Amherst Bulletin
By Nick Grabbe, Staff Writer
Published on July 17, 2009
School Committee members expressed surprise at the number of Amherst Regional students who have excessive absences and are seeking more information about who they are and why they are out.
Principal Mark Jackson told the committee last month that 262 students - about a quarter of the school - exceeded the limit of eight absences in at least one course in the spring trimester. Theoretically, all these students could have been denied credit. Jackson said the high school is considering a change in enforcement of the policy.
"Our enforcement has been spotty," he said in an interview. "The only thing to do is enforce the policy as it's written. We'd like to be in a better place and do what we say we're going to do."
Jackson said some students who exceeded the absence limit did not receive credit, but didn't say how many. He said the school's goal should be figuring out how to help kids make good decisions.
"We haven't been good on this, and we're going to be better," he said. "My message is that they can expect us to be good to our word."
According to the policy, students are allowed eight absences in each trimester course before losing credit, with tardiness counting as one-third of an absence. Absences at the student's or family's discretion are counted, while absences the school requires, such as for testing and field trips, are not. Any student exceeding the limit can apply for an attendance waiver that can restore lost credit.
The number of students exceeding the absence limit "seems extraordinarily high," said School Committee member Catherine Sanderson. But she needs more information about who these students are and what their motivation is before she endorses a crackdown, she said.
"A lot of these students are getting A's and B's," she said. "The question becomes, what do you do with a student who is exceeding the number of absences but is clearly showing mastery of the material?"
To force students who are very bright and teaching themselves to retake a course because of absences seems "silly," Sanderson said. But if a lot of students are learning the material without going to class, that's a problem, too, she said.
It's also possible that some students who are late for class are deciding it's easier to be absent than to be registered as tardy and have to serve detention, she said. "Is the punishment for late too severe, or is the punishment for absent too lenient, and/or not enforced?"
Some might be seniors who have already been accepted at college and don't feel motivated to go to class, she said: "If the policy is not enforced, students learn that pretty quickly."
School Committee member Irv Rhodes said he was shocked at the number of students with more than eight absences.
High-achieving students who are cutting classes are saying by their absence that "this is not stringent enough for me, or it may not be appropriate for me," Rhodes said.
"Some kids treat attendance as optional," he said. "The bottom line is we need to know why these kids are doing this. If you're going to have a rule, then enforce it."
Last August, members of the Northampton School Committee expressed surprise at the number of requests for attendance waivers at the high school. Assistant Principal Bryan Lombardi said there are between 50 and 90 absences a day.
"Change is coming with me," said new Principal Nancy Athas. "We recognize there is an issue with attendance. I'm here to tell you that students need to be in school, and they need to be there every day."
Since then, there has been "a huge increase in communication with parents," said Kim Broussard, Athas' administrative assistant. Lombardi has been sending letters to the parents of students who have high levels of absences, and when report cards are sent out, memos are included on lost credit because of poor attendance and the need to come see him, she said.
Students can have up to nine absences per semester in full-credit classes, Broussard said. Near the end of each semester, students are notified they must come to the office to get an attendance waiver and a printout of their attendance to take home, she said. Parents can then provide documentation of the reasons for the absences.
The policy is enforced across the board, she said. The number of absences has declined, she said, but she was unable to provide any statistics.
At Easthampton High School, student absences are excused for illness, medical appointments, bereavement and some religious observances. Three unexcused absences, or 14 excused absences, result in referral to the School Attendance Review Board.
This board, which includes faculty members, a psychologist, and a nurse, meets at the end of the semester, said Assistant Principal Anne Beauregard. It reviews each student's situation and decides whether to impose or defer loss of credit.
Thirty-one students went before the board last year in a school with about 530 students. About half lost credit because of their attendance problem and about half regained credit, she said.
"Things happen in people's lives that you have to take into account," Beauregard said.
Nick Grabbe can be reached at ngrabbe@gazettenet.com.
My Goal in Blogging
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
A Message from Superintendent Alberto Rodriguez
Just wanted to post this message from our new superintendent -- which is also posted on the ARPS website. As a School Committee member, but more importantly as a parent with three kids who will be in the Amherst schools starting next month, I'm very pleased with this statement and believe it sets precisely the right goal (making our schools world-class), and sets clear priorities and strategies (including making fiscally prudent decisions, using best practices research, and comparing/contrasting our district with other similar districts). I share Dr. Rodriguez's enthusiasm for the year ahead, and working forward to working with him at this exciting time of great potential for our schools.
Dear Amherst, Pelham and Regional Faculty, Staff and Community Members:
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the citizens of Amherst, Leverett, Pelham and Shutesbury for the warm welcome given to me and my family. Your hospitality and warmth shall always be remembered. I am truly honored to serve such involved, engaged, and passionate communities that believe education to be one of the pillars of our society. Additionally, I have been impressed with the commitment and professionalism exhibited by this school system's faculty and staff and look forward to working with such dedicated professionals.
The current economic conditions we are facing have adversely affected the four corners of our nation. The Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools are no exception. We have had to make painful cuts, while always keeping in mind the child sitting at his/her desk and the teacher in front of the class. In the midst of these budget cuts, we owe it to our students to improve our educational system while seeking opportunities for improved efficiencies and exploring ways to consolidate economies of scale.
As we forge ahead, determined to make Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools a world class PreK-12 educational school system, we need to model "best practices," compare/contrast our work and outcomes with similar school districts, strengthen linkages with local constituent groups and stakeholders, raise standards and expectations for all students, and always strive for continuous improvement.
I strongly urge you to be full partners as we collectively pursue this vision. The future is not for the timid and the solutions cannot be tepid. As a school district, we need to think big while taking small, but decisive, steps towards a vision where all children can and will learn and meet high expectations and standards.
I look forward to sharing this sojourn with you.
