Report indicates a faculty disconnect among houses
SMMUSD HDQTRS. — While support for the restructuring of Santa Monica High School into smaller learning communities remains strong, parents, teachers and school officials are questioning whether or not breaking the campus into six “houses” is working.
The skepticism comes after learning that minority students are still struggling to compete at the level of their white and Asian counterparts, according to grade point average data compiled by Santa Monica-Malibu school district staff.
That conclusion is reaffirmed in a report recently released by the RAND Corp., an internationally recognized think tank and policy research organization based in Santa Monica.
There also is concern that the experimental redesign, now in its third year, may have begun without adequate funding from the district or proper support from teachers, leading to increased class sizes and a feeling of disconnect amongst faculty, both of which are counter to the redesign’s intent.
“There are a lot of great things happening at Samohi, and we should celebrate that, but we cannot rest as long as close to 50 percent of Latino and African- American students are not obtaining at least a 2.0 GPA,” said school board member Oscar de la Torre, who supports the redesign. “The redesign was supposed to take steps to remedy the achievement gap … and now we are a couple of years into this, and the data shows that we need to rethink our strategy.”
Those responsible for implementing the house system are urging patience. The program is still experiencing some growing pains, but the benefits far outweigh the negatives, said Ilene Straus, lead principal at Samohi.
“There is still a lot of work to be done, no question about that, but we are seeing progress with our test scores, which have increased over 40 percent over the last two years,” Straus said. “We are considered by federal observers to be the best model (for redesign into smaller learning communities) in California, if not the rest of the country. It is just going to take some time. I think that next year, which will be the fourth year of implementation, we will really start to see the fruits of our labor.”
Dividing large high schools into smaller learning communities has become a national trend. The intent is to create a stronger sense of identity and unity amongst students of each community, or house, as well as allow teachers more time for individualized instruction to help those who are having trouble making the grade.
Each house has its own principal and counseling staff, which also is intended to foster greater relationships with students so that counselors can recognize when youth need help before it’s too late.
The opposite has happened, according to data released by the district, as well as a study conducted by a RAND researcher, who interviewed faculty without the presence of administrators. RAND was approached by the school district to conduct an external evaluation of the redesign system. The researcher analyzed the district’s data and test scores, and interviewed faculty and administrators.
Both reports found that while test scores are up, the grade point averages for African-American and Latino students are down. There also is a lack of communication between houses, leading to some confusion and isolation, particularly amongst teachers in 11th and 12th grade, where the house system has not been fully realized.
The GPA data showed that last year the number of African-American students not earning at least a 2.0 GPA increased to 39 percent from 33 percent a year earlier. For Latino students the number rose from 11 to 17 percent.
“That’s pretty significant,” de la Torre said. “It’s not what we were expecting.”
School board member Maria Leon-Vazquez seemed troubled by the numbers, particularly in light of the fact that many minority students rely more on their GPAs than SAT scores to get into college. She, along with school board members de la Torre and Jose Escarce, requested that district staff break down data by house so the board could better identify which houses are successful and which ones are struggling. There also was a request for more information on summer school programs and the development of an exit interview for students graduating from Samohi.
There’s also been a rise in racial tension on campus, which raises a red flag for officials because the redesign was supposed to foster greater understanding and tolerance.
Leon-Vazquez suggested new teachers be given a tour of the culturally and economically diverse Pico neighborhood to better understand the socio-economic factors that affect student achievement. She also asked for district staff to provide an update on the hiring of teachers to reflect the school’s cultural diversity.
Putting numbers aside, the RAND report documented the sentiments of those who are participating in the redesign, specifically teachers. It found that there was confusion, with some teachers having “no clue” what was going on among houses, according to the report.
There’s concern from teachers, as well as parents regarding the disciplinary policies of each house. There were complaints that two students involved in a fight would often receive different punishments, which sent a mixed message to students, influencing their behavior in the classroom.
RAND also found that houses had not quite established an identity because students have to go outside of their houses for certain classes, mainly math and science. Teachers in those fields said they felt isolated from their peers.
“We have divided up our departments so it is harder to get support from one another and mentor new teachers. We have new teachers coming and going like crazy, and I think a lot of that has to do with the isolation they feel,” said Samohi history teacher Don Hedrick, who serves on a committee comprised of faculty members and administrators who monitors the redesign. “Santa Monica hasn’t turned into six small schools. We are still a very large campus divided up in different ways. It’s hard to see if the sacrifices we’ve given up have not outweighed the advantages we’ve gotten.”
Class size also is an issue, Hedrick and the RAND report concluded. With more students comes less time for individual attention, which is counter to the redesign’s goals.
Straus put the responsibility on the school board for making cuts that increased class size just one year into the redesign.
“Just when we were getting going, class sizes were increased from 20 to 1, to one teacher for 35 students,” Straus said. “That sort of derailed us a bit.”
There are some positives to come out of the redesign. RAND found that teachers in a house were able to come together and share ideas on how to help a particular student in need. They also were able to share their experiences and receive peer support.
Samohi PTA president Maria Rodriguez was joined by other parents when she said the redesign is working.
“It has made an amazing difference for those students who had no connection to the school,” Rodriguez said. “In the event of a crisis, it is important for students to have that one adult on campus that they can turn to. The redesign has helped build that connection and has put a lot of students on the right path.”
RAND recommended that focus should continue to be on the ninth and 10th grade levels instead of expanding the house system further to include older students. The cost of expanding, the report said, will detract from the gains being made in the lower grade levels.
Jules Bagneris, a parent and community activist who has criticized the redesign, said the school board should implement the RAND recommendations immediately and order district staff to come back with data broken down by house, which should have been done after the first year, he said.
“We support the intent of redesign, but the original vision is flawed,” Bagneris said. “While we wait, we are creating this laboratory of students who are guinea pigs, with the onerous result of denial into a major university. No admittance officer is going to look at grades and see whether or not the school is broken up into houses or not. We can’t wait until next year. We need to refine the redesign.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 13, 2006. Read the original PDF.