VPerspective

Breaking free from the 'Bermuda Triangle of Education'

by Richard Farkas

Sep 20, 2007 4:18 PM

Recent literature on middle schools calls them the “Bermuda Triangle of Education” — places where students and teachers get lost and lose their bearings. No school exemplifies this as well as IS 8 in District 28.

This middle school, located in Jamaica, Queens, was one of the 12 original Chancellor’s District schools and a SURR school. It was home to one of the finest UFT Teacher Centers in our city, where teachers and administrators worked collaboratively. In fact in 1999, then Principal Ainslee Cumberbatch and then Chapter Leader Desiree Gosein received the Middle School FAME award for turning the school around and coming off the SURR list. A later FAME award recognized Chapter Leader Tabio Da Cruz and Principal Leon Dash for maintaining and expanding programs resulting in IS 8’s status as an “exemplary middle school.” IS 8 transformed into a model of middle school success. But then, tragedy struck, and the school became ensnared in the “Bermuda Triangle of Education.”

What prompted this calamity? In 2004, Principal Dash was redeployed and replaced by former Assistant District Attorney Adrienne Lloyd, fresh from two-and-a-half years of regular substitute service. With her lack of direction, her top-down management and no middle school experience, she dismantled virtually every single school achievement. Beginning by closing the UFT Teacher Center, she shut the door to in-house quality staff development. With her “it’s my way or the highway” approach, she closed the door to collaboration. With no understanding of middle school students, she eliminated enrichment classes and extra-curricular activities. With her lack of educational experience, she relied on the police to address safety. The result? Test scores plummeted, safety violations soared, and teachers transferred, retired or just quit. IS 8 was caught in the middle school “Bermuda Triangle of Education.”

Alarmed by schools reflecting this scenario, Speaker Christine Quinn appointed the City Council Middle School Task Force. Its August 2007 recommendations aim to create learning environments that result in improved academic achievement, positive youth development and family and community involvement. Initially, the 50 lowest-performing middle schools will benefit from the recommendations the DOE agreed to adopt.

And, yes, IS 8 is one of those 50 targeted schools. The good news is that this school, over the past two years, has already embraced several task force proposals. After the removal of Lloyd, new Principal John Murphy arrived. Collaborating with Chapter Leader Da Cruz and the staff, he targeted immediate areas of concern — the first, safety. As recommended in the Task Force report, Murphy and his staff set high standards for discipline by designating both a SAVE room and a Cutter’s Room with clear consequences for student misbehavior. The discipline code was enforced. The result? Incidents and safety violations decreased dramatically.

The school then created task force-recommended smaller learning environments and hired additional guidance counselors to service each of these programs. This year, there is a commitment to reduce class size, another task force suggestion. The UFT Teacher Center is reopening. There will be lead teachers and coaches, and the task force recommendations for professional development specifically targeted for middle-grade teachers will be implemented.

IS 8 seems to be well on its way to reclaiming the high standards it once achieved. With the additional tools provided by the task force, we look forward to monitoring the progress of IS 8 and the 49 other middle schools as they break free from the “Bermuda Triangle of Education.”