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PrintPt. 2: Head of the class
Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Keith Ballard recently discussed his plans to turn Oklahoma’s largest school district into an A+ system. Here, in conclusion to our interview, is a portion of what he had to say.
MK: Last November, the Tulsa World reported you told a group of community leaders that improving Tulsa Public Schools is a ‘daunting task,” citing safety, order and preparing students for their post-graduate experiences as challenges.
How far have you, Tulsa Public Schools and administrators come in these past months?
KB: A long way.
I feel good about the safety issue because I think what we did with the alternative education task force was absolutely huge. We only had 1,100 kids in alternative education this year, and we’ll have over 3,000 next year. And we must have a place for every kid to go, and it can’t be the street … there needs to be a place they can go immediately, even if it’s for one hour at a time. That task force did that.
… Safety starts in the classroom; safety starts with every teacher being so well trained that they know what buttons not to push, that they know how to be motivating and to build relationships with kids.
We need to completely eliminate any verbal and physical assault toward any school employee or towards other kids. And kids need to understand we won’t tolerate that. That’s what will happen first and foremost.
… Frankly, we need to raise that bar and we’re going to be benchmarking toward ACT scores. Statistics show if a kid has a certain score on one of those core areas of the ACT score that there will be a very certain outcome … a 75 percent probability of graduating from college with a 2.5 GPA.
… Once we’ve resolved the safety problem, we are going to ensure that there will be a quality teacher in every classroom.
Teach for America (which will bring 50 young urban school-trained teachers into Tulsa Public Schools this school year) was an important step toward that. We’re one of 10 finalists in the U.S. for a Gates Partnership (which will award five school districts with $17 million to improve teacher effectiveness).
One of the things that greatly concerned me when I first came here … we had several teachers leave one of our more troubled schools in the middle of the year. And I say that was our fault. I say we sacrificed those kids on the altar of volunteerism. I say we should have done more for them. I say before we send a teacher into an urban setting, they should have extensive experience either at the university level or through training programs that we do. If Teach for America spends six weeks with young (teachers) before they ever put them in an urban classroom, I think we ought to be spending more than a couple of days, because that’s what we have been spending.
... We are trying to recruit better. We are absolutely going to train better, and provide professional development these people need … As a result of being a Gates partner, we have an extraordinary opportunity to research and study best practices. So you can recruit and train through professional development, and then you do everything you can to retain those teachers and put them in high-need areas … Because of being a Gates partner, we’re taking a look at how we pay teachers. We have already profited immensely from the Gates experience. That’s why I feel so strong about the future.
MK: You and your administrators are creating so many new options for schools — the Big Picture Learning Schools, more magnet schools, more AP courses. Where do you see TPS in a decade?
KB: (TPS was) a school system in need when we came. I see a systemic change that far outlasts any of us who are here. I see it as a safe school (district), I see it as a school (district) where teachers want to come, because they can come and truly be a teacher; they will know what is expected of them. They will have what they need to make a difference. One doesn’t teach unless they want to make a difference. I see it as a safe place, a place where teachers want to go; I see it as a highly desired place where people want to come and teach; I see it as a place where teachers could make far more than they could make anyplace else. I see it as a place with a very high graduation rate, and a place where kids are motivated.
MK: Will there be a new overall model for schools where we are pulling ideas from special and traditional schools, or will there be more of a system of specialized schools?
KB: I think we will move toward more specialized schools, and the traditional model will be a piece of that. Alternative settings, magnets will be part of the regular setting.
