School Funding CenterCentral source of expertise on school improvement issues

Vanessa Tesoriero lost her hearing at age 17, which was all the more challenging due to a great love of music. “I grew up playing the piano, flute, guitar, and singing,” Tesoriero said in an interview for the Homeroom Blog. “Music was a huge part of my life.” But instead of giving up her favorite activities, this obstacle was surmounted with a fierce determination and desire to help others in the Deaf community and beyond.

Tesoriero decided to turn her frustration into inspiration. The motivation behind Tesoriero’s teaching stemmed from wanting a deeper understanding of her own disability.  Driven to find the answers, in college, she learned sign language and studied audiology, speech pathology, and linguistics.  She soon grew to love teaching others, which eventually led her to become a teacher and later brought her to Department of Education in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services.

She attended Columbia University’s Teachers College, studying Deaf Education. Upon graduating she went on to teach at a state school for the deaf in Brooklyn, later moving to the New York City Public School system to teach at the city’s only public school for the deaf.

“I always wanted to share music with my students – even though some skeptics would ask why I would want to teach music to deaf children. It seemed almost ironic, but my students love dance, vibration, and music. Everyone loves music!”

While teaching, Tesoriero directed the school musical, “Free to Be You and Me”, striking a chord with both the hearing and deaf students of the school, as it “brought the whole community together” with a compilation of songs, poetry, skits and dance. Based on the book by Marlo Thomas and Friends, the essence of the play focused upon promoting individuality and comfort with your identity.

“It was a showcase of everyone’s talents, and the students loved it. I played the piano while the children sang, signed and danced. It gave these children a sense of confidence that some weren’t necessarily experiencing in the classroom academically. It really opened up opportunities for kids to shine in other ways.”

Inside Tesoriero’s classroom, learning exercises accompanied the similar theme of inclusion and promotion of self-identity. Using “open-ended” approaches, she allowed the students to be creative and approach problems differently.

“I wanted to open their minds to the value of differences, promote respect, tolerance, and cooperation in showing them that being different can be a thing.”

Tesorieros experience in the classroom continues to play an important role in her job at the Department of Education. After her recent completion of the Administration Program for Special Education Leaders at Johns Hopkins University, Tesoriero now finds herself at ED as the Small Business Innovation Research Program Specialist at the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation Research.

She oversees grantees who are researching and developing cutting-edge technologies and products that focus on helping people with disabilities. With views as a consumer, advocate, and educator, Tesoriero is excited to be part of the process, as she understands just how important these kinds of developments are.

Catherine Tracy

African-American and Hispanic students in Kalamazoo Public Schools are underperforming the state average for minorities, says a new report that says Michigan students in all socioeconomic categories have lost ground to the peers across the nation since 2003.

The report by Education Trust – Midwest, a nonprofit nonpartisan research organization that advocates for Michigan students, was released this week and includes an analysis of state and national assessment test scores.

The report focuses on the gap between white and minority students in Michigan, as well as a comparison of Michigan students compared to other states.

Among the findings:

– In the fourth-grade reading test administrated for the Michigan Educational Assessment Program  in October 2010, about 69 percent of African-Americans statewide were rated as proficient in reading  compared to 63 percent in KPS.  Kalamazoo black students passed at a higher rate than their peers in Grand Rapids, Flint, Benton Harbor and Detroit, but below Lansing, Jackson and Battle Creek.  The passage rate for white students was 88 percent statewide and 89 percent in KPS.

– In the MEAP’s 2010 eighth-grade math test, 69 percent of Hispanics statewide were rated as proficient compared to 66 percent in KPS. Among white students, the passage rate was 84 percent statewide and 86 percent in Kalamazoo.

– On the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests, which are taken by a representative sampling of students nationwide every two years, Michigan ranking has fallen since 2003. In 2003, Michigan fourth-graders ranked 27th in math and 28th in reading. In 2011, Michigan fourth-graders had fallen to 35th in reading and 41st in math. The reason for the slippage in rank: Other states improved their NAEP scores while Michigan scores stayed flat.

– Michigan’s African-American fourth-graders rank last among black students in  50 states on the NAEP’s 2011 fourth-grade reading test and Michigan white students rank 36th among their white peers on that test.

