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REPORTS
Monitoring Committee
Report On School Building Utilization
Noreen Connell
Martine G. Guerrier
June 23, 2004
SUMMARY
From October 2003 to June 2004, the Educational Priorities
Panel’s Monitoring Committee and staff made site visits to eight
schools in the Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. A set of schools
were chosen with very different characteristics: some were high performing,
others on the state’s list of Schools Under Registration Review;
some were severely overcrowded (166 percent of capacity), while others
were under utilized (77 percent of capacity). The schools enrolled between
650 to 2,750 students. Two were high schools, four were middle schools,
one was a primary school (k-8), and another a secondary school (6-12).
The purpose of these site-visits was to observe a range of school buildings
to evaluate 1) how facilities are used, 2) if there is a relationship
between school overcrowding and class size; and 3) if there is a relationship
between school overcrowding and the availability of physical education,
arts programs, science labs, and after-school programs. Given this small
sample of schools, the objective of the Committee was not to attempt to
draw conclusions about how 1,200 school facilities are currently utilized,
but to develop a better understanding of how building capacity could affect
and could be affected by decisions of school principals and other administrators.
Our key findings are:
- In two of the most overcrowded schools, grounds
currently used for trailers (called transportables or mobile instructional
units, "MIU’s") could be used for multi-story buildings
with sufficient added capacity to end overcrowding. This was the Committee’s
most surprising discovery, in light of a decade’s worth of public
statements by School Construction Authority and Board of Education officials
that part of the reason overcrowding has persisted was the difficulty
in locating sites without environmental problems. Since this additional
building could share some of the facilities of the main school building
(most notably, the kitchen), the building costs would be lower and the
state Building Aid reimbursement rate would be higher. In some of the
high schools, a campus of smaller high schools could be created with
the addition of the extra, multi-story building. Recommendation: A survey
should be conducted of schools in the most overcrowded districts to
see how many schools there are with sufficient school grounds for additional
buildings.
- There was little, if any, direct relationship between
capacity and class size. The reasons for this finding are complex. Two
of the most overcrowded schools the Committee visited had created "split
shifts," with a morning shift and an afternoon shift for different
grades. This fourteen-period day limited after-school programs severely,
but resulted in reasonably sized classrooms. In contrast, one middle
school that functioned at under capacity (79 percent) had many large
class sizes (36 students to 38 students). The principal’s explanation
was that the larger class sizes in his 6th and 7th grades allowed him
to have smaller class sizes in the 8th grade, when students faced a
state test. A parent or student in this school without knowledge of
the building’s capacity figures would assume that the school was
overcrowded. In contrast, another middle school at under capacity (61
percent), had small class sizes and was utilizing some classrooms for
special projects and gym equipment. This school selects its student
body, is noted for its academic achievement, and raises considerable
funds from the private sector. Another underutilized school that had
a mix of programs (gifted and dual language) also had small class sizes,
but this school also served high-needs students that came with extra
funds. These extra funds allow these two schools to fully utilize their
buildings. Few other schools have the budget to hire more teachers or
sponsor so many additional programs. Recommendation:
The elimination of school overcrowding is a prerequisite for creating
smaller class sizes, but added building capacity alone will not ensure
that class sizes are actually reduced. The Educational Priorities Panel
should continue to advocate for a Department of Education policy and
state and city laws to reduce class sizes.
- The "symbolic" importance of some rooms
and sports fields does not translate into full use. One of the more
poignant episodes in this series of school visits was the few minutes
Committee members and staff spent in the back of a large school looking
at a pristine football field in the distance. Our school guide expressed
enthusiasm about how quickly "Take a Field," a private-public
project to refurbish sports fields, had completed the football field.
He quickly added, however, that the school had no football team and
a majority of its students (a mix of Korean, Latino, Greek, and Chinese)
played and followed soccer. Our guide stated that they would "try"
to assemble a football team, but it is entirely possible that this will
not follow the Hollywood scenario of If you build it, they will come.
During these site visits there were many other examples of underutilized
facilities that through the years have gained in symbolic importance
to advocates, including EPP. For example, seven out of the eight schools
visited had science labs. Yet, in six out of these seven schools all
of the lab sinks were layered with dust and served as a repository for
gum and candy wrappers. Similarly, in every school, the library was
used as a depository for broken or obsolete computers. Generally, the
use of the library was directly related to the academic performance
level of the student body. The higher the achievement level, the more
students the EPP Monitoring Committee would encounter in the library.
