Muncie's only charter school reacts to 'D'

MUNCIE — Inspire Academy, Muncie's only charter school, has received another "D" from the state as its final letter grade for school accountability for 2016-17.

While a "D" represents below average or barely passable performance, that's not how the school's leader, Leslie Draper, grades the state-funded, public school of nearly 200  students in grades K-8.

(Five of 12 Muncie Community Schools — both middle schools along with South View, Longfellow and Sutton elementary schools — also earned "D's" in the state's grading system, which Superintendent Steve Baule calls a poverty ranking).

Draper agrees.

"We need accountability in public schools, but we have not yet figured out the right form of accountability," she told The Star Press. "I think our current system of standardized-testing accountability is hurting students."

How? By failing to fairly recognize the amazing accomplishments of students at schools like Inspire Academy, for starters, she answered.

"When I interview employees for a job, I don't ask them their test scores," Draper said. "I want to see their portfolio of work." Students at Inspire Academy are creating individual portfolios showcasing authentic projects and products.

Draper calls standardized testing "a fake world."

"If we continue to beat our children down, saying you have failing schools, you are failures because you didn't pass ISTEP … it's that negative rhetoric out there that instills hopelessness in our children," Draper said. "Muncie's problems are bigger than ISTEP. … ISTEP is certainly not the whole story. I don't believe it should be the sole focus."

MCS superintendent blasts ISTEP

Inspire Academy, chartered by Ball State University, was born out of the community development initiatives of Urban Light Community Church, where Draper's husband, Andrew, is senior pastor.

The church organized opposition to the closing of Garfield Elementary School, "the most diverse elementary school in the city. Its closure had some unintentional re-segregation outcomes," Draper said. When efforts failed to keep Garfield open, Inspire Academy was founded, five years ago. It has earned only one "C" from the state and "D's the rest of the time.

Seventy-five percent of the school's students received free or reduced-price lunches, based on household income, in 2016-17. Twenty-one percent of the students were black, 14 percent multi-racial, six percent Hispanic and 60 percent white. Twenty-seven percent passed the state's math assessment (61 percent was the state average) and 44 percent passed the state's English/language arts assessment (67 percent was the state average).

"Our math curriculum doesn't seem to align with that particular ISTEP test," Draper said. "It's not how well we teach but how well we teach things on that test … We have started a different math curriculum."

Inspire Academy is an EL Education school (formerly Expeditionary Learning), which believes that "when a student is done with school and enters adult life, she will be judged for the rest of her life not by her performance on tests of basic skills, but by the quality of her work and the quality of her character."

Student achievement at Inspire Academy, therefore, has three dimensions: mastery of academic skills and content; high-quality work; and character.

"There is more to life than just test learning," Draper said. She acknowledges that standardized testing is "a piece of the puzzle, as long as colleges are using standardized tests," but "I'm just not sure third grade is where we need to be doing that."

Inspire Academy students created poems and art work related to then-Gov. Mike Pence's efforts to prevent resettlement of Syrian refugee families in Indiana.

Haley Baugues, then an 8th grader at the school, wrote a two-voice poem, "Safety," that is displayed in the school's museum of student work. One voice is Pence's, the other a refugee's. Excerpts:

Refugee: "Please let me in. All I want is shelter."

Pence: "Please keep them out. All I want is a refugee-free state."

What does America mean to them?

Refugee: "Protection."

Pence: "Destruction."

Refugee: "A fresh start."

Pence: "Spying for ISIS."

Refugee: A safe home."

Pence: "Attacks on America."

Refugee: "Peace."

Pence: "Chaos."

Refugee and Pence in unison: "All we want is safety."

Draper cited the poem, which was read at public events, as an example of high-quality  work at the middle-school level. 

An example of high-quality work at the second-grade level, she said, was the creation of a "M.U.N.C.I.E Strong" pledge to live a Meaningful, Unified, Nurturing, Collaborative, Inspiring and Educated life to make our city stronger. It was endorsed by Mayor Dennis Tyler and other community leaders.

Draper earned a bachelor's degree in communications from Taylor University and a master's of education from Ball State University. The schools' board of directors includes Tom Schroeder, professor emeritus of elementary education at Ball State; Tracy Osborne, a CPA at DeFur Voran; Renae Mayes, an assistant professor of school counseling at BSU; Ron Sloan, a vice chancellor at Ivy Tech Community College in Muncie; financial adviser Nick Miles; and Cheryl Kneubuhler, a math instructor at BSU.

Enrollment at the school  — 2801 E 16th St., the former Franklin Middle School — has grown from 120 to nearly 200 in the first five years. Capacity is 225. There is no religious programming at the non-profit school that provides an alternative to traditional public schools.

Inspire Academy's revenue for the year ending June 30, 2017, was $1.7 million, which included $1.3 million in state education support and $300,484 in grant revenue.

Contact Seth Slabaugh at (765) 213-5834 or seths@muncie.gannett.com.