Site Visit to Boston, MA

An American Youth Policy Forum Field Trip — May 31-June 1, 2005

The purpose of this site visit was to allow participants to learn about how one community is working to redesign its high schools and to provide various learning options by working with a broad range of partners to create new small high schools.  Day One of the trip consisted of visits to two new small high schools and a visit to a neighborhood youth organization that provides quality out-of-school time activities for teens.  Day Two of the trip included a visit to a small middle and high charter school, a meeting with the Superintendent of Boston Public Schools (BPS) Thomas Payzant, a meeting with the citywide partners in the school reform effort, and a visit to an alternative education school for at-risk youth.

It is important to note that Boston is one of seven cities participating in the Schools for A New Society (SNS) Initiative funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support district-wide high school reform.  As a participant in SNS, Boston was required to develop a long-term strategic plan, increase public engagement in the reform process, and consider how the district should change its work in order to support a system of high performing high schools.  Funding from SNS has been used for a variety of improvement strategies such as full-time instructional coaches, primarily literacy, at each school; development of small learning communities (SLCs); systemic review of all high school policies that hamper the work of SLCs and development of a process to revise those policies for all schools; and strengthening innovative projects between SLCs and their higher education and community partners.

BPS boasts a number of school options; these non-traditional schools are designated either by the state or by the local district.  These schools differ according to the funding they receive, the autonomies they are allowed, and their relationship with the teacher union.  Charters, formally called Commonwealth charters, are granted by the state, to which they are accountable. The state’s charter legislation limits the number of charters in a district by capping the percentage of dollars that can go to charter schools at 9% (although the state is considering raising the district limit for Commonwealth charters).  Charter schools receive their funding directly from the state as MA has a “funds follow the child” structure. Charter school teachers are not usually members of the local teacher union, but do have the option to join. 

As Commonwealth charters are limited within a district, the state has created another option that allow for similar flexibility and creativity.  Horace Mann charters are ‘in-district’ charters, granted by the state with approval from the local school district and the teacher’s union.  They do not count in a district’s overall total towards the state limit of charter schools within a district. Horace Mann charters remain directly accountable to the state in terms of oversight and evaluation of performance, but are also considered part of BPS.  Currently, there are only seven Horace Mann charters through MA and two are located in BPS.  Created in 1994 through an agreement with the Boston Teachers Union (BTU) as “education laboratories,” Pilot schools are afforded many of the same autonomies as charter schools (see the autonomies below).  Teachers at both Pilot schools and Horace Mann charters must be members of the BTU, yet have negotiated stipulations into their contract that allow for deviation from the typical expectations of teachers.  Pilot schools and Horace Mann charters receive their funding from BPS as a lump per pupil budget, equivalent to the per student funding received by traditional schools.  The schools, then, determine how to allocate the funds for teacher salaries, supplies, and services.  Within BPS, Pilot schools and Horace Mann charters are both supported by the Center for Collaborative Education (CCE).  This year, approximately 10% of all BPS students were attending Pilot schools or Horace Mann charters.  (Please see the chart at the end of this report for a more detailed description of the differences between Horace Mann charters and Pilot schools.)        

Another Course to College and Boston Community Leadership Academy

The AYPF group began its visit to two new small Pilot high schools with a quick introduction from the two Headmasters.  The schools share a former middle-school facility just across the street from Brighton High School, a large comprehensive neighborhood high school that is undergoing its own reform.  The facility is limited in terms of public spaces, and as joint tenants, the schools must share facilities such as the auditorium, meeting rooms, cafeteria, and gymnasium, but classroom space seemed adequate and well-appointed.

Both schools are Pilot schools, a unique designation in Boston with an interesting origin.  As public charter schools began to gain acceptance and spread, BPS and the Boston Teachers Union (BTU) decided to develop a school model with much of the flexibility of charter schools that operates within the public school system.  Pilot schools are provided the same average daily attendance amount per student as any other Boston public school, but are given autonomies in the following five areas: 

1. Staffing: Pilot schools have the freedom to hire and excess their staff in order to create a unified school community. This includes:

• Deciding on staffing patterns which best meet the academic, social, and emotional needs of students.
• Hiring staff that best fit the needs of the school, regardless of their current status (although every teacher hired becomes a member of the local teachers union).
• Moving excess staff that do not fulfill the needs of the school into the district labor pool.

2. Budget: Pilot schools have a lump sum per pupil budget in which the school has total discretion to spend in the manner that provides the best programs and services to students and their families. This includes:

• A lump sum per pupil budget, the sum of which is equal to other BPS schools within that grade span.
• The district has moved toward itemizing all central office costs, and allows Pilot schools to choose to purchase identified discretionary district services or to not purchase them and include them in the school’s lump sum per pupil budget.

3. Curriculum and Assessment: Pilot schools have the freedom to structure their curriculum and assessment practices to best meet students’ learning needs. While acknowledging that all Pilot schools are expected to administer any state- and district-required test, these schools are given the flexibility to best determine the school-based curriculum and assessment practices that will prepare students for state and district assessments. This includes:

• Schools are freed from local district curriculum requirements.
• Graduation requirements are set by the school, not by the district, with an emphasis on competency-based, performance-based assessment.

4. Governance and Policies: Pilot schools have the freedom to create their own governance structure that has increased decision-making powers over budget approval, principal selection and firing, and programs and policies, while being mindful of state requirements on school councils. This includes:

• The school’s site council takes on increased governing responsibilities, including the following: principal selection, supervision, and firing, with final approval by the superintendent in all cases; budget approval; and setting of school policies.
• The school has flexibility to be freed from all district policies, and set its own policies that the school community feels will best help students to be successful. This includes policies such as promotion, graduation, attendance, and discipline.

5. School Calendar: Pilot schools have the freedom to set longer school days and calendar years for both students and faculty. In particular, research supports a correlation between faculty planning time spent on teaching and learning and increased student achievement. Scheduling allowing for summer and school year faculty planning time contributes to a more unified school community and educational program. This includes:

• Increasing planning and professional development time for faculty.
• Increasing learning time for students.
• Organizing the school schedule in ways that maximize learning time for students and planning time for faculty (e.g., longer days Monday through Thursday in order to have half-days for students on Fridays, enabling faculty to have a significant planning and professional development block every Friday afternoon).

For a school to become a Pilot school, two-thirds of the teachers must agree to the change by vote.  Pilot school teachers are included in the BTU bargaining unit, but each school can approve changes to its labor contract for items such as number of hours worked and other working conditions.  Principals of Pilot schools are not covered by a union agreement and are evaluated by their governing board, which is then forwarded to the superintendent for review. 

The Center for Collaborative Education serves as the coordinating organization for the 17 Boston Pilot schools (and the two Horace Mann charters also considered part of the network) and provides various forms of technical assistance to the schools, including fiscal management, coaching on curriculum and parental involvement, network-wide professional development, monthly leadership meetings, study groups, and evaluation of the schools. 

Nicole Bahnam, the Headmaster of Boston Community Leadership Academy (BCLA), provided a brief history of how BCLA, now in its third year, was started.  In the fall of 2000, BPS Superintendent Payzant appointed Bahnam as the new headmaster to revamp Boston High School, which was among the lowest performing high schools in the district.  In 2001, after only one year of her leadership, BPS decided it would close Boston High School rather than upgrade the inadequate facilities.

