Did Atlanta superintendent overhaul North Atlanta High and upset community without reason or true data?
In his explanation for the administrative purge at North Atlanta High School 12 days ago, APS Superintendent Erroll B. Davis cited poor academic performance. A forensic accountant from Midtown decided to research that statement and found a much different picture than what Davis presented.
“He seemed to imply that North Atlanta High School should be held to a higher standard than other APS schools because of the neighborhood’s wealth,” said Jarod Apperson, who writes the Grading Atlanta blog.
“While the neighborhood includes wealthy residents who attend private schools, NAHS itself actually serves a fairly high-needs population. It is the only high school in Atlanta serving a sizable number of Hispanics. Also, those coming into NAHS through the admin transfer process are grossly under-prepared,” says Apperson.
Here is Apperson’s analysis and conclusions: (Please note that this entire piece is from Jarod Apperson. None of the comments, including those at the end, are mine. I am adding this note as apparently people are getting confused because of the weird font changes but that is a reflection of the chart challenges. Maureen)
According to Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Erroll Davis, a recent shakeup at North Atlanta High School was motivated by poor performance. After analyzing the school’s performance in closer detail, Mr. Davis’ claims of poor performance don’t appear to hold water.
Who Attends North Atlanta High School?
Several of Mr. Davis’ comments imply that he perceives North Atlanta to be a school serving affluent students. During a recent meeting with parents, he spoke of the “resources” in the community, and stated that he has different expectations for different schools, implying that North Atlanta is held to a higher standard due to the type of students who attend.
While those living in the neighborhoods surrounding North Atlanta are indeed privileged, the students actually attending North Atlanta High School are anything but. More than half of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch. See the attached racial/ethnic profile of the freshman cohort of 2008. This cohort was scheduled to graduate in the spring of 2012, and these students should be the cohort referenced in the most recent graduation data available to APS.
Using CensusViewer, I cross referenced this data with information on race & ethnicity by census block. I comment on my observations below.
White students aged 15-17 are spread throughout Buckhead. The majority live in the residential neighborhoods west of Peachtree Street and east of the Chatahoochee. Typical homes in these neighborhoods are priced from $700,000 to $10,000,000. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that most white students living in Buckhead come from wealthy families. Though these students make up the majority of the area’s population, the vast majority do not attend North Atlanta high school. If all (or even most) of these students chose to attend North Atlanta High school, the school would be overwhelmingly white. Instead, the 2008 cohort was only 13% white (see the attached map).
For Hispanics aged 15-17, I observed that virtually none lived in residential Buckhead. Instead, these students are concentrated in a few apartment complexes. We can safely disregard the notion that Hispanics attending North Atlanta are a group of wealthy, privileged immigrants. Instead, they are more likely first generation immigrants who arrive at APS with high needs. It is also worth recognizing that as apartment dwellers, this community may experience higher levels of turnover than other communities residing in single-family homes (see the attached map).
No other high school within APS serves a significant number of Hispanic students. In fact, the Hispanics served by North Atlanta represent more than half of the high-school aged Hispanics in the whole of APS.
A small minority of Blacks aged 15-17 live in residential Buckhead. It is probably safe to assume that these students come from very wealthy families. The majority of Blacks, however, live either in apartments or in Bolton, an area where real estate is significantly less expensive (see the attached map).
In addition to students zoned for North Atlanta, approximately 20% of North Atlanta’s students arrive through an admin-transfer process. Most of these students are zoned to schools which are majority black and majority low income. It is worth noting that admin-transfers at Sutton Middle school are much lower. As such, most of the students arriving at North Atlanta through the admin transfer process are unlikely to have attended Sutton. Should disparities exist between the preparation received by students attending Sutton and those arriving through admin transfers, North Atlanta would be tasked with bridging that gap.
In fact, incredibly large disparities do exist between the preparation of students attending Sutton and those attending other APS middle schools.The attached table is startling. When compared to all schools in the state, Inman’s students average in the 97th percentile, and Sutton’s average in the 82nd percentile on 2012 CRCT tests. After that, a huge drop occurs before we get to Young Middle, where students are in the 22nd percentile state wide. Things only get worse from there.
Based upon this information, the only reasonable conclusion to draw is that North Atlanta serves a high needs population. Despite the school’s proximity to wealthy neighborhoods, most of the students attending North Atlanta do not live in the wealthy parts of Buckhead. Students attending North Atlanta through the admin transfer process arrive at the school having attended middle schools ranked in the bottom quartile state wide. They are then expected to integrate themselves with students from Sutton, a school ranked in the top quartile.
Now that we have a better picture of what the school faces when a cohort enters 9th grade, we can approach performance data with an appropriate level of context.
Are fewer students graduating from North Atlanta than expected?
Sixty-two percent of North Atlanta’s freshman cohort graduated within four years. While it is disappointing that any students would fail a grade or choose to drop out of high school, it is not a fact uncommon to APS schools or schools throughout the country. The median graduation rate at APS high schools is 63%, roughly equal to North Atlanta’s. There are two important factors which likely reduce North Atlanta’s graduation rate. First, North Atlanta has a high Hispanic population. Second, the admin transfer process may result in “mismatch.”
According to the U.S. government, as of October 2009, approximately 18% of Hispanics aged 16 through 24 dropped out of high school. Approximately 9% of Blacks dropped out, and 5% of whites dropped out. Nationally, Hispanics drop out of high school at a rate twice that of Blacks and almost quadruple that of whites. If Mr. Davis wants to hold different schools to different standards, the fact that North Atlanta is the only APS school serving a significant number of Hispanics cannot be ignored.
By coming into North Atlanta less prepared than students from Sutton, admin transfers may experience what researchers term “mismatch.” Recent research discussed in The Atlantic has shown that when students are placed in classes where they are less prepared than their peers, they are more likely to become discouraged and drop out.
