ypsilanti/willow run consolidation design summary

7/31/2019 Ypsilanti/Willow Run Consolidation Design Summary

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Willow Run Community Schools and theSchool District of Ypsilanti

Unification Design Plan

A working document

August 6-7, 2012


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Members of the Willow Run and Ypsilanti Communication andCollaboration Task Force:

Laura Lisiscki, WRCS SuperintendentDedrick Martin, YPS Superintendent

Youssef "Joe" Yomtoob, Retired WRCS SuperintendentJames Hawkins, Retired YPS SuperintendentDavid Bates, YPS TrusteeKira Berman, YPS Trustee

Ellen Champagne, YPS TrusteeDon Garrett, WRCS TrusteeGreg Myers, WRCS Trustee

Kristine Thomas, WRCS TrusteeJoeAnn Allen, Community Member

E.L. & Lavada Weathers, Community MembersSharine Buddin, YPS Principal

Charles Raski, WRCS PrincipalCeleste Hawkins, YPS ParentAndrea Johnson, WRCS Parent

Karen Siegel, YPS TeacherDebbie Swanson, WRCS TeacherKevin Fortune, YPS Support Staff

Rosalind Williams, WRCS Support StaffKelli Hatfield, Community Member

Design process facilitators:

Steve Ventura Lead and Learn

Michelle Moore Lead and Learn

Domain Breakout Facilitators:

Holly Heaviland WISD (College Credit and/or a Career Credential Prior to High SchoolGraduation)

Margy Long WISD (Prenatal Through Kindergarten Entry)

Scott Menzel WISD (Effective Leadership)

Naomi Norman WISD (High Quality Teachers/Teaching)

Alan Oman WISD (Prenatal Through Kindergarten Entry)

Sarena Shivers WISD (Positive Culture/Climate Focused on Learning)


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Index

Executive Summary

Design Process

Core Values

Key Domains

Early childhood

Effective Leadership at all levels

High Quality Teachers and Teaching

Culture and Climate focused on student learning

Career credential or college credit prior to high school graduation

Recommendations

Next Steps

Appendices

Appendix A: Visioning Sessions

Appendix B: Data Portrait Sessions

Appendix C: Design Session

Appendix D: Domain Notes

Appendix E: Additional Supporting Documents


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Executive Summary

The Ypsilanti and Willow Run School Districts are at a critical decision point with respect to thefuture of public education in eastern Washtenaw County. Both districts are struggling with the

common challenges of poor academic performance and deficit budgets. Give the nature ofthese challenges, in August of 2011 the boards of education came together to formalize theirefforts to achieve cost-savings by consolidating or sharing services with a fundamental

commitment to making decisions that lead to improved achievement for all students. To that

end, the boards appointed a Collaboration and Communication Task Force to explore

opportunities and make recommendations for action. In April of 2012 the boards convened asecond joint board meeting in response to a recommendation from the Task Force to considerplacing the question of consolidation on a future ballot. At that meeting the boards approved the

following resolution:

Now, therefore be it resolved that the question of bringing the school districts of

Willow Run and Ypsilanti together to form a new, unified education system be

placed on a ballot to be considered by the electors of each district at such time asrecommended by the Task Force, and supported by an appropriate resolution

properly passed by each board, and only after the two communities and two boards

of education collaborate to establish a clear and detailed plan with broad

participation for the development and implementation of a unified education system

that is adequately supported by specific legislative and financial incentives so as to

reasonably ensure the achievement of rigorous academic standards for all students

and the financial viability of the new district.

The decision to consolidate is never an easy one. Each district has a storied past with

significant points of pride. However, the current economic and academic realities requiresignificant and dramatic change in order to ensure that the students of these two districts have

access to a high quality educational system that is designed to ensure they graduate with theskills and knowledge necessary to succeed as they move on to college and careeropportunities.

Subsequent to the decision to move toward placing the question of consolidation on anupcoming ballot the Collaboration and Communication Task Force, in partnership with theWashtenaw Intermediate School District, embarked on a strategic visioning process designed to

elicit input from the community with the objective of identifying the core components of a new

unified school district.