In one particularly low-performing school where no students were allowed
outside of the classrooms without an adult escort, the library seemed
to be used primarily as a conference room for staff, including intervention
and special education conferences. While the auditoriums in the two
high schools were frequently used, several middle school guides indicted
that their auditoriums were used primarily as a holding place for students
who came early to school or for a few music classes. Lunch rooms were
another eye opener. Administrators of schools with small lunchrooms
stated that they had to begin serving at 10:30 am to accommodate all
the students, yet all but two of the schools with large lunchrooms also
began serving at this hour. We observed tight lunch crowd control in
these schools, with only a few classes selected for each period and
students seated at empty tables until small groups were allowed to join
the food line. Lunchroom upgrades, apparently, do not put an end morning
lunch times. (Out of eight schools, we only found one where the lunch
period started at noon.)Recommendation: Renovations of science labs,
sports fields, libraries, auditoriums, and lunchrooms should only be
done after thorough consultation and approval of staff and the school
planning committee. Given the wide variation in school programs, philosophy,
and student bodies, investments in renovations should be combined with
a school plan to ensure full utilization after any costly renovation.
BACKGROUND
At the start of this Monitoring Committee project, there was uncertainty
as to whether access to schools would become more difficult under the
new system of Mayoral control. To our pleasant surprise, only three out
of ten schools denied our request for a site visit, and some principals
gave us unusually frank answers to some of our questions. It should also
be stated that in the past, it would have been highly unusual for a community
school district superintendent to allow an outside organization to visit
three "troubled" underutilized schools. As is EPP’s practice,
all school administrators were assured of confidentiality as to their
school’s identity. Unfortunately, this policy means that some further
details on school operations had to be eliminated from this report.
These three "troubled" schools
were part of a random sample of schools we had chosen to visit. We did
not select schools based on their performance levels, but made the assumption
that most of the underutilized schools were poorly performing schools
and that schools functioning at capacity or above were better performing.
One of the underutilized schools turned out to be highly selective, and
one of the more overcrowded schools, while not on the SURR list, had a
student body where 80 percent of the entering class tests below grade
level.
EPP staff and Monitoring Committee members
anticipated that administrators’ approach to scheduling and programs
as well as the students’ academic performance level would have a
greater influence on how school facilities were used than the existence
and state of repair of any part of the physical plan of a school. Our
observations strongly confirmed this assumption. This was especially true
of libraries. In low-performing schools, libraries were devoid of students.
In contrast, shabby but comfortable libraries were chock full of students
in high-performing schools.
The Committee prepared an interview questionnaire
for all site visits. EPP has been monitoring middle school performance
for several years, so the brief interview with the high school or middle
school principal contained a few questions designed to elicit an opinion
on why middle schools remained a "problem" area. Their answers
are also in the addendum. The main purpose of the interview, however,
was to gather information on schedules and the variety of each school’s
instructional practices and programs that could influence the use of facilities.
Most of the time was spent on touring the school with an EPP checklist
to ensure that we made the same observations of each school. Because of
school scheduling difficulties, we were not always able to complete the
checklist, especially when it came to observing special education or bilingual/ESL
classrooms. This is noted in the summary of the Committee’s observations.
The Committee’s practice, after
the first site-visit, was to ask that another person, besides the principal,
give us the school tour so that we could have a more informal explanation
of how the rooms were used. Our last visit, to the eighth school, occurred
during a clerical day, so we were not able to observe any students in
the building and the person who conducted the tour was the principal.
The summary of our observations are organized
by the type of school visited (high school or middle school) and our checklist.
HIGH SCHOOLS
The EPP Monitoring committee visited three high schools, but one is a
selective secondary school that also serves grades 6-8. For purposes of
comparison, we have included this high-performing school in the middle
school category. The two remaining large high schools have student bodies
that exceed 3,500 students and are a study in contrasts. Though both are
so overcrowded that they have "split shifts" (school A functions
at over 130 percent capacity and school B functions at over 160 percent
capacity), their students have a different socio-economic profile.
School A: Only 20 percent of the entering class tested at
grade level. The daily student attendance rate is close to 80 percent.
Its 9th grade class represents more than a third of the student body,
while the 12th grade represents fifteen percent, the classic "pyramid"
of low-performing high schools. After three years of high school, 32 percent
of the students have passed the Regents English Language Arts with a score
of 65 or higher and 27 percent have passed the Regents Math test with
a score of 65 or higher. The student body is close to 30 percent Latino,
30 percent Black, 30 percent Asian and 10 percent White. Close to 40 percent
of graduating students plan to go to four-year colleges.
School B: About 60 percent of the entering class tested
at grade level. The daily student attendance rate is above to 90 percent.
Its 9th grade class represents slightly more than a quarter of the student
body as does the 12th grade. After three years of high school, 68 percent
of the students have passed the Regents English Language Arts with a score
of 65 or higher and 69 percent have passed the Regents Math test with
a score of 65 or higher. The student body is close to 20 percent Latino,
15 percent Black, 40 percent Asian and 25 percent White. Close 80 percent
of graduating students plan to go to four-year colleges.
The dropout rate of school A is reported to be close to
18 percent after four years on the Department of Education’s School
Report Card, while school B’s dropout rate is less than seven percent.
Close to 50 percent of the entering class of school A will graduate after
four years, while more than three fourths of school B’s entering
class will graduate on time. EPP has a long-held position that these statistics
are unreliable for a variety of reasons having to do with methodology
and school reporting practices.
