middle school debate overview v.4

8/8/2019 Middle School Debate Overview v.4

1/16

How can theCambridge PublicSchool District

improve middle grade

education?An overview of the work completed to date and a

recommendation for how to move forward

DRAFT


2/16

For the past four years, the Cambridge Public School District (CPSD) has launched multipleinitiatives to identify the significant problems with middle grade education that prevent the

district from achieving its goals of delivering the highest quality education to all students

However, each effort has fallen short of providing a clear view of the underlying problems andhave not delivered clear, well-researched solutions which the broader community wouldsupport

The students in the district would be best served by a clear communication from CPSD whichincludes a descriptive statement of the specific, shared vision for middle grade education, arigorous analysis of the underlying problems that continue to prevent us from reaching thatideal, and a set of solutions derived from a data-driven, problem-solving process

DRAFT


3/16

For the past four years, the Cambridge Public School District (CPSD) has tried to identify thesignificant problems with middle grade education that prevent the district from achieving its

goals of delivering the highest quality education to all students

In early 2007, Superintendent Fowler-Finn convened the Middle Grade Task Force, a group of educators whowere charged with analyzing the middle grade issues raised by parents and educators

In April 2007, Dr. Fowler-Finn formed a Blue Ribbon Committee made up of educators, school committeemembers, and CPSD staff to continue the search for a solution, and expanded the scope of the problem to all

issues affecting the quality of middle grade education, including the structure of the schools

In June 2008, Mayor Denise Simmons formed a Blue Ribbon Commission to investigate how the City couldbetter serve the middle grade children in Cambridge

Building on the Blue Ribbons report, the recently hired Superintendent, Dr. Jeffrey Young, gathered additionaldata, assessed the problem, developed an initial set of recommendations, revised the recommendations and thencalled for the formation of three working teams, one of which was tasked with gathering feedback from thecommunity on the revised options

However, the multiple initiatives formed to understand these issues have fallen short ofproviding a clear view of the underlying problems and have not delivered coherent, well-researched solutions which the broader community would support

The students in the district would be best served by a clear communication from CPSD whichincludes a descriptive statement of the specific, shared vision for middle grade education, arigorous analysis of the underlying problems that continue to prevent us from reaching that

ideal, and a set of solutions derived from a data-driven, problem-solving process

DRAFT


4/16

The Middle Grade Task Force was formed toaddress problems which had been raised byconcerned parents and teachers

to provide bestpractice backgroundand supportingconsiderationson the nature ofmiddle-level learners

along with researchedprogram characteristicsthat whenimplemented over timeproduce highfunctioning learningenvironments for youngadolescents.1

Reviewed policy briefs andacademic research on bestpractices in delivering qualitymiddle school education

Highlighted findings from

three main sources This We Believe: Keys to Educating

Young Adolescents -- fromNationalMiddle School Association

What makes middle schools works --from University at Albany

The Building Blocks of Success forAmericas Middle and High SchoolStudents -- from Alliance forExcellent Education

Crafted 5 guiding principles for effective middleschools 2

Provide a curriculum that is:

Rigorous with high expectations for all students Developmentally responsive and relevant to students lives Integrated and exploratory

Based on MA Curriculum Frameworks & CPS LearningExpectations

Consistent across the schools Guided by clearly articulated student proficiencies Informed by assessment

Use research-based instructional practices designed to prepare allstudents to achieve high standards.

Staff the middle grades with teachers who are expert inadolescent development, academic content and best teachingpractices and are committed to knowing the whole child. Support

teachers through the development of professional communities inwhich they work collaboratively toward student achievement andgrowth.

Provide a safe and respectful school environment, free frombullying, in which healthy relationships and communication arefostered in order to improve academic performance and developcaring and competent citizens.

Work in partnership with families and communities to supportstudent learning and development.

