Duval County School Board members are asking for the superintendent to lay out clearer strategies for improving student performance.
A quarter of the way into the school year, board members still are not agreeing on subject-specific academic targets.
Board Chair Ashley Smith Juarez described Tuesday’s board workshop meeting as “Groundhog Day.” The board and Superintendent Nikolai Vitti have been workshopping achievement targets for a couple monthsnow, and many board members keep vetoing Vitti’s recommendations, saying they aren’t rigorous enough.
On Tuesday, Vitti proposed higher targets in subjects including math and reading based on the improvements of other large Florida districts. He also included a second set of even higher targets he called “aspirational,” based on beating the year’s highest-performing large district or the state average, whichever is higher.
But some board members said Vitti needs to also explain the plan for getting there.
“We need to see the strategy linked to the goal, linked to the budget, because that’s all one piece for us,” Board member Becki Couch said. “To be asked to approve something that’s going to have our stamp of approval on it, we have to have an understanding of how all those pieces fit together.”
Vitti said he felt he had brought the board what they asked for: higher targets based on measurable assumptions.
“The targets are rational and data-driven,” he said.
But board Chair Smith Juarez said there doesn’t seem to be a clear connection between the proposed targets and the district's work.
Bridging the Racial Divide At the same time, the board has been raising concerns about the achievement gaps between black, white and Hispanic students, particularly in the area of literacy.
Vitti presented a plan that takes into account what’s working and what can be done better. He proposed strategically abandoning programs and tactics that aren’t producing results and spending that money elsewhere.
He also said the district should expand university partnerships to increase the hiring of minority teachers.
Vitti said he’d also like to better incentivize high-performing teachers to stay in low-performing schools, especially because the Quality Education for Allbonus program will be ending soon. Toward that goal, he’s thought about creating a “lead teacher” position, a mentoring role that would allow teachers to advance without having to transition to administration.
However, board members said his plan doesn’t provide a clear strategy for narrowing racial gaps.
Board members Scott Shine and Couch both want to better study their root causes.
Shine said he’d like to see if racial bias exists in state tests.
Couch suggested looking into schools with high rates of chronic absences. She listed off data that alarmed her. Last year 170 Crystal Springs Elementary students missed 10 percent of the school year. For Northwestern Middle, 365 students were frequently absent. Couch said she’d like to see if there are any connections between the gaps and attendance.
Most board members and Vitti agreed “cultural competency” training for all teachers is necessary to help teachers understand their students and better serve them. Principals and district administration have received the training, but teachers aren’t required to go through it.
Vitti said cultural biases and expectations can lead to the racial gap. He said that can entail teachers’ treating students of certain races differently or holding them to different expectations.
Moving forward, board members want to overhaul the strategic plan process once new members are elected in November.
Lindsey Kilbride can be reached at lkilbride@wjct.org, 904-358-6359 or on Twitter at @lindskilbride.