“Michigan now consistently ranks near the bottom in most subjects and grades,” the Ed Trust report said. “Since 2003, our position relative other states has declined.

“So why has our ranking declined? The conventional wisdom in Michigan holds low-income and black and brown students responsible for our state’s low average — and assumes middle-class and white students are doing just fine,” the report said. “Indeed, this belief is so prevalent that state educational leaders and policymakers have been known to say, ‘If it wasn’t for our urban and poor students, we would be doing a lot better.

“Not only is this belief based on dated stereotypes, it also is patently false,” the report  said. “Yet it is used to justify inaction on improving our state’s schools.”

Ed Trust’s “recipe for reform” includes high-quality teachers in every classroom; better alignment of the curriculum to state and national standards; ensuring that low-income students have adequate support systems and cultural enrichment, and “transforming school culture.”

KPS scores

The low achievement levels of Kalamazoos minority students fits with other data that suggest the local minority community is one of the most distressed in Michigan.

Kalamazoo County has the highest rate of black teen pregnancy among Michigans 83 counties and a 2009 U.S. Census report estimated that 93 percent of single mothers with children under the age of 5 in the city of Kalamazoo live below the poverty line a higher rate than Detroit or Flint.

In 2010, almost 86 percent of KPS black students qualify for the subsidized lunch program, compared to 79 percent of Detroit students and 46 percent of KPS white students.

About 46 percent of KPS students are African-American, 39 percent are white and about 10 percent are Hispanic. A majority of Kalamazoos white students are middle-class.

Under Superintendent Michael Rice, KPS has launched a broad and aggressive array of reforms to improve outcomes.

The district has improved its preschool program, launched all-day kindergarten, overhauled its elementary math and literacy curriculums, beefed up its summer school and after-school programs, changed its secondary schedules so that students spend more time in core subjects, implemented a new homework policy, mandated a double dose of math and/or English language arts for middle school students who are below grade level and has greatly expanded enrollment of Advanced Placement courses in high schools.

In the past few years, KPS scores have been inching upwards. Results from the MEAP administered in fall 2011 have not yet been released.

Two new residence halls will be built on the north end of Wake Forest University’s campus, pending approval from the board of trustees at its February meeting.

If the trustees approve the project, officials will move quickly to begin construction, with the goal of having the residence halls ready for students by fall 2013, said Jim Alty, the associate vice president for facilities and campus services.

The residence halls, which would each measure 75,000 square feet, would be built on 10 acres between a large parking lot off Wake Forest Road and the Polo Residence Hall.

Alty declined to say how much the project would cost.

Trustees are expected to vote on the project at their meeting on Feb. 1 and 2.

The residence halls would add a combined 480 beds, fulfilling a need to provide more on-campus living space for students, said Donna McGalliard, the dean of residence life and housing.

Under a policy that began with this year’s freshman class, students are required to live on campus for three years, a move that officials hope will discourage students from leaving campus for social events and build community on campus.

Other schools, including Duke and Vanderbilt, have similar residency requirements.

“Research proves that having more of your population live with you creates a greater sense of vibrancy on campus,” McGalliard said. “Upperclassmen can act as role models for students younger than them. It’s about being engaged not just academically but out of the classroom as well.”

The new residence halls would be for upperclassmen, creating an intentional geographical divide with freshmen who live on the south end of campus, she said.

Many sophomores live in residence halls on the main quad in the central part of the campus.

In response to input from students, the new residence halls would be suite-style rooms for groups of four, six or eight people, McGalliard said.

“You do get to live with friends in smaller areas as opposed to those long hallways, which are great for building community for first-year students, but as students progress, they want to live with a smaller friendship group,” she said.

The spot that was chosen for the planned residence halls comes from the university’s master plan, which identified potential building areas on campus.

To serve the students who may one day live in the new residence halls, a new dining hall may be added, but that idea is still being explored, McGalliard said.

If the project is approved, it would represent another shift in the landscape on the campus’s north side. Farrell Hall, the new business school, is also expected to be ready for the start of the 2013-14 school year. The 120,000-square-foot building will be near the Polo Road entrance to the school.

