Meeting on Level 4 Schools and federal School Turnaround Grants

With my apologies for the names that I missed or misspelled.

Cheryl Delsignore, EAW:
teachers chose to be in the schools that they are in "believe in the students, believe in the students' families"
tough time for them, rotten place to be
Mtel survey: teachers spoke: what got them to go to most needy schools? Not money. Leadership, resources, human capital
oversized kindergarten classes w/o aide
best standards in the country, #1 in the country for the third time in a row
(Mayor comments that people with small children will get to go first)
when do they get the money? Don't know, maybe September
will there be money for planning groups? Yes
recommendations of group--decision made by superintendent
"Hope that superintendent will consider very seriously the recommendations of these groups"
DoEd support capacity be in the schools? Not sure what that will be
"what are the ways in which the department can provide value?"
ongoing
could schools get out before three years?
will there be continual replacement of the number of schools in the Level 4?
no decision made

Nicole Hazard from Worcester
parent of Chandler Elementary students (two kids started in December)
her six year old child has done a 100% turnaround
sad to lose principal
brainstorming with community partners and Senator Chandler: "a very hard decision for all of us to make"
"most passionate about support and involve parents..train parents to support teachers...for their own and other children"
plan to be at community meeting
need resources to move forward: "ask to move forward with implement those funds"
asks how she can be a party of the stakeholder group (which has 13 members and meets over 45 days in public)
willing to volunteer to support teachers in the classroom
the Mayor asks if those are public meetings
(Baehr) membership is very specific by state law: the parent group elects a member to serve
redesign team--school based implementation team of redesign--in school (heavily made up by parents, teachers, and others from school)
the Mayor stresses that these will be public meetings

Jabian Gutierrez from Worcester
legal guardian of his nephew who attends Claremont Academy
250 signatures that support voting in favor
be more engaged and be at the table
"it's about those kids"
"these conditions are tough, but I know we can get through it"

Sarai Rivera
vote in favor of these funds
"may be hot topic now"
"failure is never final...can we move out of the desert land...promised land of success...we care, we're here, we vote"
"what is the real motive of saying no tonight?"
"what if it was yours? ...the decision is not an easy one...not just one but all children...not about one or two people, but 600 children...great city and great school...great education is the right of the few...no longer stand by for the injustice...they matter to us...they matter...for the children, and for the future of this community"
"a lot has been said about where the community responsibility should lie"
"as voters we ask you to do this today"

parent of 5 children in the WPS
member of the Latino clergy
understand responsibility members of their community
parental responsibility should not be held solely responsible for decade of underperformance
only ones that can truly claim exemption from this are the children
only ones that matter, that can claim a valid need are the children
"how do we decide to turn our backs on a genuine and valid need of children to give face to demands of adults? matter more than the security of adults?"
Educationally every child in this city does matter
"what would be a better plan than the money that's out there for these two schools?"

pastor in the city of the Worcester, across from City Hall
thinks the vote should be yes
co-chair of Latino minister alliance
wants to talk about solutions: willing to get involved in WPS
"are here to walk forward and help"
"get that money and get people involved"

Tanya Davis
"a lot of members were talking about losing jobs, have degrees and can get other jobs"
"underperforming for 15 years...give them some credit for that"
"they can go to Shrewsbury or Westboro...need to start new from scratch with these kids"
"what are you saying that they stayed in an underperforming school? The paycheck is why they stay" (said to catcalls)

Mr. Scott (a regular attender of our meetings)
went to Elizabeth Street school, graduated from North High on Salisbury Street
"you'll never get a quality of education that you'll get in the city of Worcester"
follow-up teachers, follow-up parents, working with Black Legacy
concern that the criteria that we are trying to meet is the University Park level
advance at any level
"I'm an old school model. Once you apply the basics, ABCD, you can learn everything else"
"I'm waiting to see how advanced kids are in June"
education is a real concern
"I think after 15 years if someone is failing at that point, need to sit down and say at that point to get someone new in, and get that education standard up to where it needs to be"