Sincerely,
Alberto Rodriguez, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools
Dear Amherst, Pelham and Regional Faculty, Staff and Community Members:
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the citizens of Amherst, Leverett, Pelham and Shutesbury for the warm welcome given to me and my family. Your hospitality and warmth shall always be remembered. I am truly honored to serve such involved, engaged, and passionate communities that believe education to be one of the pillars of our society. Additionally, I have been impressed with the commitment and professionalism exhibited by this school system's faculty and staff and look forward to working with such dedicated professionals.
The current economic conditions we are facing have adversely affected the four corners of our nation. The Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools are no exception. We have had to make painful cuts, while always keeping in mind the child sitting at his/her desk and the teacher in front of the class. In the midst of these budget cuts, we owe it to our students to improve our educational system while seeking opportunities for improved efficiencies and exploring ways to consolidate economies of scale.
As we forge ahead, determined to make Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools a world class PreK-12 educational school system, we need to model "best practices," compare/contrast our work and outcomes with similar school districts, strengthen linkages with local constituent groups and stakeholders, raise standards and expectations for all students, and always strive for continuous improvement.
I strongly urge you to be full partners as we collectively pursue this vision. The future is not for the timid and the solutions cannot be tepid. As a school district, we need to think big while taking small, but decisive, steps towards a vision where all children can and will learn and meet high expectations and standards.
I look forward to sharing this sojourn with you.
Sincerely,
Alberto Rodriguez, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Amherst OK's school raises
Hampshire Gazette
AMHERST - A divided Amherst School Committee approved 2 percent cost-of-living raises for a group of 24 non-union district employees that includes all administrators.
Member Irv Rhodes said he strongly objected to the June 24 decision, calling it "outrageous" at a time when teacher positions are being eliminated and there are cuts to supplies and after-school activities.
"On top of that, there was a warning to the (teachers) union to come to the table to possibly give up their (raises), so it was hypocritical," he said. "Here we are in this incredible fiscal crisis and people are in pain, and we're giving out raises. It's contradictory."
The School Committee had recently asked the teachers union to consider moderating its 3.5 percent cost-of-living raises under an existing contract, to limit the number of positions to be lost because of budget cuts, but the union declined.
Similar measures were attempted in municipal government here, but those too failed.
Rhodes and member Kathleen Anderson were in the minority in the School Committee's 3-2 vote, he said. The Regional School Committee voted 4-3-2, with member Marianne Jorgensen also voting no and members Catherine Sanderson and Steve Rivkin abstaining, Rhodes said.
Sanderson said she voted in favor of cost-of-living raises for the elementary principals in part because the teachers union did not give them up. She said the principals have had a difficult year, with much turnover in the superintendent position, the need to manage budget pressures, and the resulting challenges involving morale and workloads.
"Given the staff cuts that have been made at the administrative level, I felt that we were also asking the remaining administrators to shoulder an additional load over the next year," she said.
Sanderson said she abstained from the regional vote because she didn't understand all the raises, which included some "step" increases and varied considerably by position.
The total aggregate salary of the 24 employees was $1.8 million last year, said Kathy Mazur, the schools' human resources director.
Included in the non-union group are seven principals, one assistant superintendent, four directors (of human resources, business/finance, maintenance/transportation, and information systems), and 12 support positions.
Also in this group is the new superintendent, Alberto Rodriguez, who will make $158,000 this year. He will not receive the cost-of-living raise because it is his first year of employment.
The Personnel Board has also approved 2 percent cost-of-living raises for department heads and 3.5 percent for other non-union employees on the municipal side.
Town Manager Larry Shaffer said these raises are a "fair and rational" response to what teachers and school administrators are receiving.
Nick Grabbe can be reached at ngrabbe@gazettenet.com.
Education Matters: Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate
Amherst Bulletin - July 10, 2009
By STEVE RIVKIN and CATHERINE SANDERSON
As members of the School Committees, we hear frequently about the outstanding teachers we have in our schools and occasionally about teachers who fail to live up to expectations. As parents, we know first-hand how great it is when a child spends the year with a fabulous teacher who "gets" each of the children in the classroom. Research, including work conducted by Steve, supports the belief that there are substantial differences in teacher effectiveness, even among teachers in the same school.
The essential question, therefore, is how to ensure great teaching in every classroom in our district. The obvious first step is hiring well - and one of the greatest strengths of our schools is the abundant supply of prospective teachers who desire to work in Amherst. However, it is difficult to predict who is or will be a great teacher based on easily observed characteristics, including whether a teacher has a master's degree, the score on a licensing exam, or the type of college a teacher attended (a local college, state university or private school). In sum, it is simply very difficult to identify the great teacher on the basis of credentials and brief interviews.
Professional development for teachers provides another means to foster excellent instruction. Mentoring and other training programs have the potential to improve classroom management skills and expand knowledge of subject matter and pedagogy. Unfortunately, although research shows that strong programs can improve the quality of instruction, particularly for new teachers, the effects appear to be modest for most.
We believe these findings reflect the multi-dimensional nature of the skills required to be an excellent teacher. It is not enough to be very knowledgeable about mathematics, science, history or English, or even all four; it is not enough to understand theories of child development and pedagogy; it is not enough to understand and empathize with children with diverse backgrounds; it is not enough to be a supportive team player. A teacher must master each of these and other skills to excel in the classroom.
If outstanding teachers are difficult to identify at the time of hiring and the benefits of professional development are limited, rigorous evaluation prior to promotion with tenure becomes a crucial component to ensuring high quality instruction. However, recent research conducted by The New Teachers Project suggests that schools across the country fail to conduct rigorous performance-based evaluations, and that nearly three in four teachers report receiving no specific feedback on how to improve their teaching at their last evaluation. Moreover, almost no teachers (less than 1 percent) receive unsatisfactory evaluations, even in schools in which students repeatedly fail to meet academic standards. The absence of meaningful evaluation almost certainly diminishes the experience of children in those schools.