The time to integrate students is at a young age when gaps can be overcome. Expecting students to arrive at North Atlanta in 9th grade grossly underprepared and succeed in classes with Sutton’s students does a disservice to the students the admin-transfer process is intended to help.
If APS as a whole is unable to properly educate its kids in grades K-8, how can it expect North Atlanta to work miracles in the one/two years before students are eligible to drop out?
How does North Atlanta’s SAT performance compare to other schools?
Black, White, and Hispanic students at North Atlanta all exceed APS averages on SAT tests. Both Blacks and Whites also exceed national averages. See the attached table reflecting 2011 scores by race/ethnicity.
Black students score approximately 38 points higher than the APS average and 29 points higher than the national average. White students graduating from North Atlanta score higher than all but two schools in the Atlanta metro.
What mistakes did APS make in the shakeup?
The mistakes made by APS reflect faults of both substance and form.
Mr. Davis claims to have based his decisions on a detailed review of data, but it appears that his review ignored the context within which that data should be considered. North Atlanta is, by and large, not made up of privileged, wealthy students. It is unreasonable to hold the school to a standard based upon the “resources” of the area when wealthy kids and their resources go to private schools.
The form of the dismissals was unnecessarily dramatic. I understand Mr. Davis’ goal of providing the incoming principal a fresh slate. However, the exit of current administration didn’t need to be so eventful. Administrators could have been told they would be reassigned on October 29 and given a few weeks to prepare. Alternatively, the incoming principal could have been given some time to decide which administrators he wanted to keep and which he felt needed to be replaced.
What should North Atlanta parents do?
APS is undergoing dramatic changes. Enrollment has steadily declined for over 10 years. The only areas which have seen increasing enrollment are the Grady, North Atlanta and Jackson clusters where middle-class and upper-class families have purchased homes.
Also, in Buckhead, more white students are choosing to stay in the public education system. Ten years ago, only about 25% of white students in Buckhead stuck with APS from first grade through transitioning to Sutton in sixth. Respect for Sutton has grown and this past year, over 50% of students made the transition. That is a significant increase in just 10 years.
One reason that schools in these areas are succeeding is that they have active parent associations. It’s time for these parents to take on roles in the Board of Education. Parents interested in an improved APS should consider running for at large posts on the Board of Education. Elections will be held in the fall of 2013. Without a majority of competent board members, we will continue to see this type of mismanagement.
Overall, I think Mr. Davis is genuine and intelligent. In many ways, he has done a good job of managing APS, but missteps like this one undo much of the good he has achieved.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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142 comments Add your comment
Nahs dad
October 17th, 2012
10:57 pm
Lahopital, one piece to this saga that I haven’t seen covered yet is that the four administrators were told by APS – HR to leave their APS computers behind. I would think if an APS employee transfers within APS their laptop would move with them.
Also, don’t forget APS changed the passwords on the parents that hosted and updated the NAHS website on the very same day.
This seems to me be an APS “red china” policy towards electronic communication, and it makes conspiracy theorists curious about whether a former principal and his administrators had access to some information that APS had no intention allowing to see the light of day.
RAMZAD
October 17th, 2012
11:00 pm
The conversation is out there that North Atlanta was a collection of race based cabals.
Cabals in instruction. Cabals in administration. Cabals in leadership. Cabals in guidance counseling. Groups of students that were marginalized as stupid. Groups that were glorified as bright, rich, powerful and privileged.
Of course, no one in Buckhead is going to talk about this if it existed, since they have a bogey man nam Erroll Davis. However, if, in fact, NAHS was operating like this modern day juxtaposition of heaven and hell under same roof then Davis was right to go up there and hose down the place.
NAHS is not a rich people preserve any more than Buckhead is the plantation great house. Fire them all and start over.
This is Mrs. Norman Maine
October 17th, 2012
11:20 pm
@2 Decades, please stop over-dramatizing this situation. Davis cleaned house and put in his own people. It happens all the time in the real world. At least the new guy is another White man so the world doesn’t have to stop spinning on its axis.
I know it’s hard to swallow but trust me: the kids will get through this and the parents will find another burning issue to get hysterial about.
2 Decades in APS
October 17th, 2012
11:31 pm
@RAMZAD, if NAHS were a “modern day juxtaposition of heaven and hell” where cabals determined who succeeded and who failed, the statistics Maureen cites about ALL groups succeeding would be very different. Every student can’t be in the top 10% of the class, because (duh!) only 10% can do that. But NAHS under Mark MyGrant has been a place where any student who chooses to apply him/herself will get all the tools and support they need to go as far and as fast as they can. Go back through some of the earlier blog posts over the past week and look at the number of students and recent alumni of all races, backgrounds, etc. who have spoken out about the positive influence Mark MyGrant and the other administrators have had on their lives. These people have made a difference in the lives of thousands of children; they deserved better than summary eviction and blame for manufactured issues.
Former APS student
October 17th, 2012
11:54 pm
It’s called diversity….. The report only shows that North Atlanta has moved towards a more diverse student body. A diverse student population requires a principal that can handle diversity. This is even more reason he and his croonies shouldve been gone. 5 years was too long.It is obvious that these people either did not see the trend or could care less. Because bottom line the ones that mattered was happy. See to me any one can teach and motivate students that already motivated. It takes a special person caring talented inspirational person to motivate the unmotivated- The 40% that the Sorry former administrators of North Atlanta seemed to have left behind….. Or could care less about.
Point/Counterpoint
October 18th, 2012
12:46 am
I want to make sure I have “the facts” straight. APS never stated there was a racism allegation, that came from Mygrant. If there actually was an allegation and no one spoke with Ms. Durham about it, then it was a non-issue. No employees were terminated. What’s the problem again?
NA Mom
October 18th, 2012
1:16 am
” It takes a special person caring talented inspirational person to motivate the unmotivated- The 40% that the Sorry former administrators of North Atlanta seemed to have left behind….. Or could care less about.”
