fps ssr report final2

8/8/2019 FPS SSR Report Final2

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NavigatingChange,

Massachusetts

High

School

Reform

in

Challenging

Times,


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Forward

.


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ExecutiveSummaryThis study investigates the state of high school reform in a sampling of districts across

Massachusetts, and highlights promising practices and key challenges. Between February

and May of 2010, Teachers21 interviewed educational leaders from 20 districts across theCommonwealth to investigate what reform efforts are currently underway, and what the

educational leaders in these schools and districts identify as key areas of interest andconcern. The interviews revealed common themes that cut across the districts, regardless

of their size, location, or demography. The research revealed that the districts and high

schools (1) use time and resources deliberately to enhance teacher capacity and improve

instruction; (2) define 21st

century skills broadly, beyond simply improving access totechnology, and promote their attainment in many ways; (3) work to personalize learning

for students and meet their intellectual and emotional needs, promoting increased choice

and responsibility; (4) build partnerships by engaging diverse partners in concrete goalsand activities and long-term investment in outcomes; and (5) face several challenges to

broad-based, comprehensive reform. Implications for policy include the need for moresupport and coordination state-wide related to 21st

century skills, continued attention tohow to strengthen supervision and evaluation of teachers and leaders, and significant

support to engage all stakeholders in comprehensive secondary school reform.


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TableofContentsIntroduction..6 8

EvidenceFromDistricts:PromisingPractices,ChallengingTimes.....821

Implications....21 22

Appendices..24 25

Acknowledgements......26


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I.INTRODUCTION

A.MassachusettsSecondary

Schools:Context


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B.OverviewofStudy

MovingfromDiscoursetoAction:

RevolutionizingSecondarySchools

Table1:Secondaryschoolpopulationsin

intervieweddistrictsandschools2

Table2:Percentageoflowincomestudentsin

intervieweddistrictsandschools

1 All data on these pages retrieved from the

Massachusetts Department of Education website:

http://www.doe.mass.edu/2

The populations here include all 9th-12

thgrade

students except in the case of Boston Latin,

which includes 7th and 8th grade students.


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C.OverviewofFindings

II.EVIDENCEFROM

DISTRICTS:PROMISING

PRACTICES,CHALLENGING

TIMES

A.MovingBeyondSilos:UsingTime

andResourcesDeliberatelyto

EnhanceTeacherCapacity


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Whenwetookthemofflunchduty

andhalldutyandbathroomduty,

andsaid,Yourenowgoingto

meet,the

expectation

was

much

higherthatyouregoingtomeetto

rewritecurriculum,createrubrics,

whichweveneverhadbefore,

createcommonassessments.Sothe

expectationwastherewouldbe

productsproduced,therewouldbe

outcomes,andIthinkteachers

appreciatedthefactthatthey

werentspendingtheirtimesitting

infrontofabathroomcheckingoff

whowas

going

in

and

out.

o

o


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B.Moving

Beyond

Information

AccesstoCriticalThinkingand

GlobalCompetency:Definingand

Promoting21stCenturySkills

Youcouldhearapindropwhenour

kidsarerecitingpoetryinfrontof


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anauditoriumfulloftheirpeers.

Complexcommunicationisa21st

centuryskillIthinkspeakingin

frontofyourpeersand

communicatingfeelingsand

thoughtsand

actually

being

an

audiencememberandbeing

empathetictosomeonewhoyou

maynotknoworidentifywith,is

alsoaskill.SoIthinknotonlyare

thekidswhoarerecitinglearning,I

thinkourkidswhoareinthe

audiencelisteningarealso

learning.


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Wereallyneedtobefocusing

onhowstudentsusetechnology

toshowuswhattheyknow.How

canteachersimplementproject

basedlearningusingtechnology?

AndIthinkitfundamentally

informseveryaspectofcurriculum,

instruction,andassessmenthow

couldteachersprovidemore

creativeversionsofeachofthose

things?And

again

technology

isameans,itsatool


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TheGalileoprogramgave

[teachers]explicitdetailsonthe

MCASandwherethekidswere

projectedtoland,questionby

question,strandbystrand,topic

bytopic,soifyouwereoneof

thoseteachers,youhave100kids

whoweregoingtotaketheMCAS,

andthis

computer

program

breaksdowneverysinglekidfor

you.Andnowwemet,andwere

goingtomeetagainnextweek,to

talkaboutthestrategiesweneed

tomoveeachofthosekids

becausesomeareindividual

movesandsomearegroupmoves.