Who was involved

Stated purpose

Work completed Results

Not clear fromdocuments, but it

seems to have been led

by Carolyn Turk,Deputy Superintendent

1 Middle Grades Best Practices Executive Summary, p.1 http://www.cpsd.us/web/COO/MiddleGrades_BestPractices_ExSum.pdf2 The Blue Ribbon Commission on Middel School Education, p. 5 http: //www.cpsd.us/web/PubInfo/BRC/BRC_Pres_060308.pdf

DRAFT
http://www.cpsd.us/web/PubInfo/BRC/BRC_Pres_060308.pdfhttp://www.cpsd.us/web/COO/MiddleGrades_BestPractices_ExSum.pdfhttp://www.cpsd.us/web/PubInfo/BRC/BRC_Pres_060308.pdfhttp://www.cpsd.us/web/PubInfo/BRC/BRC_Pres_060308.pdfhttp://www.cpsd.us/web/COO/MiddleGrades_BestPractices_ExSum.pdfhttp://www.cpsd.us/web/COO/MiddleGrades_BestPractices_ExSum.pdf


5/16

A Blue Ribbon Committee, comprised of educators,school committee members and CPSD staff wasconvened by then Superintendent, Dr. Fowler-Finn

to educate the entire School Committeeand public on the challenges that existwithin the current state of our middleschools and to further research the issueof structure.1

to research the strengths andweaknesses of the current middlesschools in an effort to gain anunderstanding of the challenges thedistrict faces 1

to visit and research middle schoolswithin CPS and in surroundingcommunities to view how programs werepositively or adversely affected by schoolstructure i.e., K-8, 7-12, or 6-8 schoolmodels 1

Evaluated the strengthsand weaknesses of themiddle grades based onthe Middle School TaskForces 5 guidingprinciples using schools

self-assessments

Visited nine schools andcompared theirperformance to CPSusing the MSTFs 5guiding principles

Aggregated feedbackfrom BRC-led public

forums

Identified 12 challenges presented by the current school structure 2

Academic Expectations Difficulty for teachers to become proficient in and prepare to

teach the content for 2 or 3 grade levels of a demandingcurriculum in schools that have small numbers of students

Isolation of content area teachers in all schools because of smallnumbers

Academic offerings and schedules that are driven by numbers

Inefficiency/ inequity of teacher caseloads between schools andsubject areasStaffing and Professional Development Limited opportunities for teachers to collaborate with each other

often and easily due to the small size of most middle grades

Difficulty in structuring opportunities for Middle SchoolLeadership Team and professional development opportunities dueto 4 tier start/ dismissal times of elementary schools

Variance of 6th grade configuration by school making it difficultto schedule professional development

Lack of inclusion of specialists (Special Education, English as aSecond Language, Art, Music, PE, World Languages) as members of

the middle school team because of scheduling and the fact thatspecialists are often shared by schools

Safe and Respectful School Culture Small peer groups in some schools that can lead to social

isolation for some students

Lack of a coherent guidance/ counseling program to support thespecific academic and social needs of young adolescents

Strong Connections to Families and Community Limited extracurricular and enrichment activities for middle

school students

Difficulty in structuring after school opportunities for middleschool students due to 4 tier start/ dismissal times of elementary

schools

Who was involved

Stated Purpose


25 member committee Co-chaired by Joe Grassi, a School

committee member, and Dr. Fowler-Finn, Superintendent of CPSD

Included representatives from theSchool Committee, Central OfficeAdministrators, Curriculum Leaders,Principals, Assistant Principals andmiddle grade teachers

1 The Blue Ribbon Commission on Middle School Education, p. 3 http://www.cpsd.us/web/PubInfo/BRC/BRC_Pres_060308.pdf2 Ibid, p. 15

DRAFT
http://www.cpsd.us/web/PubInfo/BRC/BRC_Pres_060308.pdfhttp://www.cpsd.us/web/PubInfo/BRC/BRC_Pres_060308.pdf