Theona Lawrence
parent of two children at other schools
"my question is what is the problem with letting them go so we can have change in the school"
the Mayor explains how this works again
If they don't do that

woman who lives in Southbridge, daughter is a North High grad
models throughout the country: inner city black youth doing phenomenal
"a little disturbed that children who are growing up in the inner city are not doing as well as children who are white and growing up in the suburbs"
"expectation that all children will do well no matter where they live"

Mother of three: one at West Tatnuck...
school choice parents--"if it has to change a lot of the teachers, it might not be good for the children"
for these schools, what are their routines?
"what do they have to do besides changing the principal?"
comprehensive turnaround plan, is the answer of the deputy commissioner
"we have the Youth Center that haven't been used for years"
grasp this help from the community, so they can pass and succeed for the school itself

the Mayor points out that the budget proposes to cut tutors and assistant principals that do some of this work

John Olivera
student at Claremont Academy, president of student council
one of the concerns is keeping teachers
"problem with saying teachers are the problem...teachers are vital...teachers are everything to me..shouldn't immediately say that...prefer that we be a little bit more respectful...they work hard every day"

Melanie Gallagher, teacher of Union Hill
thanks the previous speaker
"as a teacher, I know you have to take the money...I'm the one without the glue sticks...my principal gave us money for glue sticks...I understand the need for the money...I want to know what is going to change in my classroom next year."
has 25 five year olds with an aide half the day
"no one has come to say that"
"I have to spread them out"
"we have the STEP program in our classroom...we need help...are they really going to come to my classroom? We don't need new curriculum, we need help."
"I really would like smaller classes"
Boone says she will speak with the faculty soon about what is working well and what will be improved
data system is being improved by state
Baehr: "the challenge is to use the grant in a way that funds immediate needs, as well as long term change"
"and now we're gonna get money to do exactly the same thing again..I hope that it does not go away again"
Baehr: "I want to be clear the federal dollars go away in three years."
the Mayor: "I think that I speak for the committee that those dollars will be put into the classroom."

greatest teachers in the whole country here in Worcester
"the federal government is out of control on this...in the meantime, we need to take the money, we can't go without taking the money"
we have Level 3 schools and they need support, too
city puts in minimal money
"as a city, we have to come up with the money to support everyone"
"more resources for our schools"

teacher at Union Hill
"a lot of blame is being placed on staff...money will raise MCAS...if the resources will raise MCAS scores, how can the blame be put on the staff when there aren't the resources there yet? And how can next year's MCAS scores count if the money doens't kick in until the fall?"
Baehr: school in Lowell that is Level 4, near school that's doing much better: looking at what's going on ten blocks away, and not just pure MCAS scores
some schools are outperforming their demographics
challenge to Level 4 schools: if we're going to help solve this problem, we can't be the same department
"really important challenge"

Latino Education Institute: one observation
"I think that what's happening...4 out of 10 kids will not graduate from high school" (that would be Latino kids)
"when we talk about the issue of states' rights, for our ears...when schools are not working for a key part of the population for a long time, it's time for the feds to step in"
monitoring this law...first real tool that state has, for monitoring school board
"that Worcester unite, not level of anger, status quo has not worked for far too long"
"reform is reform for all...don't ask the community to come after it's done"
maybe the partners can be higher ed or higher ed plus

Rosemary Ford
chose to stay at Union Hill School
"welcome...I have seen no alliance with Union Hill School...have one parent volunteer...we cannot do it alone"
"when are we going to stop with the MCAS? "
she has her growth map
"don't tell me that we aren't working hard at Union Hill School"
"we have had choices to move"
"we care about those children, they are our children"
"let's get rid of this MCAS...my children went elsewhere...I lived in fear that they could not do the MCAS...shame on people who hold these children to that standard"
"we have to fight together!"

