Innovation and Steps to Success in D.C.

Today Anacostia High School’s graduating class will be addressed by first lady Michelle Obama. Anocostia has a troubled history in the D.C. school system: nearly half of its students failed to graduate, it had a reputation for violence, a dismal record of academic performance and it had cycled through four principals in four years. And now? In an innovative new agreement, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee has given the responsibility for academic instruction over to Friendship Public Charter Schools.

While federal guidelines legally mandated the restructuring, the particular partnership and manner was at the direction of Ms. Rhee. Some of the strategies used by Friendship included: teachers had to reapply for their jobs and a majority were released, they created small academies within the school, a school uniform policy was institute, and behavior expectations were enforced. As a result attendance is on the rise and suspensions/expulsion numbers are falling.

Academic performance is still low at Anacostia; but as we have noted in this blog before – real change doesn’t happen overnight – it takes time… and Anacostia is showing signs of real change and now we must give the experiment time to show its ultimate results.

My thoughts – and I welcome yours as well – Ms. Rhee has gotten mixed reviews for her approach on reform in D.C. But this experiment bears review and possibly replication – the partnering of the comprehensive system and quality charter school operators.