Prior to becoming the head of the Office of Talent Management at Hartford Public Schools in August 2021, Dr. Tiffany Curtis was, in her own words, a “turnaround principal” at Henry Johnson Charter School in Albany, NY.  

At the bequest of Superintendent Torres-Rodriguez, Curtis’s appointment at HPS was approved by the Board of Education on a 7-0 vote at the July 21, 2021 Regular Meeting, a meeting where she stated in part to a response by a board member, student data “keeps us employed.”  She then spent the next 3 years telling board members, “I don’t have that data with me, but I will get it to you.”

The issue with Ms. Curtis’ background comes from her description of herself, on her resume and as spoken during her confirmation, as a “turnaround principal.”  Now keep in mind that this was at a charter school, and we will see that the data from this school stands as anecdotal evidence against the argument that charter schools rob public schools of the best and brightest students.

Ms. Curtis was named principal of Henry Johnson Charter School before the start of the 2014-15 school year and served until the end of the 2016-17 school year.  The only way the “turnaround principal” label would apply in this instance is if Curtis had used her superpowers to physically turn the school building around on its foundation; student assessments at this time do not justify this label.

The State of New York issued a “School Evaluation Report” on the Henry Johnson school in May of 2018 which contains a 2016-17 performance review, the last year with Curtis as principal (you can read the report here).

Among the findings stated in the report:

• “Henry Johnson did not meet its ELA goal in 2016-17, after not meeting the goal in 2015-16 and meeting the goal in 2014-15.”

• 32% of 3rd and 4th graders enrolled for their second year scored at or above proficiency on the state’s ELA exam.

• Henry Johnson’s ELA “record of growth signals that the school struggles to catch students up to the performance of statewide peers and to grade level expectations.”

• “Henry Johnson did not meet its mathematics goal in 2016-17, after not meeting the goal in 2015-16 and coming close to meeting it in 2014-15 [which means it didn’t meet it that year as well].”

• “Only” 20% of 3rd and 4th graders enrolled for their second year scored at or above proficiency in math.

• Due to the school’s “low absolute proficiency” in math, the level of growth in mathematics achieved in 2016-17 “is not sufficient to move all students to proficiency before they leave the school.”

• In science, “after meeting its science goal in 2014-15 and 2015-16, Henry Johnson failed to meet the goal in 2016-17.”

• “The percentage of the school’s students scoring at or above proficiency on the science exam declined for the third consecutive year in 2016-17.”

During her BOE confirmation, Ms. Curtis talked repeatedly about the importance of and the need to utilize data.  Below are some highlights of the SUNY evaluation of Henry Johnson school and the issue of data during Curtis’ time as principal:

• “Despite the fact that more than 70% of students are not proficient on ELA and mathematics state assessments, leaders do not act urgently to utilize assessments to make strategic schoolwide decisions.”

• “The school collects various student data but does not have an systematic process for analyzing results to adjust instruction…”

• “The school regularly administers assessments but lacks sufficient oversight to ensure the assessment content and scoring process are valid and reliable.”

Other areas of failure gleaned from the Henry Johnson report:

• No systematic review of curriculum or lesson plans to ensure teacher and student support

• “Henry Johnson lacks the instructional leadership capacity to develop teachers ‘skills…”

• “Leaders do not communicate clear expectations for teacher performance and student achievement.”

• “Henry Johnson does not have in place an effective and functioning program for English language learners…”

• “The school organization does not effectively support the delivery of the educational program.”

And, on page 18 of the report, something which Ms. Curtis is now familiar with as an HPS employee, the New York report states that “the [school] board does not provide effective oversight that supports achievement of the school’s Accountability Plan goals.”

By most measures, Ms. Curtis left Henry Johnson worse off than when she arrived.  Fortunately, she was not brought to HPS to lead this district in a backward trend, Superintendent Torres-Rodriguez was doing just fine in that respect.

“I’ve turned schools (plural) around,” stated Ms. Curtis in response to Board Member Rigueur’s question, “Why are you the best candidate for the job?”

For the school year 2021-22, we see that Henry Johnson’s assessments scores, those students scoring at or above proficiency in core subjects, have increased since Ms. Curtis left the building, yet we still see most assessments resulting in less than half of students reaching the proficiency level.  Hardly a turnaround school five years later.  Thus, we cannot lean on a post-mortem defense for Curtis and state that she left the building with a plan and a process in place for future generations to succeed.

And you thought she was only terrible at recruiting and retaining teachers!