Table Of Content;
New York may be the
city that never sleeps,
but Las Vegas is the city
P p that never stops building.
Ever.
L l
This once sleepy community, founded by
Mormon missionaries in 1855 and jump-
started by gambling 85 years later, now
gobbles up real estate faster than a con-
ventioneer chowing down at a midnight
buffet. Every day of the week, two acres of
Las Vegas–area land are developed for
FULL commercial or residential use in a frenetic
drive to accommodate the 50,000 new-
comers who pour in each year. These
transplants come from all over the world
and all walks of life, looking for a fresh start
and a chance to cash in on their piece of
the American dream: an affordable house,
a steady job, and a good school for their kids.
HOUSE The booming economy is good news for
Las Vegas and for Nevada, but it creates
big challenges for the area’s schools. The
Clark County School District, which
stretches across 8,000 square miles in
southern Nevada, is like no other in the
nation. As the fastest-growing school dis-
trict in the country, it faces the annual chal-
The Las Vegas building boom has stretched the
lenge of building 12 schools, hiring 2,000
creativity and resources of the fastest-growing teachers, and accommodating 12,000 new
school district in the nation. students.
This once small and fairly homogenous
By Roberta Furger
district is now the sixth largest in the
R r
United States (New York City’s, Chicago’s,
and Los Angeles’s top the list, followed by
those of Florida’s Dade and Broward
counties), with all the diversity you would
expect from a system of 270,000 stu-
dents. Over the last 15 years, the Clark
County School District has evolved from a
predominantly white, middle-class school
system to a mixed-income one in which
minority students are in the majority.
Twenty percent of all new students speak
a language other than English, and twice
that many are eligible for free or reduced-
price lunches. The increasingly diverse
student body poses additional challenges
for a district already stretched to its lim-
its—from eliminating the achievement gap
among students of different races and
income levels to keeping highly qualified
Illustration by William Duke teachers in its neediest schools.
2004 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER EDUTOPIA 31
(cid:155)
VIDEO HOT LINK
•www.edutopia.org/vegas
Visit the Edutopia Web site for
“Clark County schools have more chal- are going to enroll in September,” says original documentaries and systems in the
multimedia features on the
lenges than Heinz has pickles,” says long- Scheideman. “We’re just not really sure Clark County School District. country. Then
time Las Vegas resident Ann Lynch, a co- where they’re going to show up.” along came
founder of the Clark County Public This condition is a by-product of the Carlos Arturo Garcia, a Latino educator
Education Foundation and a former rampant transience that is life in Las Vegas. from California’s Central Valley, who was
National PTA president. The biggest chal- Scheideman estimates that 35 percent of all named superintendent in 2000. Although
lenge of all: to stay one step ahead of the students change addresses every year, driv- his predecessor had been content to let the
growth while providing current students en, in large part, by the changing econom- district fly below the national radar screen,
with the support and services they need to ics of the area: Families move up and down Garcia was determined to make it into a
succeed in school—and in life. the income ladder as jobs come and go. player on a bigger stage.
The lucky ones move from cramped apart- “As a district, you can’t be isolationist,”
Six Years,57 Schools
ments in the inner city to shiny new ranch says Garcia. “People need to know you
Buying land and building and furnishing a homes in the suburbs. The less fortunate exist, or you lose out on money and oppor-
dozen new schools per year is no small slip in and out of the area’s many residen- tunities.” That broader focus has paid off:
undertaking. It requires a 300-person facili- tial hotels, always waiting for the big break The year Garcia became superintendent,
ties department, including teams of sta- that will turn their lives around. the district received just $40 million in fed-
tisticians and demographers, real estate Adding to the constant flux is the group eral funds. Today, such budgetary contribu-
specialists, architects, construction man- of students who are required to switch tions exceed $120 million.
“We can tell you exactly how many kids are going to enroll in September.
We’re just not really sure where they’re going to show up.”