Under the threat of closure that was tied to both the condition of the facility as well as student performance issues, Ms. Bahnam, the faculty, students, and parents negotiated with the district for the school to remain open by converting to Pilot school status.  With coaching and technical assistance from CCE, a 21-member school-based design team consisting of staff, parents, administrators, and students worked together to develop a proposal.  In September 2002, Boston High School transformed into Boston Community Leadership Academy and became the first traditional Boston public school to convert to Pilot school status.  Reflecting the involvement and leadership of the community in “saving” the school, the name Boston Community Leadership Academy was chosen.

The conversion to Pilot status provided an opportunity for the school to reinvent itself, especially in terms of its academic expectations.  Boston High had been a work-study school, in which students were only required to spend half a day in class, with the other half spent working for local employers.  The goal of the former high school was to prepare students to immediately enter the workforce after graduation, and according to veteran teachers, academic standards and expectations at the school were low.  In contrast, BCLA was designed to prepare students for future success in college and responsible citizenship in a democracy.  To advance this mission, the design team created a rigorous academic curriculum that promotes teamwork, community service, and citizenship.

The school is now governed by collaborative groups with distinct responsibilities.  The governing board, composed of staff members, parents, administrators, and community members, is responsible for larger policy and budgetary issues including building community and business partnerships to develop a solid fundraising base.  The governing board also evaluates the work of the principal.  Teachers work together based on instructional or departmental needs; they have the primary responsibility for curriculum development. Students also play a role through their involvement in many aspects of school governance and life.

BCLA attracts a similar student makeup as before:  of its 400 students, 62 percent of students are African-American; 23 percent are Hispanic; 13 percent White, and 2 percent Asian.  BCLA also has 18 percent of special education students, higher than the school district average of 11 percent.  Seventy-three percent of the students are eligible for free or reduced price lunch, and 21 languages are spoken.  Accommodating special education students and English language learners (ELLs) at a small school requires a great deal of inclusion, team teaching, and, most importantly, professional development, said Bahnam.  Because most teachers are not trained to teach special education students and ELLs, BCLA has had to provide training.  The school also has a learning center with full-time staff to help both teachers and students.  

Boston Pilot schools are not on the high school list for BPS, so students and parents have to seek out Pilots or Pilots have to recruit students. BCLA takes students on a first-come, first-serve basis once a student’s application is received.  The application requires students to visit the school and meet with school staff. The purpose of the meeting is for the school to connect with the family and develop a true partnership with home. BCLA values the home school partnership especially during the transition year from middle school to high school.

BCLA adopted Core Values called ROAR, an acronym for 1) everyone is Respected and valued; 2) everyone has Ownership; 3) everyone is Accountable; and 4) everyone does Rigorous work.  The school also adheres to guiding principles for teaching and learning that include personalization; academic rigor; authentic assessment; data-driven decision making; and shared leadership.  Bahnam also said “it’s a matter of creating a culture that accepts that there is nothing wrong with the kids, but it’s the adults who must change.” To encourage students to keep working until mastery, the school operates on the grading principle of “A, B, C or not yet.”

The school is organized into two houses, the lower house (grades nine and ten) and the upper house (grades 11 and 12).  The lower house teachers devote more time to English language arts and math for the younger students, as well as helping them with their organizational skills.  BCLA has calculated the amount of time spent on literacy and math each per week to be 400 minutes in the lower house and 265 minutes in the upper house.  Curriculum in grades nine and ten are standards-based and aligned with the curriculum framework tested by the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS).  The upper house allows more electives, and five Advanced Placement courses are offered in double periods.  All seniors are required to take the SATs, apply for college, and develop and defend a culminating project and portfolio.  Students are also able to take courses from the Harvard Extension School at a reduced cost.  These courses allow students to get a jumpstart on postsecondary credit and supplement the offerings at BCLA.   English and math teachers in the lower house have an average class size of 15 students and in the upper house of 20.  All students are assigned to an advisory that meets twice a week with a teacher/student ratio of 1/10. 

CCE was critical in helping to retrain staff and creating new ways of working.  BCLA allows staff to design their curriculum as long as it is standards based, and CCE helps teachers learn how to do this.  BCLA also uses the Collaborative Coaching and Learning (CCL) process, a professional development model evident in other Boston public schools.  In CCL, teams of teachers develop teaching plans, observe and critique each other’s work, and then develop improvement strategies.  The schedule allows each department to meet at least once a week to review student work and instructional plans.  The CCL process is not used to evaluate or judge teachers, so teachers are increasingly open to discussing their work with others as a community of practice.  There is a separate process to fire teachers (either using the evaluation process or asking the teacher to excess him/herself), so the teachers understand the difference between evaluation for improvement and evaluation for job performance.  Bahnam said reform doesn’t happen overnight, and getting teachers to work more collaboratively together is an ongoing process.

Bahnam said that since 2002, BCLA has shown dramatic increases in the percentage of students passing the Grade 10 MCAS in Mathematics and English Language Arts and is hopeful of continuing improvement.  However, she wishes they had a better data collection mechanism that could keep outcome data, instructional information, student assessment, and case management information for each student all in one database.  This type of data system does not exist, but Bahnam wants to create it as a tool to provide continuous feedback and information to teachers and staff.

Challenges that face the school, according to Bahnam, are “developing our own stamina about doing the work.  There is so much going on, and teachers are so busy, we need to come up with a balance that doesn’t burn people out.”  Another challenge is to ensure that as the school moves to a more rigorous curriculum and higher expectations, it does not become elitist or exclusive.  School leaders are asking, “how can we develop differentiated supports with the same expectations; how can we expect every student to graduate in four years or do we need to create a fifth year; and how can everyone, including the principal, teachers, and students, become proficient in their work?”  Led by Ms. Bahnam, the entire community is grappling with these questions, and the school continues to evolve.

As our trip was scheduled towards the end of the school year, classes were beginning to wind down and students were preparing for final exams.  Our group had an opportunity to see some the senior portfolio exhibitions and observe a school-wide assembly, a poetry slam where students from grades 9 through 11 had an opportunity to compete against each other in a spoken word contest.  The annual poetry slam is one of the new emerging traditions at BCLA. 

Another Course to College (ACC) is a school that has expanded backwards into earlier grades.  ACC was founded in 1976 as a college preparatory program for students who, at the end of their sophomore year, wanted to attend a four-year college, but were not getting rigorous enough courses or being challenged in their traditional high school.  From 1976 to 2003, ACC only served students in grades eleven and twelve.  For the 2003-2004 school year, ACC began making the transition to a full high school program, grades nine through twelve. 

Jerry Howland, Headmaster, said over the years ACC has developed a very rigorous college preparatory curriculum with a focus on analytical reading, writing, and thinking.  Acceptance to college is a graduation requirement at ACC; students do not need to attend college immediately after graduation, but they must be accepted.  Howland continued that the challenge of the new school is to develop an educational program with academic supports that will prepare a controlled choice student population primarily from Boston’s public middle schools to tackle a rigorous curriculum when they reach grade twelve. 

As a pilot school, ACC draws students from across Boston, and uses a lottery to select a random group of students.  When ACC was a program for grades 11 and 12, students came for an interview but that is no longer the policy.  Incoming ninth graders are not required to visit the school before they choose ACC in the citywide lottery. ACC is the only pilot school that receives students from the citywide lottery. All other pilot schools select their students through an interview process.  There is some self-selection of students, as only those students who want to take challenging coursework apply, but the pool of applicants is much more diverse academically than the students who participated in ACC when it was a program.  Thus, ACC is interested to see if they can replicate the success of their program with a broader, more diverse range of students. 

