We have begun posting stories published in Changing Schools in Louisville
(Volume 2, Number 2) on MiddleWeb. If you'd like to order a hard copy
of our newspaper about Louisville middle grades reform, you
can order it here for the price of postage. Watch for other stories
to be posted soon.
Here are the stories published in the paper edition of Volume 2,
Number 2:
Managing
to Learn -- This story examines the impact of Louisville's
carefully crafted "managed choice" system and concludes that --
the debate over neighborhood schools, magnet programs, and academic tracks
notwithstanding -- student success has more to do with who you are than
where you are.
The Way Across
the Tracks? Improved Teacher Skills -- Tracking is part of
the politics of the Louisville community, says one middle school principal.
It's not likely to go away. But the district's determination to focus teacher
and principal professional development on raising the achievement of the
district's less-advantaged students may be the surest path "across
the tracks." Highland Middle School's staff development effort offers
an example.
Hard Times Down
South -- Some say Southern Middle School's plight is a natural
consequence of the Jefferson County Public School's "managed choice"
system -- designed by a community intent upon using "tracks" to
get students where they need to be. But the plan doesn't work for the 900
students at Southern, who have very few choices. "It's like we've been
picked to be the bad school," observed Grinda Martin, one of two overworked
counselors at Southern, as school drew to a close this past school year.
"We Don't Put Kids
in Boxes Here" -- Louisville's Noe Middle School enjoys
a reputation as a school that works to identify and nurture every student's
special talents. As demand grows for slots in its gifted and talented magnet,
Noe's educators face extra challenges.
Meyzeek: A Microcosm
of Middle School Issues -- They aren't many issues facing Louisville's
middle schools that don't play out in one way or another at Meyzeek Middle
School, an inner-city math/science magnet. Meyzeek wins praise for its support
of "neighborhood kids," even as it struggles to raise their achievement.
Consider the Alternative
-- Teachers at Kennedy Metropolitan Alternative School work to make a difference
in the lives of many kids who didn't succeed at other district middle schools.
Principal Butch Martin says the alternative school is more than a holding
tank for misbehaving adolescents -- it's a place where academic standards
still matter.
District Data -- This issue of Changing
Schools in Louisville includes five data tables that help readers examine
the impact of the district's managed choice system. These charts are not
included here on MiddleWeb. If you'd like to see this data, e-mail
your postal address and we'll send you the information.
ORDER THE NEWSPRINT EDITION
To receive a copy of the newsprint version of Changing Schools in Louisville,
send a self-addressed envelope with $1.01 postage to Kevin Kirkwood, The
Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, 250 Park Avenue, Suite 900, New York, NY
10177. Ask for "Changing Schools in Louisville, No. 4."
Back to the bibliography for Changing Schools
in Louisville.