Now that OKCPS has a new superintendent, educator hopes for evidence-driven discussions on performance
I join in welcoming Dr. Jamie Polk as the superintendent of Oklahoma City Public Schools. I hope that nothing in this commentary comes across as a criticism of Dr. Polk, who previously served as assistant superintendent for elementary education. I hope her hiring will be followed by an evidence-driven discussion about where OKCPS needs to go to serve its poorest children of color. To do so, I propose a conversation on the lessons of the history of MAPS for Kids and its opposite, Pathways to Greatness.
I remain a strong supporter of the MAPS holistic approach to school improvement and site-based management, while resisting its opposite ― top-down, reward-and-punish, corporate reforms mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the Obama administration's Race to the Top program.
The bipartisan MAPS Steering Committee drew upon the nation’s top education experts and promised policies based on our best data-informed social science, and public input. I went to more than 75 schools and eastside community meetings in order to listen ― really listen ― to patrons. Large numbers of the business leaders who founded the bipartisan process visited my John Marshall High School and recruited students to serve on the MAPS Community Outreach Committee.
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MAPS advocated for high-quality early education, intensive instruction of reading for comprehension by third grade (not decoding for test prep), early warning systems for combating chronic truancy, expanded alternative education, and the creation of a “learning community” culture so that students could learn for mastery.
Unfortunately, No Child Left Behind became law and school systems felt compelled to provide worksheet-driven instruction. The MAPS leadership initially persuaded OKCPS leaders to teach to state curriculum standards, not to standardized tests. But, the district eventually gave into political pressure and prioritized unreliable and invalid data-driven mandates for rapid “transformative” change.
Pathways to Greatness (P2G) recognized that school closures were required. And if those buildings could become homes for community partners, and if the district really listened to partners, education could become a team effort.
But I reluctantly withdrew my support for P2G in 2018 due to its overreach by closing so many schools, and imposing other reorganizations. I wrote:
Closing more than a dozen schools will increase the “churn,” the transiency and unpredictability that undermines the consistency required in urban education. … This transitional period could prompt a new exodus of patrons from the district.
Even so, it’s my understanding that several programs, such as apprenticeships, trauma-informed instruction and support for immigrants deserve praise. (And OKCPS deserves credit for the way it dealt with COVID.) So, I certainly would be interested in an open discussion with administrators about what they think has and hasn’t worked in terms of teaching and learning.
When announcing Dr. Polk’s hiring, the district stressed that during her tenure there was a focus on elementary schools, and 11 schools were removed from the “F” list (as 117 were removed statewide). Due to a lack of transparency by state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, it is impossible to say whether those grades show actual school improvement.
From 2018-19 to 2022-23, noncharter enrollment dropped by almost 22% likely due to the combination of P2G and COVID. Oklahoma City Public Schools lost nearly 863 students during the first three-quarters of 2018-19, as P2G began, but before COVID hit. By 2021, Edmond, Moore, Putnam City and Norman were near the top in the nation in regaining enrollment, increasing by 4,736, from 79,194 to 83,830, while OKCPS lost 7.9%, having the nation’s third-highest percentage drop in students.
Moreover, proficiency rates of reading scores dropped from 2016-17 to 2018-19 (before Dr. Polk was hired) in third, fourth, fifth and sixth grade; in fact, sixth-grade proficiency dropped from 27% to 21%. By 2022-23, fourth-grade scores remained the same while the other elementary grades continued to decline, with sixth-grade proficiency dropping another 9 percentage points. For the district, overall student performance after 2018 remained flat; in 2023, 10% were rated proficient and 63% were below basic.
Again, my goal is not to criticize but to call for a transparent process for moving the district forward. Oklahoma City Public Schools continues to be uplifted by wonderful partners, such as the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation, which, for instance, is essential to the Teacher Pipeline Program.
But, patrons should hear both sides of arguments as to whether data-driven reading instruction undermines reading for comprehension. Similarly, we must ask whether data-driven policies drive teachers out of the district. And will freeing teachers to teach state standards, not tests, retain them?
John Thompson is a former Oklahoma City Public Schools teacher.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Transparency urged from new OKCPS new superintendent