The impact of overcrowding – split shifts, average
class sizes, and after school programs. While both schools had to schedule
a 14-period day, which started at 7 a.m., and went until after 5 p.m.,
there were considerable differences in how the day was structured. School
A had half of its students (those who were in 10th to 12th grade) and
special education students scheduled for the morning. For security purposes,
students had to report at 6:15 a.m. to begin the long process of going
through the metal detectors. The principal stated that there was low lunch
attendance because most of the upper grades leave the building at noon,
when their classes end, and some incoming 9th graders skip lunch. The
upper grades have no after-school programs except for an early morning
Boys & Girls Club that serves 70 students. School B reserved its earliest
classes for the 11th and 12th grades, but after 9 a.m. some 9th graders
begin entering the building. By the fifth period, most senior have left
the building. Lunch begins at 10 a.m. in the morning. There is considerable
flexibility during the day as to what students are in the building based
on their program. There was a full range of "after-school" programs
in school B, though these programs for the higher grades are during the
school day.
Both high schools had art, music, and sports programs that
were not affected by overcrowding. Both schools reported that their average
class sizes are around 34 students. Observations of classrooms confirmed
this estimate, but more of the classes in school A had fewer students,
probably due to the school’s higher absenteeism rates. The principal
of school B complained that the ban on "short days," (assigning
less than five and a half hours of instruction to some students so that
fewer teachers need to be hired), has resulted in larger high school class
sizes. He may not have known that EPP succeeded in eliminating this practice,
which is a violation of state law.
In order to create more classrooms, school B had partitioned
large classrooms into two. EPP has long advocated this practice if the
partitions are soundproof and the lighting is adjusted. While the new
classroom space met these standards, the resulting configurations were
two, long narrow classrooms, equivalent in shape to subway cars, with
the blackboards on the long side of the room. We observed many classrooms
where the teachers had to continually shift their vision in order to see
all of the students. From the doorway, near where students were seated,
it was impossible to see what was on the far end of the blackboard.
School Grounds – solutions to
overcrowding
Besides having split shifts, the other similarity between the two schools
are that they both have eight to ten MIU’s taking up space on their
grounds. Both principals expressed frustration that Fire Department codes
require each unit to be 12 feet apart, thus taking up more school grounds.
In inclement weather, especially with snow and ice, getting to the MIU’s
can be hazardous. School A would not let us tour them. The classrooms
in the MIU’s at school B appeared to be well lit and well proportioned.
Because of their size and distance from the main building, the principal
stated that the class sizes were smaller and the students were selected
for good-behavior records.
EPP Committee members and staff were struck by the fact
that had these MIU’s been replaced by a three-to-four story building,
either functioning as an annex or a small school, each school’s overcrowding
problem could be solved and split shifts eliminated. Since the main school
building’s kitchen and gymnasiums could be utilized by the new building,
costs of construction could be lower as well as state Building Aid reimbursement
rates higher. Land clearance costs would also be low. Both schools had
sufficient unused grounds (that is, without a playground or athletic field)
so that the MIU’s could remain while a new building was under construction.
The principal of school A, however, remarked that the community did not
want the MIU’s and did not want new construction. The need to reduce
overcrowding and the scarcity of environmentally appropriate and affordable
land should be balanced with these community concerns, especially since
the new construction would not result in more students or more traffic
congestion.
Lunchroom
We were not able to observe the lunchroom in operation in school
A, but it was very large. As stated earlier, the principal reported a
low participation rate because of the school’s split shifts. School
B’s lunch room was large and filled to capacity with students and
many aides, guards, and a few teachers. Some students (mostly boys) were
kept at the back of the room because of minor infractions. Students participate
in ticket collections and other activities. The line for lunch moved quickly.
Overall, this was the liveliest and most well-managed of the lunch rooms,
with fewer students kept at empty tables waiting to be allowed to join
the lunch line.
ELL Classes
Of the one observed in school B, the class size was 27 students. In school
A, the principal stated that all ELL classes average around 20 students,
but we were unable to get a visual confirmation of this because there
were no ELL classes during the afternoon session.
Special Education
School A’s special education classes are in the morning, so we were
not able to observe any. School B had a wing for self-contained special
education classes, many of them geared to preparing student to pass Regents-level
tests. The classes were physically small and were overcrowded because
so many of the fifteen students had a paraprofessional assigned to them.
The department head was proud of the many high school graduates that this
program produced. DOE Report cards show that close to half the students
in special education programs graduate with a Regents Diploma. In contrast,
in school A less than a tenth do.
School B has also mainstreamed many of its special education
students, and the Committee came across one instance where the mainstreaming
seemed inappropriate. Because the principal in school A had been enthusiastic
about "Ramp Up," a 9th grade English Language Arts course for
Level 1 and 2 students, we asked to see this course in high school B.