In order to truly appreciate the impact of consolidation, the following matrix is provided to framethe potential outcome of a yes or no vote (Figure 1.):


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Potential Outcome of a Yes Vote Potential Outcome of a No Vote

Community maintains local control of thedistrict

A Financial Emergency Manager is assigned toeach district and local control is lost

Reinventing an education system with

innovation, inspiring proven methodsresulting in academic gains

Both high schools are persistently low performing

and could be assigned to the EducationalAchievement Authority, loss of local control

Financial incentives from the state tosupport restructuring

No financial incentives and deeper program andstaffing cuts

Extended repayment of deficit A deadline of two years to repay millions of dollars

in debt

The following pages outline the process that was used to gather input from the community and

the vision for the future that emerged, along with specific areas of focus that serve as the non-negotiable aspects of the new unified district.


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Design Process

The future-focused design process was comprised of threekey components: Identifying core values and vision

(Visioning Sessions), reviewing the current reality (Data

Portrait Sessions), and developing strategic focus areas(Design Session). Members of the Willow Run and Ypsilanticommunities participated in various sessions throughout thesummer to address these components. The final step in the

process is to communicate and seek feedback on the design

plan. (See appendices for more detailed information.)

Session Participants andSession Activities

Outcome

Visioning 120 communitymembers at six

different meetings(June 18-July 9)Brainstorming andsynthesis throughfocus group-typedialogue

Best/Worst outcomes of consolidation: Clear concern about losinglocal control of school system, but a hope for a new and improved

districtUnique strengths of community: diversity, history, strong sense ofcommunity identity, heritage, many community resources such asuniversitiesIdeal characteristics of a graduate: well-prepared, skilled, ready forcollege, global, pride in their community and heritage, problem-solver,respectful, well-rounded, appreciate diversity, academic, life skills,successfulVision for a new district: Creating an educational system designed tomeet the needs of children from birth through college and into careers,with students who appreciate the history and diversity of theircommunity and who are prepared to become responsible citizens.

DataPortrait

60 communitymembers at fourdifferent meetings(July 10-16)

Presentation andfeedback on visionareas

Reviewed community and school histories and current realities thatcould be confirmed through public data sets.Demographics: growing diversity, and growing population intownships, shrinking in the city of YpsilantiEnrollment: declining except at high school level, 5,300 currentcombined enrollment, 2,600 resident students select other districts orcharter schools (note: declining in both districts from a high point ofmore than 11,000 students to the current level of 5,300. Overall highschool numbers are relatively stable but the participation of students atboth comprehensive high schools has declined due to enrollment inother districts and innovative new shared programs such as the EarlyCollege Alliance at EMU, the Washtenaw International High School,New Tech at Ardis, and the Widening Advancements for Youthprogram).Test scores: less than 20% of students college ready in math, lessthan 40% college ready in reading.College enrollment: high levels of college enrollment by districtgraduates (70-80%), with low levels of college completion (15-24%).66% of college-going students attend in Washtenaw County.Revenue/Expenditures: both districts have multiple-year deficitbudgets.


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Design 82 communitymembers at a two-day session(July 18-19)

Presentation, table

discussions, anddomain-focuseddesign groups

Learned about schools and district improvement in other areas throughcase studies. Identified areas where the districts are leaders andprograms that should be dropped. Developed five domains.

Core Values

The core values emerged from the community input at the visioning sessions and activitiesconducted on the first day of the design session. These core values articulate a set of ideals

and beliefs that should be used to prioritize and focus design and decision making efforts in the

unification process. These core values are considered non-negotiable and must be reflected in

every aspect of the new unified school system.

1. High expectations for all students

2. Embrace diversity and develop cultural competence

3. Learning is the constant, time is the variable (i.e. rather than the conventional

configuration where students are required to move uniformly through the system

whether or not they have mastered the content--thereby making time the constant,we envision a future where learning is the constant and time becomes the variable--students who can move more quickly through the system are encouraged to do so

and those who need more time and support are given it so they can also achievemastery of the standards).

4. Student voice and engagement

5. Vibrant community and Family Partnerships (recognizing the significance and

importance of parent partnership in the learning and success of their children as well

as the key role the larger community plays in emphasizing the importance ofeducation and creating meaningful learning opportunities outside the walls of the

school buildings).

