Comprehensive Means Everything, Part 3

NW: How do you see CSRD and Title I Schoolwide fitting into the larger picture of statewide school reform? That's a lot of stuff for people to try to weave together and keep in mind as they do their planning.

Rhines: Well, it's one of the things we try to emphasize every time we're out there. We need to make sure people understand that when they do CSRD, it's not just Title I, it's everything. When they do schoolwide, it's everything. That's the hardest hurdle for them. It's the first message that people need to hear: that this is all just a part of their consolidated school or district improvement plan. It all needs to be woven like a braid. They need to still be able to take the braid apart and see the individual strands, but they need to put it together. And it's one of the most difficult things to do.

NW: When you talk about Title I Schoolwide schools that are still doing business as usual except they're not identifying individual kids or populations, the danger is that some kids just don't get services. How do you keep track of all the needs of all these diverse groups of kids and yet serve them all in one place?

Rhines: What we tell people is that when you really are looking at integrating things, you're coming to the table and you're saying, "What are all the resources that we have in this building—all the people resources, all the money resources?" and "What needs do our kids have?" and "What is the most effective, efficient way for us to meet those needs?" Sometimes, they may say, "We still believe—and we can back this up with our needs assessment—that the best thing is to identify the kids who are at greatest risk of not meeting the state standards and pulling those kids out for additional instruction."

In some cases, it's a philosophical thing; in some cases it's habit. Sometimes a pullout is very appropriate. But in many cases, I think it's because of that "quick-fix" idea or mentality that has been prevalent in our schools for many, many years.

So I guess to answer your question, you're right, that is a big problem. In some schoolwides where they have totally abandoned pullouts and they just bring an instructional assistant in the classroom or the Title I teacher in the classroom, it isn't accomplishing anything, either. They need to really take a look at their needs and identify what's the best way to meet the needs of all these individual kids.

NW: Do you see turf battles?

Rhines: Oh, yes.

NW: Especially where people are used to having their own area and managing their own funds?

Rhines: Oh, yes. Definitely.

NW: How do you overcome that?

Rhines: Again, that's all just part of the whole change process. It's a paradigm shift. It's getting people to put all the resources on the table. It's very hard sometimes in places where Title I has been a separate entity—where they are able to buy their own books in their own room. In some cases, that might be just fine. But it's that slow discussion, I guess, of bringing people around. One of the things that we try to always do is go back to the needs assessment, go back to make it data driven, and say: "Is that working? Do you have evidence that that is working?" If not, maybe it's time to really go back and examine what isn't working and what it is that you need to change.

But yes, the turf battles are big. Going back to the CSRD process, that was a big question we asked people in those schools when we visited. We first asked the principals, Do you have turf battles between your Title I staff, your special ed staff, your ESL program? We tried to get some background about that and then very pointedly asked Title I teachers: "What if you went through this process of identifying needs, and your staff as a whole made some tough decisions that would really impact you? How are you going to feel about that?" And some of them said, "I think that's just fine, because I care most about what's good for these kids and not what's good for me." You can usually tell when you're talking one-on-one with a person if they really feel that way.

You need to have those conversations. It goes back to the leadership at the district level, and with the principal not being afraid to fight that battle and to make those changes.

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