Year one report on the Commonwealth Pilot School initiative
| To: | Members of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education |
| From: | Mitchell D. Chester, Ed.D., Commissioner |
| Date: | August 29, 2008 |
In March 2007, the Board gave four urban schools that would otherwise have been designated as chronically underperforming the opportunity to convert to Commonwealth Pilot Schools. Under the Commonwealth Pilot School structure, the schools accepted increased autonomy along with increased accountability for improving school performance. The participating schools-Academy Middle School in Fitchburg, John J. Duggan Middle School in Springfield, Roger L. Putnam Vocational School in Springfield, and The English High School in Boston-have just completed their first year in the new program.
As part of the conversion process, the Department contracted with the Donahue Institute at the University of Massachusetts to conduct an evaluation of program implementation in these schools. The Board received an interim report from Donahue on this initiative in April, covering program implementation through January 2008. Donahue is now completing a final report for year one, documenting baseline data on each school, program implementation, and findings and lessons learned from the first year of the program. The executive summary of this report is attached; the full version of the report will be made available on our website (http://www.doe.mass.edu/research/reports/) by mid-September.
  Board Version Executive Summary
last updated: September 3, 2008
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