Executive Director’s Report: CUBE districts take on challenges of student achievement

By Anne L. Bryant

What is a Rubik’s cube, and can you solve it as quickly as Will Smith did in the 2007 movie, “The Pursuit of Happyness”? That cube, a puzzle made up smaller cubes in six colors, is solved when each of the six sides is the same color. It’s infuriating because it’s really hard to get it right.

Here at NSBA, our CUBE is vast and complex. It has many different colors and, when aligned, it is powerful.

The Council of Urban Boards of Education, a program now in its 41st year, continues to inspire me even as we struggle with the tremendous challenges urban boards face. CUBE members are working to transform their districts so all students will become successful high school graduates, ready for college, and prepared to be good citizens and contributing members of society.

At the recent CUBE Issues Seminar in Miami, I was struck by how earnest every board member and administrator was as they participated in sessions focusing on parent and community engagement.

The seminar began with a dynamic presentation on the Miami-Dade County school district’s Parent Academy. This three-year-old venture, funded by local businesses and foundations, is extraordinary. It has educated some 70,000 parents in academic coaching and parenting skills, citizenship, parents’ rights, family issues, money management, and work force preparation. Classes are held in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole.

A typical success story about a dad who helps his 12-year-old daughter with her civics homework in a special TV-free zone is music to any educator’s ears.

The academy was the brainchild of Superintendent Rudy Crew, who, with the board’s support, launched this effort to consolidate into one program all of the smaller sporadic efforts initiated by individual schools.

The program’s early success is remarkable. The Parent Academy serves families’ needs, has contributed to higher student achievement among Miami-Dade students, and meets several of the district’s strategic goals. And its dean, Sandy Smith-Moise, is as dynamic as the program is successful.

And this was just the opening session. Next up was a riveting speech by Crew, the American Association of School Administrators’ Superintendent of the Year and a key element in Miami-Dade receiving CUBE’s prestigious urban governance award in 2007.

Crew’s remarks focused on the tough but rewarding path a board and superintendent must carve out to truly transform and sustain teaching and learning. He described it as a dance, admitting he stepped on some toes and had his own trodden upon. But the end goal of student achievement can only be achieved when the board and superintendent agree upon and follow a strategic plan.

Collaboration, which Crew described as keeping the best interests of children as the number-one goal and leaving adult agendas at the door, must be the “rules of the dance.” And it’s hard work. He smiled and sighed as he said, “Stepping on toes is part of any dance, but kicking shins is not.”

There were so many other excellent sessions. Former CUBE Chair Brian Perkins, author of the recent study on parent perspectives on the urban school climate, What We Think, compared his latest findings to the previous surveys he conducted on the views of students, teachers, and administrators on school climate issues.

Among the many other sessions, a panel of outstanding communications officers from Boston, Miami-Dade, and Norfolk, Va., described how they market their districts’ family and community partnerships. Reg Weaver, president of the National Education Association, also delivered a presentation with his legendary enthusiasm.

After talking to board members and school administrators at the CUBE seminar, I reflected on how urban governance is just plain hard.

The 115 school districts in CUBE represent 25 percent of America’s children. Their budgets range from millions to billions of dollars. Their politics can be downright vicious.

That’s why it is so important that they have this “place,” this set of programs called CUBE, where they can come together to share best practices, advise one another on how they solved a problem or handled a particular situation, and let down their hair. For example, they might want to discuss how a “renegade” member is undermining a board’s strategic goals and creating a bad impression in the community. These discussions, held off the record and out of the spotlight, are healthy.

The CUBE membership also is a vital part of NSBA’s advocacy agenda and ties into our Federal Relations Network. The FRN is directed by our state associations, representing the school board voice across America, and the urban voice adds a critical dimension to that chorus.

We are all in this together, fighting for real improvement in our nation’s schools. We represent small rural schools in North Dakota and large urban systems, and everything in between.

CUBE has many sides and many colors. It is complex, and we have many challenges that are hard to solve. But once all the smaller pieces are aligned, it is one powerful system that is helping kids soar.

Reproduced with permission from School Board News. Copyright © 2008, National School Boards Association. Opinions expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily reflect positions of NSBA. This article may be printed out and photocopied for individual or educational use, provided this copyright notice appears on each copy. This article may not be otherwise transmitted or reproduced in print or electronic form without the consent of the Publisher. For more information, call (703) 838-6789.