Education Week - March 5, 2014 - Leaders to Learn From - S29

LESSON LEARNED
"We have scarce
resources, and we need
to be spending those
scarce resources
on working together.
We don't have the
luxury of fighting each
other when those
outside issues are
overwhelming."
KELVIN R. ADAMS
Apart from the notion of attracting parents,
the union supported early-childhood programs
because of what it saw as a genuine need: The
St. Louis union's research found that 56 percent
of the 3- and 4-year-olds in St. Louis prior to the
expansion were not enrolled in any early-childhood-education
programs, including private providers,
district-run programs, or federally funded
Head Start centers. The district's enrollment is
82 percent black, and 88 percent of its students
are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
Compulsory education in Missouri starts
at age 7, and many students were arriving at
school in 1st grade with school-readiness skills
far below those of some of their peers, Ms. Armstrong
said. The union had a five-point plan for
improving the district, which included professional
development, reduced class sizes, community
engagement, and mentorship for new
teachers, in addition to expanded pre-K.
Early childhood "was one of the key focuses for
the union. We partnered on making sure that it
was a focus for the district," Mr. Adams said.
Enlisting Experts
The union and the district have also leveraged
their partnership to bring in outside heavy-hitters,
such as Barbara T. Bowman, who was the
chief early-childhood-education officer for the
Chicago district from 2004 to 2012, to consult on
the preschool curriculum. Susan B. Neuman, an
expert in early-literacy development from New
York University and a former assistant secretary
of education under President George W. Bush, is
also partnering with the district and the union
to support oral-language instruction. Teachers
are being trained in ways to expand their students'
vocabulary.
The results of the preschool program, and the
larger partnership between the district and the
union, has been exciting to Byron Clemens, the
project director for the AFT's innovation-fund
grant and a former St. Louis union vice president.
"We try to build positive relationships for
the fundamental things we're in agreement
about," Mr. Clemens said.
And when disagreements over other issues
threaten to drive a wedge between the union and
district leaders, Mr. Adams and Ms. Armstrong
say they don't hesitate to call in a "marriage
counselor"-Linda Stelly, the senior associate
director for the AFT's department of education
issues. Based in Washington, Ms. Stelly said
she offers a sounding board to the two groups.
In contract negotiations, for example, she has
seen the union give concessions on wages. The
district, for its part, has supported the union in
its goal of increased professional development.
And sometimes, the best thing for both parties
is to take a breather if interactions threaten to
get too heated.
"They are willing to step back and say, 'I need
some distance,' " Ms. Stelly said of the two leaders.
That often helps both parties refocus on the
bigger picture, she said.
St. Louis is still a district facing huge challenges.
Student enrollment, though holding
steady now, has plummeted since its heyday in
the 1960s, when more than 100,000 children
attended the public schools. New accreditation
standards rank the district second-to-last in the
state in student achievement, setting up another
potential fight to stay accredited.
But amid those concerns are conversations
about building a new school in a part of the city
where there's a big pocket of families with young
children. And there are continuing conversations
about expanding preschool further.
"We're not maxed out by any stretch of the
imagination," Mr. Adams said. n
LEADERS TO LEARN FROM > leaders.edweek.org
EDUCATION WEEK * March 5, 2014
| S29
Nathan W. Armes for Education Week
Sid Hastings for Education Week
http://leaders.edweek.org
Education Week - March 5, 2014 - Leaders to Learn From

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