Howland was honest in saying that the city got caught up in the move to create new small schools funded by the Gates Foundation, and included ACC, without its knowledge, as one of the new proposed schools.  Howland mused that no one would add a ninth and tenth grade to a program voluntarily, as it is much easier to work with older youth.  Students in the current program were also split about adding a ninth and tenth grade, which doubled the size of the program from 100 to 200, approximately 50 per grade. 

As a small school, the teachers at ACC get to know the students very well and have more time to spend reviewing student work and providing feedback. For example, the English teacher teaches the same group of 45-50 students for both English, which is primarily a literature seminar, and Analytical Writing, a course responsible for teaching students how to do the analytical writing for both English and History.  English teachers have a maximum student load of 50 students, thereby allowing them to give student writing the attention it deserves.  Average class size is 18, with a maximum of 25 students.  There are 20 faculty and staff, with the only administrator being the Headmaster, who also teaches.

Howland said the most important autonomy from his perspective is related to staffing, because “if you get good people, you can do anything.”  Teachers have complete autonomy to develop curriculum and teach as they wish, as long as their students are prepared to do college-level work.  Howland believes one of the most important criteria for teachers is that they believe that students can do the work and make a commitment to helping students.  The only additional staff members are two guidance counselors, one for the ninth and tenth grade students and the other for the upper-level students.

According to Howland, many of the entering ninth graders are not on track to do 12th grade work in three years, so teachers begin working with the students as soon as they enter ACC to prepare them for upper-level work.  For instance, students in the ninth grade have a longer day so that they can spend time working on their homework with support, if needed.  Of 48 ninth grade students from the previous year, 24 were able to pass the required courses and advance, but the other 24 could not and were put into a transition program to help them develop their skills before moving onto tenth grade.    Within this group of 24 were two subgroups:  half who did not pass ninth grade because of poor literacy and analytical skills, and half who had the requisite skills but were unmotivated learners.  The Transition Program provides those who lack the literacy skills intensive basic skills development, primarily reading and language arts.  For those who have the skills but are unmotivated, they are provided individualized attention because their problems usually encompassed broader issues.  Howland expects the unskilled but motivated group to progress to the tenth grade, but he worries that the unmotivated group may not be able to gain the needed attitudes and predispositions without staying for a fifth year.  Howland and his staff are not sure what to do with students who do not progress on time and think they may have to transfer to another school.

ACC partners with the University of Massachusetts to offer dual enrollment, but since the state eliminated funding for it, students have to pay for the courses, which can be a burden.  Harvard Extension School also offers supplemental classes for students with a half scholarship.  ACC will help cover the cost for families that are unable to afford the remainder of the tuition.  Howland is also hopeful that ACC and BLCA will be able to begin sharing Advanced Placement classes to provide more upper level opportunities for students.

Howland said some students actually earn higher GPAs when they go to college than they have at ACC because ACC prepares them so well through the rigorous curriculum and tough grading scale.  A look at the reading list for the senior English seminar might also provide an explanation:  Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, The Republic by Plato, Inferno by Dante, Paradise Lost by Milton, and Wealth of Nations by Smith are just a few of the high level materials students read.

ACC’s Governing Board consists of five teachers, three parents, two students, two community leaders and the Headmaster. The Governing Board takes the place of the traditional school committee in making decisions about personnel, budget, and curriculum. They also have a typical student government with class officers and senators involved in advocating on behalf of the student body.

As a pilot school, ACC receives approximately $7400 per student after a percentage is retained by BPS for administrative costs.  As a Gates small school, ACC received an additional $60,000 per year for five years.  This money has been used to purchase additional novels and works of literature for English and to create two fully-equipped computer labs so that students will have access during and after school to write essays for history and English. 

During our visit, we had an opportunity to talk with students and ask their opinions of the school.  The students said there is a strong culture of peer support and getting your work done.  Students talk to other students about keeping up their grades, and if a student falls behind, his or her peers will rally round and try to help the student catch up.  There is a culture of high achievement, and students like the fact that they are doing challenging work.  Students said that all teachers are dedicated to helping them and are available whenever needed.  Students also said the teachers help connect their education to real life and make learning meaningful.  Lastly, one student said, “Teachers are my friends, too.  I would give that up by going to a bigger school.”

Hyde Square Task Force

Hyde Square Task Force (HSTF) was founded in the late l980s by a diverse group of residents in response to the drugs and youth gang violence that were plaguing the Hyde Square neighborhood in the Jamaica Plain section of Boston.  Jamaica Plain was also affected by racial issues, as Jamaica Plain is a Hispanic neighborhood that borders West Roxbury, which is largely a white neighborhood.  The police force that oversees Jamaica Plain is headquartered in West Roxbury, and is also largely white, which led to alienation, misunderstandings, and confrontations. 

According to Jesús Gerena, Director of Community Development & Organizing, HSTF’s mission is to “develop the skills of our youth and adult residents so that they are empowered to improve their own lives and build a stronger, more peaceful urban community.”  Today, HSTF runs a number of youth and education programs providing quality programming during out-of-school time with three primary goals: keeping youth safe and involved, developing the young people’s leadership skills, and helping them become civically engaged and active in their community.

HSTF offers various services to younger and older children in the community.  After-school programs are available for students in grades one through four at John F. Kennedy Elementary School, with teens providing literacy tutoring and grades seven and eight at the Mary E. Curley Middle School.  They offer youth leadership programs that are high intensity/high impact programs where teens are provided with a core curriculum in life/leadership skills. In teams of 10-15 members, teens work 8-10 hours per week in their specialty throughout the year service as tutors, dance instructors, and youth community organizers.  Other programs are available to help youth plan and prepare for college.

AYPF participants had an opportunity to visit an after-school tutoring program, which is managed and staffed by teen employees.  The literacy tutors who work with children at Kennedy Elementary School provide activities and help from 2:30 – 5:30 PM.  The teen tutors receive training in how to serve as a mentor, provide literacy tutoring, and help with art activities.  They work for approximately ten hours a week, are paid about nine dollars for six of those hours, and volunteer for the remainder of the time. (HSTF does not raise enough money to pay teens for all the hours they work.)  Teen tutors say they do not work for the money, as it is such a small amount, but it does make them feel more valued.  The after-school tutors also manage the program: making sure that there are enough youth available to handle the younger children and making business decisions related to pay and other administrative issues. 

The AYPF group also saw another youth activity in session, the Ritmo en Accion teen dancers.  As part of an effort to create healthy lifestyles, the Women Engaged in Physical Activity project of HSTF, used dance as the “hook” to engage the young women.  A core group of middle and high school-aged girls receive training to perform and teach traditional and contemporary Latin dance.  They practice every week and perform throughout the year, as well as teach dance to more than 100 younger children enrolled in after-school and summer programs.

The youth organizing activities of HSTF are impressive and sophisticated.  Youth community organizers got their start by helping the Jackson Square neighborhood, another area which is also served by HSTF, coordinate a community effort to prevent Kmart from opening a store and creating alternative development plans.  As a result of their successful efforts, HSTF is now one of the key partners in the planning for the Jackson Square Youth/Family Center, which will be the centerpiece of the proposed revitalization slated for that area. 