agers and workers, and more. It also schools each year to balance the popula- Garcia possesses a winning combination
requires cash—lots and lots of cash. tion and ease overcrowding. The constant of opened-eyed realism about the magni-
In 1998, voters and the state legis- movement of children and families tude of the challenges before him, and
lature passed an unprecedented $3.5 billion throughout the district stretches its facilities unabashed optimism that the Clark County
capital-improvement program to fund a department, as portable classrooms are School District has the drive and determi-
ten-year plan to build 88 new schools and moved from school to school to accommo- nation to overcome its hurdles. In one
to renovate or replace aging facilities. Six date unexpected overflows of students. It breath, he acknowledges the district’s high
years later, the district has opened 54 new also makes the already challenging task of dropout rate (7.5 percent, one of the coun-
schools and built three replacements. educating the area’s youth even more diffi- try’s highest) and the difficulty his adminis-
“We don’t see any slow up in the growth cult: Communities aren’t formed easily, nor tration faces meeting the needs of the sys-
for as far out as we can look,” says Dale is curriculum mastered easily, when stu- tem’s growing population of Spanish-
Scheideman, director of the district’s New dents and staff move frequently. speaking students and families. In the next,
School and Facility Planning Department, he waxes poetic about all that’s right in
adding that the district’s multibillion-dollar, The Big Leagues public education. RICT
ST
multiyear building plan depends on accu- The Clark County School District began its “Sometimes our critics will say, DI
OL
rate forecasts of student population growth. extended growth spurt in the late ’80s, ‘American public schools aren’t working,’” O
H
C
District demographers, who have become adding as many as 14,000 new students a Garcia says. “I completely disagree. Public Y S
experts at projecting future enrollment, can year, as construction and service jobs lured schools are working better than ever. UNT
O
predict within half of a percentage point hundreds of thousands of new families to “Our cup is not empty,” he adds in one K C
R
what the student count will be two to three the area. of his trademark sound bites. “It’s overflow- CLA
years out. But knowing how many students Despite Las Vegas’s steady growth and ing with good things.” Garcia’s a politically OF
Y
will be enrolled in the district each year and its spotlight of attention, its school district savvy administrator, but he’s also an educa- ES
RT
knowing what schools they’ll be enrolled in plugged along mostly unnoticed, never tor of some 30 years’ experience whose first U
O
C
are two entirely different matters. really capturing national attention or taking priority, say friends and colleagues, is serv- O:
“We can tell you exactly how many kids its place among the largest, most influential ing the 270,000 students in his charge. HOT
P
Open for Business:Shadow Ridge High School is one of 54 new schools built to date as part of the Clark County School District’s $3.5 billion facilities initiative.
32 EDUTOPIA SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2004
“Carlos has a way of always asking, ‘Is than individual opinions or past practices. edge projects, such as its new Virtual High
this good for kids?’” says Ray Chavez, an But even with these positive steps, School (in which students take all their
administrator in the Tucson (Arizona) admirers acknowledge that success—in the classes online), which will “open” with 500
Unified School District who spent six form of high achievement for all students— students this fall, and yet it still struggles to
months working alongside Garcia as part of is not guaranteed. prepare all teachers to fully integrate tech-
an internship through the Harvard nology into their daily classroom instruction.
University Urban Superintendents Program. Change on a Grander Scale Whether the issue is raising student
“Carlos knows all the statistics and the Like any large district, Clark County’s is a achievement or better preparing teachers,
numbers, but that’s not what ultimately study in contrasts. Its schools serve students the primary challenge for Clark County’s
drives him,” he adds. from families of incredible poverty, who school district is one of scale. Throughout
There’s widespread admiration for the live in residential hotels or on the street, as the district, individual schools or regions
work Garcia and his approximately 1,000 well as the children of Las Vegas’s version have adopted effective programs to address
administrators have done thus far. They’ve of landed gentry. Among its nearly 300 a wide range of problems and concerns,
strived to make the massive district smaller schools is a National Blue Ribbon School but implementing those changes through-
and more personal by creating geographic (the Advanced Technologies Academy), out the system is another matter.
regions within it, each with its own super- whose integration of academics and tech- “In a district that’s always growing and
intendent and administration. They’ve nology garnered the attention of First Lady always changing, it’s a challenge to make
launched algebra and literacy initiatives to Laura Bush. Conversely, 16 Clark County any [program] systemic,” acknowledges
boost achievement and provide more schools were on a needs-improvement list Karlene McCormick-Lee, the district’s assis-
opportunities for students to be successful, during the 2003–04 school year for not hav- tant superintendent of research, account-
and they are moving schools and adminis- ing met their annual yearly progress as ability, and innovation. But such change is
trators toward a decision-making model specified in the federal No Child Left exactly what the district needs and what
that’s based on research and data rather Behind Act. The district is home to cutting- Garcia demands in response to what he
BOOMTOWN: Las Vegas Schools Are on a Roll
500,00
400,00
300,00
200,00
a typical year of growth
12,000new students enrolled
d
e 2,000new teachers hired
roll 100,00 12new schools built
n
e 46new administrators hired
s
nt 100new buses purchased
e
ud 425portable classrooms relocated
St
)
School year *Includes 14 magnet schools and 7 Edison Schools.
SOURCE:Clark County School District,2003-04 school year.Percentages are rounded up.
