Across the nation, urban school systems are turning to local universities to help them reform low-performing schools. This week, we explore a new partnership between the Baltimore City Public School System and Towson University to turn around five elementary/middle schools: Cherry Hill, Patapsco, Arundel, Carter Woodson and Morrell Park. Towson has been involved in running Morrell Park this school year. The new oversight for all five schools will begin this summer.

Answering reader and Sun staff questions about the partnership are: Raymond Lorion, dean of Towson's College of Education; Jeffrey Grotsky, a former city schools official who now oversees the partnerships for Towson; and Linda Chinnia, the school system's chief academic officer. Lorion and Chinnia will co-chair a new governing board overseeing the five schools. Several education non-profits have signed on as partners in the effort, to provide services ranging from after-school and summer school programs to literacy and math training for teachers.  

Q: What changes can families and staff at the five partnership schools expect to see in the 2007-2008 academic year?

A: All elements of the curriculum across pre-kindergarten through eighth grade will be coordinated and consistent across the five schools, and will comply with the state's voluntary curriculum standards and the city school system's curriculum. Teachers and support staff will participate in a planned sequence of professional development experiences to enhance the quality and effectiveness of their instruction. They will be trained in June in "professional learning communities" (working collaboratively with colleagues to enhance student learning) and become members of a professional learning community. With the expertise provided to these five schools by the partners, we expect to have detailed information about each child's educational needs and will work to obtain and apply the supplemental activities needed to optimize each child's learning. We expect to hold regular information sessions for parents so they understand the reasons for the learning approaches we will use and so they can help us to understand what supports they (the parents) need to support the learning process. There will be opportunities for parents and community members to help develop programs and participate in the schools on an regular basis.

We also expect that year one will be somewhat of a development year with increased efficiency and effectiveness with each passing year; however, we expect to see significant gains in achievement in all five schools. By year two, teachers and principals will have worked together in the professional learining community, and we will see greater gains and expect to develop stronger parent support and increasing levels of parent involvement.

Q: One reader wrote in asking if Towson "is making a profit running city schools." What compensation, if any, will the university receive? And how will the university benefit from the partnership?

A: The University Partner Schools will actually be operated by a governing board with Towson University as its fiscal agent. The governing board will receive funding from the Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) as well as other sources (e.g., the Maryland State Department of Education, private foundations) to support services provided to the schools. In most cases, Towson must commit "in-kind" support to receive funds. In other words, Towson will be dontating the services of some of its faculty and staff as well as the involvement of its students. During the 2006-2007 academic year, for example, Towson donated more than 100 desk-top computers to University Partner Schools.

The university will benefit because the partnership provides an opportunity for Towson to meet its public obligations as Maryland's "Metropolitan University." It also provides opportunities for faculty to learn first-hand the needs of teachers and students in urban schools and to study ways to improve their respective success, and for Towson education students to have carefully supervised experiences in studying and responding to children's educational and developmental needs. With the university's involvment in University Partner Schools, staff will gain first-hand experience in how to enhance the training of teachers in urban schools and make adjustments as appropriate. Having more Towson student interns in the schools raises the chance that new teachers will choose to work in Baltimore City public schools.

Q: How will the funding of the five schools compare with what regular city schools receive, and with what city charters are scheduled to receive under the new funding formula approved by the school board?

A: The University Partner Schools are public city schools and, as such, receive all local, state and federal funds for which city schools are eligible. The schools will also benefit from the additional resources and services provided by the partners and private funders.

A: Teacher transfers were both voluntary (i.e., at the request of the teacher) and involuntary (i.e., at the request of the principal). Personnel decisions were made by the principals in each of the five schools in compliance with the Baltimore Teachers Union (BTU) contract and with BCPSS policies. In response to expressed concerns, the chief academic officer (Linda Chinnia) met with the BTU president to confirm that approrpaite procedures were followed. Teachers who wished to have decisions about them reviewed were invited to do so.

Q: How will members of the governing board be selected?

A: The governing board will be chaired by the school system's chief academic officer (Chinnia) and co-chaired by the dean of Towson's College of Education (Lorion). Other members will represent groups including partners, school improvement teams, principals, teachers, parents and community members. Each of these stakeholder groups will select its own representative to the board.