Commissioner's Recommendations on 10 Underperforming Schools

December 18, 2007
At the October 30th and November 27th regular meetings, Acting Commissioner Nellhaus presented recommendations on 15 schools that have remained in underperforming status. On November 27th, the Board voted to remove four schools from Commonwealth Priority Status based on the four schools having demonstrated both significant gains in student performance and the conditions needed to sustain quality improvement efforts. One additional school is scheduled to close at the end of this year.
Of the remaining 10 underperforming schools, the Acting Commissioner presented recommendations to declare six schools "Priority 1" schools and four schools to remain in Commonwealth Priority Schools status. The three superintendents who represent the six schools considered for designation as "Priority 1" schools - Eduardo Carballo from Holyoke (John J. Lynch Middle School), Wilfredo Laboy from Lawrence (Arlington Middle School), and Joseph Burke from Springfield (Gerena Elementary School, Homer St. Elementary School, M. Marcus Kiley Middle School, and White Street Elementary School) - addressed the Board to discuss current reform initiatives underway at each of the six schools.
Superintendent Carballo and Lynch Principal Paul Hyry reviewed the Lynch School's efforts to build a distributed leadership structure and to implement both district and school-specific initiatives. Principal Hyry said that his student population has seen rapid growth in the number of English language learners, early-stage English language learners, students with disabilities, and English language learners with disabilities. He said that high student mobility is another challenge. The school has launched an intensive professional development initiative and has developed a clear vision for the next two years.
Superintendent Laboy discussed changes at the Arlington Middle School, which has hired a new principal and moved to a vertical house structure. The school had made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in the aggregate and subgroups for English language arts in 2006, and for mathematics in the aggregate, before failing to meet AYP in 2007. The superintendent said that one of the biggest challenges facing the school has been staff turnover. Student mobility has also been a challenge. According to the superintendent, 90% of the students in Lawrence have Spanish as the primary language spoken at home, the highest concentration of such students in any school district east of Texas.
Superintendent Burke said that ownership, responsibility, and accountability are the context for the reform efforts in the four Springfield schools. The superintendent said that Gerena and Homer St. Schools have both demonstrated steady progress, and asked the Board to consider not placing them in chronically underperforming or Priority 1 status. Gerena has made improvements in student performance and is converting to a full Montessori school. Homer St. hired a new principal two years ago and has made progress in English language arts just short of the target to meet AYP. Superintendent Burke said that the designation of chronically underperforming/Priority 1 status was appropriate for the Kiley and White St. Schools.
Chairman Reville acknowledged and thanked the superintendents for their testimony. The superintendents responded to questions from Board members. Associate Commissioner Juliane Dow presented information on the additional resources that would be made available to the six schools if they were designated as Priority 1 schools. After further discussion, Chairman Reville observed that the Board is weighing both the costs and benefits of this proposed intervention. The Board decided to defer action on the Acting Commissioner's recommendation that the six schools be declared Priority 1 schools.
The Board voted to retain four schools as Commonwealth Priority Schools: Lucy Stone, Elihu Greenwood, and Michael J. Perkins Elementary Schools (Boston), and Sullivan Middle School (Lowell). The four schools are directed to continue implementing improvement strategies that will result in their reaching or exceeding student performance targets. The Department will continue overseeing their progress.