Can reconstitution fix failing schools?

NEA Today, Jan 1999

Fueled by a widespread get-- tough attitude toward chronically low-performing schools, states and districts across the country are taking a drastic step in an attempt to turn these schools around. It's called "reconstitution."

A definition.

At its most drastic, "reconstitution" means disbanding a school's faculty and reopening the building with a new staff, structure, and curriculum. This final, radical step is often-but not always-preceded by a phased-in process that offers time and resources for improvement.

Most often, when schools reach the last stage, teachers can reapply for their jobs or seek positions elsewhere in the district.

At least 23 states have policies for intervening and requiring major changes in low-performing schools. Seventeen states have handed down this authority to the districts.

How's a school targeted for reconstitution?

Policies differ from state to state, but schools are usually targeted based on poor student performance on largescale assessment tests.

An NEA survey of educators in the midst of reconstitution indicates strong sentiment for the criteria to include "multiple measures of school performance, not a single test score." Survey results also show that criteria should be well defined and communicated to staff, students, and parents far in advance of any state or district action.

What's the verdict on reconstitution?

In the NEA survey, the majority of educators felt that reconstitution could help ailing schools under some circumstances. But just as many were angry with its implementation.

More than one-quarter of the educators surveyed who've experienced reconstitution were unaware their schools had been pinpointed as low-- performing-and 22 percent said their school shake-up came as "a complete shock."

Teachers in schools reconstituted by districts, as opposed to states, were much more likely to characterize the process as "arbitrary, chaotic, and irrational."

Cay Spitzer, a third grade teacher at John Adams Elementary in Colorado Springs, Colorado, would agree with that assessment. The staff at Adams had developed a school improvement plan and had just returned from a productive day-long writing workshop in 1997 when word came from district officials that all staff-from the crossing guards to the principal-had to reapply for their jobs.

"None of us had quarrels with the fact that there needed to be changes," says Spitzer. "But I'd have thought the district would have found out what we were doing before they came in and said, `You're doing it wrong and we're going to change it."'

Only three out of 30 staff members returned to Adams. Most didn't even bother to reapply.

So what's a good alternative to reconstitution?

In Kentucky, the process for improving schools concentrates on building the "capacity" for success among teachers, students, and administrators.

The state has allocated millions to make this work. And the money and expert guidance that have flowed into schools can make a dramatic difference, says Steve Moats, a veteran teacher and Kentucky Education Association board member.

For two years, Moats has worked as a "distinguished educator," trained to help schools in crisis put themselves back on the road to success.

These schools get at least two years of full-time assistance and as much as $100,000. And all teachers and administrators undergo extensive evaluations.

"No one has ever lost their job because of their evaluation," says Moats, and Kentucky hasn't resorted to completely restaffing any school.

"It's punitive to split up a staff," Moats adds. "It makes more sense to work with what you've got and improve the teaching."

Moats has found that "in most schools, the problem is a lack of focus." He helps staff develop strategies and long-term plans to figure out how to get where they want to be.

One key is "making sure teachers are teaching what the kids are being tested on," says Moats. This means emphasizing writing skills-critical to success on the open-ended questions on state assessments.

What are the results so far?

In Kentucky, test scores are improving-a success that Moats attributes to the state's alternative approach to low-- performing schools.

In the NEA survey, most members reported that reconstitution brought extra assistance and professional development opportunities. But only 46 percent said their schools saw improvement in achievement.

In Colorado Springs, reconstitution hasn't brought lots of resources, new programs, or even benchmark goals from the district, says Cay Spitzer. She believes student achievement is on the rise-but credits a "determined" staff and a community that became more involved after being shut out of the reconstitution decision.

According to the Education Commission of the States, evidence is definitely lacking on the effects of reconstitution. One study calls academic progress-at least as measured by standardized test scores-"uneven" in reconstituted schools.

But reconstitution "can send a message that state and district policy makers will not tolerate chronic student failure," the study notes. "In so doing, reconstitutions may put pressure on educators to re-evaluate their efforts."