Dudley Goodlette is a longtime Naples resident, attorney and public servant, but on today he accepted a short-term position that could be among his most challenging jobs.

Goodlette, 63, signed a contract to serve as interim president at Edison State College, starting Saturday and running through Aug. 1. He will earn $16,667 monthly, equivalent to an annual base salary of $200,000, plus an $800 monthly vehicle allowance.

Goodlette is heading Edison as it makes a last-ditch effort to avoid sanctions from its accrediting agency, a decision that comes in June, and expedite a much-needed national accreditation for the baccalaureate nursing program. The college expects another cut in state funding, a shortfall that could be magnified if a slight enrollment decrease intensifies.

The most pressing issue, though, could be restoring Edison States image. It took a hit in 2011 after a string of revelations exposed a practice of graduating students who didnt complete required courses, lavish spending of executives and a bitter battle between faculty and administration.

The quality of the education here has not diminished at all, Goodlette said. Its the character of the institution that has been challenged.

Goodlette moved to Naples at 6, and recalls hearing in junior high about Edison Junior College, its name back then, opening in Southwest Florida. That was 50 years ago. Now, after decades of experience in business, government and the not-for-profit sector, Goodlette believes he can redirect Edison back toward its mission of changing lives for the better.

I think I can provide leadership, he said. I think I can provide collaboration.

Goodlette also provides a recognizable name and face to start the colleges healing process, and those local ties are what trustees cited in choosing him over higher education consultant Kathie Sigler. Both were recommended by Randy Hanna, chancellor of the Florida College System, and answered a half-dozen questions during brief interview sessions Saturday.

Board members spent little time debating the merits of each candidate, though, selecting Goodlette with a 7-0 vote; trustee Julia Perry was absent and another seat is vacant. But the board didnt want to bid adieu to Sigler, debating whether to offer her a position as interim executive vice president or provost to handle academic and operation issues while Goodlette worked on legislative matters and image building.

I just think that would be a dynamite team, trustee Chris Vernon said.

No offer was made, and Sigler later told The News-Press she declines being considered for an alternate role.

I would not be comfortable doing it with a division of responsibilities, said Sigler, who previously worked as president of Miami Dade Colleges medical campus. They need one leader who is responsible for all of the issues.

Experience

Goodlette is best known as an attorney and state representative, serving from 1998 to 2006. He was on the Florida Gulf Coast University Foundations board of directors from 1994 to 2007, and on FGCUs presidential search committee in 2007. He was a member of Edisons Board of Trustees from 1990 to 1994, selecting Kenneth Walker as president in 1991. Walker has been on paid suspension since Nov. 29 as the college builds a termination case, and Charlotte Campus President Patricia Land was acting president for the past six weeks.

Florida law limits public colleges and universities from paying presidents more than $200,000 in salary and benefits from public funds. Because Walker remains on Edisons payroll, according to vice president of financial services Gina Doeble, Goodlettes salary must derive from private donations or auxiliary funds, which include revenue from the bookstore, cafeteria and facility rentals. Trustees ordered Goodlettes salary be withdrawn from $1.4 million thats sitting in a board-designated reserve fund, which is separate from the colleges overall reserve fund.

In addition to his paycheck, Goodlette will receive five paid personal days through his initial term, plus sick days, vacation leave, health insurance and retirement benefits available to other employees. He will not be paid for unused sick or vacation days after ending his appointment, and Goodlette agreed not to pursue the post on a permanent basis.

Trustees on Saturday also reviewed materials submitted by three potential presidential search firms, but have asked each consultant to have a representative present at their Jan. 24 meeting. The firm, trustees and Goodlette will be crafting a presidential profile and launch a national search, with a target start date of Aug. 1.

As an outsider to higher education, Goodlette isnt proposing any immediate changes at Edison, but plans to spend the next two weeks speaking to everyone with a stake in Edisons future before developing his to-do list.

I have to get a better sense of where we are before I know where were going, Goodlette said.

The Board of Trustees has approved a contract with Dudley Goodlette that runs today through Aug. 1. Beyond that term, the contract continues on a month-to-month basis, with both parties required to provide a 30-day notice to terminate the contract.