6/16

Mayor Denise Simmons formed a Blue RibbonCommission to analyze how the City could betterserve middle grade youth

to focus on howbetter to engagethis population of[middle grade]

children in thewealth ofenrichmentactivities offered inthe City andschools.1

Analyzed student enrollment byschool

Compared CPSD middle gradeswith surrounding communities

Size of middle grade population

Number of schools serving middlegrades

Compared CPSD MCASperformance vs state average,overall and by subgroup

Surveyed youth on out-of-school activities including riskybehaviors

Conducted focus groups withCPSD parents

Reviewed academic literatureon OST programs

Created a profile of Cambridges middle gradeyouth articulated in eight key findings2

In comparison to nearby communities, the Cambridge middleschool youth population is relatively modest in size, but spreadacross more schools

Middle school youth are in a critical developmental stage,engaged in defining both a present and future self identity

Cambridge middle school youth would benefit from extendedlearning opportunities after school and during the summer

While many middle school youth report high levels of physicalactivity, segments of youth are not consistently engaged insports or exercise programs

Participation of Cambridge middle school youth in OST hasincreased in recent years, but there is room for furtherimprovement, especially among older youth (seventh and eighthgraders)

Middle School OST options and experiences vary considerablyacross schools and neighborhoods

There is currently less need for more OST resources than aneed for improved coordination of existing resources

There are limited quality improvement and professionaldevelopment activities specifically designed for OST programsserving middle school youth

Developed a plan for enhancing out-of-schooltime for middle grade youth including

a city-wide strategic goal 3 core objectives 6 desired outcomes tied to 12 specific key indicators of success

Who was involved

Stated purpose


34 member committee Co-chaired by Sam Seidel,

the Vice Mayor and Nancy

Tauber, a Schoolcommittee member

Included representatives

from CPSD

1 Shared Youth, Shared Strategies, p.5 http://www.cpsd.us/web/PubInfo/SharedYouthSharedStrategies_Report.pdf2 Ibid, p.16-26

DRAFT
http://www.cpsd.us/web/COO/MiddleGrades_BestPractices_ExSum.pdfhttp://www.cpsd.us/web/COO/MiddleGrades_BestPractices_ExSum.pdfhttp://www.cpsd.us/web/COO/MiddleGrades_BestPractices_ExSum.pdf


7/16

The new Superintendent, Dr. Jeffrey Young, led the problem-solving on the question of how to reform the middle schoolstructure and then tasked the School Committee with collectingfeedback on four options for new middle grade structures

to take all the input from[meetings, workshops,surveys, et al.], along withthe reports issued in thepast, and use thisinformation to more sharply

define the problems weneed to address, to identifyexisting assets within theschools that we want tobuild upon, and to catalyzefurther communitydiscussion about the urgentneed to improve our schoolsfor all students .1

Held two meetings with the Superintendentand the Executive Board of the CambridgeTeachers Association (CTA)

Conducted meetings/workshops with theSuperintendent and all CPS principals

Hosted two forums for the Superintendent,CTA leadership, and pre-K-12 teachers toreview and assess implementation of the

Guiding Principles for Middle GradesEducation as articulated by the Blue RibbonCommission

Held a meeting for teachers at the 9thGrade Campus to tell the Superintendentabout their areas of concern regardingstudents transition to high school

Conducted an electronic survey completedby over 1,000 respondents from the staffand family community, including over 400narrative comments about middle gradeseducation Cambridge

Hosted a public forum at the January 19,2010 School Committee meeting whereover fifty citizens spoke about theirexperiences in and hopes for education inCPS

Gathered feedback through countless e-mails, letters and phone calls on the subjectof middle grades education in Cambridge.