We entered as the class was ending and thus had a few minutes to talk
to the teacher. She related her frustrations at having volunteered to
undergo staff development for this new method of instruction in order
to have a class of 25 students. Instead, she had a class of over 35 students,
10 of whom were special education students. She stated that she "could
do nothing for them," and finally at the beginning of the second
semester these ten students were removed from her class. The teacher still
seemed frustrated and angry about her experience.
Library
The principal in school A stated that students do not
have a lot of access to the libraries because of their tight schedules.
School A’s two librarians were very proud that they had discontinued
the practice of sending a check to Baker & Taylor to get a "mystery
shipment" of assorted books. Now, books are chosen in collaboration
with teachers and student interests. Though the space was clean and had
large windows, the space was institutional and uninviting. The librarians
were still using card catalogues. There were only three students in the
room. Several rows of computers were in the library awaiting disposal.
The library in school B also had its rows of broken computers, but the
library was filled with students on their lunch hour reading, working
on computers, or just talking quietly. This was the most well-stock library
we saw, and its offerings included a good selection of magazines.
Science Labs
The two labs in school A were remodeled in 1999 and each had a lab assistant.
Though they were large and well-stocked with equipment, they appeared
drab. As usual, the sinks were dusty and had gum wrappers in them. The
science labs in school B were the source of frustrations for the staff.
The principal and science teachers complained to us that there were no
fume hoods in the chemistry labs. A lab assistant showed us an antiquated
machine that allowed them to do experiments with electricity, but he stated
that he felt that it was so old it was dangerous. Once again, the sinks
were dusty and served as receptacles for a few candy wrappers. The Committee
also observed many classrooms that had been converted into science labs
where the students were using "micro viewers" at their seats.
There were no demonstration tables and the teachers were giving lectures
at the front of the class.
Gym and Sports Programs
In school A, only the 9th graders have gym every day (unless they
are programmed for a science lab course). The principal did not state
what the physical education schedule was for the higher grades. However,
this school has 27 sports teams and is in the process of applying for
a foundation grant to support even more sports. The Committee observed
two large, well lighted gyms with class sizes of two teachers. The principal
of school B stated that every student has physical education everyday.
Our observations of the two gyms were that they were large, well lighted,
and also had over 50 students with two teachers. The students in this
school, in contrast to the other school, were wearing gym clothes. The
principal, our guide (a parent coordinator) and even the school secretary
expressed their disappointment to us that a football field was created
for the school, even though they had wanted a tennis court, or a swimming
pool, or another gym. The ethnic mix of the school (mostly from countries
that play soccer) may pose problems in forming a football team.
Auditorium and Music Programs
We did not observe the auditorium in school A. In the other high school,
our tour guide reported that the auditorium was too small to hold the
entire student body, but that it was well used for music instruction and
band practice. Both principals reported extensive music programs, but
EPP has no way of verifying the proportion of students who participate
in these programs.
Middle Schools
While the EPP Monitoring Committee chose two overcrowded high schools
to visit, our focus for the middle schools was on those functioning at
undercapacity. Out of 270 middle schools, only 16 are severely overcrowded
(almost all in Queens). Since "capacity" is based on enrollment,
those middle schools that are at 100 percent to 110 percent capacity are
not overcrowded when absenteeism is factored in.
Since EPP is on record as recommending the reconfiguration of grades,
specifically the restructuring of middle schools into primary schools
(k to 8), as one of the key ways of ending overcrowding, the Committee
wanted to observe underutilized middle schools. Did they have unused classrooms?
Were there benefits to underutilization, such as smaller classes and a
more orderly, friendly environment? Another lesser objective of the site
interviews was to survey middle school principals about their opinions
as to why middle schools continued to remain a problem area in education,
especially – but not exclusively – in urban areas. The middle
schools fell into three groups:
School C: This is a selective school that functions at 70
percent capacity. It serves two programs, one for grades 6 to 8, and another
for grades 9 to 12. Over sixty percent of the students test at or above
grade level (double the average percentage for city middle schools). Despite
this achievement rate, three fourths of the students are eligible for
free lunch, higher than the average for all middle schools. This was the
only school visited where a student served as our tour guide, and his
knowledge of the building as well as his verbal skills were not very different
from those of assistant principals that gave us tours in other schools.
There were only six ELL students enrolled in the school.
Schools D and E: These two middle schools, though they serve
a different ethnic mix of students, are remarkably similar in several
respects. Both are beautiful, well-kept schools. They both have a Gifted
and Talented program that represents between 30 and 40 percent of their
student body, and the rest of the students are in "dual language"
programs. Both principals admitted that their schools did not meet the
standards for a "dual language" program. Part of the reason
is that they had not received the curriculum materials and training that
had been promised to them. Even though many of the students in dual language
programs are no longer classified as ELL, they tend to test at Level 1
and 2. Even then, both schools do slightly better than their cohort of
"similar schools" with student eligibility for free lunch that
ranges between 85 to 95 percent. Between 30 to 40 percent of their students
test at or above grade level, and less than 20 percent test at Level 1.