Yes, this is true. Mygrant and his team failed most of the students at NAHS.
The wealthy IS/IB kids were happy. Everyone else was not or did not know any better.
Private Citizen
October 18th, 2012
2:43 am
“It takes a special person caring talented inspirational person to motivate the unmotivated”
I think you’ve been brainwashed and I think the world does not work that way.
Today I was driving in Atlanta on a four lane road and a young man in a car drove diagonally into the oncoming traffic and directly at my car. I stopped. The young man was very upset and snarly that I was in his way. He was attempting to turn left into a business. I even backed up a little toward the car stopped behind me, to give him a little more room so he did not have to drive over the curb to get to the drive. As he drove by he scowled at me like I had done something to him.
I old someone I know about these recent event at the high school, how a group of people had been rounded up and walked off the premises, skipping due process. The person I told said, “Wait, is the superintendent elected?” I said, no. The board of education is elected and they hire the superintendent. The person then said, “The someone should sue the individual members of the board of education for everything they’re worth.”
As I was driving today, it occurred to me how this recent action would be very familiar to anyone who had lived under the Stasi police in communist East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the military police unexplained coming into a person’s workplace, rounding people up and taking them away. It also occurred to me that in the testing based curriculum environment, there will be no student in the Georgia public schools that even knows what the Stasi are or what they did and that this information will not ever be mentioned even once in the classroom, and particularly where they type actions occur.
Revenge Versus the Rule of Law http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/k/koehler-stasi.html
http://www.wired.com/politics/security/magazine/16-02/ff_stasi
concerned
October 18th, 2012
5:40 am
@ This is Maine Norman. These actions taken mean that any truly professional person who might consider applying for positions hear would have paused and seriously reconsidered. I applaud the analysis and the attention that Ms. Downey is shedding on this issue. NAHS did not deserve to be put under a cloud of suspicion and innuendo. There is no cabal of any sort that required this type of unprofessional action. It upset a great many people and the ripple effect will be one that will color the sdhool year. It is simplistic to state that the students will get over it. They will get through it and that is a very different set of expectations than they started the school year with. The staff are exhausted by this tumultuous and unnecessary actions and are truly disheartened that the leaders of the district would take such callous and truly senseless timed actions.
Students who are on the edge of staying in school or leaving are the ones most hurt by these power plays and to state so unfeelingly about the community that built at NAHS speaks to your ignorance over how powerful the sense of community is for the students who need it the most. Some of these students only draw and person who understood them, cheerleaded for them and was present at all their games was summarily and unfeelingly removed from the school, The dedicated staff didn’t even have a chance to say good bye to the students are now being asked to help this transition team to set up the school for the new administration from a distance and while doing they new jobs in their new schools.
From an economic stand point, the ripple effect will be that truly professional educators and administrators will give atlanta public schools a pass when considering their options. If the most dedicated and professional people get run out of a school under flimsy pretenses, then it is nepotism that will help someone keep their jobs since professionalism is something that gets you removed.
Wilbur
October 18th, 2012
6:06 am
If Mr. Davis went “hosed down the place” to solve nefarious issues of “unfairness” then Mr. Davis owes the parents and teachers an explanation of why. Instead he has offered a mismash of unbelievable claims about poor performance and impending state takeovers. Mr. Davis’ credibility was on the line and he lost it.
RenewContract?
October 18th, 2012
6:16 am
Thank you for this excellent vertical analysis (cohort 2008). Would it be possible to look at ten year trend lines on relevant data? That would probably yield another valuable perspective.
bootney farnsworth
October 18th, 2012
6:25 am
God save us all from “diversity”, the most annoying weapon in the race baiters arsenal.
me, I prefer character and excellence, the two most colorblind traits in humanity
concerned
October 18th, 2012
6:48 am
Maureen- please investigate the timing of this controversial move. It boggles the mind but it fits so perfectly with the upcoming charter school bill that the incentives to create controversy in an uncontroversial school but in a wealthy and more conservative part of town cannot be coincidental.
This strategy of divide and conquer or bribe and pay out is one that is famously being played out by ALEC all over the country. It is the subject of washington post articles this week ( and has been in for a few years now). Who got paid off to disrupt the apple cart of this school at this time- to take such flimsy accusations to create a black eye on the school/district would be just the thing to tip people toward charters. Little do they realize that this kind of action will be the order of the day in charter schools if local control is taken away- which is exactly what the constitutional change will allow.
The timing of these actions stink, the uproar completely predictable and playing right into the hands of the pro charter alec and hedge funders who are salivating at getting a piece of the incredibly small pie we call public education funding.
Please investigate that.
Shame on APS
October 18th, 2012
7:02 am
Where is Mayor Reed in this situation? As a former parent of Deerwood Elementary where the CRCT Cheating occured and I warned the APS BOE and they didnt listen. They (BOE) embarrassed assisted in the harm done to the kids. I then enrolled my kids in Bunche Middle School, where under the leadership of Mr. Fernander (now working as a Supervisiing Adm for APS) had the test scores up, the students, parents, and teachers all working together as they should for the “whole” child, he rewarded the low scoring/low Reading level kids with trophies and more when they showed improvements. This encouraged them to continue to improve and showed them that not only are the “A” students getting rewarded, but to strive to do more eventually will pay off and people care for them and their educational improvements. Not considering placing my kids in the neighborhood school, we ventured to NAHS. My kid received the best student support team from Mrs Fairley-Nelson and Mr. Brown (Int’l Business SLC). I could call, email, and visit them with positive results. NOW…these new folks, who is my student support team, who is my son’s SLC Director??? Who is who… was the BOE even present during these changes??? Dr. B. Hall(former APS Superintendent) had her “slick” way of doing things, but this move of Mr. Davis…she wouldnt have stepped this far. Mr. Davis,I am sure you have a team monitoring the Blogs…you should be shame and it is ok to say you made a mistake. That’s what men do. BOYS run from the truth and lie to cover mistakes up. Should my child not pass thru the SST process because of this foolishness, not only will you all see me for a personal conference and for you to explain,I will also have the media to expose the Federal guidelines you all violate. Please understand, this is not a threat. This is a promise.
