Vol. 19, No. 2 - Winter 2003

The renaissance of Patrick Henry High School

As students fill the hallway during a passing period at Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis, the noise is deafening, but the clamor has a certain sense of order, a normality. Yet something seems odd about the scene on this mid-December morning. Instead of the requisite low-rider jeans and sports gear, many students are dressed in their bedtime finest.

“It’s pajama day!” a young woman in flannel shouts enthusiastically. To reinforce the point, her companions hold up stuffed animals and pillows.

Does this seem like a rough inner-city high school on the verge being shut down? How this once troubled school transformed from—in the words of one teacher—a “hell hole” into one of the top schools in the country in 12 years is remarkable, even miraculous.

Today, students who a decade ago would have had little chance of graduating participate in Spirit Week, band, sports, student government, and more importantly, academically rigorous classes. And despite the added challenges that urban students carry—75 percent of Henry students receive free or reduced lunch and 24 percent are English Language Learners (ELL)—the school’s average daily attendance is 93–95 percent and the graduation rate has steadily increased.

A sinking ship

In the late 1980s, the future of Henry High School was uncertain at best. The school’s academic performance was the worst in the district, and both students and teachers were abandoning the school in droves, with enrollment at less than half the school’s capacity.

Knowing the school’s closing was imminent, a core group of committed teachers and one supportive administrator voted to take personal responsibility to get the school back on track, envisioning an institution where teacher effectiveness and student achievement went hand in hand.

At the same time Louise Sundin, president of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT), was serving on a national task force to study how new induction methods could change the way teachers were supported during their critical first year in the classroom. The methods were embodied in what was called professional practice schools, developed in the 1980s by a consortium of research universities, and designed as a comprehensive program managed by school-university-union partnerships to support induction and continuing professional development of teachers. The goal is to improve student achievement.

“Every other profession that you look at—doctors, lawyers—with the glaring exception of teachers, has a lengthy internship as part of the induction process,” says Sundin (B.S., ’67, language arts education). “Others learn under the expert tutelage of a seasoned professional in their field—we didn’t have that in education and knew it was key to making teaching a true profession.”

When the American Federation of Teachers received an Exxon grant to start three Professional Practice Schools (PPS), Sundin lobbied hard and received funds to establish one in Minneapolis, believing the PPS would provide the type of internship or induction process teachers have been seeking.

The decision to make Patrick Henry High School the first PPS site was not applauded by all. Other more reputable schools in the district also wanted the opportunity to try this new approach. The staff at Henry voted to accept the grant, seeing it as one of the ways of getting the school back on track, and selected the College of Education and Human Development as their university partner.

Getting rid of sink-or-swim induction

It is hard—even grueling—to be a new teacher. “First-year teachers are often in constant survival mode,” says Liz Otteson, English teacher and mentor to five first-year Henry teachers.

All that suffering is not necessarily a character-building experience. Nearly 50 percent of teachers abandon the profession within five years, many because they are weighed down by the expectations and scope of the job and feel isolated and unsupported in their classrooms.

From its start as a PPS, Henry instituted a kinder, gentler teacher induction process whereby new teachers teach three classes per day and meet with a personal mentor teacher at the school on a regular basis. The approach worked—new teachers were nurtured while they gained confidence—but it was not without problems, many of which have been resolved as the PPS has evolved.

Are you on board?

Because professional practice schools are created as partnerships, their very design requires broad support to thrive. As with any large-scale reform effort, getting buy-in from all involved was an enormous hurdle. In the beginning, the most common feeling among the school, union, and college was mistrust. Communication and commitment fluctuated with the coming and going of personnel. In the early 1990s, Henry had six different principals in five years, and the district saw several superintendents come and go.

Keeping the PPS alive became a constant battle. At the college, staff questioned the value of the partnership and their own abilities to fit one more project into already-full schedules. At the union, there were challenges in writing a contract with adequate language to support the uniqueness of the program. The district, meanwhile, had to create new ways to fund professional development and the distinctive schedules that the PPS offered new teachers.

“Sundin’s support coupled with a dogged determination by a core group of Henry faculty and real commitment from the dean’s office in the college made up for the lack of critical mass of support in any one institution,” explains Patty Thornton, coordinator for college/school collaborations at the college.

Although many teachers at Henry were energized at the prospect of remaking their school, others resisted. Because the PPS process couldn’t be ignored easily, many teachers who didn’t support the program chose to leave. With that shift, a majority of Henry teachers supported the PPS.

Another turning point came when teachers were allowed professional development release time from some of their teaching to support the running of the program. Out of this change came the current induction model for new teachers—the residency program—along with release time for residents, mentors, and a coordinator to run the program at the school level.

The residency program: the foundation of the PPS

Resident (first-year) teacher Jeri Schultz arrives at her third-hour academic language class pushing a cart that is her desk on wheels. When the bell rings, she launches into an active lesson where students write and correct recipes, designed to encourage her upper-level ELL students to use clear, descriptive language when giving directions.

In another part of the building, James Johnson, a resident math teacher (B.A., math and computer science; license, ’02, math education), gives instructions for a statistical investigation project. The students seem excited to analyze the results of their original research on topics such as the differences in men’s and women’s preferences between Cap’n Crunch and Frosted Flakes cereal.

Both teachers seem relaxed and confident, but as with any new teacher, things don’t always work out as planned. The benefit Schultz and Johnson have over most is the time to reflect on and discuss their concerns, and that, in fact, they will be paid to do it.

