Schools once slated for closure are now demonstrating student achievement improvement 

• DPSCD has the largest number of Partnership Schools exit state program
• Progress reflects reform strategies made prior to the pandemic and continued work to minimize learning loss during the pandemic
• Continued improvement is expected with first full school year without the most challenging burdens of the pandemic

Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) Partnership Schools, those identified as lowest performing by the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), continue to make impressive and dramatic achievement improvement. DPSCD had 35 of 56 identified schools exit the lowest performing category this month. When originally identified as the lowest performing schools, the conversation at the state level was that the schools were required to close. The newly elected School Board at the time rejected that strategy and instead hired a proven reformer in Dr. Nikolai Vitti as the District’s first appointed Superintendent in over a decade. The School Board empowered the Superintendent to develop and implement plans to improve the Partnership Schools while monitoring their progress. Below is a list of the schools impacted. 

“Our reform focused on changing expectations that the challenge of student achievement in the lowest performing schools is not the fault of children. From there, we invested in new, standard-based curriculum that meets grade level expectations, trained teachers and leaders on that curriculum, developed systems to monitor student achievement and well-being, provided additional resources to schools to better intervene academically and socially with students who were falling behind, and ensured schools were better staffed with teachers and had the right principal,” said Nikolai Vitti, Superintendent, Detroit Public Schools Community District.  This work is difficult, but it is not impossible if you have a track record of improving student achievement, which our District team has. Our improvement results were clear before the pandemic and now is the time to get back to that work without excuses. Our students need us to stay focused on what matters most: their achievement and well-being. Our commitment is that they are loved, challenged, and prepared regardless of the school their families send them to. Our work is not done, and we have been excited to get back to the regular reform without the weight of COVID management.” 

“As a board member, I take pride in being able to say that one of our first acts as elected officials was to work with the Michigan Department of Education to avoid school closures,” said DPSCD Board President Angelique Peterson-Mayberry. “Just as we studied prior barriers that made learning challenging, we will take the time to study the impact of the pandemic and analyze the findings so we can work with the state to address how our students need support. We understood the importance of our student achievement levels and we will continue to work with a sense of urgency to continue the improvement post-COVID. On a policy level, we must move forward equitable state funding so our District and schools can receive the sustainable funding to scale and sustain our improvement results.” 

Although this is the fourth school index report, due to the pandemic, this also restarts the 3-year goal-setting process established through Partnership agreements. All partnership schools identified in this round will have new goals set for them under new guidelines. The District currently has 25 schools identified for intervention for the 2022-23 school year. The report, part of a MDE requirement, evaluates reform practices of school districts with low performing schools in underserved communities designated as Partnership Schools. Partnership schools were born out of the state’s call for drastic school closures while DPS was under state emergency management from 2009 -2016. 

The Partnership Model allows schools deemed in need of improvement to work collaboratively with MDE and Wayne RESA to provide a series of supports to schools.  Through this model, the identified schools completed a needs assessment and have worked towards the identified goals since that time.  Through proven school improvement strategies driven by district leaders who have a track record of improving low performing schools, these schools have seen consistent improvement.  The strategies used to ensure continued growth include:

Aligned instructional support through Wayne RESA.

Semester Instructional Rounds to review implementation growth and areas of concerns.

Dedicated district instructional personnel to provide ongoing instructional support.

Quarterly Data Meetings to review current data trends and plans for improvement.

Weekly instructional school walkthroughs with Deputy and/or Assistant Superintendent.

Superintendents observe instructional implementation and school-wide climate and culture initiatives.

Increased support during the pandemic including implementing the laptop program, opening Family Resource Hubs, and providing additional support to address behavioral and mental health needs. 

Prior to the pandemic, the report noted the District increased its high school graduation rate while highlighting the “dramatic decreases” in its high school dropout rate. Also, DPSCD Partnership schools were noted for improved math SAT scores as well as for non-test outcomes compared to similar school districts. One report leader hailed DPSCD’s overall gains as “impressive.” The District’s work with its lowest performing schools, namely its differentiated systems and processes of both support and accountability for the schools, has been repeatedly highlighted by the MDE.

DPSCD Schools Exiting Partnership  

Partnership Cohort Moving Forward