District Administration - January 2011 - (Page 22)

Conversations Alberto Carvalho You’ve got a lot of kids, though. Carvalho: So now it’s just a matter of hav- ing these two systems—my data system, which is tracked by the state, and what the corporate providers bring, a matter of forcing them to talk and lift the individual needs of the children to the surface, providing the equivalent of an IEP for every kid—the equivalent of an IEP that’s rich, that’s exciting, that speaks a language that kids not only understand but actually like to connect to. With Links to Learning in place, and upto-the-minute assessment data available to parents, are administrators sensing more parental involvement? Carvalho: Ideally, the connection of par- Carvalho talks with students at the iPreparatory Academy, which serves juniors this year. Carvalho’s goal is for the Primary Learning Center (grades pre-K1) and the academy to add grades in subsequent years and ultimately become a cradle-to-college institution. ents to what children are doing in school is an important one. I have a different perspective on what effective parental engagement is. It’s not based on a spaghetti dinner or open house night. This must be an ongoing level of participation on the part of parents in the everyday life of a child in school. In the best-case scenario, they actually know what their children are learning and are able to support it. Wasn’t there a good bit of controversy when you became Miami-Dade superintendent in 2008? Carvalho: Sure. I came into the superin- a crisis go to waste. We leveraged the beginnings of the economic recession to our benefit. And we forced our system to transform itself very, very quickly on the basis of efficiency and innovation. When you are a new leader in a community, the initial thrust that you had put behind your vision is important in order Every single school improved. We had examples of F to A performance. The lowest-performing senior high schools in our community—Central Senior High School, Edison Senior High School, for example—improved dramatically. So this has been a progression that we’ve tracked in terms, first and foremost, We did not fire a single teacher because of economic conditions, unlike every other urban district across America. to overcome the gravitation pull of the sta- of student achievement gains and financial improvement, but always looking totus quo. You need to prove your naysayers ward the future, looking toward continuwrong. You need to subdue those voices ing to innovate the school system. that say it cannot be done. I knew then that the initial effort had Your constituency must be feeling to accomplish two things. One, it had to optimistic with the results so far. You be dramatic and had to produce results have propelled MDCPS to be one of the very quickly. Two, the pace of reform was highest-performing urban districts in the important, and there was no time to waste. country according to fourth- and eighthI’m proud to say that we did not fire a grade NAEP results in reading and math. single teacher because of economic condi- Carvalho: We had a lot of conversations tions, unlike every other urban district across the community. I’d go and have across America. We protected world “Carvalho Unplugged,” you know, coffee languages and elective programs such as conversations with the community, into arts and music. How? We went after evbookstores, into coffee shops. I estabery single other element and renegotiated lished my Superintendent’s Business Adevery single contract. visory Council—about 20 very powerful During that time, we took our reserve businesspeople that I consult with. And from $4 million to $141 million. That’s our then I have monthly CEO briefings that I reserve today. During that same time periorganize by industry—real estate agents, od, we lost $450 million worth of funding insurance brokers, software and textbook from the state and from local sources. publishers, construction companies, District Administration tendency at a time when, from a financial perspective, the system was nearly bankrupt, with a total budget in excess of $5 billion, protected with a reserve of $4 million. Health-care costs were expected to grow by $73 million in one single year, we had a bond rating with a negative outlook, with no contracts negotiated, acrimonious relationships between the workforce and the board, between staff and the board, a lack of public credibility in the school system, sagging test scores, and nine schools in the pipeline to be taken over by the state for performance, every one of these schools minority, highpoverty schools. What were your first steps in turning around district finances and school performance? Carvalho: I don’t believe in ever letting 22 January 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - January 2011

District Administration - January 2011
Contents
From the Editor
Letters
News Update
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Conversations
Crisis Response
Going Mobile
Online Edge
Professional Opinion
K12 Guide to Audio/Visual Solutions
Product Focus
What’s the Value in Value-Added?
The Politicization of Bullying
Holding On to Parent Voices
Tough New Issues Refocus Health Education
New Products
Books

District Administration - January 2011