We have both participated in the tenure process as junior faculty seeking tenure, as outside reviewers of tenure cases at other institutions, and as department chairs involved in the evaluation of junior colleagues. It is a stressful process for untenured faculty - we have had our teaching observed by senior colleagues and received candid comments from both our students and our colleagues on our effectiveness (or lack there of) in the classroom. The evaluation of a junior colleague is particularly awkward as one moves from mentor and sometimes friend to supervisor. It is therefore tempting to overlook deficiencies to avoid the unpleasantness involved in the denial of tenure. Yet such a lowering of the bar reduces the quality of instruction and the likelihood of sitting in a room with that fabulous teacher.
We've already seen that shrinking budgets lead to program cuts and larger classes, and persistent budget shortfalls will likely lead to lower salary increases for teachers in the future. We believe that maintaining competitive salaries should remain a district priority. However, providing salaries that help make Amherst a desirable place to teach is not enough; we also need rigorous evaluation and high standards for tenure to ensure that those dollars translate into great teaching.
Steve Rivkin and Catherine Sanderson are members of the Amherst School Committee and Amherst College professors.
By STEVE RIVKIN and CATHERINE SANDERSON
As members of the School Committees, we hear frequently about the outstanding teachers we have in our schools and occasionally about teachers who fail to live up to expectations. As parents, we know first-hand how great it is when a child spends the year with a fabulous teacher who "gets" each of the children in the classroom. Research, including work conducted by Steve, supports the belief that there are substantial differences in teacher effectiveness, even among teachers in the same school.
The essential question, therefore, is how to ensure great teaching in every classroom in our district. The obvious first step is hiring well - and one of the greatest strengths of our schools is the abundant supply of prospective teachers who desire to work in Amherst. However, it is difficult to predict who is or will be a great teacher based on easily observed characteristics, including whether a teacher has a master's degree, the score on a licensing exam, or the type of college a teacher attended (a local college, state university or private school). In sum, it is simply very difficult to identify the great teacher on the basis of credentials and brief interviews.
Professional development for teachers provides another means to foster excellent instruction. Mentoring and other training programs have the potential to improve classroom management skills and expand knowledge of subject matter and pedagogy. Unfortunately, although research shows that strong programs can improve the quality of instruction, particularly for new teachers, the effects appear to be modest for most.
We believe these findings reflect the multi-dimensional nature of the skills required to be an excellent teacher. It is not enough to be very knowledgeable about mathematics, science, history or English, or even all four; it is not enough to understand theories of child development and pedagogy; it is not enough to understand and empathize with children with diverse backgrounds; it is not enough to be a supportive team player. A teacher must master each of these and other skills to excel in the classroom.
If outstanding teachers are difficult to identify at the time of hiring and the benefits of professional development are limited, rigorous evaluation prior to promotion with tenure becomes a crucial component to ensuring high quality instruction. However, recent research conducted by The New Teachers Project suggests that schools across the country fail to conduct rigorous performance-based evaluations, and that nearly three in four teachers report receiving no specific feedback on how to improve their teaching at their last evaluation. Moreover, almost no teachers (less than 1 percent) receive unsatisfactory evaluations, even in schools in which students repeatedly fail to meet academic standards. The absence of meaningful evaluation almost certainly diminishes the experience of children in those schools.
We have both participated in the tenure process as junior faculty seeking tenure, as outside reviewers of tenure cases at other institutions, and as department chairs involved in the evaluation of junior colleagues. It is a stressful process for untenured faculty - we have had our teaching observed by senior colleagues and received candid comments from both our students and our colleagues on our effectiveness (or lack there of) in the classroom. The evaluation of a junior colleague is particularly awkward as one moves from mentor and sometimes friend to supervisor. It is therefore tempting to overlook deficiencies to avoid the unpleasantness involved in the denial of tenure. Yet such a lowering of the bar reduces the quality of instruction and the likelihood of sitting in a room with that fabulous teacher.
We've already seen that shrinking budgets lead to program cuts and larger classes, and persistent budget shortfalls will likely lead to lower salary increases for teachers in the future. We believe that maintaining competitive salaries should remain a district priority. However, providing salaries that help make Amherst a desirable place to teach is not enough; we also need rigorous evaluation and high standards for tenure to ensure that those dollars translate into great teaching.
Steve Rivkin and Catherine Sanderson are members of the Amherst School Committee and Amherst College professors.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Regional Meeting, June 23, 2009
This was a really, really long meeting -- it lasted over 3 hours. In addition, ACTV was NOT there (probably due to taping Town Meeting), so I'm going to do my best to really summarize it ... but I'd strongly encourage you to also check out the full meeting minutes when they are posted on the ARPS website because by the end, my note taking abilities were likely falling short.
We started with a few announcements from the superintendent (who was leading, for the final time, a SC meeting). These included a thank you to Marianne Jorgensen (who served for 9 years, I believe, and attended her last meeting last night), enthusiasm about attending the ARHS graduation at few weeks ago, and an update on the special education review. The Request for Proposals (RFP) for the special education review is nearly complete, and will be circulated to the SC and superintendent Rodriguez for comments before it goes out. Then, companies/groups put in bids to do the work, and a committee will meet to review the bids and choose who does the review. This review is being paid for out of funds from the economic stimulus package, and this review will include a cost-benefit analysis of our current programs. Information on the findings will be presented publicly. Finally, Dr. Rodriguez has hired a consultant to analyze some data on our district, and that person will be doing this work from July 3rd to 13th.
We then turned to the ARHS school improvement plan. I believe this report (power point) is being put on the ARPS website, so I'm not going to go over each of the slides. But here are the key things I took from the report: the high school has lost a lot of funds (8.2 teachers, lots of instructional supplies), there will be much less flexibility in moving between classes next year as a result of the loss of teachers, and the budgets for the future are dismal. This means that we need to make pretty major changes -- not just small cuts (like eliminating low enrolled classes/teams).
The faculty voted (49 to 25) to keep the trimester system, which is their right in the contract, but this has some major consequences -- with a change to a semester, students would only need to take one study hall whereas now they need to take two. The cost of moving to one study hall in a trimester is about 5.2 teachers -- or $270,000.
