United States District Court, D. Arizona
SPECIAL MASTER'S REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION WITH
RESPECT TO BORTON AND BOOTH-FICKETT MAGNET
SCHOOLS
Borton
Overview
The
Special Master identified Borton as a magnet school that did
not meet the criteria for sustaining its magnet status
because of the substantial achievement gaps in the school.
The school is integrated and attracts about 70% of its
students from beyond its neighborhood. Overall, Borton
students achieve an acceptable rate as compared to the
District average. So, what is the problem? The immediate
environment of the school is characterized by low income
housing, including a housing project. Research on magnet
schools shows that families that send their children to
schools other than their nearest school are, on average,
better educated than those who do not make that choice. Thus,
Borton serves a broad range of students from different
socioeconomic conditions which, in turn, are highly
correlated with student achievement in most schools. This
variation in socioeconomic backgrounds of students is a major
contributor to the achievement gap. In order to narrow the
gap, additional resources will be needed that are focused on
the lower achieving students. In addition, during the 2017-18
school year 7 of 19 teachers were beginning teachers.
While
the Borton plan for improvement is as good or better than
that of some other magnets, the plan does not address
directly the fundamental problem. To address the achievement
gap specifically, Borton needs, at least, an instructional
coach in mathematics. Borton has such an expert on site for
reading.
It is
also the case that the class-size at Borton will average 25
next year, which is higher than some magnets. Having a coach
/master teacher with expertise in mathematics instruction to
work with teachers, especially newer teachers, in smaller
classes particularly in the early grades, would have a high
probability of substantially increasing the achievement of
the lowest performing students.[1]
Recommendation
The
Special Master recommends that the Court confirm that Borton
will not lose its magnet status contingent upon the addition
of a master teacher/coach assigned to Borton for at least two
years.
Booth-Fickett
Overview
Booth-Fickett
is an integrated K-8 school magnet school. Nonetheless, the
Special Master identified Booth-Fickett as one of the magnet
schools where academic performance and other challenges
warranted increased support from the District in order to
maintain its magnet status. Since the Special Master's
report regarding Booth-Fickett, the District has provided the
school with substantial support. In addition, the District
has developed a partnership with one of the leading
technology-rich curriculum providers - Amplify - whereby the
District will contribute its expertise in culturally
responsive pedagogy and will, in return, receive from Amplify
its curriculum (that aligns with District and state
standards).
Working
out the details of this potentially exciting partnership and
the implementation procedures will, no doubt, take some time
this school year. The Special Master believes that the
partnership will significantly strengthen the capacity of
Booth-Fickett to enrich its Science, Technology, Engineering
and Mathematic (STEM) magnet theme and is an opportunity for
the District to share its expertise in culturally responsive
pedagogy on a national level.
The
sooner the staff of Booth-Fickett and the families that have
enrolled their students there can be confident that the
school is moving forward as a magnet school implementing a
highly regarded technology-rich curriculum, the sooner the
school can arrest the loss of students that occurred recently
and attract new students.
Recommendation
The
Special Master recommends that the Court affirm that
Booth-Fickett will not be losing its magnet status.
CERTIFICATE
OF SERVICE
I
hereby certify that on February 11, 2019, I electronically
submitted the foregoing via the CM/ECF Electronic
Notification System and transmittal of a Notice of Electronic
Filing provided to all parties ...