Councilor Toomey
"Worcester is an engaged community...has the possibility to work within.."
asks that Baehr consider bringing back communities working together
"what is going to happen with all of our other schools?"
urban communities are suffering because of the way the tax structure is set up
"have exemplary educators here...and phenomenal parents"

Cecilia Courtney
parent, citizen...following on the heels of the Level 4 schools are priority schools (Level 3)
"take these funds and leverage them throughout the city"
"those schools are just okay...compared to our neighboring towns, they're just okay...Worcester just pales"
"homebuyers are opting out of Worcester...hard to compete with this"
"so many of you have been here for so many years"
"city needs to be more independent and less dependent on state funds"

one of the pastor gets up with one more question: asks if we can use money for more than three years
working on Level 3 to prevent falling to Level 4
Boone: improvement strategy based on years of data to align instructional practice
focus on the lower end of Level 3
discouraging to children and teachers to go to a school without chalk and gluesticks

Meeting on Level 4 schools and federal School Turnaround Grant: presentation

I should first of all note that the meeting is up online for those who are interested in seeing what was said. If you go to the School Committee page, at the bottom, choose "School Comm. Special Meeting Level 4 Schools" (it's been corrected, and they get bonus points for having the meeting up by midnight last night!). Do realize that space considerations mean that press coverage cannot begin to include everything that was said at a three and a half hour meeting, though kudos to Jackie Reis for getting the gist of the conversations.

I did not take notes of the entire meeting. I'm posting here notes from what Deputy Commissioner Karla Brooks Baehr said during her piece. I did take notes of what the public said, which I will post in a separate post. I also will post more-or-less what I said.

the responsibility for Level 4 schools lies with the district; Level 5 schools lies with the state
Commissioner's district (based on Commonwealth Priority Schools) funded turnaround grants, proportional to population
strategic work for turnaround
consensus to use of funds
29 schools are Level 3, needs improvement (on top of the 2 Level 4 schools, of 44 schools in the city of Worcester)
Level 4 by state law is 4% of the lowest of the 18,000 schools in the state
Of the 35 schools statewide that are Level 4, they serve 17,000 students; 90% free and reduced lunch, 20% special education, 25% ELL

Superintendent creates plan after receiving input from stakeholder group
wide range of areas and practices
Commissioner then approves the plan or does not
district has three years to turnaround the school. To do so:

• upward trend of MCAS data
• "essential conditions of school effectiveness" are in place
• district systems and support are in place, so no backsliding

School Turnaround Grant: competitive, not an entitlement
up to $500,000 per school per year for three years
requirement from the fed that WPS follow one of four models, PLUS teachers must be evaluated annually and that evaluation must include their impact on student learning (how, has yet to be determined)
Grant money must supplement, not supplant funding of schools
Some ideas being floated by other districts:

• libraries
• summer school
• teacher stipends
• social service supports
• case workers in schools

This does raise the question of sustainable funding. Generally, these things go away once the money dries up.

Third Restructuring Meeting: April 12, Doherty Memorial High School

The Doherty cafeteria was packed last night; while there were some spaces at tables farther into the room, it was standing room only by the door, and that elbow to elbow. Lots of parents, principals, teachers, plus two city councilors, four current and one past school committee members, one state rep, and the district attorney (some, of course, attending in dual roles, as they have children in this quadrant).
The big change in this meeting was in the tone. While Chief Academic Officer Mulqueen did the bulk of the presentation, most of the parental questions and concerns were handled by Superintendent Boone (attending this week).
I should note that I was not there to the end, but I am told that there was no further general discussion once the tables broke up into conversation.
CAO Mulqueen's comments are in blue, Superintendent Boone's in purple, the Doherty community's in maroon, and mine are in black italics.

