Remedial Options for TC

Tension has been high at T.C. since the announcement on March 3^rd that T.C. has been classified as a “Persistently Low Achieving” (PLA) school. T.C. Williams is currently labeled, according to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) as a Title 1 Eligible school.  Title 1 is a sub-division of schools in which at least 35 percent of the students are qualified for and receiving free or reduced-price meals. Title 1 Eligible means that even though T.C. is eligible for Title 1 funds, they do not receive them.  Those government grants go to elementary school in the ACPS system. There are 128 other schools in Virginia that fit the Title 1 category; and according to standardized testing scores, T.C. is in the bottom five percent of the 128 schools.  Crunching the numbers, that means T.C. is one of six schools in that 5 percent.

            This revelation means huge changes for T.C.; government-approved changes.  Four remedial options have been offered to our school: Closure, Restart, Transformation, and Turnaround.  ‘Closure’, which would mean T.C. being shut down and its students being sent to other schools, is clearly not a viable option because it is the only public high school in Alexandria.  ‘Restart’ would include T.C. being converted into a charter school, which is in essence a private school run with government funds. Changing T.C. into a charter school would be laborious process that is also unlikely to happen.  That leaves the last two options: ‘Transformation’ and ‘Turnaround’.

In my opinion, ‘Turnaround’ is the alternative that would benefit the students of T.C. the most.  This option entails that the principal and no more than 50 percent of the staff is replaced. It would also require increased learning time and provide incentives to motivate staff.  ‘Transformation’ is a less dramatic option, and would require only the replacing of the principal, which is occurring anyway, since our current principal, William Clendaniel, is retiring at the end of the 2009-2010 school year.  It would basically entail that the curriculum of T.C. is improved, and that an assessment system would be made to separate successful teachers who have high pass rates from weaker teachers whose students have lower pass rates.  It would also include an extension of learning times for core subjects especially.

            Nevertheless, in my view, ‘Turnaround’ would be the option to most positively impact T.C.  Why? Rejuvenating the staff at T.C. with new teachers and administrators who have fresh ideas to help our school and are willing to put in the time to make sure their ideas are realized has great potential to improve T.C.  Bringing in new staff could have positive and even electrifying effects on the student population. However, this is not to say that the current T.C. staff is lacking in any way.  There are many inspired teachers at T.C., and their dedication to even the most inattentive of students is a huge asset to the school.  Not all the blame for our current low ranking as a school should go to teachers.  Some students are impossible to teach due to their missing class; as one sophomore said, “You can’t teach students who aren’t there.” But there needs to be accountability for and improvement in students’ standardized test scores and teachers are the most important source of influence over students on achieving that.  If there is a repeating pattern of low test scores for some members of the current staff’s students, there needs to be change to improve these scores.  Obviously, there is a risk that replacing the staff and administration at T.C. doesn’t pay off.  However, it is a gamble that the Alexandria City Public School system would need to take in order for real change to occur.  On paper, the ‘Transformation’ option appears to be the most viable and easily reached; it is essentially a school improvement plan.  However, for any real effects to take place using ‘Transformation’, it would mean that the guidelines that the government has provided ACPS with for implementing this option would have to be followed extremely carefully, with great attention to detail and much vigilance on the staff’s part.  However, how often does even the most perfectly planned strategy translate seamlessly to actuality?  The answer is rarely.  So to implement any dramatic change in T.C., dramatic changes must first be made.

            ‘Turnaround’, in more specific detail, would mean that not only would up to 50 percent of the staff be replaced, but new motivational strategies for staff would be implemented.  An improved curriculum that met government standards would be put in place; said curriculum would be research based and aligned with the academic standards of the state.  There would be increased learning time among core classes and for teachers to collaborate and plan curriculums together to span both grades and subjects.

            T.C. is facing potentially huge change in a short period of time.  However, the question remains how positive that change can be.  If ACPS really wants for T.C. to succeed, they have to be willing to gamble and make real change throughout the T.C. Williams’ staff and administration for success to happen.