CHART:Point by Point
2004 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER EDUTOPIA 3
Teachers Wanted;Signing Bonus Offered
Latonya Freeman was reading the paper one weekend morning at her
describes as “the good, the bad, and the Laguna Hills,California,home when she saw an ad for the Clark County
ugly” of Clark County schools. Two initia- School District,whose representatives were in town interviewing teach-
tives that top the long list of academic pri- ers.On a whim,she picked up the phone and scheduled an appointment.Six
orities focus on algebra and literacy—cur- months later,she’s heading to North Las Vegas to begin teaching at Jim Bridger
Middle School,joining the ranks of roughly 2,000 new teachers who are added
riculum areas in which achievement has a
to the district’s payroll each fall.
dramatic affect on students’ overall aca-
“The opportunities in Clark County seem to be more plentiful than in
demic success.
California,”says the English teacher.
In 1999, only 10 percent of all eighth Freeman doesn’t know a soul in Las Vegas,so she’s a little anxious about the
graders in the district were enrolled in an move.She’s heartened,though,by the phone calls and emails she’s received,
algebra course. Although some students welcoming her to the district and assisting her with everything from locating an
took the course in high school, a significant apartment to hooking her up with a mentor teacher once she arrives.
percentage never enrolled at all, lowering Observers say Clark County’s school district,which relies on the Internet to
screen applications and streamline the hiring process,has the hiring of teachers
their chances of passing the state’s high
down to a science.With a couple mouse clicks,Lina Gutierrez,the district’s exec-
school exit exam or going on to college.
utive director of human resources,can identify how many people have applied
But the district’s algebra initiative, begun in
for teaching positions, and can determine the up-to-the-minute status of any
2001, turned those numbers around. By fall
application.
2003, 70 percent of all eighth graders were “We do everything we can electronically,”says Gutierrez.“Otherwise,we’d
enrolled in algebra; of those students, never be able to do it.”
75 percent passed the class and were ready Like Freeman,most of the district’s 2,000 new teachers come from outside
to go on to higher-level math. By the Nevada,but Gutierrez and her staff are also implementing plans to attract local
2006–07 school year, the district hopes to residents to the teaching profession,including programs for parents and district
support staff.
bring enrollment numbers for eighth-grade
Once a new teacher is hired,the district’s teacher-induction program kicks
algebra up to 100 percent.
into gear with welcome calls,email messages,and a vast array of orientation
Christy Falba, the district’s director of
services and programs ranging from help navigating the new community to
K–12 math, science, and instructional tech-
yearlong professional-development and support programs for new teachers.
nology, credits its professional develop- For the Clark County School District,a high-tech,high-touch employment
ment, investment in new-technology tools, process helps meet the need for a constant influx of teaching staff.—R.F.
and revamping of the K–8 math curriculum
for its steady progress. Working with the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada’s development courses designed to improve Vegas Chamber of Commerce that upgrades
Regional Professional Development Pro- their teaching of algebra and find new ways libraries, provides books for needy stu-
gram, and the Southern Nevada Mathe- to serve students of diverse needs and abili- dents, enlists community volunteers to
matics Council, district math teachers are ties. For some students, that means taking a work with struggling readers, and more.
participating in a host of professional- traditional one-year course over a two-year Although throughout the district, third-
span. For others, new-technology tools, grade reading-proficiency scores still hover
such as I Can Learn Algebra®, by I Can near 50 percent, some schools note big
Learn Education Systems, and Algebra improvements. For example, C.P. Squires
Tutor, by Carnegie Learning, are employed Elementary School is considered a model
to help them master the skills. for what the district is trying to achieve. The
The district’s second large-scale initia- school, with roughly 97 percent Spanish
tive, to have every child reading at grade speakers, has instituted a variety of pro-
level by the end of third grade, hasn’t met grams and services to meet the literacy
its ambitious aim. But, as with the system’s challenge: Educators here match communi-
algebra program, new technologies and ty members and older students with strug-
alternative teaching techniques, like the use gling readers, have piloted the use of
of LeapFrog learning products and other LeapFrog and other new-technology tools
software tools in early grades, and extend- to support early literacy, and have devel-
ed professional-development programs that oped after-school and evening programs
emphasize strategies for working with for students and parents.
struggling readers, have been brought to One of the school’s most successful
bear on the problem. The administration efforts is its full-day kindergarten program,
has also enlisted the aid of the community which former principal Carol Lark (she was
through Clark County Reads, a partnership recently promoted to assistant area superin-
between the district, the Clark County tendent) credits with ensuring that students
Clark County teachers help kids become confident,
capable readers with a wide range of learning tools. Public Education Foundation, and the Las are ready for first grade. The program
34 EDUTOPIA SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2004
extends the day for kindergarten students with that much experience and recognition,
by three hours, providing students and [the system] can still be hard to navigate.”