Youth community organizers have also been involved in “Get Out the Vote” campaigns by educating adults in the area. HSTF said local voter registration increased by 32% and Latino voter turnout increased by 27% in the last election as a result of their efforts. Other campaigns included getting the neighborhood council to drop its voting age to 16, so more youth could serve on the council,and working with police to alert them to problems before they escalate.  Youth have also been involved in helping beautify the Jackson metro station by painting murals.  Currently, youth community organizers are working on a “higher order” issue.  During a brief meeting with six youth organizers, the AYPF group heard them discuss their strategy to increase the budget for summer youth employment programs by developing and executing a letter writing campaign and organizing visits to state legislators.  The group was quite sophisticated in the workings of politics and influencing political decisions, and they seemed to relish the public engagement aspect of this debate. 

Another program at HSTF, The Path to College and Careers, works with youth starting in seventh grade to change their perceptions about their future, and supports these students through high school graduation with individualized support in SAT preparation, college essays, and college applications and part-time community service jobs.  HSTF also provides a Health Care Ambassadors program, in which students are placed in health care internships where they gain hands-on experience in a healthcare setting.  They also participate in workshops about careers in healthcare and receive assistance in resume writing and job search.

Students who want to participate in one of the activities mentioned above must apply; currently each program has a waiting list of approximately 50 young people.  Youth are interviewed by program staff and by current team members, and youth must be in high school or in the process of getting a high school diploma.  Also, once students are involved in one of the activities, they must bring in their report cards and maintain a C average in order to participate, which provides motivation to do well in school.

While HSTF partners with many organizations, it has limited partnerships with high schools.  The nearest high school that HSTF works with is English High School where HSTF provides conflict mediation and teen empowerment activities in the after-school hours.

There are approximately ten full-time staff, with 10-15 part-time volunteers at HSTF.  Most of the funding for HSTF is provided by foundations, individuals, and the United Way. 

HSTF is youth-led and driven, supported by dedicated staff who allow youth to shine. During our meeting with the youth community organizers, the youth were clearly in charge of creating the agenda and working out the issues, with staff serving as resources.  Gerena said HSTF realizes it needs to provide young people a range of high quality activities to meet their varied needs and keep them participating.  He continued that it is also important to provide a stipend, however small.  It demonstrates there is value to the work, and young people liked having some “pocket change.”  But when we asked the youth if they would work even if they did not get paid, they almost all said yes, it was not about the money; they did the work because they wanted to, and they felt good about it.

Dinner Presentation by Paul Reville, Executive Director, The Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy, MassINC

Paul Reville is widely regarded as an expert in high school reform issues in Massachusetts, having spent his career involved with education and standards-based reform, as well as serving as a lecturer on educational policy and politics at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  Reville provided a short history of school reform in the state to the AYPF group to help provide a context for the reform efforts we were seeing in Boston.

Reville stated that the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education was one of the first organizations to become involved in school reform in the late 1980’s.  Their involvement helped spur the passage of the Education Reform Act in 1993, which consisted of three major elements.  First, was a commitment to standards-based reform that was based on regular assessment of progress and holding the various parties responsible, but also providing help and support to districts and schools.  If improvements did not occur, then the state would intervene.

The second element was finance reform which focused on adequacy, equity, and stability school funding.  The third element dealt with changes to the existing system, to provide greater freedom and flexibility.  For instance, charter schools and dual enrollment were authorized and supported; recertification of teachers was strengthened; and principals were removed from bargaining units to provide more leadership flexibility.  As these changes were being debated and approved, Reville said there was no particular focus on high schools and few provisions aimed specifically at high schools were included because legislators were more focused on other matters.  However, state legislators did include funding for dual enrollment (now expired), and they eliminated the general track in high schools.

As part of the implementation of the Education Reform Act of 1993, Reville chaired a statewide commission looking at the use of time in Massachusetts’ schools.  The focus on time and learning had been precipitated by reports that American students were in class much less than their international peers.  The impact of this commission was to require that six and a half hours of the school day be devoted to core academic subjects (recess and study halls were not counted any longer).  As a result, many high schools moved to block scheduling to meet this new time requirement, which resulted in greater flexibility in creating new forms of instruction.

Reville said that most of the support for high school reform has come from outside sources, including the federal Smaller Learning Communities grants and funds from foundations like the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  In addition, the high stakes tests in MCAS and the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act have forced policymakers and educators to focus efforts on helping high school students meet standards required for graduation.

Despite the increasing focus on high school reform, Reville said the state capacity to lead in this area and to provide capacity-building efforts to turn around failing schools is thin.  In an effort to help create awareness of successful high schools, the Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy undertook a study to identify characteristics of higher performing urban high schools in MA.  The report, Head of the Class: Characteristics of Higher Performing Urban High Schools in Massachusetts (available, if registered at http://www.massinc.org/) identifies nine high performing or improving high schools and enumerates five common practices across all of them, including:

• High Standards and Expectations.  Administrators communicate high standards and expectations for students and teachers.
• Culture of Personalization.  Each school has been able to develop a culture that personalizes instruction while offering significant supports for teachers and students.
• Small Learning Communities.  All schools have small class sizes and small learning communities; these features have been critical to students and teachers forming strong, trusting relationships, and the ability of teachers to respond to students’ needs.
• Data-driven Curriculum.  Curricula that are shaped and adjusted in response to data on student performance – including those that put a heightened focus on math and literacy – are present in these schools.
• Strong Community Relationships.  Strong relationships with the community, engagement of parents, and support from higher education institutions and corporate partners provide important supports to these schools’ educational programs.

Reville closed by sharing a story about how the community of Worcester, MA wanted to scale up high school reform in their city’s schools based on the model of the successful University Park Campus School that partners with Clark University that has a strong success rate with low-income, minority students (highlighted in Head of the Class).  But Reville said there is a problem in making change in diverse high schools where some students are performing well and their parents see no reason to change what is working for their children.  “These kinds of heterogeneous high school communities often do not recognize the need to change, yet high schools cannot be changed without community support and involvement,” he said.  “We’re a long way from recognizing what Bill Gates said about high schools being obsolete – we’re battling lots of inertia,” concluded Reville.

Mayor’s Youth Group

Joining the AYPF group at the dinner presentation were members of The Mayor’s Youth Council. This group consists of high school juniors and seniors representing each of Boston neighborhoods.  Their mission is to advise the mayor on issues related to youth and advocate on behalf of all Boston’s young people.  The members of the Mayor’s Youth Council spoke to our group about their recent campaigns: a voter registration drive for the 2004 election, advocacy efforts to increase state and city funding for summer jobs, and their on-going work to centralize information and services for teens through their online portal (www.bostonyouthzone.com).        

 

 

 

Boston Collegiate Charter School

Boston Collegiate Charter School (BCCS), founded as South Boston Harbor Academy, opened in 1998 with 120 students in grades five, six, and seven, and has grown to an enrollment of 365 students in grades five through twelve.  According to its charter, the school can enroll a maximum of 425 students.  BCCS is chartered by the MA Board of Education as a Commonwealth charter and is accountable to the state, not the school district.  The mission of the school is to prepare all students for four-year college and instill in them the “expectation of college from the moment they walk through our doors.”  