You just don't know!
October 18th, 2012
7:04 am
Please !!!! Will all the Davis haters stop! Maureen please find something else to talk about. Nancy Miester and the rest of the concern parents and I say that sarcastically just stop! Mr. Mygrant user federal funds to employee personal friends at taxpayers exspenses. Title 1 money is money allotted by the federal government to provide services for the school, such as special educational resources whether that is staff or developmental enriching training for teachers. You all don’t have a clue! Mygrant misappropriated those funds and now is in trouble. He made bad criminal choices and now he has to suffer the consequences. His racially motivated distraction excuse was done in an effort to distract the community to attack the superintendent. Additionally, this have and have not situation is representative of the real world. Everyone is not meant to have everything. Unfortunately life does not work that way. We all can agree that regardless of race we want all our children to be prepared and unfortunately NAHS is underperforming and not reaching a majority of students. The truth of the matter is as the person responsible for the district Mr. Davis did what he felt he needed to do. We may not agree with it but he is the person who has been entrusted for running the district he is just doing his job. The news coverage, the slanted articles is just propaganda used for self serving individuals. Mygrant had his favorites and it was evident. His past just caught up with him. Ethically people have an obligation to speak up for injustices. It is an opinion that you all feel about the way things were handled was not fair. It is a fact that the federal government feels Mr. Mygrant misused federal Monies. Delaying a contract extension vote is highly unlikely. No one else is willing to fix this mess. Personally I think the whole district needs an overhaul. You have the most unprofessional ignorant people working in the schools and in charge of teaching our future. Yes there are lots of problems within our community and in our schools but you can’t just hide your heads in the sand. The principal was dishonest and he felt he could do what he wanted and got caught. As for the teacher who decided to have an interview on the news, she should have kept her mouth closed. I’m sure she is familiar with fact and opinion . As an English teacher hired illegally she had no choice but to resign. She knew she did not get hired the proper way! She knew Mygrant pushed her through. That technique should be eradicated because it is not fair to the hundreds of unemployed folks that did not get the option to be pushed through! Nahs has a lot of issues, racism, classism, segregation of activities , bad teachers, good teachers, great programs and great students bad students. That’s life! Davis can’t reveal personnel issues to the public. Neither of you would want your job file exposed to the community if you don’t always follow the rules or do you? So let’s just end this witch hunt and stop blaming others when we now know the truth! Mygrant was full of power and ego and he did what he wanted and unfortunately when it was discovered the administrators immediately rectified the situation. As for the other individuals in his administration… They were saved by being reassigned . If the administrative team did know about his felonly activity they will be questioned and ultimately fired because they are ethically responsible to report issues of misconduct! If they did not know then , I think they are safe. You can’t play with the governments money. It is the superintendents duty to follow the law and he did so please stop bashing a man who is required to do a job. Honestly, if he were of another ethnic background you all would not be questioning his motives. Please put this story to bed and allow the children and teachers at NAhs to move forward!
Chris Murphy
October 18th, 2012
7:21 am
If there had been federal felonies involved, Davis would not be on his third set of explanations. And, “honestly,” Davis’s race has nothing to do with it: read the analysis that heads this blog entry, as it points out that one set of Davis’s rationales doesn’t square with the data from the school.
Ivan
October 18th, 2012
7:25 am
Maureen – thanks for the article, very informative. I hope Davis resigns before his term is up as he is very ineffictive. Hopefully his legacy will be just a couple bad years between Beverly Hall and the next great Super of APS.
concerned
October 18th, 2012
7:35 am
No this story should not go to bed as it disruptive the school, the children the teachers and the system as the teachers and parents of other schools are asking larger questions. Title One malfeasance is an interesting ploy and the hiring of people is something that is being handed to this incoming principal so what is the beef with the outgoing principal hiring extremely competent, known to be so on the job and in volunteer positions, people to actually do the work expected of them. Now the way this was handled was outrageous and has professional teachers and administrators struggling to come up with a rationale for actions that derailed learning for the interim and quite possible could derail the positive trajectory of the school into the gleaming modern building that was too good for the outgoing staff to work in. Who would work in a district handled like this? Professionalism is not rewarded and for being asked repeatedly to come out of retirement to have one’s professional career besmirched in this way and have professionals distributed across a system for baseless reasons is not something to ignore. Title One witch hunt that I heard took place the day this whole fire storm took place smells like a witch hunt and if none was found, why bring up some sort of federal level offences. Putting someone up for hiring is something that the principal has the right to do but he does not cut the paychecks and the board actually signs off on this. The handling of this smacks of charter school legislation mayhem that they have induced around the country to get the charter bill signed off on.
I find it laughable federal level allegations and some how the vice principal and four slc directors are involved and nothing was discussed at the meeting that took place in the four day weekend the parents had off from school. The timing of it could not have been worse and there is nothing to gain by rushing the people out the door- nothing good came of this, Bashing the man who was doing his job- wasn;t that what the vice principal and the slc administrators were doing as well. I don’t care if the man is asian, caribbean, mexican, native american, hispanic, african, african american, caucasian, hispanic or alien. Davis’s ethnicity has never been questioned by many people but his covering up the ineptitude of the people HE hired is absolutely called into question. He took the hit for the head of the board of ed who was going on a witch hunt. Misuse of funds- that is pretty funny considering how many still on the APS payroll got paid out big time for the testing scandals and Bev Hall still hasn’t had her day in court or paid back those federal dollars for false claims. Really. We actually do know and disgruntled employees can go through proper channels if racial issues are a problem- they get documented and investigated and handled properly. If parents have racialy issues, they get investigated and documented and handled properly. If you have innuendo and one really activist parent who is ticked off that there precious child didn’t get the red carpet treatment for the most august ivy league school in the nation ( and now it is not the actual student who got in to Harvard on his own merits and extremely hard work – kudos to that fabulous young man by the way he deserved his place and does not deserve to dragged into this mess) somehow this is enough to cost the district time, money and disrupt the harmony of the established community. Be part of solution not part of the problem but the APS way is the apply napalm and then explain it away.
