District/School Administration Administration
The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education

Board in Brief
Tuesday, December 20, 2005

This is "Board in Brief," issued at the request of Commissioner David P. Driscoll to bring you up to date on Board of Education matters. This is a report on the regular meeting held on Tuesday, December 20, 2005 at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in Malden.

School and District Accountability: Discussion of State Intervention in Underperforming Schools

Commissioner Driscoll opened the discussion, noting that the Board approved the guiding principles and general design of the school and district accountability system in 1999. Now that the Board has six years of experience with it, and faces an increasing need to provide direction and support to underperforming schools, it is time to review the system and make necessary modifications.

Chairman James Peyser presented a proposed framework to the Board for discussion. He proposed that the level of state intervention in underperforming schools should be tied to the capacity of leadership and staff to drive substantial and sustainable gains in student achievement. The framework divides underperforming schools into three categories: Needs Improvement Schools, Turnaround Schools, and Restructuring Schools. Depending on the category, the school would have a state-supervised improvement plan, a state-sponsored turnaround partner, or enter into performance contracting/chartering. All state-supervised improvement plans under the proposal would include required elements or a compelling rationale for alternative approaches. The elements include empowered leadership, qualified and supported teachers, more time on task for students, especially in English language arts and math, and the use of data-driven instruction.

Chairman Peyser said the proposal is intended to accelerate state intervention in underperforming schools for the benefit of the students and to align the state accountability system more closely with the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Board members agreed that the proposal provides a solid framework to begin the discussion, and offered comments and suggestions for refining it.

Commissioner Driscoll said that he and Department staff will revise the proposal based on the Board's discussion, meet with key constituencies including teachers, school and district leaders, business and community representatives and others to review the document and invite their comments, and come back to the Board in April with recommendations for changes to the school and district accountability system. In the meantime, the Commissioner will work with the underperforming schools whose plans are ""in the pipeline" so that those plans can be presented to the Board in January.

Turnaround Plan from Southbridge Public Schools

At the November meeting, Superintendent Dale Hanley presented the Southbridge Public Schools Turnaround Plan to the Board for initial review and discussion. The Board declared Southbridge to be an underperforming school district in September 2004. This month the Board discussed the plan further with Superintendent Hanley, who responded to questions about curriculum alignment, assessment, use of data to improve instruction, and staff evaluation. Chairman Peyser commended Superintendent Hanley for the professionalism and commitment she has brought to the job and for the clarity of the turnaround plan. He urged the superintendent to consider including in every staff member's performance evaluation the objective of raising student achievement. The Board voted unanimously to approve the Southbridge turnaround plan.

Charter Schools

The Board voted unanimously to renew the charters for Codman Academy Charter Public School in Boston and Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School in South Hadley. The Board initially discussed these two charter renewal applications at its November meeting. Chairman Peyser commented that each of the schools presented a very strong record of performance.

The Board had an initial discussion on the renewal applications from two other charter schools: Murdoch Middle Charter Public School in Chelmsford and Benjamin Banneker Charter Public School in Cambridge. The vote on these charter renewals is scheduled for the January Board meeting.

Approval of Grants

The Board approved $1,226,831 in grants, under two state-funded programs: Leadership Development in Five Urban Districts ($140,270); Gifted and Talented Standards-Based Curriculum ($500,000); and one federal program: Massachusetts Reading First ($586,561).

The next meeting of the Board of Education will be held on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in Malden.