Mulqueen:
"tonight's meeting is all about you"
Lots of ideas circulating, lots of rumors circulating
"I am not here to tell you what is going to happen to you or your children or your schools"
"they are not THE ideas, not implemented in Sept"
"how do we improve school performance, student performance"
conversation starting point
"very interested in gathering the input of all of you community members, teachers, principals"
"not about telling you what we are going to do"
different way of opening the meeting: come to understand
"challenge your thinking around our schools...bright future we're trying to move toward...ideas perculating here in Worcester for a number of years...bringing to surface...some we can move off the table, some you may feel are good"
superintendent and school committee members here
translators for Spanish, Albanian, Porteguese avaliable
close to a full house in the Doherty cafeteria
offers email address (MulqueenJ@worc.k12.ma.us)

Boone takes up the "current state of education" slide
couldn't make it last week due to birth of granddaughter
"grew very clear about in entry into school district...understand clearly what are the aspects of urban education, make a difference in sustaining student achievement over time...knowledge from a lot of places...don't necessarily equate to what make the greatest success in Worcester"
meetings with groups during entry, now
CPPAC Parent-Guardian Roundtable mentioned "very similar to this meeting"
Questions driving Roundtable: hopes and dreams, going well, challenges schools are facing, what things are working?
CPPAC presentation to School Committee: cites results of CPPAC (drops involving parents and community, probably accidentally?)
items on standing committee for a number of years: eliminate continuous distractions
"we faced some challenges, some things we could not ignore...still labelled a Commissioner's district because of a number of underperforming schools, 13 of 44 are designated priority schools, a third"
"a third of our schools represent the very strong pockets of excellence...a third on the cusp of becoming very strong schools...a third" underperforming
Good to Great by Jim Collins for her principals, "great study of organizational leadership...lots of lessons to be learned in that book"
to validate great practices going on in our schools
"how do we move from a very, very good system to a great school system, across the board"
now in competition with private, parochial, charter schools
"recognize that...this works for you and your children"
"what makes you happy in your school" that we can apply across the system
will create a parent and community survey
thanks CPPAC for suggesting that, which they were already planning on doing
"I am truly listening to hear what makes sense in this community. This is my community now, too. I'm invested here, too."
thanks them for coming with "an open mind"
Not asking to give feedback on a specific plan, trying to plan and make sense going forward
have to address getting schools out of underperforming or "we're going to lose the opportunity" to educate those children (?)
nothing that's going to be sprung on you for implementation in September
"will frame and shape this"
there is no specific plan
no changes for fall of 2010

Rep. Pedone points out that Mulqueen's email address is wrong on the first page (I've got it right above)

Mulqueen:
"can't just treat our students as a captive audience"
"the preferred educational choice...we're really shooting pretty high here"
"will benefit the city in tremendous ways"
cites museums, transportation...have opportunities other communities can't even dream about"
"help lift every student"
"together we can accomplish results on a sustained basis"
"doesn't mean every student has to go to college...want every student to have choices avaliable to them when they graduate"
ideas that have been percolating
(now the DA and Councilor Lukes are here, plus Monfredo, Novick, Biancheria, O'Connell, and former member Hargrove)
signature programs: strengthen engineering at Doherty, music at Burncoat, "capitalize on those strengths...create a menu of choices"
"streams of specialties...courses on a trajectory to career and college success...greater depth of knowledge"
grade patterns "seems to have provided the greatest controversy...has been on the agenda for awhile...that's what I was charged with exploring...I'm not here trying to reconfigure your schools, but I've looked at it a little bit...we are looking at it...here to listen to you, to get your thinking"
"partnering more effectively...a greater choice, a greater number of opportunities"
"time that we either took them off the table or talked about them""want every student to have real-life applications that will launch them into success in college or career"

"talk together at your tables about the kinds of things that make sense to you, and the kinds of things that don't...want everyone to turn in their pages so my secretary can type them up"


very simple rating scale: from low response to high response

ten minutes to talk about what your ideas are
question: why would there be any difference between what's going on at South versus everywhere else? Two answers: talking about the same sorts of things
BUT ed reform act had innovation schools in it. Began conversations with South Quadrant teachers about innovation schools. "has a strong tie to secondary partnerships...makes sense to begin the conversation in South Quadrant"
"is the intention to expand the innovation schools if they work?"
"People like to have an idea of what's going to happen...we are very inclusive in our thinking...want your ideas, so we can move forward together. If innovation schools are THE thing, that crack the code, then we'll be bringing it right back to all of you"