When the AYPF group walked through the doors of the newly renovated entrance area connecting the middle and high schools, we were greeted by polite and articulate middle school students who had recently arrived for school.  Each morning the students themselves are greeted by the principals and teachers as they arrive.  Middle school students then pass to the right half of the building, and high school students move to the left half.  Students tend to be separated for most of the day, with exceptions such as when high school students tutor the younger students. 

The charter schools’ philosophy is based on three instructional pillars:

• Creativity flourishes within a structured academic environment.  Good work cannot occur unless there is a safe and orderly environment in and out of the classroom.
• High academic and behavioral expectations.  High expectations demand significant amounts of extra support before, during, and after school and on Saturdays.
• Without great teachers, nothing else matters.  Teachers must have the time and professional tools and resources to do their work effectively.

Boston Collegiate accepts students by random public lottery (with sibling preference). Students come from 13 neighborhoods across the city of Boston with the majority of students from Dorchester and South Boston.  Forty percent of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch, and most are first-generation college students.  The demographics of the current fifth grade class are 59 percent White; 30 percent African American; 8 percent Hispanic and 3 percent other.  Students arrive in fifth grade with varying skills from first to eighth grade reading levels.  Approximately 17 percent of the student body qualifies for special education services.  Once a student gains a spot at BCCS (via the lottery or off the waiting list), parents sign a Family Accountability contract that lays out family responsibilities.  Last year, 250 students applied for 88 fifth grade openings.  As indicated by BCCS admissions statistics, the demand is high for charter schools, yet the state charter legislation dictates that no more than nine percent of a district’s net school spending can be spent on commonwealth charters.  It is unlikely that BCCS will be able to grow significantly as BPS has almost reached its capacity for spending on commonwealth charter schools.  

Every student is placed in an advisory (similar to a “homeroom”), named for the advisor’s alma mater.  Advisories organize field trips to colleges for middle school students to get them thinking about college-going and build their familiarity with college.  In 11th and 12th grade, the school organizes official college visits for students, helps them complete their college applications, and helps families apply for financial aid.  During the second half of senior year, seniors participate in an internship program.   Each senior works in the community at an organization in the private, public, or nonprofit sector one day a week as well as creates a culminating project.

There have been two graduating classes - 18 students in 2004 and 18 students in 2005.  All were admitted to four-year college, mostly in New England.  BCCS has been collecting information on the students in the class of 2004.  While some graduates faced challenges during freshman year, BCCS believes that they will continue in college, though some may take more than four years to complete their degree.  The school is working to set up an alumni program to provide support to improve the college success rate.  The class of 2005 earned a total of 118 college acceptances and $585,000 in merit scholarships.  One graduate decided to join the U.S. Army while all others will enroll in college in the fall.

 

Enrollment at BCCS is limited by the size of the new campus, but BCCS has also adopted the philosophy of not admitting students after ninth grade because they believe you must begin working with students in middle school to ensure they have the necessary academics and that the culture of high expectations is established.  There is normal attrition as some students leave after sixth grade to attend exam schools, beginning in seventh grade, or from eighth to ninth grade when families consider options like parochial high school or large comprehensive high school with a full sports program.  To ensure a steady number of high school students, BCCS has twice increased the size of the fifth grade class.  But BCCS has noticed the number of students who transition from eighth to ninth grade is increasing, as the reputation of the high school and the school’s college-going rate builds. 

BCCS hires teachers who are committed to the school’s mission and who are enthusiastic about working with students.  BCCS’s goal is to have all teachers Highly Qualified (by 2006 as required under NCLB).  As a charter school, the pay rates for teachers are comparable for beginning teachers, but as teachers gain experience (after three years or so), they can earn more in the BPS system, and highly experienced teachers can make up to $20,000 more working for a district school than at BCCS.  While the environment of BCCS is very appealing, it can still be hard to attract higher level teachers (i.e., with many years of teaching experience) at the lower pay rates, according to the principals.

The middle and high schools are managed by two principals, Tobey Jackson, Middle School and Emily Cox, High School, both of whom were founding BCCS teachers and who serve as the instructional leaders.  There are three administrative deans for discipline, curriculum/instruction, and administration (which includes reporting and testing).  The middle school has six periods with five academic classes, including two daily periods of English, and one other class every day.  The other class is used for extra math, art, drama, or physical education.  After-school activities are regularly held from 3-5 PM and include tutoring, homework club, or detention (for poor behavior or not turning in homework) as well as a range of extracurricular activities.   

Teachers have two planning periods each day.  Teachers are evaluated by the principals and receive additional feedback from the deans and from fellow teachers via peer review.  Professional development has at times been a challenge because a great deal of time and effort has been focused on the development of the school and dealing with issues of a new school.

The per pupil revenue of $9,600 is provided to BCCS directly from the state.  BCCS does not receive any public funding for facilities.  The total cost of the facility project for their new location was $10 million, including a $1 million down payment, a $3 million mortgage with the Archdiocese of Boston, from whom they purchased the buildings, and $6 million in bonds through the federal Qualified Zone Academy Bond (QZAB) program.  In total, since its founding, the school secured $2 million in private funds to support the total cost of the facility project.

To cope with the small school size and limited offerings of many charter schools in Boston, a charter school league for certain sports activities like basketball has been created.  The schools also collaborate in such areas as the arts and professional development. 

The Massachusetts Charter School Performance Project, a project with six state charter schools, has been created to develop assessments and instructional materials that all can use.  Assessments for grades five and six will help tie into preparation for the MCAS and the assessment results can be returned to the school within 48 hours as a way to provide ongoing assessment information to improve instruction. 

Meeting with Tom Payzant, Superintendent, Boston Public Schools

Tom Payzant is one of longest serving urban superintendents, starting in Boston in October 1995.  He will leave his post at the end of the 2005-06 school year, and the education establishment is already bemoaning his loss and wondering how to find a suitable replacement to carry on his work. 

Payzant noted that a lot of the high school reform work is a balance of bottom up and top down efforts.  For a while, the city was content to let reform emerge from the schools themselves (bottom up) as reflected by pilot and small schools, but that was not sufficient because action was slow, intermittent, and few outcomes changed.  As a result, the district has become much more directive through it policies.  The challenge, Payzant said, is to organize high schools to support teaching and learning designed to meet high standards. 

The SNS Initiative has provided the city with needed money and resources to help focus the district role in reform and to move more quickly in redesigning schools.  After being involved in reform efforts for the past decade, BPS recognizes that their work needs to shift from “whole school change” to “whole school improvement” in collaboration with the entire school community.  BPS has developed Six Essentials for Whole School Improvement to guide this work:

1. Focus on literacy and mathematics.
2. Use student work and data to identify student needs, improve instruction, and assess progress.
3. Focus professional development to offer teachers and principals the skills they need to improve instruction.
4. Identify and replicate best practices for instruction.
5. Align all resources with the instructional focus.
6. Engage families, community, and partners to support Whole School Improvement.

High schools are in various stages of reform in Boston.  Payzant intervened in three low-performing schools in 2000: Dorchester High School, South Boston High School, and Boston High School where he decided to let the school convert to Pilot status (as BCLA) providing an opportunity to see how a Pilot school could emerge from an existing school.  South Boston High School moved to a small school structure with no planning time, while Dorchester had a more gradual transition, moving to small schools with some planning time.  Two other schools, Hyde Park and West Roxbury High Schools, were directed to move to small schools with 18 months of planning time and will open in September 2005.  At the present time, five large, comprehensive, neighborhood high schools (Burke, Brighton, Charlestown, East Boston, and English High Schools) have been directed to move to small learning communities, not small schools.  Madison-Park Technical Vocational High School, the only vocational high school, is also being reorganized into SLCs with career themes.  The only schools in the BPS system that have not been impacted by reform efforts are Boston Latin Academy, Boston Latin School, and John O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science, which are exam schools, academically rigorous with strict entrance requirements for grades seven through twelve.