Another similarity of both schools is that they are classified as "In
Need of Improvement" under No Child Left Behind, and one of the schools
is actually in the process of being "phased out" because it
was unable to reach its targets for improvement over the course of the
last two years. One of the schools was at 90 percent capacity and the
other was at 60 percent capacity.
Schools F, G, and H. In the past, under community control, EPP’s
Monitoring Committee would not have gained access to these "troubled"
schools. Thus we were able to directly observe "incidents" and
student behaviors that we have only heard about secondhand. In the data
on two of the schools, we found a "statistical glitch" we noted
in EPP’s previous reports on low-performing schools, Getting off
the List and Beating the Odds. Though all three schools served "distressed,"
high-poverty neighborhoods, two of the schools had free-lunch eligibility
rates that did not qualify them to be compared with schools serving the
highest poverty category of schools. Consequently, two of the schools’
comparisons with "similar schools" show them lagging significantly
behind their cohort of schools. In this instance, the affect of the "statistical
glitch" is not significant. These are low-performing schools in any
comparison one could chose to make. School G is a SURR school where less
than 20 percent of the students test at grade level and about a quarter
of the students test at Level 1. School H is a school that was reorganized
because it could not get off the SURR list, but the reorganization has
resulted in only increasing the proportion of students testing at grade
level from five percent to nine percent. More than a third of the students
test at Level 1. School F’s test scores are slightly better. A quarter
of the students test at grade level and less than a quarter test at Level
1. All three schools are at 80 percent of capacity. Their absenteeism
rates are around ten percent, so they actually function close to 30 percent
below their seat capacity.
Functioning at undercapacity – average class sizes and after-school
programs and other programs. Most school principals reported that their
average class size ranged from 25 students to 30. In one school, we came
during a "clerical half day," so we were unable to make a visual
confirmation of the principal’s answer. This school, one of the dual
language schools, reserved small class sizes, 20 students, for its G &
T program, and programmed its lower-achieving, dual-language students
in classes of 30 that broke up during the day into small-group periods
of 15 students.
The largest class sizes we observed were in school F where classroom after
classroom contained 36, 37, and 38 students whose desks were crammed together
into groups of four or six desks. A particularly sad observation was watching
a new teacher circle listlessly from group to group for a few minutes,
barely interacting with any students. Everything fit the new top-down
prescriptions of newsprint taped to the blackboard, clusters of students,
and the teacher circulating around to help students with their projects.
But with a class of 38, it was clear that this ideal modality was a poor
fit for large classes. It was painful to watch. There were, however, small
classes for just 25 students in this school, all reserved for 8th graders,
the "test" grade.
This comparison of class sizes does not begin to describe the stark contrasts
between school environments among these middle schools. The selective,
high-achieving school C was shabby physically, but was a hive of activity
and high-energy class interaction. Scores of rooms were used for small,
special programs where as few as six students were working with an instructor
or program administrator. The principal explained that his ideal was a
private school and that he had enough private sector funding to provide
these extra programs to students. This was the only school that a visual
observation confirmed was able to fully take advantage of the excess classroom
space it had.
At the opposite pole were two of the most troubled schools. School G was
built during the English experiment with "schools without walls."
The principal found that this experiment could not be reversed. The air-duct
system prohibits the school from building walls. The sound level was deafening.
Worse still, EPP staff and Monitoring Committee observed that many students
were roaming the halls aimlessly, even as classes were in session. When
we entered the "space" of some classrooms, a few students at
the perimeter would simply get up from their seats and walk out. Others
stayed and a few boys reluctantly obeyed the A.P.’s order to take
their feet off their desks. During our interview with the principal, he
stated that one of his challenges was to make teachers more responsible
for establishing order in their classrooms, though it was difficult in
an "open" classroom. We had visual confirmation for this statement.
The principal’s major objective, however, was to flood the school
with music and art programs to engage the students in school activities.
Could a school environment be worse than that of school G? Yes. School
H, with absolutely no exaggeration, was under a "lock-down"
rule established by the principal, who admitted it freely and knew that
the term was used primarily in prisons for high-alert situations. No students
in the schools were allowed out of their classrooms unless escorted by
an adult. Except for gym, lunch, and science, students stay in the same
class all day long. Before the interview started, two EPP staff members
saw a small, crying student in small handcuffs dragged into the principal’s
office by two burly young men in gold chains and red sports jackets. At
the end of the interview, the principal was asked who these young men
were. His response was that he was assigned five security personnel, but
that only two or three would show up on any given day. He felt that one
of the problems middle schools face is that the New York City Police Department
assigns less competent personnel to middle schools. So he hired his own
security crew with money for aides. During the tour of the school, we
saw these burly aides patrolling the halls constantly. One of their tasks
was to escort individual students to the bathroom, so they were always
moving. In addition, the Local Instructional Supervisor was posted in
the hallway continually monitoring events in the main hallway. In contrast
to the philosophy of school G (and stark contrast to school F, the selective
school), the principal of this school believed in few other activities
during the school day except for math and English instruction. There were
a wide variety of activities for students, but all after school.
