Assessment/Accountability
School and District Accountability and Assistance

Report of Fact Finding Review
Liberty Elementary School
Springfield Public Schools

Executive Summary

The Fact Finding visit to the Liberty School was conducted following to recent district efforts to help the school produce an improvement plan and the completion of a leadership change at the conclusion of the 2002-03 school year. The work of the Fact Finding team captured a portrait of Liberty at the end of the first month of school under a new principal, with numerous new personnel, and following engagement of the staff in an intensive summer planning project designed to address the core factors of poor student performance.

I Curriculum and Instruction

The implementation of the district's math and English/language arts curriculum was not based on a thorough examination of data, content coverage or analysis of practice to help teachers identify key performance gaps.

• In the past, the school failed to make effective use of data available from MCAS reports and a number of district-generated analyses in a thoughtful way to clearly pinpoint the persistent difficulties students displayed in ELA and mathematics testing. Many teachers reported to the Fact Finding team that in recent planning and professional development activities they have utilized available MCAS results and assorted formative material to learn more about interpreting data and its implications for instruction.
• Some upper grade staff struggle to satisfy the district's required math time allotments. The recommended 90 minute math block seems problematic as teachers plan for social studies and science mandates while adapting to a new reading model.
• The introduction of the Success for All reading initiative at Liberty last year encountered several hurdles with professional development, staffing and issues of compatibility with the district's reading program. Current relief has been noted with the new principal's initial overtures to cultivate viable connections to district support personnel for staffing advice and the school system's use of budget to raise the level of teacher competencies.

The quality of instructional methods and practices throughout the school is dramatically uneven and defined by a wide-ranging variation among the level of teaching proficiency, content knowledge and classroom management skills. Reasons for these deficiencies include

• Last spring's school improvement plan did not include a standardized model of performance expectations for teachers, nor could teachers articulate any during the course of the fact finding interviews. Student instructional objectives and improvement benchmarks were not institutionalized at the school either in plans or as a guiding principle for teachers.
• A chronic and pervasive breakdown of discipline procedures and perceived lack of administrative support and supervisory oversight contributed to substantial teacher turnover at the school.
• The current principal has promoted a unifying mission statement for the school, used active recruiting strategies to add to the strength of the teaching corps and plans to use a systematic supervisory model to establish more ambitious instructional standards.

II School Climate

As reported to the Fact Finding team, there has been a history of little opportunity for teachers to engage in dialogue about teaching practice, student learning or program assessment. This limited teachers' collegial exposure to a broader view of the curriculum, opportunities for cooperative planning or chances to share best practice.

• Previous school improvement planning efforts were generally a centralized function of the principal with minimal staff input.
• Professional development and planning activities during the summer of 2003 involved an inclusive team of teachers who began to identify instructional priorities and determine strengths and weaknesses associated with key improvement objectives.

There exists an elaborate code of conduct defined by the district, specific enough to direct the school's discipline policies and process, yet previous administrative approaches and practices did not furnish the necessary guidance, assistance and follow-through to guide the school to develop a cohesive, workable code of behavior.

• The school's adjustment counselor had been used as the chief coordinator of discipline measures at the school in prior years. A number of his significant roles such as family work related to chronic absenteeism and the Family Support Team facet of the newly adopted SFA program did not receive the required focus.
• Coupled with a number of teachers without a sound repertoire of successful instructional procedures or classroom management skill, the previous lack of an effective school-wide discipline system added to the challenges posed by many unsettled, unmotivated students.

III Organizational Structures and Management

The availability of resources is limited and does not fully provide for the professional infrastructure of the school. However, increased personnel commitments by the district, including the Collaborative Professional Development (CPD) teachers, a new sense of excitement and cooperation among the staff, and a renewed focus on the quality of instruction and climate have the potential to reverse some of these trends.

• Key instructional support materials are not in place. The school's mathematics program was missing significant components. Most grades do not have a social studies text
• The inauguration of the Success for All literacy initiative was partially derailed last year because the SFA facilitator left after a month's service and was not replaced until March 2003.
• This year, by allocating math and ELA collaborative teachers to all schools, the district takes a meaningful step aimed at elevating the level of teacher quality in Springfield.

IV Leadership and Planning

The Liberty School is moving through a transformation symbolized by open communication, renewed administrative respect for the thoughts and needs of the learning community and a commitment to use shared decision making strategies to plan for improved student achievement.

• The participation on the planning team was enlarged and served as a means of "bringing back" disengaged staff members from earlier, unsuccessful planning activities.
• The composition of the PIM team draws from a well balanced cross section of the school and exceeds half the staff. The principal and teachers demonstrated comprehensive knowledge of the school's planning document at the time of the visit and credited the groundwork done by the district's School Support Specialists as a helpful support for the school's efforts.
• Current planning and leadership operations at the school contrast with reported past school decision making teams (SCDM) which were not well utilized. Teachers had lost confidence in the principal's leadership, the SIP was not produced through an inclusive staff process and outreach to parents was unsuccessful.

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