David Stephens – Memphis Flyer

The schools story has become so complicated that it’s unclear what’s to be made of the latest batch of TCAP standardized test scores released this week.

The scores got generally positive notices from officials of the state Department of Education and the unified Shelby County School System. Scores increased for the majority of school districts in Tennessee in nearly every subject. In its last year of independence, Memphis City Schools showed increased proficiency in math, science, and social studies. The legacy Shelby County School system did the same, and also improved in reading.

But “improved” or “increased” compared to what? The scoring system — the curve for those of you in the education game — changed a couple of years ago, making long-term comparisons impossible. There are new subgroups of schools, such as the Achievement School District and the Innovation Zone (I confess to not knowing there was such a thing). Apples to apples has become apples to oranges to bananas to mangoes to papayas. And scores for individual schools, including public charter schools, have not been released yet.

More on that in a minute, but first the official statements.

“Sustained improvements across the state show that our efforts to raise student outcomes are working,” said Education Commissioner Kevin Huffman. “Our students, teachers, and administrators worked incredibly hard. The results prove that if we continue to maintain high expectations and quality support for our teachers, our students will continue to grow.”

David Stephens, deputy superintendent for the Shelby County Schools, was more restrained. Legacy MCS and legacy SCS districts both earned an overall Level 5 rating for student growth – the highest level of growth possible. In grades 3-8 Reading/Language Arts, legacy MCS showed a slight decrease (-0.4), while legacy SCS showed a slight increase (+1.1). The details are here.

“We realize that we still have work to do, but are very pleased with these accomplishments, especially in the midst of a school year involving the merging of two systems. The results are proof that our teachers and leaders continued to effectively advance student achievement in the classrooms, while adjusting to changes at the district level and preparing for a unified district.”

Statewide, 30 districts saw double-digit gains in Algebra I, some gaining more than 25 percentage points. More than 50 districts saw double-digit gains in Algebra II, some reporting growth over 40 percentage points.

Such gains are cause for inspection as well as celebration because they are probably due to a major change in the test-taking population or a small sample, which magnifies the change. If such a thing were replicable on a large scale, then the wizards who did it would be running every public and private education outfit in the country.

In Memphis, the seven Innovation Zone schools, which are hard cases like the ASD schools, showed an increase in proficiency from the previous year (Math +10, Reading +2.4, Science +13.4, Social Studies +11.9) that was at a higher rate than the state and the ASD.

Credit where credit is due, but the focus on small groups of schools at a time when the biggest school system merger in American history is nigh seems, well, curious.

Congratulations to all those who did better. But determining “better” these days is a little bit like making up a football schedule. If you can’t find someone somewhere you can beat somehow then you’re not trying very hard.

John Branston
Dorsey Hopson and staff

For a day, at least, it was all sunshine.

Under a bright blue sky, Interim Superintendent “Dorsey” (Hopson) introduced Interim assistant superintendent “David” (Stephens) and the rest of the administrative staff. No formality, no bodyguards, no limos, no scowling Irving Hamer, no snark, no hostility, no guarded answers. Maybe it was the weather, or the spirit of Easter and renewal. But less than 24 hours after another five-hour school board meeting, the new leadership aired it out.

Hopson said there will be no attendance zone changes and no busing. There could be more school closings, but not until the 2014—2015 school year. The school system will try to get full payment of past debts from the city “but I don’t want to be in an adversarial position with the city,” Hopson said. “I hope they do the right thing and pay what they owe.”

John Aitken was “great” but “the work goes on.” Hopson does not plan to apply for the permanent superintendent’s job, if permanent can be used in such a context.

“We’ve got to all be partners whether we have one district or ten districts,” he said.

The picture was worth 1000 words. Both Hopson and Stephens have children in the city or county public schools. And Stephens has a good personal story. His father, O. Z. Stephens used to work for the Memphis City Schools back in the busing years. In fact, he cowrote Plan Z, the “terminal” busing plan that drove more than 30,000 students out of the system in 1973 and 1974.

David Stephens

David Stephens said his father’s views of the merger have softened since two years ago when I interviewed him and he said he feared another round of white flight and busing. The slow pace, in this case, has been a good thing. David is working on his doctorate, and part of his research is interviewing his dad. They got about an hour on tape. I asked David if I could listen to it some time and he agreed. I will write more after we meet.