By Kristian Craig Staff Writer
This school year, Fredrick Douglass Academy is off the state of Michigan Priority School List.
“Douglass ranked in the bottom 5% of schools in the state of Michigan [last year],” said Christopher Bryant, Douglass curriculum specialist and school improvement chair.
Bryant said Douglass had been on the priority school list the last two years, but has been working to improve test scores.
When the school was put on the list they didn’t say “we put you on this list, so figure out what the problem is,” Bryant said.
Bryant said that Douglass was given help by Wayne RESA and the State of Michigan. They worked with the school to figure out what the major issues are and what they can do to address the issues so they can become strengths instead of concerns. Teachers were able to go to more workshops to help with the structure, the culture and the climate of the school.
“[Had we not been] on the priority school list, Douglass wouldn’t have been given any outside help,” Bryant said.
Douglass staff has adopted several programs in the past two years to improve learning, including Guided Reading, Professional Learning Committee and ACT Prep classes.
“Having the school year extended helped students improve on their grades and their test scores,” Bryant said.
“One thing that people realize is you can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again, expecting change. If you want change, you have to figure out what needs to be changed,” Bryant said.
