Roosevelt on the rise - a slogan and a reality

Roosevelt on the rise - a slogan and a reality

Sustainable practices should continue the progress made since receiving the grant last year

By Marit Tegelaar

It has been well over a year since Roosevelt High School received a $7.7 million dollar federal turnaround grant. Roosevelt received more money than any other Oregon school or school district combined, and for good reasons. Roosevelt High School, serving predominantly minority students from low SES families, has long been struggling with low test-scores and graduation rates. Within three years of receiving the grant, the school has to develop into a go-to school that will meet the needs of the North-Portland community.

In 2010, the Oregonian reported that Roosevelt’s on-time graduation rate was only 39 percent for that academic year, much lower than the 66 percent state percentage. The discrepancy between Roosevelt students’ meeting academic benchmarks and the statewide percentage was even larger. This year, only 42% of students met or exceeded grade 10 reading standards, compared to 83% of students state wide.

The grant allowed Roosevelt to hire 23 teachers, counselors and other support staff members. Literary coaches, technology coaches, reading intervention coaches, media specialists, and college career coordinators are all functions that had never existed at Roosevelt prior to receiving this grant. Saturday Academy for English language learners, extended hours, and extra summer school staff are all supposed to lead to dramatic changes in Roosevelt’s achievement.

Schools that accept grant money are required to replace the principal and vice principal, unless they were hired a year or less prior to the grant. Gregory Neuman was hired as Vice Principal at Roosevelt two years ago, just before it was announced that Roosevelt had won the grant. He was hired along with Principal Charlene Williams, who was pulled from her old job to help write the grant application and lead the way in the transformation of Roosevelt.

Neuman inherited the multitude of problems caused by a lack of funding to meet the needs of the many students who walk into the classroom with challenges, often related to poverty and the related psycho-social issues.

“Teachers in the past had to play so many roles: from counselors, to social workers, to mothers and fathers, to bus drivers,” Neuman explained. He believes that the lack of support staff and counselors were a major factor in the low graduation rates. “It used to be that if a student isn’t coming to school, they could pretty easily slip through the cracks. Everyone was so overwhelmed, they couldn’t grab every single kid.”

Neuman recognizes that there a lot of factors that go into graduation rates and test scores, especially at a school in a neighborhood plagued by poverty. “If a student doesn’t know where they are staying tonight, math isn’t gonna raise high on the bar,” Neuman said. Indeed, several of Roosevelt’s students make the commute from downtown Blanchet House ‘soup kitchen’ every single day.

Recently, the 2011 Oregon Department of Education report card came out, which showed significant gains in Roosevelt’s graduation rates and test scores, but still deemed the high school “in need of improvement”.

Carole Smith, Portland Public Schools Superintendent, spent a lot of time in North Portland and at Roosevelt prior to the grant. She has worked closely with both Principal Williams and Vice Principal Neuman and closely follows the developments at Roosevelt.  

In a phone interview, she praised Principal Williams, calling her a “phenomenal principal and leader,” and the hard work of the teachers and support staff. While satisfied with the progress made so far, she admitted that it is enough. But report card numbers are not the only things that matter, she added. “[The grant] gave the school an ability to infuse an additional layer to provide more support for children,” she said, referring to the work of counselors and other support staff which may or may not translate in higher graduation rates and improved test scores.

Neuman also believes Roosevelt is heading in the right direction but recognizes that the gains were not good enough. “We received double digit gains in our reading and mathematics scores,” he said, “but we never make as much improvement as we can.”

Focus on sustainable practice

Roosevelt has two more years to spend its money wisely. While Roosevelt does not have to meet any specific standards, such as a certain increase in the graduation rate or number of students who meet the state’s academic standards, Roosevelt does have to meet several other requirements to continue to receive the grant.

Most importantly, Roosevelt has to show sustainable practice. Jenni Villano, grant administrator at Roosevelt, crafted the spending of the grand in cooperation with Portland Public Schools. A 33-page document outlines the specific amounts that Roosevelt will be spending in each category for the next three years. The document also outlines whether each of these expenditures will be sustainable after the grant expires.

Portland Public Schools and the Oregon Department of Education pay close attention to Roosevelt’s use of the grant money. “We are scrutinized up, down, left, and right,” Neuman said. “With that kind of money, the spotlight is definitely on us.”

While it may seem like Roosevelt is spending most of its money on staff, this is not the case. “One thing we are very intentional about, as much as possible, is not spending money on personnel,” Neuman said.

The spending document clarifies that many of the new positions, mainly within the counseling department, are not sustainable. Some positions will be transferred to the District’s General Fund Budget, other positions will be phased out when the grant expires.

Examples of sustainable activities and expenditures are the creation of a new writing center and Roosevelt’s initiative to provide all students with iPads. Smith is proud of the iPad initiative, expressing the importance that all families have access to their own personal computer device.

One day, however, the grant will run out and while there are many sustainable practices in place, Smith is concerned about the future. “It is tough after you lose a resource,” she said. “It will be a shot in the arm. It’s impossible not to feel it.”

Neuman agreed with Smith. “That is one of the challenges of grant funding. It’s all well and good when the money is here, but when the money goes away, grant funding can be a house of cards.”

Angela Nusom, College and Career Transition Manager, is more optimistic about the future. She was hired upon receiving the grant to develop partnerships with colleges and to create support systems to help students get a higher education. So far, she has established a close relationship with Western Oregon University, who is now serving approximately 15 Roosevelt graduates. She is confident that this relationship, as well as relationships that she is developing with Portland State University and the University of Portland will continue to serve more and more students.

“I can’t serve that one kid that comes by, but I can create a system. We are serving 60 kids with my time as opposed to 1, 2, or three kids. And then we have counselors who can serve kids individually.

Nusom thinks that more and more colleges and business will reach out to Roosevelt and support the school’s efforts to provide more support for its students. The partnerships should demonstrate to Roosevelt’s students, many of whom are the first in their families to graduate high school, that they have a right to a higher education. If students feel valuable, Nusom explained, they will work hard and will take advantage of Roosevelt’s new resources to turn itself around.