
Dr. John Murdock, academic coordinator for the Master of Arts in Education and Certification programs for science teachers in Maryland Public Schools; Dr. Mary Minter, Chief Academic Officer for Baltimore City Public Schools; Dr. Jeff Passe, Chair of the Department of Secondary Education at Towson University (MD), Dr. David Vanko, Acting Dean of the Fisher College of Science and Mathematics at Towson University, Dr. Raymond Lorion, Dean of Towson University's College of Education, Joe Ann Charleston, Chief of the Educational Programs at NASA Glenn, Marie Borowski, Education Program Specialist for NASA Glenn for managing MC²STEM partnerships, Chris Hartenstine, Project Manager for Emerging Partnerships with MC²STEM High Schools and NASA Glenn, and Monica Boyd, NASA Glenn's New Educational Resource Center (ERC) Coordinator
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Cleveland NAACP unanimously endorses Proposed transformation CMSD schools
After meeting with CEO Dr. Eugene Sanders to review performance data on Cleveland schools, members of the Cleveland Branch of the NAACP voted unanimously to support the CMSD plan for transforming Cleveland's schools.
"Education is a key tool for students in Cleveland to excel in today's world," said local NAACP President George L. Forbes, Esq. "It is the only way they can be prepared to compete with youngsters around the area, around the state and around the world."
CEO, Dr. Eugene Sanders shared performance data, including low graduation rates and poor student performance and chronicled the work that led to development of a plan for change.
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AFT President proposes 'A new path forward' for public education
 In a speech delivered on January 18 in Washington, American Federation of Teachers' President Randi Weingarten proposed a new path forward for public education, a path she said is defined by excellence, fairness, shared responsibility and mutual trust between between everyone involved in the business of public education. In detailing the AFT's comprehensive new framework for reform Weingarten called on teachers "to replace the conflict-ridden approach of the past decade."
"Teachers go to school every day wanting to make a difference in the lives of their student...teachers enter this profession because they want to see the light of discovery in children's eyes," she said. "The path I propose includes new ideas about teacher development and evaluation, as well as a fair and effective approach to due process."
Weingarten's plan calls for teachers to have the tools, time and trust they need to do their jobs and addresses the need to transform the labor-management relationship in public education into one in which teachers, administrators and all members of the wider school community have a shared responsibility and a shared commitment to ensuring all students get a great education.
"All of these elements are inextricably connected," she said. "The key to success for this new approach is that its parts build upon one another and must be implemented together."
The AFT President has proposed a new template for teacher development and evaluation. With rare exceptions, she says, teacher evaluation procedures today are broken and based on observations that are cursory, perfunctory and superficial. "Such an approach does nothing to help promising teachers improve or to help good teachers become great."
Weingarten has proposed instead a comprehensive approach to developing great teaching that supports professional growth at every stage of a teacher's career. This approach includes rigorous reviews by trained expert and peer evaluators and principals, based on professional teaching standards, best practices and student achievement.
 "The goal of any evaluation system must be continuous improvement--an opportunity for growth," she said. "When the driving force is getting rid of "bad teachers, it doesn't work. When the goal is continuous improvement, evaluation becomes an instrument that informs teaching and learning."
The AFT President said the same is true of data that describes student learning. "It can be a powerful tool that helps us understand what is working and should be replicated, as well as what isn't working and needs to be abandoned."
Interestingly, she said, there are roles in a new evaluation system for both teacher practice and student data, simultaneously.
'Just as the current snapshot form of teacher observation isn't adequate, the same is true for a single standardized test score," she said. I am challenging all districts to work on a new system of teacher development and evaluation that is designed to provide the corps of well-prepared and well-supported teachers our students deserve."
Once such a system is in place--and only when it's in place, she says,--schools can make a valid determination of who is or is not an effective teacher. "Only then can we work toward putting in place a new approach to due process," said Weingarten.
While many agree there is a need for due process in cases of ineffective teaching, Weingarten said there is also a need for due process when accusations of misconduct arise.
Weingarten's new path forward calls on principals, administrators and elected officials to ensure that teachers get the tools, time and trust they need to do their jobs.