Both teachers are part of a group of eight “residents”—new teachers who teach a three-fifths class load while working with a mentor and receiving full-time pay. The innovative program gives new teachers a first-year teaching experience in which they are nurtured, supported, and mentored into success.

Even with a reduced teaching schedule, the residents still suffer the harried moment-to-moment life of a new teacher. The big difference is that they don’t have to tough it out alone. Schultz finds great comfort in her regular meetings with Terry Peña, her mentor.

“I love the opportunity to ask the tons of questions I have about how to accomplish things in class,” explains Schultz. “It is all very practical—when we talk about something, I can put it to use right away.”

Beating the teacher turnover odds

“Without a mentor, it would be really easy to fall into the trap of blaming yourself for the problems that new teachers face,” says Johnson. In fact, many
teachers come to the conclusion that they aren’t meant to teach, and studies show that teacher turnover in the first five years of teaching increases to 59 percent in urban areas.

But Henry’s residency program succeeds at keeping teachers in the classroom, with a 10-year retention rate of 88 percent, and the bulk of those—more than 40 teachers—still teaching at the school.

Johnson’s mentor, Liz Otteson, (licensure, ’97; M.A., ’02, English education) points out that mentors also benefit greatly from the program. “As a mentor, I explain in great detail why I do what I do in my classes, which requires me to really examine my teaching processes.” Mentors also visit many classrooms and get to see fresh ideas and teaching styles in action. Otteson credits the reflective teaching skills she learned as a resident with setting her up to achieve tenure, and to pass the rigorous National Board Certification process last year.

But being a resident isn’t just about having more time for reflection. Residents are every bit as busy as regular first-year teachers—busy with activities that emphasize professional development and tenure, rather than just survival.

Extension teaching. Resident teachers cover up to one class per week for teachers who apply for “professional development” time. The resident observes the class, meets with the teacher to go over the lesson plan, and then has a follow-up meeting.

Residency course. All residents participate in a weekly residency course, co-taught by Thornton and Sara Van Der Werf, instructional leader for professional development. The course is a combination of site-based practical information and classroom action research projects. It also prepares resident teachers for the rigorous tenure process in Minneapolis.

A spectrum of professional development opportunities

While the residency program forms the base upon which new teachers develop their professional selves, it also provides a spectrum of opportunities for established teachers to work on their professional lives. Here are a few of the ways professional development opportunities have become part of the fabric of Henry High School:

Forums. Henry teachers have many regular opportunities to connect and discuss educational issues, including an annual fall workshop and summer retreat, brown bag lunches, and before- and after-school coffees. The voluntary sessions are lead by Henry teachers and college faculty, and attendees and presenters earn continuing education credit.

Cohort groups. All Henry teachers and most support staff belong to monthly “cohort” groups, centered on an area of professional interest. New teachers focus on achievement of tenure, while others work on topics of their choosing, such as building community connections or curriculum development.

Patrick Henry Instructional Leader. A distinctive aspect of Henry’s PPS is the idea that leadership—planning, organizing, and creating new programs and initiatives—is a professional development option that teachers can experience while still teaching. The school has Patrick Henry Instructional Leaders (PHIL), a group of five teacher/administrators who each focus on a particular area of administration—from curriculum to student development—while maintaining a limited teaching schedule. “Being an instructional leader lets me bring a voice to the leadership table that comes from a classroom perspective, and I get to explore administration without losing touch with students,” says Sue Jacob, instructional leader for curriculum and standards and English teacher.

National Board Certification. When Paul McMahan took over as principal in 1996, he announced that he wanted every teacher at Henry to go through National Board Certification, a scrupulous process that has teachers take a hard look at everything they know and do in the classroom.

McMahan explains, “When you do that much reflection, you will change and improve your teaching practices, and student learning will improve as a result.” Henry has eight National Board–certified teachers and hopes to have more than 20 in the next few years. The school covers the $2,300 application cost and gives five days of release time to prepare for exams.

In the works: exchange teaching. In the future, Henry teachers could teach methods courses at the college, with faculty instructing at Henry, both getting a rare opportunity to teach at another level.

Can it work elsewhere?

Because of the program’s overwhelming success at Henry, a few years ago the district decided to duplicate the residency program in 12 locations. With varying degrees of success, each new program went by the wayside, largely because the efforts weren’t led internally. Roosevelt High School is now in its second year with a residency program and in the planning stages to be a PPS site.

Measuring success

Today, Patrick Henry High School is an academically-focused senior high school with four small learning communities: Engineering, Commercial and Fine Arts, Open, and International Baccalaureate. The PPS philosophy is firmly embedded in the day-to-day running of the school. Perhaps the best barometer that shows how the school is viewed in the community is enrollment. The school is at capacity, with a waiting list to get in. In addition, in March 2000, Newsweek ranked Patrick Henry number 218 on its list of top high schools in the United States. “We have turned the academic nature of this school around completely,” says Van Der Werf.

Teacher turnover is not a current concern at the school. From 1992 to 1997, during the first years of the PPS, the school had a 65 percent teacher turnover rate. From 1997 to 2002, a mere 13 percent left. The latest annual teacher satisfaction surveys show that 90 percent say teaching at Henry is an enjoyable, rewarding profession. “In the case of Henry High School, focusing on one important thing—teacher education as a life-long event—was the salvation of the school,” says Thornton.

—Mary Beth Leone-Getten