Highlighted the disparity between the middle gradesacross the district

Demographics are uneven across all middle gradeschools e.g., low income students range from27% in one school to 78% in another

Achievement also varies widely across schools

with % of MCAS proficiency ranging from 24% to95%

Only 27% of ISP students are low-income,compared with 50% city-wide

Identified the district-wide issue of small cohorts inthe middle grades and the resulting problems

experienced by both students and teachers

In some cases, an over-representation of aspecific gender creates a difficult social dynamic

for students

In another case, the small cohort is perpetuatinga negative school culture and climate

Some students find it difficult to engage withother like-minded peers, e.g., musically inclinedstudents dont have enough similar students

Teachers in small cohorts lack the frequentsupport and connection with other similarteachers

Who was involved

Stated purpose


Superintendent JeffreyYoung

1 Middle Grades Recommendation, p.1 http://www.cpsd.us/CPS_content/documents/Middle_Grades_Program_Feb2010.pdf

DRAFT
http://www.cpsd.us/web/COO/MiddleGrades_BestPractices_ExSum.pdfhttp://www.cpsd.us/web/COO/MiddleGrades_BestPractices_ExSum.pdfhttp://www.cpsd.us/web/COO/MiddleGrades_BestPractices_ExSum.pdfhttp://www.cpsd.us/web/COO/MiddleGrades_BestPractices_ExSum.pdf


8/16

For the past four years, the Cambridge Public School District (CPSD) has tried to identify the

significant problems with middle grade education that prevent the district from achieving itsgoals of delivering the highest quality education to all students

However, the multiple initiatives formed to understand these issues have fallen short ofproviding a clear view of the underlying problems and have not delivered a set of well-researched solutions which the broader community would support

The Middle Grade Task Force did not include leading research that was critical of the development of middleschools

The Blue Ribbon Committee created a framework for evaluating middle grade education and conducted its ownprimary research into other models; but it failed to tie that research back to a data-driven assessment of thespecific problems with middle grade education

The work done by the Superintendent did lay out a clear set of problems; however it was not tied back to astructured data analysis and consequently the scope and severity of the problem could not be easily assessed


DRAFT


9/16

The Middle Grade Task Force did not include leading research thatwas critical of the 6-8 middle school structure or focus their bestpractice literature review on the specific challenges facing CPSD

Reviewed policy briefsand academic researchon best practices indelivering quality middleschool education

Highlighted findings from

three main sources This We Believe: Keys to Educating

Young Adolescents - - fromNational Middle SchoolAssociation

What makes middle schools works-- from University at Albany

The Building Blocks of Success forAmericas Middle and High SchoolStudents -- from Alliance for

Excellent Education

Work completed Problems with the work completed

12 of the 16 research briefs cited came fromorganizations which have an interest in thedevelopment of middle schools e.g., NationalMiddle School Association, NationalAssociation of Secondary School Principals

Leading research which questioned the valueof a middle school structure was excludedfrom the best practices research

VaughanByrnes and AllenRuby. (2007) ComparingAchievement between K8 and Middle Schools: A LargeScale

Empirical Study. American Journal of Education 114:1, 101-135

Philip J. Cook, Robert MacCoun, Clara Muschkin, Jacob Vigdor.

(2009) The negative impacts of starting middle school in sixth

grade. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 27:1, 104-121

Lockwood, Benjamin, and Jonah Rockoff. "Stuck in the Middle:Impacts of Grade Configuration in Public Schools." Journal ofPublic Economics (also found at http ://educationnext.org/stuck-

in-the-middle/ and http://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/jrockoff/papers/Rockoff%20Lockwood%20JPubE%202nd%20Revision%20June%202010.pdf)

Juvonen, Jaana, Vi-Nhuan Le , Tessa Kaganof f, Catherine H.Augustine, Louay Constant Focus on the Wonder Years

Challenges Facing the American Middle School (2004)

Best practice research did not target specificproblems facing CPSD e.g., best practices inclosing the achievement gap

Questions which still remain

Criticism of Middle School Structure

What is the research against forming middleschools?

Which subgroups could be most adverselyaffected by the middle school structure?

Specific best practices What does the leading research say about

the best practices around the size ofcohorts?

What are the best practices in middle gradeeducation within a K-8 structure?

