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Quaglia work will continue in city schools
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
A group that’s been working to bolster student achievement through improved city school climates will continue the work next year although some school board members aren’t convinced that the program is effective.
The city school board approved a $195,470 contract with the Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations. The money is coming from the district’s Title I funds, a federal program aimed at economically disadvantaged students, said Treasurer James Reinhard.
The Maine-based organization has been working in the schools since 2012. The state paid for the program, which aims to give students a voice in their schools as a way to foster improved academics, the first two years.
The school district received donations and coupled that with Title I dollars to cover the third year. Each year’s cost hovered at about $200,000.
A Quaglia report says improvements are occurring in most areas of the school district and lists increases in reading, writing and math scores over the last three years.
Quaglia’s report also pointed to the district’s choice programs, curriculum and administrative changes as contributing to the positive results.
“I fully support the progress they’re making in this area – cultural diversity, My Voice, trying to change the culture of the buildings,” said Douglas Hiscox, superintendent pro tempore. “There has been a change in the culture of all of the buildings that have the program.”
The upcoming school year is a maintenance year, he said. Teachers in each building are being trained in the concepts so they will be able to train new staff coming into the district. The 2016-17 school year should be the last year that Quaglia personnel work in the district regularly.
“The [academic] gains they talk about are the gains we’ve talked about from a district standpoint,” Hiscox said.
They aren’t large and the district would like to see bigger gains, but they are an improvement, he said.
Through the Q-Team, a group of students picked to lead each school’s Quaglia initiatives, Chaney persuaded Superintendent Connie Hathorn to eliminate school uniforms next year. The students argued that because Chaney is a specialty school, those enrolled should be able to express themselves in how they dress.
But not all school board members are sold on Quaglia’s merits.
Both Jackie Adair and Marcia Haire-Ellis voted against the resolution.
“All of the people who have come into our district ... we’ve spent almost $1 million with Quaglia and what have we gotten for it?” Adair said.
Adair said she wants to see data showing progress for students, and while a Quaglia representative delivered a report last month to the Youngstown City School District Academic Distress Commission, she believes that report was lacking.
“What do we have in terms of outcomes? ... What did they really say that was qualitative?” she said. “Nothing.”
Adair said her issue isn’t just with Quaglia. She’s concerned about what she sees as a lack of results from the many groups and consultants who have been hired to work in the district during the past several years.
“I’m not willing to approve another expenditure on hopes and dreams,” she said. “I’m not going to spend another dime to do research and/or [for someone to] tell us what we’ve been told before by EdFocus, Mosaica, KnowledgeWorks – let me count the ways. They’ve not provided the district with anything qualitative.”
She acknowledges that she’s just one vote on the school board, but she wants more accountability for all of the money spent on consultants and groups.
“You pay X amount of taxpayer dollars and what do you get for it?” Adair said. “When are we fiscally responsible to the taxpayers, to the students and primarily to the young people of this city?”