The entryway to
Commodore John Rodgers Elementary School, located in the Butcher’s Hill
neighborhood of east Baltimore, proudly displays their students who have
perfect attendance and the latest school project of a certain grade level. Like
the way I remember my own public elementary school, the hallways were decorated
with brightly colored paper and the latest classroom artwork.
It was one of
my favorite schools to visit when I moved to Baltimore in 2014 to work for an
AmeriCorps program called The Choice Program. My team worked out of the
Department of Social Services and served youth on the east side of Baltimore
City who were considered at-risk of being placed in foster care. Part of my job
was to visit a caseload of 15 youth at school twice a week, so I was able to
view the daily workings of a number of mostly east Baltimore schools, and not
all of them looked or felt as welcoming as Commodore John Rodgers.
It was somewhat
shocking to learn from WYPR a couple weeks ago that in 2010 Commodore was one of
the lowest ranked schools, not just in Baltimore, but in all of Maryland. The
story explained that the school had applied and received a federal School
Improvement Grant, which is often referred to as ‘turn-around funding’ and is available
to all schools operating in the bottom 5 percent of the nation’s poorest schools.
A new principal came in, armed with an extra $2 million a year, and was
incredibly successful in turning the school around. So successful, in fact,
that Commodore is no longer eligible for the extra funding.
The school
specializes in accelerating learning for students who are levels behind where
they need to be, as well as creating a school culture among students, parents
and teachers. The youth I knew who was attending Commodore was two grades
behind, and while she still struggled with math (mainly because it was her
first class and getting to school on time was not her forte,) she did improve
in English. She and her younger siblings also participated in several after
school activities and sports, and her parents attended different nighttime
shows and events at the school.
In my
experience, it was one of the easier schools to meet with teachers or
administration. The adults at the school seemed to really care about the
students, and wanted them to succeed. Commodore had a different feeling to it
than a lot of the Baltimore City schools I visited, and after hearing this
story, the extra effort that went into the school seems centered around the
additional funding.
It hasn’t been
that long since Commodore received the additional funding, and dramatically
improved test scores and decreased absenteeism. According to the article, Title
1 funding doesn’t work for every school that receives it, and then goes on to
list several reasons why Commodore did succeed – a change in atmosphere,
enrollment and absenteeism. But it doesn’t say what makes these changes
different from a school that received funding and wasn’t so successful. Did
that school just need more time? A better leader? More community involvement?
While there
might not be one formula to turn-around our poorest schools, the principal of
Commodore did bring up an interesting point at the end of his interview asking
if “federal funds would be better spent fueling his school’s progress a little
longer as opposed to being directed at an entirely new school.”
It is hard to know where Commodore will end up in the next 5 years. Will it keep it's high enrollment and attendance rates it's worked hard to obtain? And is it fair to continue to obligate funding while other schools have more of a need, and should be given the opportunity to succeed? The real test to Commodore's success is in the years ahead, without additional funding, rather than in the work they've accomplished since 2010 -- and whether or not they can keep their progress moving forward.
Fixing failing schools: do school improvement grants build sustainable change
http://wypr.org/post/fixing-failing-schools-do-school-improvement-grants-build-sustainable-change#stream/0
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