What are the best practices for closing the

achievement gap in middle grade education?

DRAFT
http://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/jrockoff/papers/Rockoff%20Lockwood%20JPubE%202nd%20Revision%20June%202010.pdfhttp://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/jrockoff/papers/Rockoff%20Lockwood%20JPubE%202nd%20Revision%20June%202010.pdfhttp://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/jrockoff/papers/Rockoff%20Lockwood%20JPubE%202nd%20Revision%20June%202010.pdfhttp://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/jrockoff/papers/Rockoff%20Lockwood%20JPubE%202nd%20Revision%20June%202010.pdfhttp://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/jrockoff/papers/Rockoff%20Lockwood%20JPubE%202nd%20Revision%20June%202010.pdfhttp://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/jrockoff/papers/Rockoff%20Lockwood%20JPubE%202nd%20Revision%20June%202010.pdfhttp://educationnext.org/stuck-in-the-middle/http://educationnext.org/stuck-in-the-middle/http://educationnext.org/stuck-in-the-middle/http://educationnext.org/stuck-in-the-middle/


10/16

Evaluated the strengths andweaknesses of the middlegrades based on the MiddleSchool Task Forces 5 guidingprinciples using schools self-assessments

Visited nine schools andcompared their performance toCPS using the MSTFs 5 guidingprinciples

Aggregated feedback from BRC-led public forums

Identified 12 challengespresented by the current schoolstructure

Work completed Problems with work completed

The Blue Ribbon Commission failed to develop adata-driven assessment of the specific problems withmiddle grade education

Evaluations were based on self-assessments

Data gathering appeared to be ad hocand unstructured

The scope of the issues was notevident from the analysis e.g., howmany teachers were concerned aboutnot having peers to bounce ideas offof

The severity of some of the issuesraised was not evident because it wasnot tied to an impact on student orteacher performance e.g., what is theestimated effect of small cohorts onteacher performance

Unclear how the comparable schoolanalysis was used to advance the problem-solving

Unclear which schools were mostsimilar to CPS e.g., which schoolshave similar socio-economic profiles

Unclear how the problems faced byCPS were addressed by the otherschools

Questions which remain

Analysis of current problems

What is the scope of each of the 12 challengesraised e.g., how many students or teachers facedthe challenges outlined?

What is the impact of each of those 12 challenges,as potentially measured by student or teacher

performance?Comparative school analysis

Which of the schools faced the most similar set ofchallenges to CPS?

Which of the schools visited were best suited tomeet the challenges articulated though the self-assessments and why?

DRAFT


11/16

Highlighted the disparity between themiddle grades across the district

Demographics are uneven acrossall middle grade schools e.g., lowincome students range from 27%in one school to 78% in another

Achievement also varies widelyacross schools with % of MCASproficiency ranging from 24% to

95% Only 27% of ISP students are low-

income, compared with 50% city-wide

Identified the district-wide issue ofsmall cohorts in the middle gradesand the resulting problemsexperienced by both students andteachers

In some cases, an over-representation of a specific gendercreates a difficult social dynamic

for students In another case, the small cohort is

perpetuating a negative schoolculture and climate

Some students find it difficult toengage with other like-mindedpeers, e.g., musically inclinedstudents dont have enough similarstudents

Teachers in small cohorts lack thefrequent support and connectionwith other similar teachers

Work completed Problems with work completed

Similarly, the Superintendents findings were not tied backto a structured data analysis and consequently the scopeand severity of the problem could not be easily assessed

The data on which the findings were based doesnot appear to have been gathered in a structuredway

The scope of the issues was not evidentfrom the analysis e.g., how many cohortshave the imbalances described

The severity of some of the issues raisedwas not evident because it was not tied to

an impact on student or teacherperformance e.g., what is the estimatedeffect of small cohorts on teacherperformance

There was no discussion of how this analysis isrelated to the focused special programs e.g.,Amigos, Ola, which are small by design

Analysis of demographic disparities is not directlytied to performance disparities

Comparison should be made betweenperformance of low SES students in high

SES-concentrated schools and performanceof low SES students in low SES-concentrated schools

Questions which remain

Effects of disparities

Does a high concentration of SES students in a schoolresult in lower average performance for those SESstudents compared with SES performance in low SESconcentrated schools?

