Alexandria’s schools chief aims to raise the city’s low graduation rate by offering struggling students a new education experience that is self-paced, flexible and largely online.
But Superintendent Morton Sherman’s plan involves revamping adult education, and that has ignited a firestorm of resistance. Critics worry that the new focus on young adults will shrivel services for older GED seekers, many of whom are African American, and for immigrants learning English.
School Days 2011-12
“We’re definitely for the expansion of programs that will get more students of color engaged so they can finish and graduate with a diploma and be able to advance their careers,” said John Chapman, president of the local NAACP branch. “But we don’t want it to be on the back of another program that’s going to be equally supportive of older individuals.”
In 2010, poor test scores among some students at the city’s lone public high school, T.C. Williams, earned it a “persistently lowest-achieving” designation from the federal Department of Education. Since then, officials have redoubled efforts to lift student performance.
But large achievement gaps remain in Alexandria’s system, which has 12,400 students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. More than 90 percent of white and Asian students graduated on time in 2011 — a rate that exceeds the statewide average for all students.
But 79 percent of black students graduate on time. The rate for Latinos is even lower; two-thirds earn a diploma within four years. Of Virginia’s 132 school systems, 19 have a lower overall graduation rate.
“The statistics are jarring, and have been jarring for 40 years or more,” Sherman told the city’s school board Dec. 15. “We need to change what we do as a school district in order to support those students.”
He wants to recapture students who have drifted away from T.C. Williams and offer them a chance to earn a diploma in a new setting.
His plan calls for four satellite campuses spread around the city. They would be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and students juggling other obligations — such as work or child care — could drop in at their convenience.
The option would be restricted to students ages 15 to 22. Courses would be delivered via computer by a subsidiary of K12 Inc., a Herndon-based company that operates virtual schools nationwide. Certified Alexandria teachers would be on hand to offer instruction and motivation.
Elsewhere in Virginia, Hampton and Richmond have adopted a similar model to serve kids at risk of dropping out. From Georgia to Washington state, more and more schools are using a blend of online and classroom learning to teach hard-to-reach kids, said Susan Patrick of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, an industry trade group.
But to make way for the satellite centers, Sherman has proposed several changes to existing programs for older students.
School systems are required under state law to provide basic-skills courses for adults without a high school diploma. Alexandria has offered such classes since 1969. Last year, according to a consultant’s report, the system spent about $1.3 million to serve about 1,200 students in myriad adult-ed classes.
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