Ha , alec charter people have really got it made in the shade with this calamity. People fell right into line on that house of cards and they didn’t even really have to pull too many strings to get an end run around an established public school and the vested community.
Maureen Downey
October 18th, 2012
7:35 am
@Gina, What is odd about your contention is that MyGrant has emails from Erroll Davis assuring him that he is not under any investigation. Davis says he was motivated purely by the data at North Atlanta and by the imminent arrival of a new principal.
I think the ability of North Atlanta to move forward has been hampered by the fact that it has a team of temps running the show. I have worked under temporary bosses and little gets done. The temporary managers can’t make any major decisions because they are simply placeholders. You can’t get resolution to or movement on serious problems because everyone wants to wait and let the new managers handle the big ticket items.
I don’t think the “new normal” will begin at North Atlanta until all the permanent hires are in place and that could take months.
Maureen
Lee
October 18th, 2012
8:09 am
Lesson learned:
Even a neighborhood with $10 million homes is no guarantee of a decent public school. Tens of thousands in property taxes and you still have to pop for another $20k for private school tuition
Isolated Pockets of Excellence
October 18th, 2012
8:12 am
“Expecting students to arrive at North Atlanta in 9th grade grossly underprepared and succeed in classes with Sutton’s students does a disservice to the students the admin-transfer process is intended to help. If APS as a whole is unable to properly educate its kids in grades K-8, how can it expect North Atlanta to work miracles in the one/two years before students are eligible to drop out?”
But the problem is that this IS the expectation. It’s the expectation underlying NCLB. And it’s apparently Davis’ expectation as well. Errol Davis: “Over the coming year, we will focus on the wide differentials in our student academic achievement…” Apparently, starting at NAHS.
And when it isn’t possible to meet that expectation, to take kids who are 5-10 years behind and catch them up in just a couple of years? Errol Davis: Standardized test “results reveal a tale of two separate and distinct school systems within APS. Good organizations do not allow these kinds of variances to exist. Good organizations find isolated pockets of excellence unacceptable.”
The language seems telling. He doesn’t describe the problem as children being deprived of a chance to reach their potential. He doesn’t describe the problem as one of unequal resources, or decry isolated pockets of excellent teaching. He looks at outcomes: isolated pockets of excellent student achievement – those are in the crosshairs.
Verdad
October 18th, 2012
8:12 am
Sorry Buckhead, but you need to form your own city. APS is never going to allow you to have a high-performing high school comprised of white kids from your neighborhoods. They will always bus in poor kids from the south side and then complain when they are not as successful as your kids. Or move to City of Decatur where the poor are slowly being gentrified out.
You just don't know!
October 18th, 2012
8:21 am
The student was a black young lady. What did you all do when Lincoln emancipated the slaves? All of what was mentioned by Davis may be his true motives. My specific involvement and understanding of the truth is not an opinion! I was simply sharing the information that you all just don’t obviously want to face !!!! Temporary folks take over the government every 4 or 8 years. So get your life!! It always comes down to race, institutionalized marginalization of minorities! You all can’t handle the TRUTH! Take care and god bless the children of this unfortunate ordeal!
Andrea Zazi
October 18th, 2012
8:30 am
Not quite sure how this proves that North Atlanta is not failing.
It appears that it is failing except for a small minority of students.
How is a 62% graduation rate a good thing?
How many children outside of IB/IS attend college?
What about the extreme attrition rate from Freshman class to Senior graduation? My child’s class went from over 400 students to around 200 or so.
Also curious is the language used that the majority of Hispanics and Blacks do not live in “residential buckhead”….they live in “apartments.”
Are apartments or condos not part of “residential Buckhead”
This story is being beaten to death and yet it still seems obvious that the administration was not doing so great for the majority of students at NAHS who, I guess don’t count because they live in apartments and are therefore (in some bizarre leap of reality) not part of the “residential Buckhead”
Andrea Zazi
October 18th, 2012
8:36 am
As for the issue regarding Amy Durham, this seem to be purposefully obscured and as presented makes no sense.
It seems someone made a charge of racism against her and APS took a cursory look at it and decided it was not worth merit enough to further investigate.
The information was forwarded the principal (which we were told is APS’ standard protocol).
Even the way the question is framed – something about the kid who got into Harvard – is deliberately obscure. I know for certain that the Harvard kid and his parents did not initiate any complaint.
So the complaint as reported here and in the AJC article makes no sense (and makes no attempt at making sense) and does not further illuminate the situation.
It seems that red flags were raised regarding the hiring process for Ms. Durham’s hiring (not about whether or not she is a racist – that is a red herring).
Indeed, it seems that there might have been some improprieties with regards to Ms. Durham’s hiring as she was NOT a certified teacher and appears to NOT have had any teaching experience.
Did Mr. Mygrant conduct a proper search to fill this position or simply hire one of his friends?
Similar questions posed for the “graduation coach” who was hired.
The Kool-Aid
October 18th, 2012
8:42 am
Great facts, Mr. Apperson. It beautifully illustrates that only 13% of us whites in this predominately-white neighborhood choose to attend NAHS, leaving 87% of us NOT happy with the standards at North Atlanta. Not happy with the test scores. Not happy with the graduation rate. Not happy with the administration of that school.
Can’t believe how many of you have drunk the “MyGrant Kool-Aid” – oh, and by the way, 5% of those 13% don’t even graduate. I applaud Davis for saying, “No more. I demand better.”
