Duncan Asks Educators to Turn Around Schools

Education Secretary Arne Duncan highlighted the importance of building academically strong schools in a speech at the National Charter School Conference in the District of Columbia on Monday.

The United States has some model charter schools that Duncan said he likes because they operate differently than their peers. He recognized the Denver School of Science &Technology for taking sixth-graders on college visits.

He also praised North Lawndale College Prep Charter High School for cutting security staff and hiring social workers for the school that is in one of Chicago's most violent neighborhoods. More than 90 percent of the school's graduates pursue higher education.

Another example, the North Star Academy Charter School of Newark teaches its students so well that they all perform better than their peers in the state and get accepted to college.

Despite these positive examples, a number of charter schools are not held accountable enough and, he said, in the case of Chicago schools during Duncan's tenure there, some of them needed to be shut down.

“We need everyone who cares about public education to take on the toughest assignment of all and get in the business of turning around our lowest-performing schools," Duncan said. "That includes states, districts, nonprofits, unions and charter organizations.”

He encouraged educators to improve the quality of their charter schools and hold them up to a higher standard, just as the American Bar Association does for the legal community. Those states that focus on building stronger schools will be eligible to receive funds from the $5 billion incentive pot of economic stimulus dollars.

He recommended four models to improve schools:

1. Change the culture. At least half the staff and leadership should leave.
2. Turn over the school to a charter or for-profit management organization. Replace staff and leadership.
3. Keep most of the existing staff, but do the following: Establish a rigorous performance evaluation system along with more support, training and mentoring. Change and strengthen the curriculum and instructional program. Increase learning time for kids during afternoons, weekends and the summer. Provide more time for teachers to collaborate, plan and strategize. Give principals and leadership teams more flexibility with budgeting, staffing and calendar planning.
4. Close under-performing schools and re-enroll the students in better schools.

To read the full transcription of Duncan's speech, visit the Education Department's Web site.