Posted on: Sunday, May 15, 2005

Edison says past troubles won't follow it here

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Education Writer

Edison Schools, a leader in privatizing public schools, has had several well-publicized contract terminations in school districts such as Miami-Dade, Dallas and Wichita, but the management issues that have led to the disputes will not be an issue here, the company says.

Although the 13-year-old for-profit organization is experienced in taking over public schools — bringing in its own principals, teachers and curriculum — in Hawai'i the company will serve as a consultant to seven public schools struggling to meet state academic standards required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Edison's work with Hawai'i schools has more in common with the services that will be provided by two other companies — ETS Pulliam and National Center on Education and the Economy — than it does with the "Whole School Management" model typically associated with Edison schools.

This model is the target of Edison's most vocal critics, who say it led to too many unexpected costs and not enough improvement in student achievement.

However, Edison spokesman Adam Tucker points out that despite the criticism, "We retain over 80 percent of our contracts ... which we feel is a huge vote of confidence for a job well done."

All three providers will concentrate on professional development, working with principals and teachers to better align their current curriculums with the state academic standards and better track student progress.

The services ETS Pulliam and NCEE will offer are more intensive versions of what they already offer in several school districts. Whereas Edison has been a lightning rod for both criticism and praise, the other two providers have attracted little media attention.

ETS Pulliam has worked with schools in California, Nevada, and Indiana where test scores have lagged, including a few that have undergone restructuring similar to what's planned in Hawai'i. The principal of one restructured California school said it has seen dramatic improvements in two years.

"We really focused on teacher collaboration, and that made a tremendous difference," said Karen Patterson, principal of Antelope Valley High School. "Last year was the first year out of the last five years that we not only had a positive academic performance index, but our test score growth exceeded that of this district, as well as the state average."

The school, in Lancaster, Calif., has yet to meet the "adequate yearly progress" in test scores required by No Child Left Behind, but it is firmly moving forward, said Patterson, who became principal as part of a state takeover of the school two years ago. "We certainly have made tremendous improvements," she said.

ETS Pulliam helped align the school's curriculum with state standards, and supplied an instructional data-management system that helped teachers monitor student progress, she said.

"It has the ability to provide teachers with information in a timely manner that allows them to see gaps quickly, to be able to put in instructional strategies to close those gaps, and to be able to get individual student assessment data so that we can work with students so they can see where they are" and how they need to improve, Patterson said.

By focusing on professional development, paring the curriculum down to the essential content standards and using software to closely track student progress, the company has been able to demonstrate significant gains in student achievement. "About 90 percent of the schools that we worked with met their targets the next year," said Shirley Olsen, ETS Pulliam's instructional account manager for the state of Hawai'i.

Those targets are not necessarily meeting the state and federal standards, but "83 percent of the schools we worked with made significant improvement towards (adequate yearly progress)," she said. "Adequate Yearly Progress," or AYP, is the measure used under the No Child Left Behind law to determine whether a school has made adequate gains in teaching students math and reading.

NCEE, which serves school districts in 15 states, has brought its America's Choice design to about 21 Hawai'i schools. Eight of the schools made AYP last year and six are in good standing after consistently meeting standards.

"The other schools have shown growth to the point where they're meeting AYP in some of the subgroups, but not all of them," said Vera Vignes, NCEE's Pacific regional director.

Two of Hawai'i's America's Choice schools are under restructuring: Waipahu Intermediate and Wai'anae Intermediate. Both schools are expected to show gains this year, although Wai'anae's test scores will be carefully scrutinized after a staff member at the school created inappropriate test materials that forced students to retake a portion of the test.

Edison has enjoyed much praise from the more than 150 schools it has managed since its creation in 1992. However, some districts said their schools lost ground under Edison's management.

According to news reports, the school board in Wichita, Kan., terminated a contract with Edison because of declining enrollment, discipline problems and high teacher turnover, as well as test scores that were no better than the district average.

In Dallas, the contract was not renewed after district officials complained about unanticipated costs and test scores that lagged behind the district average.

The Miami-Dade school district also let Edison go. However, Edison is among the firms being considered to take over struggling Florida schools. Because the Florida public-employee pension fund is a major stockholder in the company, the possibility of Edison returning to the district has generated a new round of controversy — this time over possible conflicts of interest.

Edison's spokesman Tucker disputed some of the complaints, particularly those from Dallas, where he said financial expectations were clearly outlined in the contracts and that test scores improved when the Edison schools were measured against those with comparable student demographics.

All three of those districts had complaints about the "Whole School Management" model, rather than the "Alliance" model that will be used in Hawai'i.

The Alliance model so far has only been officially rolled out in South Carolina, which began using Edison last summer.

It's too early to say whether the South Carolina schools will see gains in student achievement, but Melissa VandeWeil, principal of Jane Edwards Elementary in Edisto Island, S.C., noted that some of the schools, including hers, had been meeting AYP before Edison arrived.

VandeWeil said there have been challenges implementing Edison in its first year. "We hope next year will be a smooth year," she said.

Edison provided offsite teacher training and professional development for all 10 South Carolina schools about once every three weeks, she said.

Teachers are visited in the classroom about once a month, and VandeWeil is in touch with Edison at least once a week.

The biggest challenge has been an overextended staff of three Edison employees who have to serve 10 schools in a 50-mile radius. "We just have so many needs and with such a small staff they've been challenged this year to really provide the kind of support they would like to for all the teachers," she said.

She said Edison also unexpectedly changed the school's curriculum midyear, using the same textbooks and supplemental materials, but changing the order and pacing in which the standards and objectives are taught. "We were told they would come in and support the curriculum that already existed ... but they had concerns about the district's curriculum," she said.

Despite initial problems, VandeWeil expects better performance during the second year of Edison's two-year contract. "I think that with any new initiative there are going to be challenges and I really think next year will be easier," she said.

Advertiser staff writer Johnny Brannon contributed to this report. Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8014.