Payzant said the reason for small schools and SLCs is to create an improved climate for teaching and learning and to better connect adults and students.  Both small schools and SLCs allow that to happen, but do so in different ways.  Putting SLCs into a building with one headmaster who oversees all SLCs is a more traditional approach than creating a number of independent small schools each with its own headmaster.   With multiple SLCs, students often share some of the same core academic requirements and some classes are open to all students, regardless of their SLC.  In order to ensure that SLC are implemented within the larger high schools, BPS has instituted an 85% purity rule, which means that students must spend 85% of their time in classes with teachers from their SLC.  Payzant mentioned some other design issues faced in the efforts to create smaller learning environments such as vertical alignment for grades nine through twelve and the   integration of career pathways, either as the theme for the SLC or as elective classes outside of SLC. 

Payzant is also trying to change the way people think about the MCAS, from the goal of just passing the test to reaching proficiency.  BPS has not proposed raising the MCAS cut scores to the level of proficiency yet, but they want to keep pressure on to move in that direction.  Payzant also wants to see a value-added assessment as part of the MCAS or other statewide assessment system.

Payzant said he wants to ensure the development of a coherent system from Pre-K through 12 so that students are well-prepared throughout the pipeline and ready for the challenges of high school.  Boston, like many other urban school districts, has a very mobile student population, which adds to the difficulty of preparing students in a consistent way.  As one strategy to reduce transition periods and create more consistency, Boston is moving to schools that encompass kindergarten through eighth grade (as opposed to K-five or six).  Schools that span grades K-eight are beginning to demonstrate better outcomes for students because they have fewer transitions to make, and as a result, parents are demanding more K-eight schools. 

Providing technical assistance to new small schools and SLCs is an enormous undertaking, Payzant said.  BPS is fortunate to work with the four core education partners (see below), who provide various forms of technical assistance.  Small schools and SLCs are dealing with some very difficult implementation issues, scheduling as an example.  Helping teachers change their instructional practice is also a very significant challenge, not just in the high schools, but throughout K-12.  The Collaborative Coaching and Learning (CCL) model is now the district’s preferred model for professional development and technical assistance.  But encouraging teachers to work together and develop rubrics to evaluate student work takes several years to develop and become routine, said Payzant.  However, once teachers begin to review and observe each other’s work and teaching and reflect on practices, it leads to the development of professional learning communities and communities of practice.  The BTU initially fought the use of CCL, but has now come to support it.  Teachers now must participate in CCL, in terms of classroom visits and observations, but teachers cannot be forced to do a demonstration lesson. Additionally, the CCL classroom assessments cannot be used to rate teachers for performance or pay, only for improving instructional practice.

Meeting with Boston Education Reform Partners

Boston has been fortunate in having several highly visible, competent, and well-connected organizations involved in education reform for many years.  Many of these organizations have worked together on various reform issues for decades.  These four organizations continue to press for reform, provide technical assistance and resources, engage various community members, and demand high quality outcomes.  The AYPF group had a working lunch with representatives of each of the four major partners, with some additional guests.  A brief summary of the organizations follows:

Boston Plan for Excellence (BPE) is a local education foundation that works in close partnership with BPS to support principals-headmasters and teachers as they identify the instructional, organizational, and cultural changes needed to ensure all students meet high standards.  BPE also works with the central office to identify and address policy issues that present barriers to improvement and is the fiscal agent for the Schools for a New Society grant for Boston from the Carnegie Corporation.  Some of the specific projects on which BPE is working with the BPS High School Renewal Office include:  1) working with the five high schools that are moving to SLCs and serving as a liaison to garner support and broker technical assistance to help schools deal with challenges such as developing staff and schedule; 2) convening a network of teachers from the five SLC high schools and Madison Park High School on how to use formative assessment to improve instruction; and 3) action research with students looking at school climate with 11 schools.  The action research project has led to the creation of an elective course for students that will be piloted at Brighton High School. 

Jobs for the Future (JFF) is a national nonprofit research, consulting, and advocacy organization that works to strengthen society by creating educational and economic opportunity for those who need it most.  In Boston, JFF serves as fiscal agent for a Gates Foundation grant, assists the High School Renewal Office in supporting the development of SLCs, and organizes peer learning opportunities across large high schools, small schools, Pilot schools, and alternative schools.  It also provides design and technical assistance to the new small schools to ensure that graduates make smooth transitions to further education and training.  Much of JFF’s strength comes from the interaction of its local reform work and its national and state policymaking and research activities.

Boston Private Industry Council (PIC) strengthens Boston’s communities and its workforce by connecting youth and adults with education and employment opportunities that prepare them to meet the skill demands of employers in a changing economy.  The PIC convenes the Boston Compact, the city’s historic school improvement agreement among BPS, the BTU, the business community, higher education, and others.  Through the Compact, the PIC organized business partnerships and jobs and internships that connect the classroom to the workplace.  Twenty-two PIC career specialists work with 150-200 students at various high schools to help place students in internships, and 4,200 students are served during the summer.  PIC staff call graduates from previous years 10 months after graduation to track their progress and determine college-going rates.  Most of the financial support for these programs comes from state.

Center for Collaborative Education (CCE) improves student learning in K-12 public schools and districts by creating small, democratic, and equitable schools.  The center seeks to influence the larger public’s view on education to better support autonomous schools in which students and teachers know each other well, and learning is purposeful and has value beyond school.  CCE also serves as the coordinating organization for the 19 Boston Pilot schools and Horace Mann charters and provides assistance in the design, launch and implementation of new or developing BPS small high schools, including an annual summer institute on small school design, an annual Critical Friends Group Facilitator Institute, structured visits to successful small schools, and substantial onsite coaching to design teams and small schools.

A member of the Boston School Committee, Michele Brooks, was present and said she sees the role of the Committee as a facilitator of change and to ensure the policies of the district support the reform efforts.  If policies hinder reform efforts, they work to change them. 

The partners also meet with the head of the Office of High School Renewal, Kathy Mullin, and the deputy superintendent for teaching and learning once a month to discuss emerging high school reform issues.  They then meet with Payzant and his deputies a week later.  One of the issues the group has been working on relates to systemic issues of student assignment as well as transition rates from ninth to tenth grade.  Because the working group and core partners are involved in innovative work, they tend to be aware of implementation and policy issues before others and have been able to share their expertise with the superintendent’s office in resolving issues expeditiously.

Another issue the core partners have frequently debated is what is the right process to use to bring about high school reform:  a centralized, top down approach or a decentralized, bottom up approach that relies on locally determined incubation sites.  Members of the group agreed that by taking high school reform to scale (By the fall of 2005, 25 out of 34 BPS high schools will have fewer than 500 students.) is probably the better approach, because “when you do it all at once, it prevents time for pushback from the system.”  Core partners said if you change only one school in the system or add only one small school to an already dysfunctional large school, you will have a disconnected initiative that has to constantly push against an immobile system that fights change.  Only by forcing the whole system to change can you move toward comprehensive reform.