6. Honor culture and heritage while preparing for 21st century

7. Respect


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Design Team Domains -- Framing a New System

During the two-day design team retreat, participants created a comprehensive list of

characteristics associated with high performing, high functioning schools. From this list, fivestrategic domains were formed:

1. Prenatal Through Kindergarten Entry

2. Effective Leadership at All Levels

3. Positive Culture/Climate Focused on Learning

4. High Quality Teachers/Teaching

5. College Credit and/or a Career Credential Prior to High School Graduation

These five domains represent strategic focus areas for the new district. Rather than identifying,which buildings will remain open or closed, what the grade configuration of various buildings willbe, etc., the design process focused on creating a framework for designing the system that will

guide decisions once the community has decided whether or not to proceed. This framing is

critical since it creates the structure (see illustration below) on which the detail design work willbe completed.

Focused, intentional implementation of the domains will ensure the creation of a successful

district. Beginning with the end in mind (college credit and/or a career credential prior to high

school graduation), we worked to identify the common structural elements of successful schooldistricts in districts with demographics that were similar to Ypsilanti and Willow Run.


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Early Childhood for Consolidated Ypsilanti and Willow RunSchool District (Prenatal Through Kindergarten Entry)

Every family will have access to high quality programming from prenatal to kindergarten to

ensure that each child in the Ypsilanti and Willow Run will be successful in school and in life.

The effectiveness of a quality early childhood education experience is well documented. The

HighScope Foundations 1995-2011 study demonstrated a dramatic increase in student

success. The study followed a group of children who attended Michigans preschool, Great StartReadiness Program (GSRP), from preschool through high school and compared them withchildren from similar backgrounds who did not attend a classroom preschool program.

Significantly fewer GSRP participants were retained in grade (36.5% versus 49.2%) than thosewho did not attend preschool. In addition, more GSRP students graduated on time from high

school than non-GSRP children. Even more importantly, 60% GSRP children of colorgraduated from high school on time compared to 37% of children of color who did not attend

preschool. The evidence is clear that access to quality early childhood education and

development programs ensure future education success for children and provide a significanteconomic return on investment.

The Early Childhood system in Ypsilanti and Willow Run will:

1. Create community-wide awareness and understanding of the value and importance ofproviding every child with the opportunity to access high quality early child development

and education services and then engage the community as a whole to ensure that

comprehensive programs and services are accessible to every family with children from

prenatal through kindergarten.

2. Utilize a Family Development Centermodel to create local learning hubs for all familiesto access comprehensive one stop shopping services and to provide an early linkageto the local school system. Programs and services available through the Centers will

include: high quality early care and education, access to pediatric health and mental

health services, and education and support programs and services for parents.

3. Engage all community stakeholders in developing a single, collaborative and seamless

system of early childhood programs and services, accessible to all families. The

system will ensure that children receive high quality, developmentally appropriate, bestpractice programs and services that are inclusive of all children and are culturallysensitive to the needs of young children and their families.


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Effective School Leadership at All Levels

Effective school leadership remains one of the top indicators of effective schools. Whilethousands of books have been written on the topic of leadership, the leadership domainworkgroup adopted the following as a working definition of leadership: moving people from

where they are to a better place.

Leadership is complex, multifaceted, and a critical component to achieving improvements in

academic outcomes for students. When we think about leadership we are not only talking about

the superintendent. Effective leadership begins with the board of education (especially sincethey are charged with the responsibility of hiring the superintendent and establishing appropriatepolicies for the district), and is distributed throughout the organization. Each leader has a

different role to play within the system, but a successful system is comprised of an effective

superintendent, building principals, teachers, students, parents and the community.

Leadership can be formal (chain of command and accountability) or informal (people who exert

influence in positive or negative ways), it is often situational (designing the system requires a

collaborative approach that values the diverse opinions of people in the community, whereas ina crisis a more direct approach is required), and to be sustainable, the vision for the

organization cannot be embodied in a single person as the leader. The vision for the schooldistrict must be shared by leaders throughout the organization and in the larger community.

