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

Status of Underperforming (Commonwealth Priority) Schools (2000-2004)

At the November 2007 Board meeting, the Board voted to remove from underperforming (Commonwealth Priority Schools) status four of the 14 schools that were identified as underperforming during the review periods of 2000 through 2004. The Board agreed that the improvement gains achieved at Washington Elementary School and Liberty Elementary School in Springfield, Arlington Elementary School in Lawrence, and Laurel Lake Elementary School in Fall River were significant enough to remove these schools from Commonwealth Priority Schools status.

The Board deferred action until this month on the remaining 10 schools. I am recommending that the Board retain four of the schools as Commonwealth Priority Schools and designate the remaining six schools as Priority 1 schools. Attachment A    is a chart listing all 10 schools.

I recommend that the following four schools remain as Commonwealth Priority Schools: Lucy Stone Elementary School, Elihu Greenwood Elementary School, and Michael Perkins Elementary School in Boston, and James Sullivan Middle School in Lowell. Each of these schools has achieved some improvement, but the gains have not been consistent and more time is needed to ensure that the progress is sustainable. We provided the Board with information on each of these schools in October and November.

I recommend that the Board designate the remaining six schools as Priority 1 schools - a designation equivalent to the statutory term "chronically underperforming school. Four of the schools are in Springfield: Homer Street Elementary School, M. Marcus Kiley Middle School, White Street Elementary School, and Gerena Elementary School. The others are the Arlington Middle School in Lawrence and John Lynch Middle School in Holyoke. Some of the schools are in Restructuring status in both English language arts and mathematics and did not make Adequate Yearly Progress in 2007 in either subject for students in the aggregate or for subgroups. In all of the schools, CPI levels are significantly below the state average in both subjects. We provided the Board with information on each of these schools in October and November.

A designation of Priority 1 for these six schools will intensify the Department's involvement in the design and pace of the schools' improvement work. In some cases, that involvement may include the selection of a turnaround partner, under contract to the Department, who can deliver a more significant level of support to accelerate improvement in student performance at the school. For other schools, it may mean that the Department will work with school and district leaders and existing partners to review the school's experience and current data and determine whether a different strategy is needed. We believe each of these schools falls within the category of "chronically underperforming schools" as set forth in the statute and regulations, enclosed at Attachment B.

Associate Commissioner Juliane Dow and Lynda Foisy will be at the Board meeting to respond to any questions Board members may have about the status of these schools. We have also invited the superintendents from Springfield, Lawrence and Holyoke to the meeting to present their views regarding the Priority 1 recommendations.

Enclosures:

	Attachment A: Schools Currently in Commonwealth Priority School (CPS) Status
	Attachment B: Statute and Regulations on "Chronically Underperforming Schools"