District/School Administration Administration
Board in Brief

Thursday, September 26, 1996

This is Board in Brief, issued at the request of Commissioner Bob Antonucci, to bring you up to date on Board of Education developments of interest to the Department staff. The following is a report on the Board meeting held on Tuesday, September 24, 1996 at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in Malden.

Student Assessment

Education Commissioner Robert V. Antonucci led the Board in a continuing discussion of student assessment, the major agenda item for the Board this month. The Board affirmed that work will proceed on the existing plan to test students at grades four, eight and ten as required by the Education Reform Law, beginning with a question tryout in the areas of Mathematics and Science/Technology in the spring of 1997. On Commissioner Antonucci's recommendation, the Board agreed to expand the testing program with a reading test for all third graders, also to be administered in the spring of 1997, and to give a reading test to first and second graders in a few pilot schools as well. The Commissioner noted that the addition of the third grade reading test to the assessment program underscores the priority the Board has placed on reading as the keystone to students' ability to meet the high standards envisioned under Education Reform. Board Chairman John Silber commented, "Unless students learn to read by the end of third grade, the rest of their schooling is going to be remedial." The Board is expected to review various options for the third grade reading test at the October meeting. The Board also reached consensus on several other issues related to student assessment: (1) a test that is "customized" to the Massachusetts curriculum frameworks is essential, particularly if the test has "high stakes" consequences, as will be true when the 10th grade test is required for high school graduation; (2) assessments should consist of some combination of multiple choice and open-ended questions, recognizing that the addition of open-ended questions will add to the cost; (3) the Board should continue to work with Advanced Systems as the testing contractor unless the Board agrees that the assessments the company is proposing do not match the Board's objectives; and (4) the diagnostic capacity of the statewide assessments is limited - for instance, test results cannot be the sole basis for evaluating individual teachers.

Chairman Silber stated it is important to collect and factor in background information on the students taking the statewide tests, so as to avoid making faulty judgments about the effectiveness of a particular school. For example, he said, it would be inappropriate to judge a school or district based on student test scores, when two-thirds of the students have been in the school district for only two years. The Commissioner agreed that background data will be collected and reported, so that the assessment results will be more meaningful.

Early Childhood Education

The Board and Commissioner have identified early childhood education as a top priority. At this meeting Senator David Magnani, who co-chairs the Joint Committee on Education, Arts and Humanities and chaired the legislative Commission on Early Childhood, addressed the Board about the Commission's January 1996 report, "Children First." Legislation based on the report was filed in the spring of 1996 and awaits action. Chairman Silber said the Board will review the legislation and decide what steps to take in its legislative package and FY 98 budget request for early childhood education.

Curriculum Frameworks

The Commissioner gave the Board a progress report on the revisions to two curriculum frameworks. The History/Social Sciences framework should be ready to present to the Board for review in October, and the English/Language Arts framework is expected in November. The Commissioner and Board will decide on a process for scholarly review of the revised frameworks and opportunities for public comment.

Other Business

The Commissioner informed the Board that in November he will present a comprehensive review of the Time and Learning plans that each school district was required to submit to the Department by June 30, 1996. This prompted an extended discussion by the Board on steps that schools can and should be taking to ensure that students spend at least 75% of their school time on the core academic subjects. Chairman Silber said schools need to break away from conventional thinking, such as assuming that all teachers must arrive and leave at the same time. "If teachers' schedules were staggered," he said, "the school day could be extended for students, they could get adequate time in all their academic subjects and physical education, art and music, and no teacher would have to work longer hours." James Peyser noted that this sort of creative scheduling is in use right now at some charter schools. Dr. Roberta Schaefer said that in Worcester, school schedules are often dictated by bus schedules or other extraneous factors, an observation also offered by student Board member Alexis Vagianos.

Dr. Edwin Delattre commented that even the best curriculum frameworks will be thwarted if students do not spend enough time on the core academic subjects. He asked the Commissioner to gather information on how much time students are now spending on academic subjects in school. The Commissioner responded that the Time and Learning plans that school districts recently submitted do not provide this level of detail, but the information can be collected at a later date.

Chairman Silber recommended that the Board specify the amount of time that should be spent on the core academic subjects. "This Board won't be satisfied unless 100% of the schools are spending 75-80% of their time on the core subjects," he said. James Peyser cautioned that this discussion raises the question of state vs. local control, and that the Board should keep the focus on substance rather than accounting. William Irwin, who served on the Board when the Time and Learning Commission completed its reports and held public hearings, recalled that the Commission found it difficult to define "core subjects" because so many constituencies argued that theirs should be included. Abigail Thernstrom commented that if the Board "gets the incentives right" in the form of clear standards, assessment and accountability, that will go a long way towards resolving issues such as how much student learning time is enough.

The Commissioner reminded the Board that the changes being discussed could be accomplished by amending the Student Learning Time regulations, which requires public comment and enough lead time so that schools can make necessary adjustments, including collective bargaining where required. The Board concluded by asking the Commissioner to present several options for its consideration prior to the October meeting, including standards and definitions of student learning time in "core subjects" for elementary, middle and high schools and vocational schools.

In other action, the Board voted to elect Pat Crutchfield as Vice Chairperson of the Board, and amended the by-laws to eliminate the Executive Committee, which is not needed now that the size of the Board is reduced to nine members. The Board also received preliminary information about issues for consideration in the FY 98 budget, which it will discuss in more detail at the October meeting.

Next Meeting

The next regular meeting of the Board will be held on Monday, October 21, 1996 at the Blackstone Valley Regional School District in Upton. In addition to other issues, the Spring 1996 MEAP results will be released at that meeting.