It took every bit of professionalism on our part to remain
neutral in the interview after we witnessed the student being dragged
into the room in handcuffs and after the principal expressed his instructional
philosophy. But by the end of the site visit, we began to get a more balanced
perspective. A student we encountered in the hallway told us that she
appreciated the rule about not leaving the classroom because she felt
"safe" in the school for the first time. When we went in to
see the principal after the school tour, he was engaged in a tense discussion
with a uniformed security officer. She told the principal that the mother
of the "handcuffed" boy did not want to go to the school to
pick him up and instead told her to put him on a bus that stopped close
enough to her apartment building so that she could be on the look for
him from her window. The principal was firmly telling the security officer
that this arrangement was unacceptable, but the security officer kept
trying to get his agreement to this suggestion. This conversation was
interrupted by our final interview questions. The principal informed us
that before he came, the school had a turnover of five principals in two
years. With his two years on the job, he had become the longest-surviving
principal that the school had experienced in several years. He ended by
saying that although he had a background as a teacher and assistant principal
assigned to several tough schools, he had no idea that "schools like
this existed." On the other hand, he felt that he had more opportunities
to turn around the school than the principal of school G, who had the
extra challenge of the "wall-less school." (Both schools G and
H were in the same district.) We left with mixed emotions.
School Grounds – solutions to overcrowding
Only one middle school that we visited had sufficient grounds for a multi-story
building. Since all the middle schools were located in districts with
no overcrowding problem, there would be no need to construct an additional
building.
Lunchrooms
Of the six middle schools EPP visited, only one had lunch periods that
began at noon. Each one was just 22 minutes long so as to create an extra
period during the day. All the rest began serving lunch at 10:30 a.m.
Two principals explained that they had to begin at this hour because their
lunch rooms were small. This was visually confirmed. The three other schools,
however, had large lunchrooms and still began serving at 10:30 in the
morning. In all five of these schools, only a few classes were selected
for each lunch period. We observed students seated at empty tables with
their classmates waiting until their class was allowed to join the lunch
line. We do not have an explanation for this tight crowd control. It could
be that after lunchroom aides were reduced in numbers several years ago,
the lunch line is now slower moving. It could also result from aides replacing
teachers as lunch room monitors, but in most schools we saw A.P.’s
as well as a few teachers in the lunch rooms as well. We even encountered
a retired teacher who volunteers for lunchtime duty. In the low-performing
schools there were more aides (as many as eight) and some security guards.
In the "lockdown" school, all the doors were kept locked, so
once the students entered the lunchroom they could not exit except to
the playground. In this school, the EPP Committee also observed two lunchroom
staff members eating their lunch in a small back room, which could be
part of the explanation for why the lunch line was moving so slowly. The
lunchroom was always the saddest part of the school tour because we always
observed row upon row of bored adolescents sitting at empty tables. In
one of the dual language schools, misbehaving students (mostly restless
boys) were pulled away from the empty tables and held at the back of the
lunchroom until their class was allowed to join the lunch line.
ELL Classes
EPP was able to observe only two bilingual classrooms in operation. In
two schools, scheduling difficulties prevented us from observing a class.
In another, a "troubled" school, the principal explained that
since there were not enough ELL students to form a class, there was no
ESL classroom. The statement was ambiguous, though, because he followed
with an observation that more students were awaiting testing and that
he feared that his budget would be impacted if the threshold for a classroom
was reached. In another "troubled" school, we had the opportunity
to spend a few pleasant minutes with a class of bilingual students who
were waiting to be escorted by their teacher to lunch. Half of the students
had been born outside of the United States. When they left, we were able
to read their essays in Spanish that were posted on a bulletin board.
Most of the writing was at the third-grade level.
Special Education
There were two disturbing incidents, both observed in the "troubled"
schools. In school F, the principal did not seem to know where the special
education classrooms were in response to our repeated, but polite request
to see a class in operation. Then he had to leave us in the hallway in
order to get the keys for these classrooms. When he came back, when we
approached one door, the teachers face was plastered on the small window
and at first the Committee assumed that the teacher was simply looking
at us in a strange way. When we entered the room it immediately became
apparent that the teacher was being pushed against the door by a student.
The paraprofessional was first seen chasing a student who had a fistful
of papers, but then he threw them in her face and she retreated to the
corner of the room. It was surprising to see these two middle-aged women
at the mercy of a few boys (there were 12 students in the class). The
principal quickly established order and escorted two boys to the dean’s
office. While the EPP Monitoring Committee members waited in awkward silence
for the principal to return, the teacher tearfully complained to the students
that they had made her look bad in front of the principal. The frightened
paraprofessional, in high heels and pearls, remained frozen in the corner.