Maureen Downey
October 18th, 2012
8:42 am
@To all, Please note that I have worked out kinks and charts and links are working now in this blog entry so go back and look if you did not see them earlier. Problem is that when I look at the site, the stuff is there. But it is not for other readers.
But I have tried it on another computer and it all seems to be there now.
Maureen
Andrea Zazi
October 18th, 2012
8:54 am
“Great facts, Mr. Apperson. It beautifully illustrates that only 13% of us whites in this predominately-white neighborhood choose to attend NAHS, leaving 87% of us NOT happy with the standards at North Atlanta. Not happy with the test scores. Not happy with the graduation rate. Not happy with the administration of that school.
Can’t believe how many of you have drunk the “MyGrant Kool-Aid” – oh, and by the way, 5% of those 13% don’t even graduate. I applaud Davis for saying, “No more. I demand better.””
I agree. I don’t see how Mr. Apperson helps Mr. Mygrant’s case at all.
My kid went to NAHS in IS/IB, graduated and now attends a top college. I saw a lot of problems with NAHS even from this “privileged” view.
However, the more we discuss this issue, the more clear it becomes just how poor of a job Mr. Mygrant was doing for the MAJORITY of the school.
And how do kids who live in Buckhead apartments and not condos not count as part of the “residential Buckhead” community??? What a weird assertion on Mr. Apperson’s part.
Yes, the more I read, the more I am shaking my head @ Mr. Mygrant.
Shame on him for bringing in the red herring of race to this discussion.
Shame on him for trying to incite the school by showing up to the information session for no reason.
Shame on him for hiring his friends rather than the most qualified candidates (especially in this high unemployment economy we are all facing).
Please move on Mr. Mygrant while you stil have a shred of dignity.
Big Mama
October 18th, 2012
9:20 am
@Former APS Student-
It seems to me the people responsible for motivating the student are the parents of that student. I was myself properly motivated by my own parents when I did not take my schoolwork seriously or do my best. I don’t think a school should be responsible for the motivation. They already have enough responsibilities as it is. This is where the parent has to step in and be a “parent”.
@RAMZAD
Surely, cabals are not unique to NAHS? I am sure the same pattern can be seen in any school with a diverse student body. And the same pattern of graduation rates and college attendance. Perhaps these cabals and patterns are more representative of the middle school attended? That seems to be the gist of this analysis.
Transparency and Accountability
October 18th, 2012
9:21 am
After the Beverly Fraud years, these two things are essential for the re-establishment of trust between APS and the citizens of Atlanta. Mr. Davis has lost all credibility with his behavior regarding NAHS, and he should resign.
Maureen Downey
October 18th, 2012
9:32 am
@Big, A valid issue is whether high schools can be expected to compensate for what kids did not get in middle and elementary schools. My sense from the research is that it is tough to change a student’s achievement arc in high school because the students themselves have become discouraged and frustrated over years of failure. At 16, they want to put it behind them.
I also think it is hard for a school to do both things well — North Atlanta has some of the highest achieving kids in all of metro Atlanta. And, as this data shows, it also gets some of the lowest-achieving kids from some of the area’s lowest-achieving middle schools.
North Atlanta must excel at providing both acceleration and remediation.
Can it be done? Not without challenges. When you look at successful reform efforts, there are not too many high schools to hold out as models. Of those that succeed, they are most often boutique schools with smaller numbers and a focused mission. They are not large, comprehensive high schools like North Atlanta.
This North Atlanta saga underscores the lackluster performance of middle schools across the city and the state. Still don’t see enough happening in middle school reform.
Maureen
DW
October 18th, 2012
9:33 am
@Jack-Mygrant’s successor is white, so how is Supt. Davis’ action “racist”?
I’m glad a much better analysis is out there now, as opposed to “he said/she said” nonsense. The fact remains that academic performance has been lagging in some segments of the student body since 2008. One of my main questions is-was this addressed in 2008 or 2009, and if not, why not?
Entitlement Society
October 18th, 2012
9:48 am
Why is the population of underachieving students that struggle at NAHS not addressed at the middle school level? Those middle school stats are appalling. Why is APS waiting until high school to try to remedy an already failing situation for these students? There wouldn’t be such an uproar with NAHS if they received a 9th grade class with better prepared students. The admin-transfer students are obviously being under-served far before they get to NAHS. Sutton students are prepared, as evidenced by Apperson’s research, so the transfer students are lowering the bar at NAHS. Fix things at the middle school level first.
Janet Livingston
October 18th, 2012
10:01 am
Having taught high school in the north and midwest, I was amazed to find teachers in GA are virtually treated as serfs were in in the 30’s and 40’s throughout much of the country before unions. That may be a little harsh but when teachers have no unions such as NEA and AFT backing them strongly, this power play happens. To fire a teacher because they disagree with administration, is unheard of in New York, Chicago or LA. and I thought Atlanta was on the road to greatness but without teacher input and power that create strong schools, that will never happen. Great schools do not come from administrators that overbear and dictate, but from parents and teachers who really care as NAHS has shown.
Jarod Apperson
October 18th, 2012
10:02 am
@Atlanta Mom: Maureen has updated the link now, so it should be working. This data is for 16-24 year olds, so I believe it reflects some students returning to school later. I have heard the 30% figure as well, and I think the distinction is on-time graduation.
Southside Parent
October 18th, 2012
10:19 am
While Apperson makes great points with the information he can access, Apperson doesn’t have access to all of the data that APS can access.
Have any NAHS parents or staff reviewed the full VAM report for NAHS? Here is what I would be most curious to know: did NAHS perform above or below the APS average in the free/reduced lunch category? If NAHS isn’t substantially outperforming APS average growth in this subcategory, it should be a major red flag. Here’s why:
1) For 20% of NAHS students, NAHS is a school of choice with a substantial portion of their students opting into the school as a school of choice. Studies show us that children whose parents seek out a school outperform their peers, even if they don’t get into their school of choice. The admin transfers at NAHS not only have parents who applied but also parents who are managing to get them there without having their admin transfer status revoked from attendance or tardies, so that’s an even more rare group.
