Cardozo Senior High School in Northwest, like many DC public high schools, is a study in contrasts.

“We don't have books. The building is falling down around us,” Marie-Louise Ngo Mbock, a Cardozo student and member of the DC Youth Advisory Council, told the State Board of Education at a January roundtable on school reform.

Yet every year, Cardozo hosts an “Advanced Placement Reunion,” for graduates who completed AP classes. This past December, over 100 alumni participated, sharing their college experiences with current students. And, while teenagers all over town were sleeping-in on their parent-teacher-conference day of respite, 40 Cardozo students were at school at 9:00 a.m. to hear a presentation by Edward P. Jones, award-winning author and alumnus.

Like every other comprehensive public high school in DC, however, Cardozo has failed to meet “Adequate Yearly Progress” (AYP) for five years and is now in “restructuring” under federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation. In fact, only high schools with selective admission criteria – Banneker, Ellington, McKinley, and School without Walls – have consistently made AYP.

Tenth grade DC CAS scores – on which AYP for high schools is based – may be lower than NCLB benchmarks, many argue, but the timing of the exam means that scores reflect more about skills and challenges students bring to high school than about what they experience while there.

In particular, says English teacher Frazier O'Leary, the DC CAS cannot be telling the whole story about Cardozo, because, for example, in his long experience at the school almost all AP English students and most regular English students have enrolled in college after graduation.

Another contrast emerges as Cardozo struggles with a program of radical, school-based reforms – restructuring the schedule to create a mentoring period, reorganizing into smaller communities, implementing new approaches to learning and instruction, and working toward new codes of dress and behavior – while the decision-making timeline for NCLB restructuring may render their efforts moot.

The federal law offers five options for restructuring a school: replacing the school with a charter; “reconstituting” it (firing everyone and hiring a new staff); using a private management company – an option DCPS appears to be considering; takeover by the state; or an alternative, substantial change. Restructuring plans must be in place before the end of this school year, but Cardozo's new principal only came on board in July 2007, reforms are just taking hold, and the first test scores of her tenure will not be released until June.

“The fact that the [restructuring] decision will be made before the test results are due this year, is daunting for educators,” observes O'Leary.

A High School Reborn
With Dr. Gwendolyn Grant as principal, Cardozo has been on a path of what parent Karen Wills-Henry calls “rebirth.” Grant's tenure has had “a huge impact on the school,” says O'Leary. She has altered expectations, brought in professional development resources, and fostered collaboration among faculty members, says teacher Kerry Sylvia.

There was no active PTA, when Grant arrived, so she used the tools at hand – such as the DCPS “robo-calling” system, which allows schools to provide recorded information to families, via automated phone calls – and established a newsletter. Getting parents into the building has been a struggle for many reasons, Sylvia observes, so alternative methods of communication are important.

Grant focused some of her early energy on creating a safe environment for students and a more positive school culture. At a January roundtable on school reform, State Board of Education member Sekour Biddle asked high school students if they feel safe at school, Cardozo's Mbock responded, “This year, yes....Before Dr. Grant, no.”

Beginning in January, uniform dress was adopted and classes were re-organized by floor – one floor each for ninth and tenth; upper grades sharing a floor -- in order to reduce passing time, promote collaborative teaching, and foster community-building among students. Each morning begins with a 35-minute “mentoring” home room each morning.

In addition to DC CAS-related skill building for ninth and tenth graders and a college-prep focus for upper grades, the mentoring period offers an informal opportunity to connect with students.

“It's first thing in the morning,” Sylvia notes. “So it's a chance to check in with students, help them get ready for their school day – do they have uniforms, notebooks, everything they need?”

And, after just weeks, results are already evident in Sylvia's homeroom: “Students used to come late,” she reports. “Now, more students come [period]. More students come on time. More wear uniforms... we're seeing a change.”

Willls-Henry says the reforms have been implemented by a joint effort of parents, teachers, staff, and community members. Reformers hope their efforts will show Chancellor Michelle Rhee, who is making restructuring decisions for all DCPS schools, that Cardozo is “ready, willing, and able to be part of [its] own restructuring,” says O'Leary.

DCPS, the State Board of Education, and NCLB
Rhee has said she will make decisions with input from school communities. It has not been clear how – or if – individual schools' on-going reform efforts will be incorporated into the plans, however.

“We don't know if the Chancellor is going to support our reforms, decide to bring in an outside company, or say, `Good-bye, we're going to let everyone go,'” says Sylvia. “All we know is what we read in the newspaper.”

Mafara Hobson, spokesperson for Rhee, said in mid-February that there is no overall vision of DCPS once its high schools are restructured, “because this is the planning year.” Rhee and Mayor Adrian Fenty held a press conference on Feb. 25 to announce the administration’s plan “to explore partnerships with external education entities to assist the [DCPS] in revamping schools in restructuring status.” Beyond this, Hobson says, no information will be available to the community “until the plan is finalized.”

“I've been involved in DCPS a long time. And even in the worst times,” Toyer sighs, “it wasn't as secretive. Parents could get information.”

“Restructuring could have been an opportunity for Rhee to engage parents,” Sylvia observes. And parental buy-in is essential to any change – from student dress to academic expectations. “Instead, by disengaging and alienating parents, she's increasing passivity.”

OSSE has stressed – in numerous communications – that restructuring plans must include a strong community involvement component, as required in the federal legislation.

Sylvia notes that the US Department of Education’s Non-Regulatory Guidance requires “an open and collaborative restructuring process, providing an opportunity for teachers to participate in the development of any restructuring plans." She has communicated this concern to OSSE, asking for their help in "ensuring that this collaboration starts happening." At press time, she had received no substantive response.

What Needs to Be Done
“What [Grant] is doing for this school is what needs to be done,” says O'Leary. “But we need a lot of help at Cardozo.”

Cardozo faces an array of challenges – from students who need, but do not receive, city services, to a building that needs, but has not received, renovation and repair.

Modernization scheduled for 2008 in the 2006 Master Facilities Plan has not materialized; O'Leary notes, however, “Allen Lew [director the city's Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization] came by and promised us air conditioning and electrical upgrades by spring,”

Meanwhile, Sylvia explains, “we are focusing our energy on improving the school.”

Questions Remain on New Curriculum
New requirements for all 10 restructuring high schools include:

• “English Extension” or “Enrichment” in addition to freshman English
  
• “Conceptual physics” or environmental science for freshman
  
• No foreign language for freshmen scoring below proficient in math and English
• Physical Education postponed to upper grades
  
• Establishment of ninth and tenth grade academies

Questions raised about this model have included: Is this arrangement equitable? Does it short-change some students?

Does it serve an educational benefit? Does it replace careful diagnostic evaluation with a one-size-fits-all prescription?

In addition, Ballou SHS Principal Karen Smith worries about what she calls an “implementation gap -- moving from paper to practice.” Will such a change require new lunch periods? More or different faculty? What are the space needs?

“The physical piece can sometimes kill a dream,” Smith observes.

“Because most people are focusing on the closings, this is flying in under the radar,” says long-time schools advocate Iris Toyer. Restructuring and other proposed changes are not being widely discussed, she says, but should be.