Our assumption, which may not be valid, is that the principal does not
tour the special education classes in his building very frequently.
In school H, the "lockdown" school, the only unescorted
student we observed was on a stairwell. As we climbed up with the assistant
principal, he retraced his steps, but did so by walking backwards up the
staircase. He continued to walk backwards until we reached a special education
classroom, which apparently was his classroom, because he backed himself
into the door. Once in the room, he would not allow the door to be fully
opened by the A.P., so the Committee had to remain in the hallway and
could not enter the room. The teacher (or it could have been a paraprofessional)
came to the door and explained that the activity that her students were
engaging in was "cleaning her desk." In the distance, we could
see two boys hunched over their desks, sleeping. She explained, "These
students are on medication. As you can see, two of them are knocked out
by their meds." From our small visual range at the door, we could
see a total of nine students. For the few minutes we stood outside the
door, the A.P. continued to try to open the door wider, but the student
continued to keep the door only partially opened. When we left the doorway,
the AP was unable or unwilling to answer our question as to what kind
of special education class we had (partially) observed.
As stated earlier, many principals’ responses
to our interview questions were amazingly frank. Several expressed frustration
at having been forced to accept more special education students, some
going so far as to characterized these students as "little monsters."
In the last site-visit, a principal freely admitted that when the special
education supervisors that came to his school were eliminated, he was
unable to assume their responsibilities because he was unfamiliar with
special education terms, processes, and programs. He paid $3,000 to a
consultant, a retired special education supervisor, "to clear up
the paperwork." The school tours, especially those where the "incidents"
occurred, indicate that principals may not be supervising their special
education classrooms and programs. In other words, the well-documented
"backlogs" in assessments may only be the tip of the iceberg
of problems created by special education under staffing and the lack of
training and guidance given to principals to assume their new responsibilities.
Library
There were libraries in all the middle schools, but two were "libraries"
in name only. In one of the dual language schools, there was no librarian.
Some teachers program themselves to teach in the library in order to assist
students in learning how to do research. Other times, the space is used
for small group instruction. The room is also used for teachers’
book storage. In the "lockdown" school, there was a licensed
librarian, but the room is used for intervention and special education
conferences. To a remarkable degree, there was a direct relationship between
the academic performance level of the school and the number of students
EPP observed in the library. The selective middle school’s library
was filled with students. Though shabby, it looked like a study lounge
with comfortable chairs and spaces for students to congregate. All libraries,
whether used or not, had several tables used for storage of broken or
obsolete computers. If the Department of Education established a program
for collecting these unused computers, the capacity of all these libraries
would be increased by 25 percent without one cent being used for renovations.
Science Labs
Five of the six middle schools had science labs. In all of these labs,
save one, all the sinks were layered with dust and sprinkled with candy
and gum wrappers. The one lab technician that we were able to question
explained that experiments that needed running water or gas were kept
at a minimum because of costs and potential danger. Ironically, one of
the schools with a clean and well-used lab sink was a makeshift classroom.
The teacher used the sink for experiments that his students would observe
him perform. This was the "lockdown" school, but the science
room was filled with cages of exotic animals (a snake and lizards) and
was generally an inviting, though shabby room. The science teacher expressed
his frustration that he had only gotten this room this year and that there
was no assurance that he would have it the next year. The other school
with clean sinks was a dual language school with an excellent custodian.
EPP has no way of knowing whether the sinks are used or are merely kept
clean, but this school also has two lab assistants. In the past, other
middle schools would be allowed to come into the building for their science
lab sessions. In one of the troubled schools, the science lab was more
suited for elementary students and the tables were extremely low. In general,
principals reported exerting considerable energy in getting their labs
renovated and in trying to get the funds to hire lab assistants. The neglectful
state of lab sinks, however, calls into question how many experiments
students are allowed conduct and why there has been so much expenditure
of funds for plumbing that is rarely used.
Gym and Sports Facilities
The selective middle school had one room dedicated to martial arts, another
for aerobics, and two weight rooms as well as a full-sized gym. Since
the ideal was to provide students with an approximation of a private school
experience, students had both physical education program and an array
of options. At the other extreme was school H. This school’s principal
stated that he believed strongly that during the day students should only
focus on English and math. Consequently, the full-sized gym was used primarily
for after-school physical education and sports programs and during the
day primarily as a suspension room. Maybe it was the time of the day when
EPP came to visit, but when we entered the gym, all the students under
suspension were playing basketball and the suspension teachers were chatting
in a small room at the back of the gym. When we went into the large playground,
it was filled with basketball courts, all of which were in use. Our guide
explained that there was a suspension center for the district in an MIU
at the side of the playground and that some of the students playing ball
were students in suspension. School H had many sports and physical education
activities after school. In school G, another troubled school, students
have gym every day and some have "a double block." Two of the
schools reported that their students had gym only three times a week.
All the gyms were observed and all were full sized and in good condition.
