Dallas Public Schools: Running an Urban School District

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DISD Admin Building 3700 Ross AveA lot of numbers, a lot of jargon, and a lot of arguing about data occurred last night as Dallas ISD trustees discussed Superintendent Mike Miles’ future with Dallas public schools. And a lot of people argue passionately on both sides of the issue about which data points we should listen to.

It’s a lot as a parent to wrap your head around. Who is right? How do I put into context what they are saying? Is it really that bad, or really that good?  Even after a lengthy career that included covering education for several different papers and several differently-sized school districts, meetings like last night can make my head spin.

Dr. Mike Moses

Dr. Mike Moses

So when that happens, I look for an expert. And this time, I was lucky enough to get a great one – a former DISD superintendent, state education commissioner and current visiting professor at UNT – Mike Moses.

“The superintendent’s positions – especially superintendent positions at an urban district – are very explosive jobs,” Moses said. “They are fraught with all kinds of challenges, and in addition to the education aspect, you have a lot of politics – labor politics, business politics, actual politics and even media politics – to deal with. And all of that is pretty combustible.

“And then to add to that you have nine different people with nine different districts to answer to – you’re juggling a lot of balls. But the people that apply for and want these superintendent positions, they know that going in,” he added. “And when you go in, you hope to be able to manage all of it successfully.”

And Dallas ISD is not alone in its struggles to balance the needs of all the students in its district. “Governments of urban districts have been the subject of a lot of discussion over the last 10 years,” Moses said.

I asked him specifically about rapid superintendent turnover. While he was quick to stress he was speaking generally and hypothetically and wasn’t casting aspersions on DISD trustees, he was candid.

“If you have a lot of superintendent turnover and a lot of turmoil, you have to ask yourself, ‘Well, what’s the constant?’,” he said. “You have to look at what has stayed the same, and then examine if it needs changing. If the constant is the government, then maybe the way the district is governed needs to change.

“And this is actually something a lot of urban districts are grappling with.”

I asked him if State Rep. Rafael Anchia’s HB 2579, which directly addresses how DISD is governed, was a result of this desire for stability. “Anchia’s bill is an expression of that frustration with the lack of stability in the district,” Moses said, adding that while he is unsure if he agrees with all the measures on the bill (look for a more expansive story on this bill later from me), he did agree with some of them.

One of the things trustees and Miles talked about last night was data. Both sides felt that their data should be the bellwether for determining whether Miles stays or goes. Heavy emphasis was put on the district’s test scores – while others wanted a more comprehensive approach by factoring in data that included variables like poverty.

“You have to use multiple resources to evaluate districts,” Moses said. “You, of course, need to look at test scores – but even now, there are questions for instance about the validity of the STAAR test. But you also need to look at graduation rates. You need to look at how many kids are taking the SAT and ACT tests – they don’t have to pass, but are they feeling confident enough to take them?

“The ultimate goal is to have your students ready for post secondary life. That could mean college, community college, military service, or professional licensed positions.

“Dallas scores are not all of the sudden going to be on par with your elite urban districts,” Moses said, adding that a more realistic approach would be to compare Dallas’ scores with similar urban schools dealing with similar problems.

But the biggest part of determining the health of a district? “The confidence of the community – which is something really that the trustees can measure themselves.” That buy-in, Moses said, is important because there is a huge swath of taxpayers that do not have kids in the district, but want to be assured that their tax dollars are spent wisely.

We then began a discussion about testing. I asked how he felt about attaching such high stakes – like whether or not a student advances to the next grade level or graduates – to tests. “What about those kids who clearly know the material, but just don’t test well?” I asked.

“Well, I do think we need some sort of assessment,” Moses said. “But I also think there should be alternate methods of assessment for some kids that just don’t test well.

“But really, Texas went too far with its testing programs,” he added. “We just have this frenzy of testing. Really, I think testing should be for two things – one, diagnostic purposes to assess a child’s strengths and weaknesses and two, to let the public now how the district is doing.

“Once you start attaching high stakes to tests – teacher pay, school ratings, student advancement, there is a great opportunity for misuse.

“In the name of accountability – and don’t get me wrong, we need accountability – we’ve got too many tests and the stakes are too high,” he added.

One of the other complaints by some trustees was the teacher turnover rate. Trustee Bernadette Nutall pointed to the amount of new teachers and new-to-DISD teachers and asked emphatically, “Who is teaching our children?”

So should you worry if you walk into school in August and find that your child’s teacher is new? “Here’s what you want to know,” Moses said. “Are they enthusiastic, energetic, and do they love kids? And are they competent?

“You can get the answers to those questions whether they are new teachers or have been there 10 years.”

Moses said he was in favor of increasing teacher pay and opening up the opportunity (as Miles has done) for pay increases earlier in their careers. “It was the right move,” he said, to make teacher salary more market-driven, because 40 percent of teachers leave within the first five years of teaching. Better pay goes a long way in creating that stability in the district.

And we’re back to that word – stability. Moses cautioned, “Too much superintendent turnover isn’t healthy to the district. But too much teacher and principal turnover is also not healthy, either.”

Moses said that context is important. Districts like Dallas should be looking at peer districts and monitoring their turnover rates as well, to compare. “You should also go back and look at the performance of the schools with the highest turnover rates.”

He was intrigued by trustee Lew Blackburn’s idea to compile data on why teachers and principals leave through a third party human resources firm, but with some advice. “I don’t know that I would call them exit interviews, and I don’t know that I would do them immediately after they leave,” he said. “I would be a lot more candid six months later after I got a job and was sure I was in a good place.

“I also think I would call it retention research, but yeah, there’s some merit to this idea of having a third party call them up and ask, ‘why did you leave, and what could have been done differently?'”

Over the next few weeks, I hope to start examining some of the claims made during last night’s board meeting with an eye toward clearing up some of the confusion. I also hope to discuss Anchia’s bill with the man himself, and will keep everyone updated on other education-related bills sitting at the statehouse right now. And on Election day – May 9 – we will be live-blogging the entire day, so please email photos and comment with your experiences throughout the day, and watch the returns roll in with us that night.

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Bethany Erickson lives in a 1961 Fox and Jacobs home with her husband, a second-grader, and Conrad Bain the dog. If she won the lottery, she'd by an E. Faye Jones home.
She's taken home a few awards for her writing, including a Gold award for Best Series at the 2018 National Association of Real Estate Editors journalism awards, a 2018 Hugh Aynesworth Award for Editorial Opinion from the Dallas Press Club, and a 2019 award from NAREE for a piece linking Medicaid expansion with housing insecurity.
She is a member of the Online News Association, the Education Writers Association, the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, and the Society of Professional Journalists.
She doesn't like lima beans or the word moist.

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