Boston Day and Evening Academy

Meg Maccini, Head of School, welcomed the AYPF group to Boston Day and Evening Academy and gave a brief history of the school.  Boston Evening Academy (BEA) began as the Downtown Academy in 1995 and two years later became a Pilot school.  In 1998, BEA then became a Horace Mann Charter School and the first diploma-granting, public evening high school in Boston.  This status allowed the school to remain “in district” as part of the BPS but gain a high degree of independence and innovation.  A Horace Mann Charter school is chartered by the BPS, which provides the per pupil expenditure.  Horace Mann charters are also provided a facility from BPS.  (BDEA has been moved four times by BPS, but the staff agrees their current building is an excellent location for their school and population.)  Teachers in Horace Mann Charter schools are union members, but the school has freedom in curriculum and hiring.  BDEA must reapply for its charter after the first five years, the second five years, and after that every ten years.   As a Horace Mann charter school, BDEA’s Board of Trustees reports directly to the MA Department of Education, not to the Boston School Committee. Its students and teachers are still part of the BPS district, however, so technically it is grouped with other BPS pilot schools.  The local school committee has responsibility for evaluating and disseminating innovative practices of a Horace Mann charter school. The MA Board of Education has responsibility for oversight and evaluation of the performance of a Horace Mann charter school.

In September 2004, BEA expanded and became Boston Day and Evening Academy (BDEA), serving 305 students with classes running morning through evening.  The new day school operates Monday through Friday during daytime hours and serves overage students who have not yet reached the eighth grade benchmarks set by the BPS.  BPS sees the day academy as a safety net program for low-performing eighth graders.  The difference between the evening and day schools is that the day program enrolls students who are experiencing high school for the first time who are overage for grade level while the evening program serves a population of 16-23 year olds who are also overage for grade level and who have already dropped out of high school. 

The mission of both programs is to serve students who have not been served well by other schools.  Many of the students are teen parents and work to help support their families.  BDEA encourages academic achievement through deep and meaningful relationships between adults and students.  Maccini said that student attendance can be very sporadic, due to life circumstances of many of the students, “so we have to work hard to tailor programs around their needs.”  The average daily attendance for the day program for the 2004-05 school year ran approximately 90 percent, which is relatively high for an alternative school.  BDEA offers three meals a day and other important services, including a nurse on duty for 12 hours a day and counseling.  “Our philosophy is to accept students for who they are, not who we want them to be.” 

Emily Steele, the Chair of the Board of Directors of the school, was a tireless advocate for years for the school and the options it presented to students who faced barriers in the traditional school system.  She summed up the school’s approach to working with the youth:  “We turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones.”

The academic program is based on the common principles of the Coalition of Essential Schools.  Students have multiple learning styles and ways of demonstrating what they know and can do. To facilitate optimal learning opportunities and academic growth, each student has an individual learning plan.  Students demonstrate their mastery of the school’s competencies through the use of portfolios, exhibitions, and other measures.

This year, 49 out of 92 day students will “step up” to a higher competency level based on their attendance , commitment to the school community and academic achievement in each competency area.  In the evening program’s 9th graduating class, one student will be going to Brandeis University’s transition program, a remedial, not for credit program that prepares academically disadvantaged students to be considered for regular admission to Brandeis. Other students will attend the Massachusetts College of Art, the University of Massachusetts, local community colleges, and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.  BDEA’s success rate is comparable to alternative education schools across nation.  Maccini said, “We admit we are not successful with all students.  We have to address many barriers to academic achievement.  We can’t solve all the issues alone.  We need to partner with many other organizations to help these young people succeed."

Lindsa McIntyre, Assistant Head of the Day Academy, said a critical component of the school is to establish relationships with each student’s family.  McIntyre called it the “art of the home visit.”  Teachers and staff visit each student at home to make connections and earn the support of the family or caregivers.  Adults in the school act as advocates for each student, and McIntyre said, “We want to show we care about our students.”  Teachers provide differentiated, individualized learning to meet each student’s needs.  As a result, there is a marked improvement in attendance.

Karen Cowan, Assistant Head of the Evening Academy, said their program is very similar to the day program, but they provide a more adult environment as their students are generally 18 years or older.  Many students are parents living on their own, and some work 20 hours a week.  BDEA provides help with housing and child care to the extent possible, and they also offer independent online learning for those students who cannot attend school due to family, child, or job responsibilities.

Both the day and evening schools credit good professional development for teachers as a key reason for their success.  Teachers use the individual learning plans to determine how best to meet learning objectives, as students arrive at BDEA with varying skill levels.  Most students take core classes of math, reading, writing, with electives in addition to advisory.  Advisory is a core component of both programs and provides students with a teacher advisor/advocate and curriculum designed to address students’ learning and non-academic needs (financial literacy, problem-solving, health and wellness, etc.)

Some students arrive with enough credits to enter BDEA as a senior.  To earn a high school diploma, students must demonstrate competency in the school’s Habits of Mind and content areas, pass the MCAS and in their senior year complete an internship, conduct a senior research project, create and maintain a digital portfolio that shows the student’s most challenging and difficult work as well as the most successful work, and make a formal senior presentation that is judged by faculty and staff.

Susan Werbe, Director of the Office of Institutional Development, said BDEA receives the same per pupil expenditure of $7,100 as other district high schools, but that amount is not enough to cover the costs of working with and educating the students at BDEA, because they have so many more needs.  She said the real cost is close to $11,000 per student, and BDEA must raise funds privately to help make up the gap.   BDEA also receives Title I funds.  This, however, does not trigger the adequate yearly progress provisions of NCLB because the school is too small and as an alternative school, is held to different outcomes.

Maccini said BDEA has plans to create an alumni services program to help students who leave the program to ensure their success, and they would like to start a residential program for students who plan on attending college and need transitional housing their senior year of high school.

Lessons Learned, in Brief

Various lessons can be taken from Boston’s experience with high school reform.  The first is that stable and consistent leadership at district level does make a difference.  Not only has Payzant been able to see certain reform efforts through, he has had the time to move the dialogue from seeing school reform as a single event to supporting ongoing and continuous school improvement.  Often, district leaders will only have time to implement one or two reform strategies and not get involved in the entire cycle of implementation, data collection, evaluation, revision, improvement, etc.  Payzant has had time to build in this continuous cycle of improvement.  Also, Payzant has built up a large store of personal capital through his long-term commitment to Boston, which, no doubt, makes him more respected and trusted.  Many new district leaders do not have such personal capital and have to battle to overcome personalities and power struggles.  Boston, for the most part (putting aside the current struggle with the BTU) has been able to avoid this as Payzant has developed long-standing relationships with the Mayor, School Committee, and education reform partners.

Payzant and his colleagues have also wisely realized that school reform is a combination of top down and bottom up policies and initiatives.  Both must work hand in glove and support each other in order to bring about significant and lasting change.  Forcing the whole system to undergo change probably does prevent push back and resistance.  But, the district needs to recognize that starting a new school takes a certain amount of planning and start up time, and in some cases, the timeframes for opening new schools may have been too compressed.

