Fact Finding Review Report
Roosevelt Junior High School, MA. - January 2001

Table of Contents

Introduction
Review Process
Key Strengths and Areas for Improvement
Appendix A & B
Appendix C

Introduction

The Fact Finding Review is the third stage in the process used to assess school performance under the new Massachusetts School and District Accountability System. At the first stage of the process schools' performance and improvement on state MCAS tests is rated. Schools that perform in the lowest School Performance Rating categories (very high percentage of students with failing MCAS performance; low percentage proficient and advanced) and do not demonstrate a significant improvement trend may be referred for a Panel Review. Panel Reviews are conducted to assist the Commissioner of Education in determining whether State intervention is needed to guide improvement efforts in schools where students' MCAS performance is critically low and no trend toward improved student performance is evident from MCAS data. Panels, consisting of 3-5 members plus a facilitator review data and written information on the school's performance and improvement efforts and spend a day visiting the school and meeting with school and district leaders.

The Review Panel 's charge is to advise the Commissioner of Education, at the conclusion of the review process, of their judgment on two questions:

• Does the school under review appear to have a sound plan for improving student performance?
• Do the conditions appear to be in place for successful implementation of the school's improvement plan?

If the answer to either or both of these questions is no, the Commissioner may declare the school to be under-performing. When a school is declared to be under- performing, the next stage in the process is a Fact Finding Review. The Fact Finding Review is an in depth evaluation of the school. The purposes of the Fact Finding Review are to:

• Provide an in-depth diagnosis of the school's strengths and areas for improvement.
• Make specific recommendations for the development of the school's improvement plan.

The Fact Finding Protocol is an evidence-based process. The findings of evaluation and its recommendations for school improvement planning must be based on evidence collected by the Fact Finding Team. Evidence is collected through observations of teaching and learning, interviews of faculty, students, families, administrators, district personnel and other school stakeholders and through the review of documents, including testing information, curriculum documents, and student work. The team's judgments must be robust, fully supported by evidence, defensible, and reference the performance standards listed in the Fact Finding Protocol. They must be reliable in that others would make the same judgment from the same evidence.

The Fact Finding Team's judgments are guided by a set of school performance standards that address curriculum, instruction, support given to students, faculty, leadership and governance, and learning. While the performance standards for the Fact Finding Protocol are comprehensive, it is beyond the scope of the review to comment on performance against all standards. The Fact Finding Team uses its professional judgment to focus on only those standards that reveal key strengths and areas for improvement in the school.

The Fact Finding Protocol is a cyclical process that engages the school in a professional dialog with the visit team. The school's leadership and Fact Finding Team meet regularly to discuss the evidence being gathered and the emerging judgments of the team about the school's key strengths and areas for improvement. The purpose of the dialog between the team and school is to exhaust the sources of important evidence and to build a shared understanding of what challenges face the school and how it can meet those challenges by building upon its existing strengths.

School and district leaders are expected to use the results of the Fact Finding Review to help guide their development of a sound plan to improve student performance at the school. After the Fact Finding Review is completed, the superintendent of a district in which a school has been declared under-performing must direct the preparation of a school improvement plan to address deficiencies identified by the Fact Finding Team. This plan must be submitted to the Commissioner and Board of Education for approval.

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