Effectiveness vs. popularity

Some of the most important decisions leaders make are among the least popular. In previous

decades, courageous school leaders made difficult and unpopular decisions in the pursuit of thegreater good on topics ranging from racial justice to prohibiting corporal punishment. In

hindsight, these decisions seem clear, but many leaders who made them lost friends,supporters, and elections. Given the current state of affairs and the unacceptable levels of low

achievement in both districts, the call for courageous leadership is clear.

Characteristics of effective leaders

The individuals who focused on the leadership domain identified various traits of effective

leaders on the following levels (board, superintendent, principal, teacher, student, parent, and

community). The full input from the session is included in Appendix (D).

Certain themes were common across all levels of leadership. Effective leaders are goodlisteners, have a vision for the district, genuinely care for the success of students, are able to

make difficult decisions, and make decisions based on solid principles and not on what is

popular at the moment.

The group discussed the challenges associated with attracting and retaining effective leaders

and ultimately noted that it will be imperative that each hiring decision for the new district bedriven by a commitment to only selecting leaders who demonstrate the appropriate

characteristics of effective leadership.


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Positive Culture and Climate Focused on Learning

Members of this work group identified the following areas as being essential to the climate andculture of the unified school district. The basic premise was that exemplary high quality schools

have a culture and climate conducive to social/emotional growth and academic achievement.

In addition, the workgroup identified the following list of non-negotiables for the continuation ofthis work:

Honor, respect, and solicit parent and student voice

Identify models of effective school culture and climate

A closer look and examination of the relationship between student achievement and

school climate More qualitative and quantitative data is needed to ensure the specific needs of this

community are met (i.e., attendance, discipline, student health--physical and mental).

A working design team should be established with key partnerships to include publichealth, law enforcement, parents, students, educators, local business/community, post-

secondary (where applicable).

Critical Areas/Key Examples


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High Quality Teachers and Teaching

Teaching in the new district is robust, relevant, rigorous and creative and meets the needs of a

diverse study body. It focuses on creating a community of learners, and teachers are expectedto create positive, safe and engaging learning environments. Because it is important to meet all

students needs, teachers use assessments and artifacts to make important instructionaldecisions and track their progress with individual students. Teaching methods and curriculumallow students to move at a pace that best meets their needs. There are high expectations forall students and teachers.

Critical Components of High Quality Teaching

Professional practice Community of Learners

High quality teaching requires high levels ofacademic and discipline-specific knowledge, as wellas high levels of teaching skill. Utilizing responsiveteaching practices that are personalized to student

needs is critical. Assessments, done in a balancedway with both formative and summativecomponents, are utilized to make decisions aboutadjusting teaching to meet student needs. Lastly,high expectations and respect are non-negotiable.

A positive environment is essential and it begins inthe classroom and extends to the learningenvironment as a whole. It is about creating acommunity of learnersfrom the students in the

classroom, to the teachers in the school, to theleadership and to the parents and largercommunity. Students own their learning.

Liberated Approach Foundations for Success

Working with a focus on the Common Core StateStandards, there is a focus on an integrated,creative, robust, relevant and flexible instructionaland curricular approach. The approach is notconfined to the classroom, but instead takesadvantage of community partnerships.

There are structural supports for the robust,rigorous, relevant and creative teaching. Theresources are aligned to support the curricular andinstructional goals. Teachers are involved in theprocess of determining resource allocationsfromclassroom resources, to collaboration time,

professional development, and other programpriorities.

High quality teaching is supported by the procedures that recruit, select, hire, support and

evaluate teachers. Careful attention must be paid to the design and development of these

procedures. Ideal teacher qualities and skills for the unified system:

Teacher Qualities Teacher Skills

believe in and be committed to lifelonglearning for themselves and theirstudents,

value the teaching profession and learnabout new methodologies and practices,

hold high expectations for themselves andtheir students,

embrace a multicultural commitment.

strong content and pedagogical knowledge, ability to build relationships with students and families, assess and understand the diversity of the classroom, school and

communityunderstand the full context, understanding of data and how to make it useful, ability to enact a developmental model of teaching and learning where the

teacher adapts to individual student needs, is reflective of their practice, trained to lead--and are skilled in creating--a community of learners, active listener,

ability to take responsibility for community outreach to connect withresources, seek support and problem solve


