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Boston’s Context

Alliance for Excellent Education American High School Policy Conference Adolescent Literacy: On the Ground Ellen Guiney, Boston Plan for Excellence Thomas Payzant, Boston Public Schools. Boston’s Context. High-stakes, challenging state exam: MCAS

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Boston’s Context

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  1. Alliance for Excellent Education American High School Policy ConferenceAdolescent Literacy: On the GroundEllen Guiney, Boston Plan for ExcellenceThomas Payzant, Boston Public Schools

  2. Boston’s Context • High-stakes, challenging state exam: MCAS “Two states, New York and Massachusetts, seem to have adopted assessments that measure the reading and writing skills that colleges say they need, and come close to closing the mathematics gap as well.” – Education Trust review of eight high school exams • High school students have at least five opportunities to take and pass ELA and Math MCAS

  3. Percentage of Boston’s High School Students Passing the MCAS1999 to 2003

  4. Boston Public SchoolsSophomores Passing MCAS on First Try Sophomore 1999 Sophomore 2001 Sophomore 2003 Passing MCAS in ELA and Math became a state graduation requirement in June 2003, and by then 82% of Boston’s seniors had passed.

  5. Percentage of Students Proficient and AdvancedGrade 10 36% 34% 31% 22% 37% 19% 18% 28% 24% 22% 13% 15%

  6. Theory of Action “If the interwoven problems of alienation and poor literacy skills are addressed intensively, growth in student learning will accelerate and there will be fundamentally changed relationships among students, teachers, and the world beyond school.” Actions:  Personalized classrooms and schools through SLCs and small high schools  Workshop approach to instruction

  7. Literacy Approach: Workshop • Embedded in a whole-school improvement framework with six “essential” activities • Full-time, on-site coach in every school • PD model that supports teachers as they analyze practice together: Collaborative Coaching & Learning (CCL) • PD for headmasters so they understand and can lead the instructional approach: learning walks • Clear written expectations and tools for teachers and school leaders • Clear written expectations for central office support for schools

  8. Workshop Approach • Time • Ownership • Response • Community

  9. How Do We Know It Is Working? • Rising test scores • Outside evaluator reports • Teacher testimony • Student interviews • On-site observations

  10. On Workshop “We have indicators of changes in students that suggest an early impact of the workshop instruction strategies.” Education Matters, Inc., 2003

  11. On CCL “Teachers witness firsthand that CCL really does produce better learning. I think that’s the strongest intrinsic motivator a teacher can have.” BPS Principal Education Matters, Inc., 2003

  12. What are the Lessons Learned to Date?What is Needed? • Integration of workshop and curricula • More work on understanding the principles underlying workshop • Emphasis on workshop as a different approach to teaching, not as a set of different activities • Breaking down of norms of isolation among teachers • A focus on student learning results tied to workshop and CCL

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