"Teachers must have a school environment conducive to learning, adequate supplies, common academic standards, a solid curriculum and parental involvement," she said. "Increasingly, teachers are buried under more and more tasks. They spend hours outside the school day grading papers, creating lesson plans, communicating with parents and overseeing school activities. We must provide teachers ample time during the school day to serve their students. They also need a climate of trust if they are to be true partners in reform."
The new direction the AFT President is calling for includes a call for change in the relationship between labor and management-between teachers and their superintendents, principals and others.
"The AFT has invited leaders representing governors, mayors, school boards and others to work with us to transform our mutual responsibility for public education into a mutual commitment to ensuring student and school success," she said. "My proposals call for everyone in the school community to move in common purpose to a new era of collaboration."
Following her speech, Rep. George Miller, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, echoed Weingarten's call to action.
"We need a seismic shift in the way we think about teachers, treat teachers and partner with teachers," he said. "President Weingarten is right: We have to demand excellence in our classrooms, which begins with a teacher evaluation and development system based on multiple measures, including good data, student achievement and stronger support for educators."
Weingarten said she believes the new path she has proposed will ensure that America's children will have the great teachers and the great education they deserve.
"When I became president of the American Federation of Teachers, I said that anyone who advanced any idea that is good for kids and fair to teachers would find an ally at the AFT," she said. "Our proposed new path forward builds on that offer by addressing some of the most difficult issues in public education today."
For information, AFT's has set up an information link www.futurestogether.org, where teachers can express their opinions on her proposal for change.
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CMSD and CTU Sign on the Dotted Line, Commit to Collaboration
Cleveland, Ohio- Today, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and the Cleveland Teachers Union finalized their joint commitment to seek Race to the Top funding by signing the state of Ohio's Race to the Top memorandum of understanding, putting Cleveland Schools in the running for approximately $15-$20 million dollars of federal money to fund school reform initiatives over the next four years.
By signing this important agreement, Cleveland School Board Chair Denise W. Link, Cleveland Schools CEO Eugene T. W. Sanders, Ph.D. and CTU President David J. Quolke have committed to work collaboratively in the development of a leadership team composed of both district and union leaders to oversee the Race to the Top program, if funded.
A local Memorandum of Understanding signed by Dr. Sanders and President Quolke further committed to honor the collective bargaining process while pursuing the goals of Ohio's Race to the Top proposal. These goals include the increased use of data to improve instruction, improvement of teacher and principal effectiveness based on performance, ensure equitable distribution of effective teachers and principals and provide effective support to teachers and principals.
"The Cleveland Teachers Union has always been willing to address the difficult issues of school improvement. Our local MOU provides the assurances that the collective bargaining agreement and process will be honored, enabling true collaboration," stated President Quolke. Sanders agreed, saying "we recognize the importance of collaboration with our teachers, the people who work directly with our children, to get the results we desire."
If funded, the CMSD and CTU will work to develop a Final Scope of work for the district's Race to the Top application, which will allow the district to move its Academic Transformation Plan collaboratively forward. Race to the Top grant funding awards are expected in April 2010.
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Feb. 4 Senate Swimming Championship 6:00 p.m.
ClevelandStateUniversity - Busbey Natatorium
2451 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland 44115
Feb. 9 Senate Bowling Championship 3:00 p.m.
Ambassador Lanes, 1500 Superior Avenue, Cleveland 44114
Feb. 13 Senate Wrestling Championship 10:00 p.m.
Lincoln-West High School 3202 W. 30th St., Cleveland
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Become a fan of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District on our new FACEBOOK page!
The announcement of the ClevelandMetropolitanSchool District's Transformation Plan has generated national interest, and an increasing number of educators, legislators and school leaders are following the news of, or expressing interest, the changes taking place in our schools.
To show our District pride and to provide an opportunity for those who are applauding our efforts to show their support, the External Affairs Division has launched the official CMSD Facebook Page.
If you already have a Facebook account, go into the Facebook search box and type "Cleveland Metropolitan School District" to take you to our page, where you can become a fan.
If you are not yet on Facebook, there's no better time to join and to show belief in and your support of Cleveland's schools.
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