"is the plan to expand the UPCS model which has been shown to work very well?"
Boone: one thing we're struggling with how we replicate best practices for success
trying to replicate UPCS at Claremont...haven't gotten same results
(Councilor Toomey is now here)
"some examples in which we've tried to replicate some things...need to look at individual school needs"

Question has K-7 then 8-12 been considered?...increasing the amount of time in a neighborhood school?
"all of that is for you to talk about...feel free to list them there, anything is up for discussion"
Boone: "it worked in some places, it didn't in others, and the grade configuration is the same"
parental preference is for age levels
small school or small school feel, connections with teachers over time, brings results, relationships drive results

Question: any data that you could share with us...models...what works and what doesn't? "We all have ideas, rather follow what works"
Boone: goal to see what is emerging as the greatest level of interest
"if we hear this community say this is something we'd like to consider...survey, polling of parents to shape that conversation also"

Question: mentions Doherty satellite program, would like to see it come back to our quadrant, "in the midst of all of these budget cuts...increased autonomy for higher performing schools...parental involvement, educational achievement of parents, standards set by parents...saddened that higher performing schools may not have innovation option, saddened by loss of satellite program"
Boone: trying to learn what community values, "this is what this community wants to preserve"
want to stop "let's just cut out whole catagory of things..able to talk about priorities and continue to fund those"
"program those dollars for what makes sense"
heard from principals need help with supporting instruction "how do we expand coaches" coaches in schools that haven't had them, when we priortization
"what does the school committee also think should be a priority" was discussed in December meeting
second year of emerging data with coaches...if the coaches are part of the district's overall improvement model, then "that's something we need to protect and preserve"
"how do we resort a focus on gifted students" No one in central office on gifted and talented

Question (from Mrs. Rushton, Councilor Rushton's mother, an English teacher at Doherty): have to be very careful about applying a business model to education, limitation of applying a business model...democracy...creative people, critical thinkers...considering what's happening to the comprehensive high schools, "more sound mind in a sound body" need more electives, more languages
Our young people have one year to be a kindergartener, one year to be a 12th grader, can't keep experimenting on them..."faddism" "changing and renaming and restructing...has limitations...weeks of testing measuring what they don't know instead of keeping them in the classroom teaching them what they should know"
Boone: I'm with you on a lot of that, all the options
Haven't stayed up with 21st century skills, enhancing
"there's a level of accountability in this nation...we will never ever go away"
wanted to say clearly that we've been engaged with students, "continue to tease the thinking of students...they're writing to the Commissioner to see if they can meet the PE requirement so they can use their schedule differently"

Question: city continues to fund minimal amount for education: are you asking the city for more?
Boone: state budget may cut more, adequacy study in the ed bill
met with city councilors earlier this year, "certainly will talk with the school committee about what we need...I live in this community, too...education is important, but you can't squeeze blood out of a turnip"
sustainable funding
"it's going to be a tough couple of years going forward"

a lot of parents buy in neighborhood schools, people live in the same neighborhood
"I think you're going to lose a lot of people in Worcester if you lose that neighborhood school"

Question: middle school is quite critical, age when they can figure out "maybe I have an interest in this" before they get to the high school
Boone:struggle with that we have no elementary librarians: "library is not just a place to check out and return a book...a place to access information...that's a gap that we have"
first thing that tends to go in urban centers is the arts
tie into science, math...


It was at this point that tables were asked to discuss their concerns and to fill out the sheets with them. The School Committee and the Superintendent left at that point (the School Committee meeting was at Tech at 7:30). I have been told that there was no further discussion.

Placeholder

Yes, I have notes from both (Doherty community meeting and last night's School Committee meeting), which I will post in a bit. (There's wifi at Tech but I hadn't asked beforehand to get the login.)

Full rooms at both meetings.

School cuts

Taxi, taxi!

I was going to post on Nemeth's column in today's T&G, but I see that Jeff has already gotten there.

If you read what he's got, and the comments, then you've pretty much got it covered.

How do they do it in Finland?

Interesting conversation over at Blue Mass Group on Finnish education.