The
East High Alumni Page presents:
State Intervention
The Directives
East High School,
Memphis, Tennessee |
As reported, the State of Tennessee Department of Education
has
intervened in the running of 17 Memphis City Schools which have not
performed satisfactorily during the past several years of monitoring.
East High/Middle School is one of those. On July 31, 2007, the State
announced its intervention. The following are the directives given to
Memphis City Schools as regards East High/Middle School. Please note,
that with the opening of the 2007-2008 school year, East High is a pure
high school for the first time in its history with only grades 9-12.
There will be no middle school at East.
The report below refers to AYP, which stands for Adequate Yearly Progress.
East
Middle/High School
Memphis City
School Summary
•
East Middle/High School is currently implementing High
Schools That Work.
• In 2005, East Middle/High School's high school grades
achieved AYP, but the middle school grades did not. In 2006, East
Middle/High School failed to achieve AYP at both middle school
(reading) and high school (math) levels.
• The 2005-2006 Status Report identities a need for
high-quality instruction and for professional development that will
help teachers improve their teaching and classroom management skills.
• The 2005-2006 Status Report identifies a need to ensure that
all teachers provide lesson plans to a designated
individual.
• The 2005-2006 Status Report Identifies a need for regular
education teachers to be more informed about the
needs of exceptional education students and accommodations
for exceptional education students.
As
of June 19, 2007
• Current executive principal, Mr. Fred
Curry, has just completed his second year as executive principal.
• Mr. Curry appears to be an effective
administrator who communicates high expectations to both staff and
students. He is respected by the faculty and understands organizational
leadership. Additionally, he has two instructional facilitators who
understand instructional leadership and appear to be effective.
• Staffing in the school appears to be
stabilizing.
• For the most part, the structures appear
to be to help East Middle/High School become an improving school.
Recommendations
for Immediate Action
1. The Director of Memphis City Schools
shall address immediately the following staffing issues:
a. ensure that
East Middle/High School has highly effective
guidance staff. MCS shall reconsider the removal of one very effective
guidance counselor and the retention of one ineffective counselor due
to seniority and tenure issues.
b. ensure that East Middle/High School has a highly qualified
attendance clerk to help address attendance and participation rate
issues.
2. The Director of Memphis City Schools shall
ensure that the renovations to East Middle/High School are completed
prior to the arrival of teachers and students for the 2007-2008 school
year.
3. The Director of Memphis City Schools shall
continue supporting East Middle/High School by appropriating resources
for both the behavior and family specialists.
4. The Director of Memphis City Schools shall
ensure that the technology items stolen during the 2006-2007 school
year are replaced and ready for use prior to the arrival of teachers
and students for the 2007-2008 school year.
5. Prior to a planned replacement of the
executive principal by the Director of Memphis City Schools or upon the
resignation of the executive principal, the Director shall:
a. notify the
Executive Director of the Office of Innovation, Improvement, &
Accountability of the anticipated vacancy
b. present to the Executive Director of the Office of
Innovation, Improvement, & Accountability for consultation and
approval a pool of no less than three highly effective and experienced
candidates for the position of executive principal
6. The Director of Memphis City Schools
shall provide an incentive plan at East Middle/High School that
attracts and retains the most effective and qualified administrative
and teaching staff, including a bonus program that awards the staff for
meeting performance benchmarks for student proficiency.
7. The Director of Memphis City Schools
shall develop and regularly monitor, in collaboration with the
executive principal of East Middle/High School, a performance contract
that shall contain performance standards including, but not limited to,
school performance on value-added assessment and other benchmarks for
student proficiency, graduation rates and ACT scores where applicable,
and student attendance.
8. The Director of Memphis City Schools
shall appoint a system-level representative to East Middle/High School
who will meet no less than monthly with the executive principal and
representatives from the Exemplary Educators program to review and
monitor the implementation and impact of the approved restructuring
plan for the school, including the school improvement plan, the 2006-07
Status Report, and other directives and/or recommendations made by the Exemplary Educator and/or the Office of Innovation, Improvement, & Accountability.
9. The executive principal and staff of East
Middle/High School, with assistance from the Exemplary Educator and
system-level representative, shall immediately respond to the 2006-07
Status Report by beginning the review and revision of the current
school improvement plan and ensuring that the action steps address the
recommendations made therein.
10. The Director of Memphis City Schools shall act upon or
provide just cause to the Executive Director of the Office of
Innovation, Improvement, & Accountability for no action
regarding future staffing recommendations made by the executive
principal, Exemplary Educator, and/or the Office of Innovation,
Improvement, & Accountability.
11. Within 10 days of receiving this notification of
immediate actions, the Director of Memphis City Schools shall provide a
response to the Executive Director of the Office of Innovation,
Improvement, & Accountability that describes progress toward
and timelines for the implementation of each recommended immediate
action.
12. The Director of Memphis City Schools shall closely
monitor the progress of East Middle/High School and provide a quarterly
progress report to the Executive Director of the Office of Innovation,
Improvement, & Accountability that describes progress toward
the approved restructuring plan for the school according to the
following schedule:
i.
October 15,2007
ii. January 15,2008
iii. April 15,2008
iv. July 15,2008
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