Focus, Consistency, and Commitment Drive Change in Grand Rapids Schools
by Bert R. Bleke, Superintendent of Schools, Grand Rapids Public Schools
Two years ago, the staff of the Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS) asked itself four difficult, but necessary, questions:
- Where are we?
- Where do we want to be?
- How will we get there?
- How will we know if we are making progress toward that goal?
Unfortunately, the answer to the first question was readily apparent. Our district was not doing well by any measure. Among our major concerns were:
- A large percentage of students reading below grade level.
- A 40 percent dropout rate at our comprehensive high schools.
- A dispirited district culture.
- Lack of a comprehensive plan to attack the critical issues facing our district and community.
 To answer the next three questions, we rejected the temptation for quick fixes and opted instead to undertake a long, difficult, and sometimes painful search for long-term solutions. Led by the Harvard University Change Group and the Ball Foundation of Glen Ellyn, IL, we arrived at a board-approved and sustainable plan to improve the learning of ALL students.
No Quick Fixes
The “new” Grand Rapids Public Schools plan addresses the entire system and provides our district with vision, focus, and a roadmap to channel our efforts and energy toward success. The plan calls for the district to be focused, consistent, and committed to our task over time.
Systemic change in urban districts can take decades, requiring commitment from the staff, school board, and entire system to “stay the course” and sustain efforts over time. That’s why we talk often about where we are going (the big picture), the steps we’ll take to get there, and the long-term commitment that the process requires.
We focused on the factors that would most influence our success. The heart of the district’s problem, and subsequently the heart of the planned solution, was the need to improve K-12 literacy. We believed that if we could improve literacy, we could improve overall student achievement. If we failed to improve the literacy of ALL our students, we would fail at everything.
The plan calls for consistent, high-quality teaching and learning practices implemented throughout the entire system, not just in one or two “star” classrooms or schools. It is a true effort to impact ALL—students, classrooms, schools, grade levels, and staff.
Community Engagement Model
Common sense and research are clear—the “new” Grand Rapids Public Schools must actively engage parents and the community in all activities of our system if we want to reach the level of success our world demands. That’s why our guiding principles call for a community engagement model (see sidebar on page 5) that will go into full operation in fall 2004. This model successfully guided the GRPS through the redesign of our high schools, an increase in reading achievement through our FACTS (tutor) program, school closings, successful bond proposals, and the launch of a Student Advancement Foundation that raised $450,000 this spring to boost literacy efforts for our students. Through it all, we’ve learned that community engagement can only be achieved through openness, commitment, dialogue, and a listening attitude. Are we there? No. Are we well on our way to creating the culture and community openness that we seek? Yes!
A Consistent Instructional Model
No business survives without paying very focused attention to its primary mission. In our case, the mission is teaching children. Yet, the GRPS realized that too often schools pay little or no attention to the delivery of consistent, focused, system-wide instruction. Then we wonder why improvement does not happen! GRPS staff decided early on that improved learning required improved teaching, not in islands of excellence, but consistently across the system. We now work with principals and our teachers’ association in the most difficult conversation you can imagine—defining good instructional practices to build the capacity of all teachers and replace inconsistency with high quality, research-based instruction.
Caring Culture and Trust
At the GRPS, we believe no change is possible unless we address the district’s culture. In other words, we need to answer the question “How will the system treat all people?” We have worked extremely hard to develop the most critical component for change—trust. We’re building a culture in which people are open, able to question, able to challenge, and able to creatively think beyond traditional solutions. And, yes, accountability is very much a part of our caring, respectful culture.
Support and Accountability for High-Priority Schools
The GRPS has 11 schools at Phases III and IV of the accountability process required by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) (visit www.ed.gov/legislation/ FedRegister/finrule/2003-4/120903a.html for a detailed explanation of Phases III and IV). This means these schools have not made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for four or five years. We have undertaken major steps to restructure these schools. Simply changing the principals or removing staff would have met the “letter of the law” for corrective action or restructuring. However, we wanted to do more. The GRPS wanted to change the teaching and learning process so these schools could make AYP. To improve accountability, we divided the schools into three cohorts. Each principal in the cohort reports directly to the superintendent, the chief academic officer, or our reading director. Each group meets monthly to receive professional development and ensure that plans are implemented successfully. In addition, an “outside team” meets monthly with each school’s staff to review and track student progress.