We also discussed course enrollment. Although the HS has a mean of 22 students per class, this number is pretty misleading because many of the electives have space only for 15 to 20 students, which brings the mean down. There are core academic classes (including math, social studies and world language) with class sizes as high as 27/28, and even 30. The SC asked for a report on class enrollments by all classes, which Mark Jackson said he would send to us.
We then discussed graduation requirements (which are lower, at least in math/science, in our high school than in many of our comparison districts). Some preliminary data on this issue has been gathered, and there is good news and bad news. The good news is that most students seem to be taking more than the minimum required (which is two years of math and two years of science). However, there are exceptions to this trend for students in some sub-groups (race, free/reduced lunch, gender, special ed), and Mark will do a report on this in the fall for the SC. Farshid noted that even if most students are taking more than the required, it still sends a message to students about our expectations. Mark also noted that taking more years of math/science opens doors for students in terms of future opportunities, and thus is important.
We then discussed Student Activities, and how all support for the clubs (teachers get a stipend of $544 per club they advise) has been dropped. The School Council/Parent Center are therefore running a campaign to raise $25,000 to add stipends for clubs next year. This campaign will get running this fall.
Next, Mark noted that all ARHS are now using PowerSchool, and that a parent portal to power school will be piloted next year.
He then reported on the two alternative high schools (South Amherst Campus and East Street), and his goal to increase alignment between these schools and the main campus. This will mean creating a program of studies for these schools, integrating students into the standard 9th grade curriculum (starting next year with world civilization), and increasing contact with guidance counselors.
Finally, he reported on the problem of students exceeding the absence limit -- as many as 263 students exceeded the absence limit in at least one course in the spring trimester, which means in theory they should not receive credit (but in reality are often earning an A or B). The HS is now contemplating making some type of change in their enforcement of this policy.
************************************************************************************
We then turned to the school improvement plan for the middle school. This presentation started with an overview of the model used in our middle school called "Turning Points" (which you can google to learn more about), and then turned towards the specific goals, process, and update of both the 2008-2009 year and the 2009-2010 year. The big issue (not surprisingly) is budget -- there are now 3 teams in both 7th and 8th, and next year there will be 2 1/2 teams in 7th and 2 teams in 8th. This means that teachers will have larger classes, and more grading.
Next, this presentation included information on outcomes -- related to MCAS data (English, math), Reading (as measured by the DRP), and discipline. The MCAS data reveal that most students in both English and math are scoring at the proficient level. The DRP data reveal that most kids show either greater than expected (nationally) or expected reading growth during the MS. The discipline data show that fewer kids are receiving suspensions from 2001 to 2009.
The MS then presented the two goals for the current year (which are the same as the goals for the upcoming year). These goals are (1) achievement and academic excellence and equity for every student, and (2) enhanced communication between home & school. In terms of the first goal, there is work occurring now and next year on differentiating of instruction, common assessments (not just waiting for MCAS scores), increasing rigor for students who need academic support, and inquiry groups. In terms of the second goal, students now learn of team assignments PRIOR to the start of school, there is much more contact between MS principals and elementary school principals as well as 6th grade teachers, there was an evening orientation presented in March which was attended by 240 (of the 260) 6th grade parents, and the Family-School Partnership has hosted coffees/lunches (although these were not well attended). There is also on-going work on keeping the website updated, although this will be hard with increasing budget cuts which reduce staff.
In terms of next year, there will be work in all core academic areas to examine the effectiveness of the challenges/extensions provided (are enough students getting to do this work?). Current and past students/parents are being surveyed, and focus groups may be held. There will also be a survey of families to determine what type of communication from school is most helpful. Currently, families have a single conference in 7th grade, and no conference in 8th grade, which may be inadequate in terms of keeping updated on students' progress. There will be more work on training teachers/students/parents to use on-line grading to improve information.
Finally, there was a brief discussion of whether Turning Points is the most effective model. The School Governance Council believes it is, because of its focus on relationships, and that we should continue to use this model (but make sure it is working well).
Members of the committee then asked a number of questions (which I tried to write down, though I may have missed some -- if so, apologies, and again, what for the official minutes). Andy asked two questions: could the parent portal be used to give parents information about homework assigned each night (which he would find helpful) and how well is the extensions model working for math? He also wondered why the MS has regular 8th grade math and honors algebra, instead of a regular algebra option (an excellent question that I've asked before -- and I still can't see the rationale for this). Answers to these are going to be provided later.
Farshid then noted that the issue of regular algebra as an 8th grade option was being discussed on the math curriculum council, and that, in theory, once Impact 1-2-3 is fully implemented (which is two years away), all 8th graders will have completed algebra.
Steve then asked a question about whether Turning Points was the right model to use, seeing as this is NOT a widely used model, and seeing as this is the only MSAN school that used this model. He noted that many middle schools do use teams, but that Turning Points is a particular approach that is not widely used. He also noted that we should be assessing the effectiveness of extensions, and that there are many middle schools that use tracked math in 6th or 7th grade. He specifically noted Princeton, NJ (a MSAN district, where I attended middle and high school) tracks students for math in 6th grade, and that their "low track" gets all kids through algebra in 8th grade, and that their "high track" gets kids through algebra in 7th grade (and the kids then do algebra II in 8th grade).
I then asked a question about whether there was data on differences in the DRP and/or MCAS scores as a function of team, based on the very different comments I heard from MS parents about the type of work/expectations/feedback provided by teachers on different teams. Glenda said this type of data was going to be analyzed next year. I also asked a question regarding the differences in how MCAS scores look in English (most kids are proficient) and math (some kids are proficient, but there is much more variability). Mike Hayes remarked that this trend is typical of state-wide scores -- and does not reflect the Amherst experience in particular.
Kathleen then asked how the district's commitment to social justice is being carried out. Glenda responded that she would prepare a written summary to answer this question, which she would send to the committee.
