Superintendent's High School Intervention Plan

In June 2003, just three and a half years from now, students who do not pass the MCAS in reading and math will not get a high school diploma. This decision of the State Board of Education, which imposes a high stakes test so soon after state curriculum frameworks were finalized (frameworks in mathematics, science and technology, and history/social science are still not finalized), is controversial. The accountability falls mainly on students, many of whom have fallen behind and must accelerate their achievement to pass the MCAS.

Despite the controversy around high stakes tests, there is consensus that students will not have access to continuing education and good jobs when they leave high school unless they can demonstrate that they can read, comprehend, think, write and solve problems at a higher standard than required of any previous generation of high school students. Unlike the past, few safety nets exist for those who do not meet the standards.

Lowering expectations for some students, accepting a double standard for high school graduation requirements, ignoring the realities of workplace requirements for 21st century jobs are not acceptable options. Therefore, we must do everything in our power to support all Boston Public School students and help them prepare for and pass this difficult test.

Already we have taken a number of steps in Boston Public Schools to accelerate school improvement and student achievement. They include the following:

• Six pilot high schools
• Summer and academic year transition programs - grades 3, 6 and 9
• Expansion of school-to-career programs that boost student motivation and achievement
• New and expanded alternative school programs for disruptive students
• Changes in policies on voluntary and disciplinary student transfers
• Secondary literacy across the curriculum programs
• High school restructuring
• Targeted professional development for teachers through the Annenberg Challenge
• After-school programs

Nonetheless, this has not been enough and the crisis for our high school students is of such proportions that we must consider more radical interventions. In doing so, and initially targeting several district high schools, I want to stress that my sense of urgency does not rest alone with the high schools I am selecting for intervention. The problem is a system problem in most district high schools, and together with the Boston Teachers Union, and others who are committed to school improvement and acceleration of student achievement, we must solve it.

Through expedited intervention in one to three schools this February and March, I intend to proceed strategically, so that we accomplish several things at once and learn about helping other district high schools as well as those where targeted intervention occurs first.

There are three goals for the expedited interventions:

1. To determine why school improvement and the acceleration of student achievement are not occurring and to identify specific remedies;
2. To send a clear message to administrators, teachers, other staff, students and parents that we are a performance-based system, and student learning for which we all are accountable is at the heart of our work. No educator or staff member can choose not to participate in learning themselves how to reach more students and help them accelerate their achievement.
3. To determine how to organize the high schools and create the infrastructure to support the accelerated improvement of teaching and learning for all students in the school.

The following will be areas of focus:

• Leadership
• Alignment and effectiveness of standards, expectations, curriculum, instruction, professional development, and assessment
• Alignment of current resources, e.g., time, staff, money with teaching and learning priorities
• Partnerships, e.g., business, community-based, families
• Student Support Services, e.g., guidance, counseling, academic support services

The Intervention Team could recommend the appropriate budget neutral improvement measures including but not limited to:

• Reallocation of current resources
• Reallocation of staff duties
• Replacement of some or all of the Leadership Team
• Reassignment of some or all BTU member staff
• Assignment of part-time or full-time in-school specialists or consultants
• Specialized staff development
• On-going monitoring and support

Finally, these expedited interventions are not simply catalysts for moving a few people around, calling on an inspired leader or two to "Go fix the school," or to blame out-of-school forces for the slow pace of change and improvement. This is begun with the expectation that all who have a stake in improving all of our high schools will work together to solve each of the issues addressed above in such a way that not just the first high schools identified for expedited intervention, but all of the high schools and the students served by them will accelerate their improvement beginning now.