State finds dozens of schools in Central Mass. need ‘assistance or intervention’
By
Scott O’Connell
Telegram & Gazette Staff
Posted Sep 27, 2018 at 7:46 PM
Updated Sep 28, 2018 at 1:10 PM
Across the region are 36 schools the state has
deemed to be in need of “assistance or intervention,” under new
accountability standards unveiled Thursday, most of them in five school
districts.
That designation still carries
some uncertainty, according to some school officials, however, as the
state pauses its usual practice of distinguishing the worst performing
schools and districts within that group.
The
new accountability system, which does away with the 1-through-5 school
and district rating scale, drew criticism from teachers unions, who see
the same problems with the new system as they did with the old.
In
Central Massachusetts, most of the schools identified by the state for
further assistance or intervention are in urban and rural districts.
Worcester, the region’s largest system, has the most, with 11: Burncoat
Middle School, Burncoat High School, Canterbury Street Magnet
Computer-Based School, Clark Street School, Columbus Park Preparatory
Academy, Grafton Street School, North High School, South High Community
School, Sullivan Middle School, Vernon Hill School, and Worcester East
Middle School.
Fitchburg has six, namely
Longsjo Middle School, Fitchburg High School, Goodrich Academy, McKay
Arts Academy, Memorial Middle School, and Reingold Elementary School.
Southbridge has four: Charlton Street School, Southbridge High School,
Southbridge Middle School, and West Street School. Webster – Bartlett
High School, Park Avenue Elementary and Webster Middle School – and
Winchendon – Murdock High School, Murdock Middle School and Toy Town
Elementary – have three apiece.
The other schools requiring assistance or
intervention are Athol Community Elementary School and Athol High School
in the Athol-Royalston district; Gardner Academy for Learning and
Technology in Gardner; Leicester Middle School; Nashoba Regional High
School; North Brookfield High School; Quabbin Regional High School; and
David Prouty High School and Knox Trail Middle School in the
Spencer-East Brookfield district.
Every one
of those schools except Athol Community Elementary School received the
designation because the state determined they were “in need of
focused/targeted support” to address specific issues. The Athol school
was found to be in need of broad, comprehensive support, according to
the state.
Unlike in the past, the ratings
were based on more than just students’ scores on the MCAS, the latest of
which were also released Thursday. Other factors, including absenteeism
rates, English proficiency among English language learners, and the
amount of advanced coursework in Grades 11 and 12, were also considered.
While
some school officials, including Worcester Superintendent Maureen
Binienda, on Wednesday voiced their appreciation for some aspects of the
state’s latest approach to measuring accountability, the new system did
not go over well with teachers unions.
“The
state’s new MCAS-based accountability system is as predictable and
destructive as the old system,” Massachusetts Teachers Association
President Merrie Najimy said in a statement Thursday.
“The results show
that schools serving a high percentage of low-income students, English
learners and students of color do not perform as well as those that
serve more affluent students.”
Roger Nugent, president of the Educational
Association of Worcester, also criticized the revamped accountability
ratings, saying teachers are “frustrated” to once again be dealing with
another kind of label from the state.
“I
don’t like it. It doesn’t reflect the teaching and learning going on in
these specific buildings,” he said. “I believe each school has its own
personality. You can’t always use the same benchmark for one as you do
for another.”
State officials this week
cautioned against making direct comparisons between the new
accountability measures and the old ones, which assigned number ratings
to schools, the lowest of which triggered a state takeover. Robert
Curtin, the state education department’s associate commissioner for data
and accountability, characterized the new system as more of a helpful
than punitive too. “Primarily, we’re looking at, are schools moving in
the right direction?” he said.
“This
assessment system allows us to slice the data in a different way,” said
Ruthann Goguen, Webster’s superintendent. “You can really see which
(student) groups are not getting what they need.”
Robert
Jokela, the interim superintendent of Fitchburg, said, “It’s really a
learning experience we’re going through,” trying to understand the new
system. There’s been no indication from the state whether any schools
are in imminent jeopardy of being downgraded to underperforming status
after this year, he said.
“I don’t know what the state’s plans are,” he
said. “But here there is a sense of urgency to support teaching and
learning for all of our students.”
Teachers
unions argued there won’t be much to show for the state’s new
accountability standards if districts don’t also get the funding they
need to improve their schools. This summer, the Legislature failed to
agree on a bill that would have reformed the state’s school funding
formula and provided more money to the neediest districts.
“Educators
are frustrated – more and more always seems to be put on their plate to
push schools forward,” Mr. Nugent said. “The elephant in the room is
(the state) needs to adequately fund education.”
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