There was then a brief discussion of whether the SC would continue to take School Choice seats in 7th and 8th grade. The current recommendation is NOT to do so, given the increased class sizes already, but that final decisions will be made soon (as final enrollments in the MS become clearer over the summer). Tracy Farnham asked about the number of applications, and I asked about how many of those applications are from siblings of students currently in the district. We learned that there are 8 applications in total, and that two are from siblings.
The meeting then turned to the final presentation of the night, which was by Fran Ziperstein and Mike Hayes, on professional development and evaluation. This presentation was very thorough (and the SC had received copies of all materials in advance, so they were not reviewed again at the meeting), so we turned right away to questions (it was also VERY late by this point). There were a number of questions, including issues of how evaluations are conducted (a three-step process, in which a teacher describes the lesson he/she will do, then the observer watches it, and then they meet to discuss it), who does the evaluation (usually the principal, but could be the vice principal or department chair), and the challenge of doing professional development in the face of increasing budget cuts. It was noted that the superintendent really needs to take the lead on evaluations -- setting this as a priority and making sure it happens.
We then turned to a few small items of business: setting a date for the summer conference with leaders from the MA School Committee organization (July 22nd), accepting generous gifts from various sources, and postponing the report from the "How Are We Doing" Subcommittee (this will be a very interesting report -- I'm part of this subcommittee -- and I do hope we eventually get to address this!). We also delayed discussing a motion presented by Steve Rivkin to collect data related to the possibility of moving 6th grade to the MS -- it was noted that the hour was late and that it would be good to have the new superintendent in town to begin such discussions.
We started with a few announcements from the superintendent (who was leading, for the final time, a SC meeting). These included a thank you to Marianne Jorgensen (who served for 9 years, I believe, and attended her last meeting last night), enthusiasm about attending the ARHS graduation at few weeks ago, and an update on the special education review. The Request for Proposals (RFP) for the special education review is nearly complete, and will be circulated to the SC and superintendent Rodriguez for comments before it goes out. Then, companies/groups put in bids to do the work, and a committee will meet to review the bids and choose who does the review. This review is being paid for out of funds from the economic stimulus package, and this review will include a cost-benefit analysis of our current programs. Information on the findings will be presented publicly. Finally, Dr. Rodriguez has hired a consultant to analyze some data on our district, and that person will be doing this work from July 3rd to 13th.
We then turned to the ARHS school improvement plan. I believe this report (power point) is being put on the ARPS website, so I'm not going to go over each of the slides. But here are the key things I took from the report: the high school has lost a lot of funds (8.2 teachers, lots of instructional supplies), there will be much less flexibility in moving between classes next year as a result of the loss of teachers, and the budgets for the future are dismal. This means that we need to make pretty major changes -- not just small cuts (like eliminating low enrolled classes/teams).
The faculty voted (49 to 25) to keep the trimester system, which is their right in the contract, but this has some major consequences -- with a change to a semester, students would only need to take one study hall whereas now they need to take two. The cost of moving to one study hall in a trimester is about 5.2 teachers -- or $270,000.
We also discussed course enrollment. Although the HS has a mean of 22 students per class, this number is pretty misleading because many of the electives have space only for 15 to 20 students, which brings the mean down. There are core academic classes (including math, social studies and world language) with class sizes as high as 27/28, and even 30. The SC asked for a report on class enrollments by all classes, which Mark Jackson said he would send to us.
We then discussed graduation requirements (which are lower, at least in math/science, in our high school than in many of our comparison districts). Some preliminary data on this issue has been gathered, and there is good news and bad news. The good news is that most students seem to be taking more than the minimum required (which is two years of math and two years of science). However, there are exceptions to this trend for students in some sub-groups (race, free/reduced lunch, gender, special ed), and Mark will do a report on this in the fall for the SC. Farshid noted that even if most students are taking more than the required, it still sends a message to students about our expectations. Mark also noted that taking more years of math/science opens doors for students in terms of future opportunities, and thus is important.
We then discussed Student Activities, and how all support for the clubs (teachers get a stipend of $544 per club they advise) has been dropped. The School Council/Parent Center are therefore running a campaign to raise $25,000 to add stipends for clubs next year. This campaign will get running this fall.
Next, Mark noted that all ARHS are now using PowerSchool, and that a parent portal to power school will be piloted next year.
He then reported on the two alternative high schools (South Amherst Campus and East Street), and his goal to increase alignment between these schools and the main campus. This will mean creating a program of studies for these schools, integrating students into the standard 9th grade curriculum (starting next year with world civilization), and increasing contact with guidance counselors.
Finally, he reported on the problem of students exceeding the absence limit -- as many as 263 students exceeded the absence limit in at least one course in the spring trimester, which means in theory they should not receive credit (but in reality are often earning an A or B). The HS is now contemplating making some type of change in their enforcement of this policy.
************************************************************************************
We then turned to the school improvement plan for the middle school. This presentation started with an overview of the model used in our middle school called "Turning Points" (which you can google to learn more about), and then turned towards the specific goals, process, and update of both the 2008-2009 year and the 2009-2010 year. The big issue (not surprisingly) is budget -- there are now 3 teams in both 7th and 8th, and next year there will be 2 1/2 teams in 7th and 2 teams in 8th. This means that teachers will have larger classes, and more grading.
Next, this presentation included information on outcomes -- related to MCAS data (English, math), Reading (as measured by the DRP), and discipline. The MCAS data reveal that most students in both English and math are scoring at the proficient level. The DRP data reveal that most kids show either greater than expected (nationally) or expected reading growth during the MS. The discipline data show that fewer kids are receiving suspensions from 2001 to 2009.
The MS then presented the two goals for the current year (which are the same as the goals for the upcoming year). These goals are (1) achievement and academic excellence and equity for every student, and (2) enhanced communication between home & school. In terms of the first goal, there is work occurring now and next year on differentiating of instruction, common assessments (not just waiting for MCAS scores), increasing rigor for students who need academic support, and inquiry groups. In terms of the second goal, students now learn of team assignments PRIOR to the start of school, there is much more contact between MS principals and elementary school principals as well as 6th grade teachers, there was an evening orientation presented in March which was attended by 240 (of the 260) 6th grade parents, and the Family-School Partnership has hosted coffees/lunches (although these were not well attended). There is also on-going work on keeping the website updated, although this will be hard with increasing budget cuts which reduce staff.