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Every Student Will Have an Opportunity to Earn CollegeCredit and/or a Career Credential Prior to High SchoolGraduation

Another key component of our new unified system is for all of our students to have theopportunity for career credentials and/or college credit. Our community aspires to have aseamless cradle to career learning system that allows youth to successfully and easily transitionto postsecondary for career & college training, without needing to participate in remedial course

work within the post secondary system. Washtenaw Community College is positioned withinour community to be an economic & workforce development engine, based on the history of the

community college movement. They are positioned to engage as a key partner within our new

unified system to link into career exploration and college readiness. We are able to leveragekey design components from the early college work within our county to expand within a largereducation system. Additionally, we would like to create a system that is non-time centric,

focusing on mastery of learning. This would be a flexible learning system to honor and address

the diversity of learners needs. We would also like to develop a community vision on 21st

century employability skills needed for our graduates to be successful citizens within theircommunity and work settings.

It was recommended that a College Access Design Team be developed with WashtenawCommunity College as the anchor organization. Other key stakeholder groups include, but are

not limited to:

Washtenaw Intermediate School District

Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation

Representative from the health care sector

County Government-Workforce Development & Sherriffs Office

Eastern Michigan University Representative from parents

Representative from youth

Preliminary Recommendations

The citizens of the Ypsilanti and Willow Run School Districts have an unprecedented

opportunityto hit the reset button and create an educational system that will meet the needs ofchildren and families from birth through post-secondary education (cradle to career). While

such a vision may seem impossible given the current economic and academic challenges,

success stories from around the country in districts with similar demographics coupled with thesupport pledged by key leaders (State Superintendent of Instruction, State Representatives,local community leaders) provides reason for optimism.

As representatives from both districts gathered during the course of the summer to considerwhat a new district might look like, a clear picture emerged of seven core values and fiveessential domains that serve as the framing, non-negotiable aspects of the new district. At each

meeting people began to exude a sense of hope and optimism as the conversation turned from


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what else needed to be cut in order to balance the budget to what can we create together if the

community decides to step up and tackle this challenge.

The path ahead is not an easy one, but the future of the 5300 students who are currently

enrolled in these two districts is dependent on the community identifying a positive path forward.Ours is a community with a rich history of innovation (think Elijah McCoy) and can do attitude

(think Rosie the Riveter). Rather than allowing the state to appoint an emergency manager toimpose solutions on the community, we recommend that the voters be given the opportunity in

the November 6, 2012 election to decide the fate of public education in these two districts byvoting on the question of consolidation. To that end, we urge the boards of education of theYpsilanti and Willow Run School Districts to vote on August 8th to place the question on the

November ballot.

Next Steps

DATES ACTION

August 8, 2012 Joint board meeting-vote to place the

consolidation question on Nov. 2012 ballotAugust-October Presentations and forums: to connect with

parent/student groups, civic, neighborhood

and business organizations for the purpose of

informing and gleaning feedback.November 6, 2012 Election*

November 7, 2012 Forming work groups (representation from

both districts and larger community) to developspecific implementation plans, includingbudget, structure governance, buildings,

transportation, programs, teacher/union

contracts and more.November 2012 10 days after election is certified - The WISD

Board appoints a 7-member board which will

assume responsibility for operation of both

districts until June 30, 2013 and then of thenew unified district effective July 1, 2013

March 2013 Outline a multi-phased approach to implement

the specific elements of the new unified schoolsystem. Some aspects of the new system canbe implemented immediately (July 1, 2013)

and other components may take more time to

develop and implement. At this juncture it is

anticipated that full implementation will takeplace in various phases (up to three years).

*Once the outcome of the election is clear (and assuming that the voters of both districts

decide to proceed with consolidation) the remainder of the action steps will take place.

For more information: Scott Menzel, Superintendent, [email protected], phone:

734/994-1800, ext. 1301 or Emma Jackson, Communication Specialist,

[email protected], phone: 734/994-1800, ext. 1321. Also visit: www.together4ss.org.