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The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

Level 5 Schools - Quarterly Progress Report

To:
Members of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
From:
Mitchell D. Chester, Ed.D., Commissioner
Date:
December 5, 2014

This month I am presenting the second of four FY2015 quarterly progress reports to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on the four Level 5 schools (UP Academy Holland (UAH) and Paul A. Dever Elementary School in Boston, Morgan Full Service Community School in Holyoke, and John Avery Parker Elementary School in New Bedford) and implementation of the school turnaround plans. This memo includes updates from each receiver and Superintendent Durkin for Quarter 2, focusing on Level 5 teaching and learning from September-December 2014.

Professional Learning Community for Level 5 Schools

Beginning in September 2014, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's (ESE) Center for Accountability, Partnership and Targeted Assistance has been convening a monthly Professional Learning Community (PLC) for the three Level 5 school receivers and Superintendent Durkin. Depending on the topics covered, other staff members from the school teams and network/district offices are invited to participate as well. This PLC forum provides an opportunity for Level 5 school teams to discuss best practices, share tools, and confer over common challenges. DESE also uses these meetings to share information with receivers and the superintendent.

Level 5 Quarterly Progress Monitoring Plan

For each school in Level 5 status, staff from DESE have coordinated a quarterly progress monitoring system in order to provide a comprehensive view of the progress in teaching and learning at each school. The monitoring plan will measure progress toward turnaround plan implementation and benchmarks. To assist with this work, DESE is contracting with an external organization to conduct the monitoring. A schedule for reporting on the progress of Level 5 schools to external stakeholders, including the Board and local school committees, has been created.

Looking Ahead to Quarter 3

In March 2015, we plan to focus the third quarterly report on family and community engagement at the four schools. We will also provide updates on how the schools are implementing the priority areas for improvement in each turnaround plan.

Attachments:

Download PDF Document
Level 5 Schools Quarterly Report, December 2014, for:
  • Paul A. Dever Elementary School (content provided by Blueprint Schools Network)
  • John Avery Parker Elementary School (content provided by Superintendent Pia Durkin)
  • UP Academy Holland (content provided by UP Education Network)
  • Morgan Full Service Community School (content provided by Project GRAD USA)