2) NAHS also has a much more mixed income profile than other APS high schools. I was surprised that Apperson, with his head for data, described NAHS’s Title I status without acknowledging that NAHS’s free/reduced lunch rate is far lower than most APS high schools. Studies tell us that a more mixed economic profile should provide a substantial boost to low income student performance.
Jarod Apperson
October 18th, 2012
10:38 am
@Southside Parent. I think you make a good point about admin-transfers being a self-selected bunch. If these transfers were happening in younger grades, I think you would likely see some positive peer effects and higher performance due to them being self-selected. At NAHS, we do see that students who make it to the SAT out perform APS and the nation. At the same time, the number of dropouts may be driven by the fact that some admin transfers who were good students at their middle school get to NAHS and suddenly realize they are way behind their new peers. The disparity between the middle schools in APS is just so wide. That can be discouraging.
APS Customer Satisfaction: 0%
October 18th, 2012
11:02 am
To This is Mrs. Norman Maine, The horrible dismissal was much more than a few people being fired. Everyone within the APS district should be extremely concerned that our schools are being run by a grandstanding man who is making a point of throwing his weight around because he is feeling threatened by involved parents. That is odd because APS pays a lot of lip service to wanting parental involvement. However, in those schools in which there is such, they find it necessary to quash it.
APS Customer Satisfaction: 0%
October 18th, 2012
11:09 am
Am I missing something, or is Interim-Superintendent Davis saying that NAHS should be doing better because there are many wealthy white and African-American students there? I would think the rest of APS would be outraged that he feels comfortable that the predominately minority schools in less affluent areas do not deserve a complete overhaul of their administration.
Andrea Zazi
October 18th, 2012
11:29 am
“The horrible dismissal was much more than a few people being fired. ”
No one was fired at all.
“I would think the rest of APS would be outraged that he feels comfortable that the predominately minority schools in less affluent areas do not deserve a complete overhaul of their administration.”
This is another red herring.
We know statistically that schools with higher incomes have better results, but NAHS does not show this. We are getting a 100 million dollar 56 acre facility….perhaps the other APS schools ought to be outraged over that.
But NAHS’ administration should not be given a pass after years of poor performance.
Interested
October 18th, 2012
11:31 am
Maureen, is there any way you can ascertain why there are 200 administrative transfers to this school? At the end of the day, this is the reason that so many parents choose private school instead of continuing on at NA. I hear this from my 10th grade daughter about kids who don’t care, and can’t wait to turn 16 and leave school. These students act as a repellent to the neighborhood children who in many circumstances would attend NA. This information would be very helpful, though I doubt APS will be very forthcoming with useful data.
Private Citizen
October 18th, 2012
11:36 am
@ Maureen “underscores the lackluster performance of middle schools across the city and the state. Still don’t see enough happening in middle school reform.”
Be careful with this approach. It can create the same unreasonable demands on middle schools. I have often thought, “Want to improve the students? Put all the money and resources at the elementary school level.”
I am not trained in elementary ed., but I once had an ed. university elementary ed. dept head basically give me the invite to work in this area and he sent me the message that elementary ed. was “where it’s at” for building kids. If I’d had this person as a mentor early in my professional work, surely I would have followed his lead. In this era of high-performance pressure demands, I have to wonder what goes on in the elementary schools. I wouldn’t know, I haven’t spent any time in one but it seems that this public mood or anti-intellectualism or whatever, a vast amount of elementary ed kids are getting good formation. I’ve seen lots and lots of middle schoolers who find writing between the margins of a piece of lined paper to be an unacceptable demand. Seems to me, routinely, more than half of the kids at many public middle schools do not know their multiplication tables. This makes for a nightmare when the performance demands placed on middle school expect them to do fractions and geometry. I am advocating the spread around the performance misery, but it seems like the elementary schools are getting a free pass before the testing and accountability rituals that are heavily applied to middle schools.
Private Citizen
October 18th, 2012
11:40 am
- a few typos, left out words, but you get the idea. I think a good and positive approach might be “What is a child expected to be able to do academically by 5th grade?” and go from there. The expectation pattern gets set in elementary school before many middle school students roll into middle school playing “big time” and still repelling basic academic work skills.
Another comment
October 18th, 2012
11:48 am
I believe that I have figured it out Errol, McDaniel and crew are worried that down the road especially with the new school being built that NAHS will retail too many white well off families and loose the Title one money. Let’s do a little detective work, they need some of us to bring up the SAT numbers, the Iowa test numbers, the CRTS numbers. Look at the numbers 50 percent of the Buchead families from the elementary schools decided to stay on with APS and go to Sutton.
Over 50 percent Free and reduced lunch is that magic number for getting title one funds. Well, I will tell you this white Buckhead follks do not just fill out those fill out those free lunch applications with the numbers to be put in later by some one at the school. Most white folks have been completely naive about the whole free lunch title one correlation thing.
Now when you see the rezoning Buckhead with the business community behind them to keep the lines up North not swooping down South as Erroll wanted. Errol and Mcdaniels along with hench sister Walden were afraid that too many higher income whites that live in Buckhead would actual start going to the new school. Then fear is they would loose their additional title 1 funding.
There should be smaller one district high schools, so those who live in the actual zoned area of the district can actually go to the district. Not all of us, who live in a high income neighborhood have the extra $22k per child per year. That is $44 to 66 k to 2-3 kids which means you have to make over $250k to do the tuition or have rich parents to pay the tuition, or in th case or the International School corporate sponsorship. Some of us don’t have that but want to live in town and don!t qualify for aide. Most of the people who get aide are public school teachers.
Prof
October 18th, 2012
12:02 pm
@ Mrs. Norman Maine, October 17th, 11:20 pm: “@2 Decades, please stop over-dramatizing this situation. Davis cleaned house and put in his own people. It happens all the time in the real world.”
