Spotlight on Aki Kurose
The Alliance for Education, by giving Mia Williams the Thomas B. Foster Award for Excellence, has put a spotlight on Aki Kurose. Let's take a look.
Aki Kurose was in Step 5 of No Child Left Behind when Ms Williams was installed as the principal there for the 2008-2009 school year. In Step 5 schools are supposed to either be closed (then re-invented and re-opened) or be "transformed". This transformation must include, at a minimum, the replacement of the principal. It can include replacement of all of the staff. It must, at a minimum, consists of a radical change in the school's operation. The only thing changed at Aki Kurose was the appointment of Ms Williams as principal and the extension of the school day by about fifteen minutes.
So how is that transformation coming along? It's not.
Here are the pass rates for Aki Kurose 8th graders on the state proficiency tests since Ms Williams became principal:
Is this a record that deserves an award? I don't think so. Aki Kurose, under Ms Williams' leadership, has seen
Aki Kurose was in Step 5 of No Child Left Behind when Ms Williams was installed as the principal there for the 2008-2009 school year. In Step 5 schools are supposed to either be closed (then re-invented and re-opened) or be "transformed". This transformation must include, at a minimum, the replacement of the principal. It can include replacement of all of the staff. It must, at a minimum, consists of a radical change in the school's operation. The only thing changed at Aki Kurose was the appointment of Ms Williams as principal and the extension of the school day by about fifteen minutes.
So how is that transformation coming along? It's not.
Here are the pass rates for Aki Kurose 8th graders on the state proficiency tests since Ms Williams became principal:
| Year | Reading | Math | Science |
| 2008-09 WASL | 63.7% | 38.6% | 34.6% |
| 2009-10 MSP | 51.7% | 34.8% | 30.7% |
| 2010-11 MSP | 55.9% | 36.4% | 49.1% |
| 2011-12 MSP | 47.4% | 29.3% | 36.3% |
Is this a record that deserves an award? I don't think so. Aki Kurose, under Ms Williams' leadership, has seen