Don Percenti believes it takes more than a snapshot to capture a special moment.

When Donnie Evans joined the Providence Public School District as superintendent a year and a half ago, he saw the need for realignment and accountability in the organization. Although the Rhode Island school system had potential, most of it was hindered by a lack of communication between the central office and the schools. In addition, the district’s culture did not adequately focus on the needs of students. As a result, Providence schools scored among the lowest in the state on standardized tests, attendance and graduation rates were low, and drop-out rates were high.

“Parents didn’t feel welcome in our schools, and many of our teachers didn’t feel valued, but when I investigated, I found the district had several efforts in place to engage parents and recognize teachers. The disconnect was so wide that the messages weren’t getting across,” said Evans.

Don Percenti

Soon after Evans’ arrival, the school district rolled out Realizing the Dream, a multi-layered strategic plan to accelerate student achievement and create a “culture of excellence” in all 45 schools in the district. The first task on the superintendent’s long list was to reorganize (and thus optimize) the district office. The school system has been dramatically under-staffed—one supervisor, Evans noted, had been responsible for upholding recommended math, science, and physical education curriculums for all grades. “In a district of 25,000 students, that is not nearly enough support for teachers.”

To ease the burden, Evans hired a new chief academic officer, a chief operations officer, a temporary HR director, a high school director, a middle school director, and several principals. He also realigned several departments to promote teamwork. For example, he merged the district’s family and community engagement department with its communication department.

“One of the keys to effective education is parent and community involvement. You can’t have high family and community engagement without strong communications, so creating one department was logical,” said Evans.

Successful schools
Realizing the Dream is made up of several layers, the largest of which is the Providence Effective Schools Initiative (PESI). PESI, which was rolled out in 2006, is based on the work of Ron Edmonds and Larry Lezzotte, who, in the late 1960s and 1970s, studied urban schools with a high number of at-risk students to discover what causes some to succeed while others fail. Many years of research unveiled seven characteristics that define a successful school.

The Providence Public School District built on that research, creating a list of 10 dimensions of school effectiveness: strong principal leadership, clear vision and mission, high expectations for students and teachers, data-driven decisionmaking, strong instructional delivery systems, safe and caring environments, robust professional development programs, parent and community involvement, family-oriented school cultures, and ethical practices.

For each dimension, the district has developed 10 to 15 measurable indicators as well as specific practices. “It takes the guess work out of the equation so that teachers and principals know exactly what to do to achieve these goals,” said Evans.

The school district is currently focused on helping principals create strong working relationships with teachers to support a family-oriented school culture where everyone—parents, teachers, students, and community members—feels welcomed and part of an integrated team. Once a month, Providence Public School District principals meet for a full day for professional training conducted by Evans or Dr. Larry Coble, founder of School Leadership Services, a consulting firm that works primarily with district and school leadership.

Currently, the district is forming a teaching academy for more formalized professional development for both teachers and administrators. Classes will be taught by fellow teachers, administrators, faculty from nearby universities and colleges, and community members with expertise in topics pertaining to education. “This will serve as the major vehicle for staff development in the future,” Evans said.

Beyond the three Rs
Another initiative under Providence Public School District’s strategic plan, Realizing the Dream, is an effort to convert struggling middle schools to a K-8 structure. “Like many school systems, our middle schools have posed a challenge,” said Evans. He explained that elementary schools take a holistic approach that focuses not only on the child’s curriculum, but also the social and emotional development. High schools take the opposite approach, focusing mainly on academics.

“This nation created middle schools around a high school model, meaning teachers focus more on the curriculum than the children. But the middle years are the most challenging and traumatic for a child. We lost focus on child development in many cases, and a K-8 model brings that back,” Evans explained, adding that students in a K-8 environment experience fewer discipline and interpersonal problems, thus creating an atmosphere more conducive to learning. But the intention isn’t to convert all middle schools in the district. Each middle school will undergo evaluation to determine whether the K-8 model is appropriate for that community.

The Providence Public School system is also engaged in a high school renewal project that got off the ground about five years ago when the Carnegie Foundation provided grants to a number of school districts across the country. The renewal project focuses on creating smaller high schools to provide students—particularly those at risk of dropping out—with more individualized attention. “We have a large population of high-risk youngsters, and smaller high schools have proven to have a positive impact on their ability to achieve high scores on standardized tests and graduate high school,” said Evans. Today, most of Providence’s high schools have fewer than 600 students, and performance is improving steadily.

The high school renewal project also focuses on high school curricula and schedules, as well as graduation requirements and diploma options. Most recently, the district has been busy seeking accreditation for high schools that have not kept up with New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) guidelines.

Although the Providence Public School District has a long road ahead, success is already evident. In October of 2006, students in the third through eighth grades took the New England Common Assessment Program tests and scores have just been announced: 37% of students are reading at grade level compared to 30% last year, and 31% of students perform proficiently in math, compared to 24% last year. Although that is no where near the district’s goal to have all students performing at grade level in both subjects, “We are well on our way,” Evans said. “With these initiatives in place, we’ll reach our goal of becoming a national leader in educating urban youth sooner than we expected.”