By the “real world,” you seem to mean the business world. That is very different from the context of this situation, which is taking place in the world of public education that is massively supported by state and federal taxpayers’ funds. The world of public education is also governed by laws and rules not faced by the business world… such as those imposed by SACS for accreditation.
And for those saying that this is simply a political power-play by Superintendent Davis, you might consider also the role of Reuben McDaniels, chair of the Atlanta School Board, who injected race into this NAHS situation some time ago.
Southside Parent
October 18th, 2012
12:14 pm
@Andrea Zazi: Thank you for continuing to return to the facts. Your comments have helped me think through the events. I agree MyGrant unnecessarily increased the drama.
@Maureen: Yes, NAHS can meets of students at a variety of levels. It’s not Laura Ingalls in a one room school on the prairie. Between APS, grants, Title I, volunteer hours, their powerful lobby for great treatment from APS, & school based fundraising efforts, they are one of the better resourced schools in America. They can have some portion of their staff who are experts at getting the best out of the kids who struggle.
Chris Murphy
October 18th, 2012
12:44 pm
Andrea Zazi doesn’t know “facts.” MyGrant was let go out of his interim contract early- in the vernacular, that’s called getting “fired”- despite being asked (read: begged) 3 times to come back and fill the position until a replacement could come in. They treated him like a yo-yo.
It *is* a fact that NAHS does better with minority students than the other schools in APS; see the analysis, above.
RW
October 18th, 2012
12:51 pm
Since this has become a conversation about race, affluence, geographies, etc, I think it is important for me to provide all of that up front in my comments–I am black, have a senior at NAHS and another at Sutton, am a director of a regional division of a major corporation. We live in the “Bolton Area” in a nice home.My NAHS senior is a very intelligent leader, with more average academic performance and started at NAHS as an Admin transfer as a freshman prior to us moving his junior year. My other son in 8th grade at Sutton. This is the first year there and came from a “lower performing school” according to the charts, however, was exposed to a more academically rigorous environement, but at an APS school facing other challenges.
With that said, we all know all of the stats and what the educational “norms” would look like for the races, and incomes and geographies, etc. North Atlanta is a reflection of the world we live in and that alone is one of the factors that make it incredible–multiple income levels, races, etc. We need to not ignore that we should be more inclusive of everyone and not function as just a “Buckhead Private School Alternative”. Money and real estate shouldn’t be the currency of success. Programs should be geared to pulling more students together to take advantage of what stregths our varying backgrounds provide beyond SAT scores and academic preparation from Sutton. Parents can pay for better test results through enrolling in classes like Princeton Review, which they themselves say the SAT scores as a measure of collegiate aptitude are “flawed” and scores are “coachable” (keep in mind, that is with a minimum investment of several hundred to $1k+ dollars and many hours of extra time). Academics can be improved with tutoring and invovlement from academically successful parents. Resources and informational advantage can be garnered from being well informed by parent networks and the ability to be engaged at the school regularly. Having a “safety net” and “helicopters” are very valuable. It is wonderful that many parents are able to offer some degree of these advantages to their students and it would be a travesty if parents didn’t leverage their financial, time and intellectual resources. But let’s not stop there and consider this a “haves and have nots” situation. If we looked at this truly as a “Community” or “Village” regardless of where you come from BEFORE you get to the NAHS campus, we should be clamoring to try and leverage the personal wealth each of these students be more successful (beware parents–you may even learn a lot from “those” not in your circle) The skills I am referring to are adaptability, resillence, self-reliance, resource management, culture emersion, pooling, survival against odds, risk-taking without a safety net, bi-lingual-fluency, logistics, problem solving, etc–you get my idea.
Since NAHS is so unique, let’s embrace that and function differently–more inclusively–the cookie cutter PTAs and NAPPS, etc may not be the best way to leverage our community’s positive & diverse attributes.
Let’s not keep blineders on–Racism & Classism does exist everywhere in every community–go to an elite all-white private school and heritage, “old” and “new” money and where you “summer” becomes the currency. Go to an all black school and the same exists with different criteria. It is a part of nature.
For the record–What APS did to our students based on the reasons given didn’t model or reflect leadership skills taught in any academic environment–regardless if sometimes inappropriately done in business and government. Poor communication and lack of respect for the stakeholders. I believe there are incidents that occurred that may have caused the team to not be cohesive–so instead collaborate instead of dictate. Take on the tough issues head-on to resolve them and grow in the process. If no wrong doing was done that allows the administrators to hold equivalent positions elsewhere–then it would have been the ideal time for the new principal to showcase his exemplary leadership by observing and making adjustments based on his experience with the team. The outcome may have been the same–but let him decide that.
Based on how it was handled, I am looking forward to seeing the “Dream Team” of folks that are going to come in with the “flawless personalities” and “perfect professional behavior”. The expectations have just gotten a lot higher (not that they shouldn’t), but because of this MASSIVE MISTAKE in execution, the scrutiny of the soon-to-be-named team is going to be intense.
Selfishly, maybe it can all be worked out this year, tweaked over the summer so my 8th grader will not have to be disrespected by APS the way my senior is being right now.
ps–I really appreciate the time taken by the forensic accountant to take a deeper look.
Andrea Zazi
October 18th, 2012
1:45 pm
I agree with much of what you say RW, but I do think if the new principal came in and wanted to replace folks with his own team, he would immediately have been vilified and rendered ineffective because of that.
I guess the orginal question remains, were the old NAHS an effective team for the entire school?
It appears that they were not. So I cannot argue with the decision made.
Kris
October 18th, 2012
2:07 pm
Thank you Maureen for your great reporting on this story. Please keep on. There seems to be so much brewing underneath the surface that needs to be brought out in the open. I predict this will be a story of national interest. While APS has been humiliated due the cheating scandal, it seems cheating really has been happening widely across the country and is yet to be exposed. There is wide dysfunction and need for reform and mindset change.