Goodlette will earn $16,667 monthly, along with an $800 monthly vehicle allowance. He also will have five paid personal days at his disposal, plus receive health and retirement benefits eligible to other employees.

11:23 a.m. - Dudley Goodlette tentatively has agreed to accept the position of interim president at an annual rate of $200,000, although he likely will only serve six to eight months. Goodlette and general counsel Mark Lupe have left the board room to draft a contract, which will be approved later today.

Meanwhile, three presidential search firms will send representatives to the Board of Trustees meeting on Jan. 24, when trustees will choose one to help recruit, screen and sign a new president. The firms — Academic Search Inc. (Washington, D.C.), Pauly Group (Springfield, Ill.) and R. William Funk & Associates (Dallas) – were among nine firms that submitted proposals earlier this month. A four-member trustee committee narrowed the list on Thursday.

Trustee Marjorie Starnes-Bilotti estimates the total cost of the presidential search will fall around $100,000. The new president is expected to start work in July or August.

11:03 a.m. - Trustees have voted 7-0 to hire Dudley Goodlette as interim president at an annual base salary of $200,000, plus up to $25,000 for benefits such as vehicle and development allowances.

The board plans to consult with Goodlette on the hiring of Kathie Sigler as a second-in-command. They have yet to ask Sigler if she would accept that role.

Although the board has selected Goodlette and made a salary offer, he has not yet agreed to the deal or signed a contract.

10:05 a.m. -The Board of Trustees have heard from both candidates, but they may not choose one today. They could choose two.

Trustee Chris Vernon proposed hiring Dudley Goodlette as interim president to develop connections in the community and Tallahassee, but also hiring Kathie Sigler as a second-in-command or interim provost to oversee academics and daily operations.

I just think that would be a dynamite team and I think people would embrace them, Vernon said.

Several other trustees have chimed in, agreeing the college should hire both. They havent discussed job titles, duties or salaries yet, but general counsel Mark Lupe said trustees expect to have a contract signed today.

10:04 a.m. - Kathie Sigler, of Miami, retired in 2006 as provost and chief operating officer at Miami Dade College, but quickly returned to serve as president of its medical center campus. She now is president of Higher Education & Technology Consultants.

Sigler, too, sees much work ahead as Edison tries to repair its image before it can get back to the business at hand – changing students lives for the better. A big pressing issue, she said, is responding to 14 violations cited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, which is Edisons accrediting body.

We have a very short period of time in order to get the SACS response done, Sigler said. That, and the nursing accreditation, are both doable.

She wants the college to begin telling positive, success stories, and says improving Edisons reputation is something staff and trustees must focus on day after day after day after day. Sigler also encouraged college employees not to let accreditation struggles get them down, even if SACS requirements are causing them much stress.

They are not an organization that is trying to put schools out of business, Sigler said.

9:49 a.m. - Dudley Goodlette, of Naples, said hes interested in the position of interim president to help Edison State settle some matters before the new president is installed.

Ive had an interest in this institution since junior high, said Goodlette, who moved to Collier County at age six.

Goodlette started by acknowledging the strengths of the other candidate, Kathie Sigler, who has spent her career in higher accreditation and is familiar with academics, college operations and accreditation. What he brings, Goodlette said, is knowledge of the community and issues impacting the college, as well as an outside perspective.

I think I can provide leadership, said Goodlette, who served eight years in the Florida House. I think I can provide collaboration,

Goodlette, an attorney, was a member of Edisons Board of Trustees from 1990 to 1994, serving at the time Kenneth Walker was selected as president. Goodlette also was a community representative on the search committee that chose Wilson Bradshaw at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Goodlette said Edison remains a strong institution, but needs to repair the colleges image in the community after a series of problems unraveled in 2011.

Restoring integrity is vitally important, he said.

8:57 a.m. update - The Board of Trustees at Edison State College has convened this morning for a special meeting and orientation workshop.

The biggest item on todays agenda is selecting an interim president. Two candidates – former state representative Dudley Goodlette and higher education consultant Kathie Sigler – will interview for 30 minutes each. The interim is expected to serve until a new president is seated in July or August.

Board members also will hear an update about three firms vying to lead a national search, but no decision will be made until Jan. 24.