Overview of the 2007Commonwealth Pilot School Process
At its November 28, 2006 meeting the Board of Education considered whether to declare English High School (Boston), Putnam Vocational-Technical High School (Springfield), Academy Middle School (Fitchburg), and Duggan Middle School (Springfield) to be Chronically Underperforming. Chairman Anderson proposed that these four schools be afforded the opportunity to become Commonwealth Pilot Schools, with site-based autonomies similar to those of pilot schools operating within the Boston Public Schools system. The Board of Education agreed to defer action on the motion to declare the schools to be Chronically Underperforming to provide time for district officials, school administrators and faculty in the four schools to consider this option.
The Department has issued guidelines to be followed by districts wishing to convert an underperforming school into a Commonwealth Pilot School, and has partnered with the Center for Collaborative Education (CCE), a Boston-based nonprofit organization, to assist school design teams in their exploration of the Commonwealth Pilot School option. In January 2007, the faculties at each of the four schools voted by a greater than two-thirds margin to pursue Commonwealth Pilot designation, and created design teams. During the week of January 29 - February 2, 2007, the four design teams participated in a Commonwealth Pilot Schools Design Institute hosted by CCE.
Initial design proposals for all four schools were submitted to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on February 9, 2007. Two State Review Panels were convened and members appointed to consider the proposals, with each Panel assigned to review two proposals. The State Review Panels conducted their reviews on February 16, 2007. Their deliberations were based on the Guidelines for Commonwealth Pilot Schools and the Commonwealth Pilot Schools Application Requirements published by the Department. The design teams worked with their CCE coach to revise their proposals, addressing the feedback and concerns highlighted by the Panel.
Design teams submitted updated proposals to the Department on March 12, 2007. Department staff reviewed these proposals and determined that each of the four proposals meet the criteria in the Commonwealth Pilot Schools Application and qualify for approval by the Board. At its March 27, 2007 meeting the Board of Education designated the four schools as Commonwealth Pilot Schools.
Between March and the opening of school in the fall of 2007, design teams and CCE staff continued work with the school design teams on implementation planning. Implementation planning activities for the four schools included setting school calendars; selecting staff, establishing the governing board and filling school leadership positions; refining curricular plans and materials; and preparing for summer professional development activities.
last updated: November 6, 2007
|