In terms of next year, there will be work in all core academic areas to examine the effectiveness of the challenges/extensions provided (are enough students getting to do this work?). Current and past students/parents are being surveyed, and focus groups may be held. There will also be a survey of families to determine what type of communication from school is most helpful. Currently, families have a single conference in 7th grade, and no conference in 8th grade, which may be inadequate in terms of keeping updated on students' progress. There will be more work on training teachers/students/parents to use on-line grading to improve information.
Finally, there was a brief discussion of whether Turning Points is the most effective model. The School Governance Council believes it is, because of its focus on relationships, and that we should continue to use this model (but make sure it is working well).
Members of the committee then asked a number of questions (which I tried to write down, though I may have missed some -- if so, apologies, and again, what for the official minutes). Andy asked two questions: could the parent portal be used to give parents information about homework assigned each night (which he would find helpful) and how well is the extensions model working for math? He also wondered why the MS has regular 8th grade math and honors algebra, instead of a regular algebra option (an excellent question that I've asked before -- and I still can't see the rationale for this). Answers to these are going to be provided later.
Farshid then noted that the issue of regular algebra as an 8th grade option was being discussed on the math curriculum council, and that, in theory, once Impact 1-2-3 is fully implemented (which is two years away), all 8th graders will have completed algebra.
Steve then asked a question about whether Turning Points was the right model to use, seeing as this is NOT a widely used model, and seeing as this is the only MSAN school that used this model. He noted that many middle schools do use teams, but that Turning Points is a particular approach that is not widely used. He also noted that we should be assessing the effectiveness of extensions, and that there are many middle schools that use tracked math in 6th or 7th grade. He specifically noted Princeton, NJ (a MSAN district, where I attended middle and high school) tracks students for math in 6th grade, and that their "low track" gets all kids through algebra in 8th grade, and that their "high track" gets kids through algebra in 7th grade (and the kids then do algebra II in 8th grade).
I then asked a question about whether there was data on differences in the DRP and/or MCAS scores as a function of team, based on the very different comments I heard from MS parents about the type of work/expectations/feedback provided by teachers on different teams. Glenda said this type of data was going to be analyzed next year. I also asked a question regarding the differences in how MCAS scores look in English (most kids are proficient) and math (some kids are proficient, but there is much more variability). Mike Hayes remarked that this trend is typical of state-wide scores -- and does not reflect the Amherst experience in particular.
Kathleen then asked how the district's commitment to social justice is being carried out. Glenda responded that she would prepare a written summary to answer this question, which she would send to the committee.
There was then a brief discussion of whether the SC would continue to take School Choice seats in 7th and 8th grade. The current recommendation is NOT to do so, given the increased class sizes already, but that final decisions will be made soon (as final enrollments in the MS become clearer over the summer). Tracy Farnham asked about the number of applications, and I asked about how many of those applications are from siblings of students currently in the district. We learned that there are 8 applications in total, and that two are from siblings.
The meeting then turned to the final presentation of the night, which was by Fran Ziperstein and Mike Hayes, on professional development and evaluation. This presentation was very thorough (and the SC had received copies of all materials in advance, so they were not reviewed again at the meeting), so we turned right away to questions (it was also VERY late by this point). There were a number of questions, including issues of how evaluations are conducted (a three-step process, in which a teacher describes the lesson he/she will do, then the observer watches it, and then they meet to discuss it), who does the evaluation (usually the principal, but could be the vice principal or department chair), and the challenge of doing professional development in the face of increasing budget cuts. It was noted that the superintendent really needs to take the lead on evaluations -- setting this as a priority and making sure it happens.
We then turned to a few small items of business: setting a date for the summer conference with leaders from the MA School Committee organization (July 22nd), accepting generous gifts from various sources, and postponing the report from the "How Are We Doing" Subcommittee (this will be a very interesting report -- I'm part of this subcommittee -- and I do hope we eventually get to address this!). We also delayed discussing a motion presented by Steve Rivkin to collect data related to the possibility of moving 6th grade to the MS -- it was noted that the hour was late and that it would be good to have the new superintendent in town to begin such discussions.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Amherst Meeting, June 18, 2009
This meeting began with three announcements from the superintendent: she has been attending (and enjoying!) 6th grade graduations at the various elementary schools, the schools' budgets will be presented at Town Meeting starting on Monday (June 22nd), and the parents/staff surveys are continuing to come in from all schools (today is, I believe, the final deadline). She also noted that student surveys will be administered this fall. Mike Morris also thanked the Crocker Farm community for responding to a student in need.
We then turned to the School Improvement Plan for Fort River, which was presented by principal Ray Sharick. I don't want to give a long summary of this (because there were multiple handouts and I don't want to not do the presentation justice), but there were three specific goals noted: curriculum (across all areas, including an examination of data for how students in general and by subgroup were performing), instruction (with a particular emphasis on differentiation), and other (which included scheduling and communication). Members of the SC asked a few questions, including how consistent curriculum was both within different classrooms at Fort River and across the different schools (Steve), plans for hiring a new assistant principal (me), concern about the potentially negative impact of the word "subgroup" (Kathleen), how social justice was being implemented/seen (Kathleen), how data was being used (Andy), how science and social studies fit into the curriculum, given the lack of MCAS accountability on these subjects (me). The answers were (briefly) - consistency is a work in progress (some grades better than others), new assistant principal to be hired as soon as possible (probably July), "subgroup" is a widely-used term in MCAS but is problematic in a sense, social justice is seen in high achievement by all students (regardless of demographics), looking at data is just beginning, and science/social studies alternate throughout the year (unlike math/English) but time is always tight and limited.