Problems with cohort size

What is the leading research on the right cohort size?

How can cohort size help or hurt under-servedsubgroups?

What are the cohort sizes of schools which aresuccessfully closing the achievement gap?

Are there examples of small cohort schools successfullydealing with the issues raised by teachers?

What should be the target cohort size for CPS?

What effect does the ISP have on the imbalance ofcohort sizes?

Perception of poor quality in middle grades

What are the reasons that parents remove their kids

from CPSD before or during the middle grade years? What percentage of parents pull their kids from CPSD

but remain in Cambridge?

For the parents who chose to exit the district butremain in Cambridge, what do they find is missing fromthe middle grades?

How does the CPSD extra-curricular and OST offeringscompare to other similar schools?

How does the CPSD extra-curricular and OST offeringscompare to the schools chosen by parents who leavethe district but remain in Cambridge?

DRAFT


12/16

For the past four years, the Cambridge Public School District (CPSD) has tried to identify thesignificant problems with middle grade education that prevent the district from achieving itsgoals of delivering the highest quality education to all students

However, the multiple initiatives formed to understand these issues have fallen short ofproviding a clear view of the underlying problems and have not delivered clear, well-researchedsolutions which the broader community would support


A shared vision of middle grade education should go beyond abstract principles and include clear, measurableperformance goals and well-defined programs

A focused, hypothesis-driven problem solving effort can test for why we have not achieved that sharedvision and thoroughly research how we may reach that ideal

DRAFT


13/16

How will we know we achieved it

6th-8th grade students reach MCAS CPI targets set forth in CPS Goals 2010-2012, whichincludes significant narrowing of the achievement gap1

Narrowing of gaps between lowest performing schools and highest performing schools

Improved 6th-8th grade MCAS proficiency

By 2012, CPSD offers a combination of in-classroom and outside of classroom programs for studentsto advance at their own pace in key academic disciplines (math, ELA, science, foreign languages, etc.)

By 2012, a suite of OST offerings to meet and in many cases exceed offerings of local private schoolse.g., chess clubs, robotics FIRST teams, African drumming groups, jazz combos, Irish step danceclasses, modern dance groups, football teams, lacrosse teams, boxing clubs, etc.

Positive feedback from teachers on effectiveness of administration in annual 360 degreereviews of administration

Building on the previous planning work by the Superintendent, we canblueprint a compelling shared vision of excellent middle gradeeducation for students, teachers and administrators

ForStudents

What does success look like

ForTeachers

ForAdministrators

Rigorous academic curriculum in the middle gradeswhich sets the highest standards for all students

Frequent collaboration with fellow teachers inProfessional Learning Communities

Development of a supportive coaching culturewithin each school where the administration canboth provide and receive feedback from teacherson how best to serve students

Unparalleled academic enrichment opportunities

A full range of extracurricular activities thatengage and inspire students

CPSD Middle Grade Mission:To become the Commonwealths pre-eminent public school system that provides the highest quality middle grade education for all of its

students

Establishment of CPS-specific performance metrics andgoals which are consistently applied across the district

Integration of Student Growth Percentile data into a performance management systemfor evaluating teacher performance

1http://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfm

DRAFT

ForParents

Language immersion programs (e.g., Ola, Amigos, Ni Hao) consistently recognized as some of thehighest achieving programs of their kind in the country

Diverse range of innovative educationalapproaches available across the district

Montessori program meets and exceeds the standards set by private Montessori schools

By 2012, special education students achieve aggressive CPI targets1

Best-in-class services provided to special needsstudents
http://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfmhttp://www.cpsd.us/schcomm/goals.cfm


14/16

A focused, hypothesis-driven problem solving effort candetermine why we have not achieved that shared vision sofar and thoroughly research how we may reach that ideal

What must CPSDdo to fulfill itsmission of becomingthe states mostsuccessful publicschool system thatprovides the highestquality middle gradeeducation for all its

students?