staff, respectively, with additional time to Navigation becomes even more chal-
develop language-acquisition skills and lenging for the district’s growing population
better prepare students to move on. of Latino parents, who often don’t know
“When they come into kindergarten, the system, the city, or the language. The
90 percent of our little ones don’t speak a district’s Web site is chock-full of informa-
word of English,” says Lark. Full-day tion, but the vast majority of it is provided
kindergarten (paid for with federal Title 1 only in English. In addition, says Stutz, call-
money) “allows us to maximize the time we ing the district offices can often result in
have,” she adds. “It gives us six hours each being transferred from one office to the
day to teach our children to read.” next in search of someone who can help.
The full-day kindergarten program will In an effort to reach out to the district’s
become more widespread this fall, when 54 Latino parents, the Nevada PTA recently Community volunteers mentor students and provide
of the poorest schools will switch to the sponsored a workshop where Spanish- them with academic and emotional support.
longer school day. (In 12 of the district’s speaking parents were introduced to the understand and respond to academic needs.
more affluent schools, the full-day program ins and outs of the Clark County school sys- The district is “just beginning the con-
will be available for a fee.) It’s part of a dis- tem and received tips and advice on how versation about using past performance
trictwide effort to identify what’s working, best to advocate for their children. The pro- and student data to make decisions,” says
says Garcia, and then implement successful gram, which will later match new parents McCormick-Lee, whose department is
programs on a larger scale. with mentors, is modeled after a National responsible for implementing the new sys-
“We don’t have enough money to do PTA program that has been piloted in tem. It takes years, she adds, to change the
everything,” Garcia adds, “but we do have Texas, Florida, and California. culture and the practices of a school system
enough money to focus it so the best pro- This forum was a good first step, says so that educators are open and responsive
grams [are in place] throughout the district.” Stutz, but, she’s quick to add, it’s not to making changes based on what the data
enough. Although individual schools and tells them.
The Missing Piece
regions actively seek community and par- Although data is increasingly used for
Although district staff have devoted consid- ent involvement, she believes the district punitive purposes throughout the country,
erable time and attention to evaluating the itself must take more of a leadership role if Garcia doesn’t believe you need to, as he
effectiveness of school-based programs and parents are really to become partners in puts it, “beat people up” in order to affect
developing greater consistency from one their children’s education. real change. Instead, he believes data can
campus to the next, observers say one key Garcia acknowledges that the regions empower everyone—parents, classroom
area has yet to be fully added to the reform haven’t been as successful as he’d like in teachers, even district administrators—to
mix: parent support and involvement. making the big district seem small. “In the identify strengths and weaknesses and to
Because the Clark County School long run, they’ll help make the district more implement curriculum and programs that
District has 270,000 students and 30,500 user friendly, but we still have a way to go will serve students.
employees, it’s daunting and difficult to with that,” Garcia says. The Clark County School District’s data
navigate. In part to bring it closer to the doesn’t always tell a glowing story, as
The Road Ahead: Driven by Data
community, the district was restructured in Garcia is quick to acknowledge. Per-pupil
2000, creating five geographic regions with- Involving parents, developing strong read- funding is $1,500 below the national aver-
in it. But because enrollment in each region ers, keeping kids in school through gradu- age, the district’s average class size is the
hovers around 60,000 (making each about ation—the list of challenges facing the fifth largest in the country, and even its
the size of one of the 30 largest districts in Clark County School District are many and $3.5 billion building budget isn’t likely to
the country), the system still often feels growing. The district’s statisticians have be enough to fund all the projected growth.
remote and complicated. projected steady growth for as long as they Still, Garcia remains remarkably opti-
Debbi Stutz, mother of four children can accurately predict, and there’s little mistic about the district and, by extension,
who have gone through the Clark County chance that teachers, parents, and adminis- about public education throughout the
school system, speaks slowly and selects trators will be able to catch their breath any country. “The issues here represent the
her words carefully as she shares a parent’s time soon. future of education, and that’s pretty excit-
view on the district. “I greatly appreciate what One tool the administration has high ing,” he says. “If we can make things work
the district was trying to achieve with the hopes for is a customized database that will here, in spite of the lack of resources, then
regions,” she says, “but from a parent’s per- be used to track each of the district’s stu- we can make them work anywhere. That’s
spective, it’s still hard to find the person dents, as well as groups of students (by gen- a great challenge.”d
you need to talk to and then to be heard. der, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and so
Write to Edutopiasenior writer Roberta Furgerat
I’ve been involved for 20 years, and even on), enabling educators and parents to [email protected].
2004 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER EDUTOPIA 3