EPP has no way of verifying through school-site visits what proportion
of students actually participate in a sports team. The unusually low numbers
of middle school sports teams in New York City has been a problem since
the city’s fiscal crisis in the mid-1970’s. Since it is at this
level of the school system that students learn the basics and skills of
each sport, this keeps the number of high school sports teams at a low
number. This problem particularly affects girls.
Auditorium and Music Programs
All principals reported extensive music programs, but EPP has no way of
verifying the proportion of students who participate in these programs.
In school H, all the music programs are after school. Two of the middle
schools share an auditorium with another school in the building and, therefore,
use it only as a holding place for students before the first period. The
two dual-language schools had very nice auditoriums with good lighting
that were used by other schools in the area for their special events,
such as graduation ceremonies. The two remaining auditoriums were adequate,
but not well lit and one was not heated adequately. Many of the schools
with their own auditoriums reported using the space for music instruction,
but one school also had additional music rooms.
ADDENDUM
The following are summaries or actual quotes of principals who answered
this question.
WHY, IN YOUR OPINION, ARE MIDDLE SCHOOLS NOT DOING BETTER?
"You know what they say, elementary schools teach students and high
schools teach subjects. What do middle schools teach? It's never been
defined. Another problem is that we don't have enough time with the kids.
We get some of them in 7th grade, so we get a year and a half to turn
them around. If we got them at 6th grade – or even 5th grade –
then we could do better."
"Middle school teachers can't be effective if they have 30-40 kids
in a class. Size is a major problem. In many middle schools, there is
no differentiated instruction. They need staff licensed in major content
areas, with appropriate training. Professional development is a problem.
For instance, teachers from the Fellows program are given 25 days of training
in small classes of 15 kids. Upon completion, the Fellows are thrust into
the ‘real world’ in a class of 30. They truly believe they know
everything they need to know about classroom management and teaching,
but don't understand 'why it's not working' in their class. There needs
to be a better-directed teacher apprenticeship program."
"The way they are structured. There should be no more than 300 students.
The developmental stage of middle school age students is another reason.
And I really believe the middle school should have smaller class sizes
and lots of counseling. The kids this age are clumsy, they trip, and they
have a lot of chaos internally, which makes school difficult for many
of them. I think schools should be K-8 or 6-12, these are better configurations.
Having a large building of middle school age kids, there should be ‘looping.’
The students should ‘loop’ with their teachers from grades 6
to 8, so they can develop good school relationships. Curriculum wise,
the middle school curriculum is shabby. It's not a good curriculum. The
middle school should be reserved for ELA and Mathematics as the bigger
portion of the day. This should be the focus for middle school. Middle
school are also fragmented. Middle schools should be like high school
with course credits. There is also not enough grading consistency from
middle school to middle school."
"The philosophy of middle school is a gray area – the question
seems to be 'what do we do with them.’ Middle school students have
psycho-social needs and academic needs. There needs to be some congruence,
right now middle schools are operating on parallel tracks trying to address
these needs. They need to be integrated."
"The largest problem is the organization of the middle school. Teachers
aren't trained to deal with academic content appropriately. There is no
funding for art, music, drama, and after school activities. Kids that
go to public school should have the same services as private school students."
Middle schools have a major problem with a… "lack of consistency.
They don't all follow the same curriculum even within the same district."
Middle schools have "…less qualified, uncertified teachers in
the middle schools." Districts schools vary in so many ways. Some
schools teach with a lab and offer Regents and some do not offer Regents.
Some teach without a lab. Some have honors programs and others do not.
In many, the honor’s program grade is not reflective of a higher
level of work, but seems to be about doing good work and showing up to
school. Some offer Regents Math A curriculum on 3-semester cycle, while
others offer it on a 4-semester cycle, and sometimes many offer no Regents
at the end. There are no subject supervisors. There are no science labs.
There is an inconsistency in grading policy. Roughly two thirds of middle
school honor program students are unable to qualify or handle high school
honors or advanced placement courses. There has been too much social promotion,
especially with students who "age out at 15".
With 80 percent of entering 9th graders at Level I, "… you answer
the question." "…Now with the extended time for English
and Math and the focus on skills from k-12, students are beginning to
show marked improvement. ‘Eight Plus’ doesn't work here. It
puts the child in high school mid-year with the least skills and just
increases the pressure they are under to finish in 3 1/2 years."
WHAT IS YOUR PERCEPTION OF THE NEW STRUCTURE?
During an extended conversation about middle schools during one high school
visit the question above was asked and answered.
The principal found the new governance structure to be a mixed bag of
possibilities. It offers him a chance to communicate with principals in
the middle schools and elementary schools. As a result, there are increased
opportunities to offer insights into potential areas of improvement to
increase student achievement while in the lower school, but also to bolster
their chances for success in high school. There are specific high school
problems, which need to be addressed within a high school network. The
principal found it interesting and somewhat amusing to get input and alternate
perspectives from elementary school and middle school principals.
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