Miami+Central+High+School

Miami Central High School was the site of a Presidential visit designed to highlight the effectiveness of the so-called "school turnover model." President Obama and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush visited to school to highlight the miracle that had occurred there, but a bit of research suggested that there was, in fact, no miracle.

[|Nieman Watchdog Post on Miami Central High School]

Ironically, after being cited as a turnaround school, it was sentenced to be closed in the summer of 2011, though it was saved for a year. http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/19/2320773/state-votes-to-save-central-edison.html

This year the scores for Miami Central went down, and went down hard. They failed to meet AYP in any academic achievement areas. In Reading, 2011 scores had 16% meeting the standards, the same as last year. On the Mathematics scores, where President Obama highlighted their 60% growth last year, they went down, from 56% passing to 47% of the students passing. In Science (after the "reconstitution" the school received nearly a million dollars to update labs and create a focus on science and technology) the scores dropped from 20% passing to 18%. All in all, not a good year for a school that was supposed to be showing us why Race To the Top had "Turnaround" models as one important tactic!