Develop a fair, transparentperformance managementsystem for students,teachers, administrators andschool committee members

which holds eachaccountable for reaching her/his goals

Change the structure of theschools so that students andteachers can thrive in aright-sized cohort

Provide teachers with thetools and training to face allchallenges posed by adiverse middle gradepopulation

Provide administrators withthe necessary support toanalyze the performance oftheir teams, share findingsand make improvements

Small cohorts are one of themain reasons that teacherscannot teach effectively

Too many students suffer social

problems that compromise theirability to learn, which can onlybe remedied through largercohorts

Schools with under-sizedcohorts cannot provide all ofthe resources required for anexcellent education

Hypotheses to be tested

Conduct a literature review on the effect of cohort size on teaching Survey teachers (or use existing survey data) to determine how many

teachers are harmed by the isolation effect and how severely it affectstheir performance

Conduct an analysis of schools who have closed the achievement gap tosee what their cohort sizes are, determine if they have had problemswith teacher isolation and learn how they have dealt with it

Conduct a literature review on the effect of student achievement and

cohort size especially with regard to the performance of students in at-risk subgroups Quantify how many students are at risk because of small cohorts Compare performance of students with similar demographics in schools

of various cohort sizes to see if there is a relationship between cohortsize and performance

Conduct a survey of all parents who have left the school district in thelast three years prior to the middle grades but who still live inCambridge and determine what they believed was missing from themiddle grade education

Identify the top five competitive schools public and private to CPSDand compile a list of the activities and programs offered to their middlegrade students

Analyses to be conducted

Middle grade structure issues

DRAFT

Only through re-structuring canschools reach adequate cohort

sizes

Use parent survey data to determine what percentage of students thatcould be retained each year if changes were made

A change in structure will notcompromise the effectiveness orattractiveness of alternativeprograms (e.g., languageimmersion, Montessori)

Conduct focus groups with teachers, administrators and parents fromspecialty programs to identify any key areas of concern associated with are-structuring of the schools

Conduct a survey (or use existing survey data) to profile the reasonsthat parents pick CPSD specialty programs to establish a baseline ofwhat parents currently value most about their program

Gather feedback from survey and evaluate how the specialty programscould be affected under the possible new structures


15/16

Adding an additional four months to the current work planwould provide enough time to adequately complete theadditional problem-solving efforts and refine their results

DRAFT

Next Steps

1. Extend the School Committee deadline by four months

2. Assign a team to lead the additional problem solving effort

3. Develop a work plan which is comprised of four separate work streams:

Literature review

Investigate the effects of cohort size on teacher performance and student performance, esp. with regards to closing theachievement gap

Discover overall best practices in closing the achievement gap in the middle grades

Structured surveys and focus groups

Survey parents who have left the district to understand why they chose to leave

Survey middle grade teachers on how cohort size affects their performance

Survey parents who are currently in the district to understand what they value most about their program/school

Conduct focus groups with parents, teachers and administrators from specialty/alternative programs to understandhow a re-structuring could affect their program

Performance analysis

Analyze how cohort size has affected student performance

Determine if SES effect on performance is dampened by larger cohorts

Competitive analysis

Create a list of competitive public and private schools

Compare CPSD middle grade activities and academic enrichment programs with competition


16/16

Feedback on this documentDRAFT

This document was prepared by John Capello, a Cambridgeport parent, in an effort toorganize the work on middle grade education that has been completed to date and tocapture some of the frustration that some parents have expressed with the process

Please provide any and all feedback, positive or negative, to johncapello at gmail.com

middle school debate overview v.4

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