Next, principal Nick Yaffe described the Mark's Meadow School Improvement Plan. This plan had five goals: inquiry, teaching/learning/curriculum, belonging and caring, social justice and anti-bias curriculum, and connections to our community. (Again, I'm not going to summarize ALL of the parts of this presentation but they will be summarized in the SC minutes, which will be posted on the web in a few weeks). Members of the SC then had various questions, including how science is implemented at MM (Steve), how the anti-bias curriculum ("Undoing Racism) was implemented (Kathleen) how the Investigations math curriculum works at MM (me), and how the major 6th grade UN trip works into the curriculum (me). The answers were (again, briefly) - there is a greater focus on consistency of science units across the district, thanks to the work of science coordinator Pat Cahill; the Undoing Racism workshops were presented to all staff/teachers on curriculum days (three days throughout the year) with homework in between; the Investigations math curriculum has worked OK for the English language learners but needed some revision by teachers and we need some more time to assess its effectiveness; and the UN trip is part of a 6th grade course of study on "world regions" and is very educational and enjoyable.
Nick then talked about the plans for the closing of Marks Meadow at the end of the 2009-2010 school year (this piece of the meeting was summarized in the Gazette article I posted last week). He has written a thoughtful letter which describes what he is sharing with the MM community, which includes focusing on "celebrating who we are as a community" and asking "ourselves what aspect of the Mark's Meadow spirit we will take with us when we go to a new school." I believe Nick spoke thoughtfully and sincerely about the type of leadership he will bring to the school, and indeed to the district, in the upcoming year (which will be a challenging one for all kids/families/staff/teachers/schools).
Next, and relatedly, the superintendent described the redistricting plan update. Proposals were requested from multiple firms which consult in educational redistricting and capacity analysis, and the services of a firm (DeJong-Healy) in Ohio have been secured (for $4,750). They will review the proposals made this far, and will develop a recommendation for how to redistrict (based on demographic projections and capacity at the three current schools). This work will be completed by June 29, 2009.
We then had some discussion on this process. Steve noted that other schools do close, and we should learn from schools/districts that have handled this transition well. He also noted that the community of MM is all facing the same challenge (e.g., their school is closing) together, whereas students at the other schools would face a less cohesive challenge (e.g., some students would be moving, others not). I then asked about whether we were considering the placement of 6th grade in these plans, given that redistricting 1300 students to three buildings has different implications than redistricting 1100 students (and hence lines might be drawn in different places). Maria noted that the proposal was to redistrict K to 6, and hence that was the focus of this firm, but it might be possible to also ask for lines to be drawn for K to 5. I noted that redistricting once K to 6 and then again (in a few years) K to 5 could involve having some kids have three transitions during elementary school, and hence we really needed to think through these issues at the same time. I felt this was particularly important since some MM families have been highly concerned about both very large schools (with 1300 kids, it would probably be 500 kids, 450 kids, 350 kids, whereas with 1100 kids, it would be 400-400-300) and the use of so many half-wall classrooms in the quads at FR and WW (we would need to use 23 or 24 quad classrooms in FR and WW with 1300 kids, but only 20 or so classrooms with 1100 kids, which means you'd almost eliminate the need for using the inner-most classrooms). Steve agreed with these points, and we asked to have this on the agenda for the regional meeting on June 23rd.
Finally, we accepted some gifts, discussed plans for upcoming meetings (including the potential of moving to a place in which we could have "live" meetings), and learned that the WW school improvement plan would be presented this fall.
We then turned to the School Improvement Plan for Fort River, which was presented by principal Ray Sharick. I don't want to give a long summary of this (because there were multiple handouts and I don't want to not do the presentation justice), but there were three specific goals noted: curriculum (across all areas, including an examination of data for how students in general and by subgroup were performing), instruction (with a particular emphasis on differentiation), and other (which included scheduling and communication). Members of the SC asked a few questions, including how consistent curriculum was both within different classrooms at Fort River and across the different schools (Steve), plans for hiring a new assistant principal (me), concern about the potentially negative impact of the word "subgroup" (Kathleen), how social justice was being implemented/seen (Kathleen), how data was being used (Andy), how science and social studies fit into the curriculum, given the lack of MCAS accountability on these subjects (me). The answers were (briefly) - consistency is a work in progress (some grades better than others), new assistant principal to be hired as soon as possible (probably July), "subgroup" is a widely-used term in MCAS but is problematic in a sense, social justice is seen in high achievement by all students (regardless of demographics), looking at data is just beginning, and science/social studies alternate throughout the year (unlike math/English) but time is always tight and limited.
Next, principal Nick Yaffe described the Mark's Meadow School Improvement Plan. This plan had five goals: inquiry, teaching/learning/curriculum, belonging and caring, social justice and anti-bias curriculum, and connections to our community. (Again, I'm not going to summarize ALL of the parts of this presentation but they will be summarized in the SC minutes, which will be posted on the web in a few weeks). Members of the SC then had various questions, including how science is implemented at MM (Steve), how the anti-bias curriculum ("Undoing Racism) was implemented (Kathleen) how the Investigations math curriculum works at MM (me), and how the major 6th grade UN trip works into the curriculum (me). The answers were (again, briefly) - there is a greater focus on consistency of science units across the district, thanks to the work of science coordinator Pat Cahill; the Undoing Racism workshops were presented to all staff/teachers on curriculum days (three days throughout the year) with homework in between; the Investigations math curriculum has worked OK for the English language learners but needed some revision by teachers and we need some more time to assess its effectiveness; and the UN trip is part of a 6th grade course of study on "world regions" and is very educational and enjoyable.
Nick then talked about the plans for the closing of Marks Meadow at the end of the 2009-2010 school year (this piece of the meeting was summarized in the Gazette article I posted last week). He has written a thoughtful letter which describes what he is sharing with the MM community, which includes focusing on "celebrating who we are as a community" and asking "ourselves what aspect of the Mark's Meadow spirit we will take with us when we go to a new school." I believe Nick spoke thoughtfully and sincerely about the type of leadership he will bring to the school, and indeed to the district, in the upcoming year (which will be a challenging one for all kids/families/staff/teachers/schools).
