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

Charter Renewal - Vote on Conservatory Lab Charter School

This month, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (Board) will vote on the charter renewal application of Conservatory Lab Charter School (CLCS).

Conservatory Lab Charter School

CLCS, a Commonwealth charter school, is located in Boston. The school opened in 1999. CLCS is chartered to serve pre-kindergarten through grade 5 with a maximum enrollment of 154. The school is currently serving 135 students in kindergarten through grade 5, and plans to add pre-kindergarten in 2009-2010.

The school's mission statement reads: "The Conservatory Lab Charter School will engage all children by using the Learning Through Music curriculum model to ensure every child's academic, creative, and social success, as validated by qualitative and quantitative measures."

Basis of Recommendations Regarding the Renewal of Charters

The charter school regulations state that "[t]he decision by the Board to renew a charter shall be based upon the presentation of affirmative evidence regarding the success of the school's academic program; the viability of the school as an organization; and the faithfulness of the school to the terms of its charter" 603 CMR 1.12. Consistent with the regulations, recommendations regarding renewal are based on the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's (Department) evaluation of the school's performance in these areas. In its review, the Department has considered both the school's absolute performance at the time of the application for renewal and progress the school has made during the first nine years of its charter.

The superintendent of the Boston Public Schools, the district sending students to CLCS, was invited to submit written comment to the Department regarding the renewal of the school's charter. No written comment was received from the superintendent.

The accountability process for charter schools recognizes that in exchange for increased freedom, a school must demonstrate results within the term of its five-year charter or risk non-renewal. The Summary of Review that follows this memorandum compiles the school's record for the term of this charter.

Recommendation for Renewal

Based on the evidence gathered in the attached Summary of Review and as further summarized below, I recommend that the Board renew the charter of the CLCS with conditions that require the school to implement its Learning Through Music program in alignment with its charter or to amend its charter to accurately reflect the school's current program and require the school to make its current facility programmatically accessible or, if the school moves, ensure that any new facility is programmatically accessible.

Areas of Charter School Accountability

I. Faithfulness to Charter

• The school's original charter proposed an educational model in which students would succeed in traditional academic subjects through the integration of the study of music in all areas of the curriculum. This model was referred to as Learning Through Music (LTM) and the school was proposed as a lab for testing, refining, and ultimately disseminating the model to other educational organizations. The current LTM model includes limited integration of music into traditional academic subjects, with students receiving one, 30 minute interdisciplinary class each week. The school continues to provide violin instruction to all students, beginning in first grade, and daily music classes.
• Part of the school's mission is to validate the efficacy of its LTM curriculum model through qualitative and quantitative research. The school is not currently measuring the LTM program.
• CLCS underwent a full Coordinated Program Review in December 2007. The school's civil rights Corrective Action Plan was approved on August 8, 2008, with the exception of the handicapped accessibility criterion. The handicapped accessibility criterion was not approved because the plan did not fully remedy the accessibility issue of the school. The school was required to submit an action plan, due to the Department on October 15, 2008, to address this issue. As of November 5, 2008, the Department had not received the school's plan, and an overdue notification letter was issued to the school on November 6. On November 10th, CLCS requested and was granted an extension of the due date to November 25, 2008.

II. Academic Success

• Curriculum materials at CLCS are primarily commercially published texts.
• CLCS made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in the aggregate in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics and for all sub-groups in 2007. The school made AYP only for mathematics in the aggregate for 2008.
• The school has no NCLB status in ELA or mathematics.
• In response to low MCAS scores, the school has increased the amount of time spent on ELA and mathematics instruction, while decreasing the extent to which music is integrated into the daily core curriculum.

III. Organizational Viability

• CLCS is fiscally sound and stable.
• CLCS is currently governed by a twenty-three member board with a wide range of skills and expertise relevant to the school and its mission.
• CLCS maintains full enrollment and a lengthy waiting list.

IV. Dissemination

• CLCS was the recipient of a state dissemination grant for the 2005-06 and 2007-08 school years to work in collaboration with the Massachusetts Public Charter School Association and Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education for the sharing of best practices with other public schools as part of the "Making Learning Visible" project. This project included charter schools, district schools, and pilot schools.
• In August 2006, a CLCS violin teacher presented a workshop for the Chelmsford Public Schools on the Suzuki group violin techniques that CLCS has modified to work in public schools.

If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact Jeff Wulfson, Associate Commissioner, at 781 338-6500; Mary Street, Director of Charter Schools, at 781- 338-3200; or me.

   Summary of Review