Part of the balancing act that Boston has mastered is determining what kinds of leadership, policies, or assistance should be provided by the district.   Schools have varying student population and therefore different needs; schools at different stages of reform have different needs. Assistance needs to be provided that matches these needs.  The district also has given schools, administrators, and teachers freedom to determine what they want their school to look like.  This allows bottom up innovation to flourish, and as a result, there is an interesting range of small schools, small learning communities, Horace Mann Charters, State Charters, and Pilot schools to meet various needs. 

One of the common themes heard at each school we visited was that the authority, freedom, or autonomy to hire teachers and staff and to develop the curriculum were critical to the success of the school.  As one headmaster said, “with good people, you can do anything.”  Being able to assemble a group of skilled teachers who are also committed to the mission of the school and to helping adolescents succeed is fundamental to success.

Boston has also been fortunate to have several strong intermediary organizations that have provided quality technical assistance, research, and development to schools and that have worked together collaboratively for many years.  These organizations have various intellectual resources that bring in new ideas and people as resources for BPS and strengthens the reform strategies.

Lastly, Boston has learned that it is never too early to start to develop high school students, and that their preparation must begin with a high quality PreK program, connecting to strong elementary and middle schools.  The schools have also realized that it is too late to create a belief system of success and high expectations for students in high school, and that it must begin long before they enter high school.

 

Feedback

Participants were asked, “What was the most important lesson you learned on this field trip?” and replied:

• High expectations linked to innovation are essential for effective reform.  One without the other won’t lead to results that benefit students.
• I don’t know if it is a lesson to learn but definitely the challenge of multiple pathways and issues of equity. How can districts ensure enough pathways and equitable access?
• The small schools/SLC model has a lot of potential and is progressing nicely in some places, but there’s a lot of work to be done before it lives up to the press releases.
• I’ve become more impressed by the possibilities associated with smaller schools.  It’s now the conventional wisdom that smaller schools, by themselves, are not the “answer” to high schools, but it is more apparent to me that smaller schools have opportunities to personalize learning in ways that larger schools may not.
• The most important aspect in designing a school is to have students excited about learning. If they are bored, then something is wrong with the set up and needs to be changed. Students need to be a part of the process. BCLA, ACC, and BDEA all seem successful in engaging their students.
• It reinforced the importance of incorporating students’, teachers’, and administrators’ feedback into school development. 
• The empowerment and innovation that goes along with giving school leaders more autonomy.
• The need for honesty and transparency in this work sets the tone for the ability to reflect on practice and then refine accordingly. 
• The value of youth engagement and the many ways it can manifest itself.  It also really sparked my thinking on how to increase the scale of these efforts. 
• The most important lesson learned from this field trip was how seriously Boston takes their schools, children and college prep. 
• Not so much learned, but confirmed – that leadership is a key element in the success of reform efforts.  Which raises concerns for all those schools around the country – large or small, traditional or alternative – which don’t have strong leaders who base their work on data, research, and promising practice.

Contact Information

Jerry Howland
Headmaster
Another Course to College
Taft Educational Complex
20 Warren Street
Brighton, MA  02135
Phone: 617-635-8865
acc@boston.k12.ma.us

Nicole N. Bahnam
Headmaster
Boston Community Leadership Academy
Taft Educational Complex
20 Warren Street
Brighton, MA  02135
Phone: 617-635-8937
Fax: 617-635-8942
nbahnam@boston.k12.ma.us

Pamela Hilton
Assistant Headmaster
Boston Community Leadership Academy
Taft Educational Complex
20 Warren Street
Brighton, MA 02135
Phone: 617-635-8937
Fax: 617-635-6692
philton@boston.k12.ma.us

Carmen Lopez
Office of High School Renewal
75 Malcolm X Boulevard
Roxbury, MA 02120
Phone: 617-635-8079 x130
Fax: 617-635-6867
Clopez3@boston.k12.ma.us

Jesus Gerena
Director of Community Development and Organizing
Hyde Square Task Force
375 Centre Street
P.O Box 1871 (mail)
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
Phone: 617-524-8303 ext. 304
Fax: 617-524-2747
jesus@hydesquare.org
www.hydesquare.org

Paul Reville
Executive Director
The Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy, MassINC
18 Tremont Street, Suite 1120
Boston, MA 02108
Phone: 617-742-6800 ext. 102
Fax: 617-589-0929
preville@massinc.org

Megan Zug
Director of Strategic Partnerships
Boston Collegiate Charter School
11 Mayhew Street
Dorchester, MA 02125
Phone: 617-265-1172 ext. 291
Fax: (617) 265-1176
mzug@sbha.org

Emily Cox
High School Principal
Boston Collegiate Charter School
11 Mayhew Street
Dorchester, MA 02125
Phone: 617-265-1172 ext. 236
Fax: (617) 265-1176
ecox@sbha.org

Tobey Jackson
Middle School Principal
Boston Collegiate Charter School
11 Mayhew Street
Dorchester, MA 02125
Phone: 617-265-1172 ext. 232
Fax: (617) 265-1176
tjackson@sbha.org

Thomas Payzant
Superintendent, Boston Public Schools
Boston Public School Offices
26 Court Street
Boston, MA 02108
Phone: (617) 635-9050           
Fax: 617-635-9059

Kathi Mullin
Special Assistant to the Superintendent
Boston Public School Offices
26 Court Street
Boston, MA 02108
Phone: 617-635-8079
Fax: 617-635-9059
kmullin@boston.k12.ma.us

Lili Allen
Program Director
Jobs for the Future
8th Floor
88 Broad Street
Boston, MA 02110
Phone: 617-728-4446
lallen@jff.org

Adria Steinberg
Jobs for the Future
8th Floor
88 Broad Street
Boston, MA 02110
Phone: 617-728-4446
asteinberg@jff.org

Stephanie Sibley
Director of High School Renewal
Boston Plan for Excellence
6 Beacon Street #615
Boston, MA 02108
Phone: 617-227-8055 ext 303
Fax: 617-227-8446
info@bpe.org

Neil Sullivan
Executive Director
Boston Private Industry Council
Two Oliver Street, 7th Floor
Boston, MA  02109
Phone:  617-488-1320
Fax:  617-423-1041
neil.sullivan@bostonpic.org

Chris Smith
Director of Partnership and Employer Organizing
Boston Private Industry Council
Two Oliver Street, 7th Floor
Boston, MA  02109
Phone:  617-488-13233
Fax:  617-423-1041
Chris.Smith@bostonpic.org

Dan French
Executive Director
Center for Collaborative Education
1 Renaissance Park
1135 Tremont Street, Suite 490
Boston, MA 02120
Phone: 617-421-0134
Fax: 617-421-9016
dfrench@ccebos.org

Larry Myatt
Headmaster on Assignment
Office of High School Renewal
26 Court Street
Boston, MA 02108
Phone: 617-635-8079

Cathleen Kral
Instructional Leader for Literacy and Coaching
Boston Public Schools
Unified Student Services     
443 Warren St.
Dorchester, MA 02121
Phone: 617-635-1506
Fax: 617-635-1504

Michele Brooks
Boston School Committee
26 Court Street, 4th Floor
Boston, MA 02108
Phone: 617-635-9014
Fax: 617-635-9689
mbrooks3@boston.k12.ma.us

Margaret Maccini
Head of School
Boston Day and Evening Academy
Phyllis Wheatley Complex
20 Kearsarge Avenue
Roxbury, MA 02119
Phone: 617-635-6789
Fax: 617-635-6380
mmaccini@boston.k12.ma.us

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