Next, and relatedly, the superintendent described the redistricting plan update. Proposals were requested from multiple firms which consult in educational redistricting and capacity analysis, and the services of a firm (DeJong-Healy) in Ohio have been secured (for $4,750). They will review the proposals made this far, and will develop a recommendation for how to redistrict (based on demographic projections and capacity at the three current schools). This work will be completed by June 29, 2009.
We then had some discussion on this process. Steve noted that other schools do close, and we should learn from schools/districts that have handled this transition well. He also noted that the community of MM is all facing the same challenge (e.g., their school is closing) together, whereas students at the other schools would face a less cohesive challenge (e.g., some students would be moving, others not). I then asked about whether we were considering the placement of 6th grade in these plans, given that redistricting 1300 students to three buildings has different implications than redistricting 1100 students (and hence lines might be drawn in different places). Maria noted that the proposal was to redistrict K to 6, and hence that was the focus of this firm, but it might be possible to also ask for lines to be drawn for K to 5. I noted that redistricting once K to 6 and then again (in a few years) K to 5 could involve having some kids have three transitions during elementary school, and hence we really needed to think through these issues at the same time. I felt this was particularly important since some MM families have been highly concerned about both very large schools (with 1300 kids, it would probably be 500 kids, 450 kids, 350 kids, whereas with 1100 kids, it would be 400-400-300) and the use of so many half-wall classrooms in the quads at FR and WW (we would need to use 23 or 24 quad classrooms in FR and WW with 1300 kids, but only 20 or so classrooms with 1100 kids, which means you'd almost eliminate the need for using the inner-most classrooms). Steve agreed with these points, and we asked to have this on the agenda for the regional meeting on June 23rd.
Finally, we accepted some gifts, discussed plans for upcoming meetings (including the potential of moving to a place in which we could have "live" meetings), and learned that the WW school improvement plan would be presented this fall.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Mark's Meadow looks to navigate 'uncharted waters'
By NICK GRABBE - Hampshire Gazette
Thursday, June 18, 2009
AMHERST - Now that the School Committee has decided to close Mark's Meadow School a year from now, the next challenges are how to help the children deal with the upheaval and what school they will attend in 2010.
Principal Nick Yaffe told the committee Thursday that he wants next year to be "a celebratory, meaningful time." He wants to find out what children are saying and feeling about their school closing, and then discern how to make it a positive transition, he said.
"We are moving together into uncharted waters," he said. "As far as I know, there is not a manual describing how to guide a school through a closing year."
Yaffe said that when children ask him about the closing, he responds that there's still a lot of time left for learning and having fun at Mark's Meadow.
"Rather than thinking of next year as one in which the closing of our school is looming over our heads like a foreboding cloud, I would like it to be a year of celebrating who we are as a community," he said.
He hopes that children, families and staff can think about revitalizing "the Mark's Meadow spirit," and next spring ask how it can be transferred to new schools.
The School Governance Council will coordinate the transition. This fall there will be new staff members at Mark's Meadow coming from the other three elementary schools who can serve as "bridge-builders," he said.
"We have started to brainstorm other ways, such as #buddy classrooms,' to connect and familiarize our students with the other schools," Yaffe said. "While there will inevitably be a sense of sadness and loss, this can also be a time of coming together to create a memorable year."
He urged anyone with ideas about how to handle the transition to contact him at yaffen@arps.org.
Incoming Superintendent Alberto Rodriguez has experience in closing a school, said Maria Geryk, the interim superintendent.
The schools have hired DeJong-Healy of Dublin, Ohio to review a preliminary proposal for redrawing the elementary district lines and make recommendations. Their work is to be completed next week.
One of the goals of the redistricting is to equalize the percentage of students in each school who come from low-income households. Currently, Crocker Farm School has a much higher percentage than the others.
Other goals should include minimizing busing and keeping friends and neighborhoods together, said School Committee member Steve Rivkin.
Nick Grabbe can be reached at ngrabbe@gazettenet.com.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
AMHERST - Now that the School Committee has decided to close Mark's Meadow School a year from now, the next challenges are how to help the children deal with the upheaval and what school they will attend in 2010.
Principal Nick Yaffe told the committee Thursday that he wants next year to be "a celebratory, meaningful time." He wants to find out what children are saying and feeling about their school closing, and then discern how to make it a positive transition, he said.
"We are moving together into uncharted waters," he said. "As far as I know, there is not a manual describing how to guide a school through a closing year."
Yaffe said that when children ask him about the closing, he responds that there's still a lot of time left for learning and having fun at Mark's Meadow.
"Rather than thinking of next year as one in which the closing of our school is looming over our heads like a foreboding cloud, I would like it to be a year of celebrating who we are as a community," he said.
He hopes that children, families and staff can think about revitalizing "the Mark's Meadow spirit," and next spring ask how it can be transferred to new schools.
The School Governance Council will coordinate the transition. This fall there will be new staff members at Mark's Meadow coming from the other three elementary schools who can serve as "bridge-builders," he said.
"We have started to brainstorm other ways, such as #buddy classrooms,' to connect and familiarize our students with the other schools," Yaffe said. "While there will inevitably be a sense of sadness and loss, this can also be a time of coming together to create a memorable year."
He urged anyone with ideas about how to handle the transition to contact him at yaffen@arps.org.
Incoming Superintendent Alberto Rodriguez has experience in closing a school, said Maria Geryk, the interim superintendent.
The schools have hired DeJong-Healy of Dublin, Ohio to review a preliminary proposal for redrawing the elementary district lines and make recommendations. Their work is to be completed next week.
One of the goals of the redistricting is to equalize the percentage of students in each school who come from low-income households. Currently, Crocker Farm School has a much higher percentage than the others.
Other goals should include minimizing busing and keeping friends and neighborhoods together, said School Committee member Steve Rivkin.
Nick Grabbe can be reached at ngrabbe@gazettenet.com.
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