On Thursday afternoon, St. Louis Public Schools announced plans to implement the district’s Comprehensive Long Range Plan. Describing the effort as “a critical path to education reform,” the Special Administrative Board (SAB) provided details on measures the district would take to get every child to perform at or above grade level in reading and math within the next five years. The district is also working to regain full accreditation.
The plan focuses on what SLPS describes as the 12 most critical and urgent objectives. The reading and math mandate is the first of the twelve. The others include:
1. Provide academic interventions and resources for students identified as “high risk.” These are students classified as ESOL (English Speakers of Other Languages), as well as those who are homeless, reflect high mobility, demonstrate a need for special education, and/or students who currently are not performing at grade level.
2. Demonstrate persistence in improving attendance and graduation rates.
3. Provide SLPS graduates with an education that gives them the options and skills to successfully enter the workforce, as well as to attend college or vocational school.
4. Utilize data-supported decision making to improve instructional and administrative practices.
5. Ensure that each school has a highly effective principal by the start of the 2010-2011 school year. These school leaders would have the resources to drive school improvement and academic achievement.
6. Implement an effective professional development plan, as well as provide strategic direction to the plan through the analysis of achievement data, National Staff Development Standards, and performance evaluations.
7. Ensure that every student is taught by a highly qualified teacher.
8. Foster increased parent involvement and provide related resources so that parents can be effectively involved in their children’s education and development from the prenatal stage through high school.
9. Enhance public engagement and provide ongoing opportunities for community-wide participation.
10. Contain spending by aligning revenues and expenditures.
11. Commit to effective leadership, management, monitoring, and accountability of all objectives within the Comprehensive Long Range Plan.
Dr. Kelvin Adams, Superintendent of Schools, said that it’s his job to put the strategies into action.
“The district had already started implementing the plan in many areas prior to my arrival,” Adams said. “For instance, we have hired attendance monitors at the high schools to improve attendance, increased our Advanced Placement course offerings, hired additional English as Second Language teachers and dedicated more resources to our Parents as Teachers program.”
The SAB has been working for more than a year to collect data and engage the community in various activities related to the plan. The theme for the effort is “Building Our Future: One Community, One School, One Child at a Time.” The charge has been led by SAB member Richard Gaines, who chairs the Comprehensive Long Range Plan Committee.
“The Special Administrative Board appreciates the more than 2,400 community members who participated in our Comprehensive Long Range Plan process,” Gaines said. “Included in this plan are the expectations for how we will improve this school district. This plan is about preparing our students for life as adults. Regaining accreditation is one step along the way.”
The superintendent noted that he is working side-by-side with the SAB to ensure that the plan moves forward successfully.
“The Special Administrative Board has already formed an accountability committee to review our implementation efforts,” Adams said. “This committee consists of representatives from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Missouri School Boards Association, the Cooperating School Districts and St. Louis Public Schools.” The Comprehensive Long Range Plan also has the strong support of Rick Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer of the SAB, and Melanie Adams, SAB Vice President.
The St. Louis Public School District is the state’s largest, with 55 elementary schools, 16 middle schools, 16 high schools, and 5 special instructional centers. A detailed report about the Comprehensive Long Range Plan is online at St. Louis Public Schools.
Parents and St. Louis Citizens who support St. Louis Public Schools. Look at the bright side of St. Louis Public Schools.
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