Our high-priority schools face some tough demands and limited autonomy. Each school must use an improved instructional model, read and write in the content areas, and regularly use specific assessments in reading and mathematics. These assessments track student progress (or lack of it) and allow teachers to adjust instruction. In addition, high-priority elementary schools are required to implement all-day kindergarten.
“Bert Bleke is an exemplary education leader who is truly making a difference for his community, school district, and the children in Grand Rapids. I truly appreciate his, his school board’s and his staff’s passion, focus, and energy to help all children in Grand Rapids receive the education they need and deserve.”
Tom Watkins
Superintendent of Public Instruction |
To accomplish all of this, teachers need additional time for training, along with more job-embedded coaching and collaboration. We worked with the Grand Rapids Education Association (GREA) to negotiate a letter of agreement that outlines expectations for teachers in the Phase III and IV schools. These expectations are: a contract extended by four days over the summer of 2004; participation in up to 36 additional hours of professional development, planning, or collaboration during the 2004-2005 school year; and an involuntary transfer out of the school for teachers who do not sign a letter of commitment to the school’s plan.
Taking Care of Business
Our school community believes that Grand Rapids teachers and principals have risen to the challenge to take ownership for their students and work as partners with the district. They know there are no “magic bullets” for school improvement, no single program, and no quick fixes. School improvement takes time and willingness to do the right things. Our plan follows a few principles we believe need to be in place—an instructional model in each classroom, frequent use of student data to adjust instruction and intervene for students, and accountability for student progress and district processes. Our focus needs to be on “managing the core” of our business: classroom instruction.
We are increasingly confident about the future of the Grand Rapids Public Schools, its children, and our community. Have we arrived? Not by any means. Are we well on our way, knowing what we need to do and how we are going to do it? You bet! We are confident we can make a difference in the lives of ALL of our students if we remain focused, consistent, and committed to our task over time. We have set our goals high and we want to be the best urban system in America. Thanks to the many people—both in our system and our community—who are working so hard, we believe this is a goal we will achieve.
For more information, contact: Bert Bleke, Grand Rapids Public Schools, 1331 Franklin St. SE, P.O. Box 117, Grand Rapids, MI 49501-0117, (616) 819-2000, (616) 819-2104 fax, Blekeb@grps.k12.mi.us, www.grps.k12.mi.us.
Grand Rapids Public Schools Offers Model for Community Engagement
Community engagement is the key to a successful school system. In the Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS), building this engagement depends on two guiding principles:
- Openness—We work to be a more open system, sharing our resources as well as our problems with the community as we seek their partnership.
- Service—We remind ourselves that we exist to serve our public. This must be evident
in the caring behavior we show our children and our community.
In that spirit, we designed the following Model for Community Engagement:
- District Advocacy for Engagement—District leaders will consistently and effectively
give priority to engaging parents and the community in student learning.
- Shared Leadership—Staff members and community members will be empowered to
lead the community engagement process in partnership with the principal.
- Parent Involvement—Every parent will be expected to participate to some degree
with her/his child’s education. Parent involvement will be encouraged through the
use of committees whose charge is to empower and enable parents to be effectively involved in their children’s education.
- Community Connection—We welcome any interested community member who wants
to help support our schools.
- Support Staff Contribution—Support Staff (including secretaries, custodians, food service, bus drivers, security officers, and other professionals) need to be highly motivated,
professional, and willing to work collaboratively for the good of the children they serve.
- Teacher Participation—Teachers need to be highly motivated, professional, and willing
to work collaboratively with parents for the good of their children.
Source: School-Based Community Engagement Model, April 2004, Grand Rapids Public Schools |
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