C.MovingBeyondTraditional

School:PersonalizingLearningand

MeetingStudentNeeds


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Werelookingat9thgradersafter

thefirstandsecondquarterand

figuringoutwhatsnotworking,

orwhatisworking,andwere

creatingindividualschoolplans

forabout2025kids.Rightnow

wehave9thgradersdoublingup

insomesubjects,being

withdrawnfromothersubjects,

doinginternships

down

in

the

middleschoolsduringtheschool

day,doinginternshipswithour

highlydisabledspecialneedskids

duringtheschoolday,working

withthelocal[agencies].Sowere

tryingtocreateindividualplans

forthesekidstokeepthemexcited

aboutbeingaliveandcomingto

schoolanditmightnotbethe

traditional7periodschedulebut

theyrecoming

to

school,

their

attendanceisbetter,andwehope

wecangetthemtothe10th

grade.


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Itsjust[aboutchangingthe

wholemindsetandreleasingthe

responsibilityoftheactivitythat

goesonintheclassroomtothe

studentsasopposedtothe

teacherssodesperatelytryingto

holdontothatresponsibility.

D.MovingBeyondTraditional

Roles:BuildingMeaningful

PartnershipsforReform


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Ifyoujustgetpeopletogether,and

youdonthavesomemeaningful

worktodowhenyouretogether,

thenitskindofmorelikethe

[congeniality]thingratherthan

realcollaborationthatyouneedto

seeforschoolstomakeprogress.

Obviously,ourgoalisforour

schoolstomakeprogresswhether

itsimproving

on

our

MCAS

scores

oritsmakingsurethatmoreofour

kidsgetintocollege.Oritsmaking

surethatwerereducingour

dropoutrate.


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E.Roadblocks:TheChallenges

FacingHighSchoolReformToday


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Itsnavetothinkthatyou

instituteareformanditsover.

Reformisreallyanongoing

processanditsgoingtocontinue.

Thereformmaynotlookright

nowas

it

was

envisioned

and

thatsbecausethehighschoolhas

movedalong,theyvemorphed

intosomeotherideasthatworked

forthem.Soitsconstantlytrying

onahat,seeingifitfits.Ifit

doesntfit,tryingonsomethinga

bitdifferent.

IV.IMPLICATIONS

A.Implications

for

Professional

Development


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B.ImplicationsforResearch


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C.ImplicationsforPolicy

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AppendixA

Teachers21SSRResearchStudyInterviewProtocol


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AppendixB

1. Shared School Governance

Redesigned vision, mission, values and goals ,embraced by the entire community, that support

learning success for all

Shared leadership committed to providing skillsand competencies that ensure college and career

readiness and provide for engaged and productive

citizens and employees in our competitive global

society

3. Personalization

Sense of shared responsibility for all of ourstudents built on a climate of trust and respect

An emphasis on the social and emotional needof adolescent learners to nurture each student

voice and competencies

Frequent and meaningful opportunities for eacstudent to plan and assess their learning in a

smaller personalized setting

7. Community Partnerships

Provision for meaningful familyinvolvement to promote an atmosphere

of shared responsibility

Collaboration with higher education,businesses and community agencies to

clearly establish the real world

connections for 21st century student

preparation

4. Equity

A safe and engaging learningenvironment for each student

A community of educatorscommitted to the attitudes, behavi

and skills that ensure inclusive,

respectful and effective interactio

Policies that provide for challengiprograms for each individual learn

Teachers21

Secondary

School Redesign

Model

2. Culture of Professional

Development

Operational professional learning communitiesthat utilize collective inquiry to refine and reflect

their practices

Courses, institutes, outside learning options toexpand knowledge base and skill level

Work embedded PD to build internal capacity

5. Curriculum/Instruction/Assessment

Relevant, rigorous, and equitable standardsthat encompass the needs of 21st century

students

Research based, technology enhanced anddifferentiated instructional best practices

Multi-faceted systematic assessment that isgrounded in pre-assessment, guided by common

formative assessment and revised grounded on

data based results

Collaborative teams that engage in ongoingdiscourse about teaching and learning

6. Use of Time and Resources

Flexible use of time to assurethat the diverse needs of

learners are met

Resources allocated so thatteacher collaboration and

reflection is on- oin


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Acknowledgements

AboutTeachers21

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