Mr. Michael P. Malone

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  3/20/02 -- States' Work on Charters Still Unfolding --... - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 3/20/2002    Last Visited: 3/20/2002  

  The debate illustrates one of the most challenging realities for many charter schools: paying for school buildings and technology while receiving only operating money from states, said Michael P. Malone, the executive vice president of the Leona Group in Phoenix.The for- profit company manages charter schools in four states, including Indiana.
  
  Mr. Malone, whose company plans to open the Timothy L. Johnson Academy, a charter school for the performing arts, next fall in Fort Wayne, Ind., sees no shades of gray in the funding debate.
  
  Opponents "absolutely attempted to squelch the movement" of charter schools in Indiana, he said.
  
  Funding for this story was provided in part by the Ford Foundation, which helps underwrite coverage of the changing definition of public schooling.
  
  On the WebThe Center for Education Reform, a charter school advocacy organization, provides legislative profiles (scroll down) as well as grades for the nation's 38 charter school laws, September 2001.
  
  The Education Commission of the States has assembled a charter school issues page, including an overview, resources on what the states are doing, and links to selected research and readings.

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  Journal Gazette | 02/04/2005 | Ball State hails... - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 2/4/2005    Last Visited: 2/5/2005  

  Mike Malone, executive vice president of The Leona Group, said the management group shares Ball State,s concern about leadership but believes with Payne, the revolving door has stopped.
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  ,We feel the school leader sets the , tone for the success or failure of a school,, Malone said.
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  Malone said mobility rates are often high at urban schools because families move during the school year, he said.
  
  Still, Malone said, he would like to see the school reach 90 percent student retention, which is the rate at Irvington Community School in Indianapolis and Thea Bowman Leadership Academy in Gary.Both are charter schools sponsored by Ball State.
  
  Malone said with a stable leader, student and teacher retention should improve.The high turnover with the teachers, he said, is from young teachers who come in and aren,t prepared to deal with the challenges the school,s students present.
  
  ,The job is harder than they ever imagined,, he said.
  
  As the leadership stabilizes and student and teacher retention improves, Malone said the school will see stronger academic achievement.
  
  So far, the school has performed poorly on ISTEP+, the state,s standardized test.But what is more important to look at, Malone said, is how the students are performing on tests given in the fall and spring to determine students, growth.
  
  On the Northwest Evaluation Association exams, improvement in reading scores outpaced state and national rates, though the Johnson Academy students still scored below average on the exams.In language arts and math, the pace of improvement in most grades were at or below state and national averages.And again, students performed below average in their overall knowledge on the exams.
  
  Dezelan and Malone said the below-average scores are not surprising because the students came into the school performing two and three grade levels behind.
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  ,We expect and intend to put into place that those (growth) scores have to exceed state and national averages,, Malone said.

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  Journal Gazette | 02/15/2005 | Johnson Academy updates... - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 2/15/2005    Last Visited: 2/15/2005  

  The school is sound financially and student recruitment is going well, said Mike Malone, executive vice president of Midwest operations for The Leona Group.
  
  Leona officials are confident the plans in place will result in improved student achievement, Malone said.
  
  ,Student achievement has been erratic,, he said. ,We have to get to the point where student achievement is routinely better.,
  
  Strong parental support while the school aspires to satisfy federal and state academic guidelines is a point of pride for the school, Malone said.About 90 percent of parents who participated in a survey think the school is educating their students well, according to the report.
  
  Malone said parent satisfaction is important because parents choose to send their children to the school and ,they want to feel good about their choice.,

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  Journal Gazette | 08/16/2005 | Johnson charter may get... - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 8/16/2005    Last Visited: 8/16/2005  

  "These (ISTEP+) scores this year are important, they're pivotal," said Mike Malone, executive vice president of Midwest operations for The Leona Group, which manages Johnson Academy.
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  Malone said Leona officials were "alarmed" at how poorly the students performed on the tests last year, particularly after seeing some gains in the second year.
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  Malone said when the school's academic performance improves, its enrollment should go back up as well.Enrollment this year was expected to drop from the 282 students in 2004, even though the school added an eighth-grade class.By midday Monday, 215 students had been registered at Johnson Academy.
  
  "When children have academic achievement, parents will keep their kids in the school," Malone said.
  
  Parent Jack Woods said he hopes the school improves its performance and keeps its charter because he wants to continue sending his daughter to Johnson Academy.
  
  "I mean, give it a chance," he said."It's only been four years."

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  Journal Gazette | 12/18/2004 | Johnson leaders plan... - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 12/18/2004    Last Visited: 12/18/2004  

  Mike Malone, executive vice president of Midwest operations for The Leona Group, said the school might re-evaluate its summer school enrichment program.
  
  Summer school could be moved from early to late summer or it could be made mandatory for some students, he said.
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  Malone said it isn,t uncommon for charter schools to spend their first year stabilizing themselves financially and in the years after to begin focusing on improving student achievement.
  
  It may take a charter school a few years before it begins to do well, Malone said.
  
  ,The fourth year is about the right time to see school progress,, he said.
  
  Officials consider student performance in the classroom, results of the Northwest Evaluation Association exam and other assessments in addition to ISTEP+ scores when evaluating how well students are doing academically, Malone said.
  
  Despite Johnson,s disappointing test scores, The Leona Group continues to support the school and is pleased with its overall progress, Malone said.

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  LCN - News Story - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 3/20/2002    Last Visited: 4/15/2002  

  The debate illustrates one of the most challenging realities for many charter schools: paying for school buildings and technology while receiving only operating money from states, said Michael P. Malone, the executive vice president of the Leona Group in Phoenix.The for- profit company manages charter schools in four states, including Indiana.
  
  Mr. Malone, whose company plans to open the Timothy L. Johnson Academy, a charter school for the performing arts, next fall in Fort Wayne, Ind., sees no shades of gray in the funding debate.
  
  Opponents "absolutely attempted to squelch the movement" of charter schools in Indiana, he said.
  
  Funding for this story was provided in part by the Ford Foundation, which helps underwrite coverage of the changing definition of public schooling.
  
  back

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  Lansing State Journal:Walter French loses sponsor - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 5/28/2004    Last Visited: 5/28/2004  

  Mike Malone, Leona's executive vice president, said he knew the school was headed for dis-aster when leaders voted this spring to manage it themselves.
  
  "If you do that," Malone said he told board members, "the school is not going to succeed.

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  Leona Group, LLC -- The Executive Team - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 1/28/2006    Last Visited: 1/28/2006  

  Michael Malone - Executive Vice President
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  Michael MaloneMike is responsible for Midwest operations as Leona Group executive vice president.He also serves as president of The Leona Group charter schools board in Ohio and on the board of directors of Michigan Association of Public School Academies (MAPSA).He brings more than 25 years of executive management experience in both the private and public sectors to his position.His background includes leadership roles in an international energy corporation and an agriculture bank, as well as with major urban school systems in Alaska and Indiana.Mike received a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska - Omaha.He completed graduate coursework in organizational development at Pepperdine University.

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  Schools join the private marketplace - 10/28/01 - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 10/28/2001    Last Visited: 10/28/2001  

  The assessment tests also fail to measure a student's progress from one year to the next , said Mike Malone , director of Michigan operations for the Leona Group.We don't feel we get a good year-to-year reading on the progress we're making , he said.We can serve as a catalyst to affect change in the larger school system..Some scholars said they can't help but feel that the private operators are an improvement over the old way.Given the fact that decades of reform have failed to help inner-city schools , they feel some type of alternative , any type , is worth a try.Parents evidently agree because most schools have long waiting lists.At National Heritage , it's 2 , 600 names long.

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  Top 10 Lemons - Protect Our Public Schools - [Cached Version]
  Published on: 4/6/2004    Last Visited: 3/21/2005  

  Those results are explained, in part, because Leona tends to draw more students from low-income homes, said Michael Malone, the company's executive vice president for Midwest schools."We feel good about where we are, feel good about how we got here and feel excellent about the next phase of where we're going," he said.

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