Earlier this
month, the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released
a “District Review Report” for Amesbury Public Schools. You can view the report
HERE. District Reviews are standard procedure for
the DESE, in their role of supporting local school districts (that is, it was
not precipitated by any particular problem or need). According to the report,
“[D]istrict reviews support local school districts in
establishing or strengthening a cycle of continuous improvement. Reviews
consider carefully the effectiveness of systemwide functions, with reference to
the six district standards used by the Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education (ESE): leadership and governance, curriculum and instruction,
assessment, human resources and professional development, student support, and
financial and asset management. Reviews identify systems and practices that may
be impeding improvement as well as those most likely to be contributing to
positive results.”
The report
first lays out findings in the six areas mentioned above, then provides
recommendations and proposes action steps in response to the findings. A broad
variety of stakeholders were consulted for this report via interviews and focus
groups, including City Councilors (Council President Joe McMilleon and me were
together at one focus group session) and classroom observations were made.
I’ll say
more about this below, but a report like this is an invaluable management
resource and really provides the City with some clear guidance on what are its
strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. Like any good performance
review (just had my annual review at work last week), it combines fair criticism
with an acknowledgement of strengths and pushes towards goals that stretch and
challenge. A report like this presents us with the opportunity to improve
our schools by aligning our efforts – as leaders, administrators, and citizens
– towards clear goals.
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| From the March 2015 School Committee Forum |
Key Review Findings
The report covered a good bit of ground, but it is quite
readable, even for those not involved in primary and secondary education. I will highlight a
number of what I see as the most important findings and recommendations for
Amesbury Public Schools.
I was pleased to see this as the first finding in the report: “The superintendent and school
committee have created a culture of collaboration that encourages stakeholders
to work together to support higher levels of student achievement…Creating a
culture of collaboration paves the way for stakeholders to work together to
address difficult issues, to develop strategies to support higher levels of
student achievement, and to implement important initiatives in a timely way.”
(6) A culture of collaboration is the
key to success in any organization and will certainly be a critical factor in
how well we do in responding to these findings.
· Leadership & Governance
o
Finding: “The superintendent and the administrative staff
have not recommended to the school committee budgets that refer to improvement
planning and the analysis of student achievement data.” (12) Recommendation:
“The superintendent and the administrative staff should recommend a budget that
refers to the district’s improvement planning and includes an analysis of
student achievement data.”
o
Finding: “The
district does not have a current actionable, multi-year strategic plan or a
District Achievement (Improvement) Plan with essential components to guide
efforts to attain strategic goals.” (13) “School Achievement Plans (SAPs) for
each of the four Amesbury schools are not informed by a district strategic plan
or a District Achievement (Improvement) Plan.” (14) Recommendation:
“The superintendent, with input from stakeholders, should lead a focused
improvement planning process to guide continuous improvement of achievement for
all Amesbury students.”
· Curriculum & Instruction
o
Finding: “The
district curriculum is inconsistently documented and Amesbury has limited
personnel with defined responsibility and limited time for curriculum
development and renewal.” (15) Recommendation: “The district should give high
priority to curriculum development and renewal by restoring infrastructure and
providing more time for curriculum work.”
· Human Resources & Professional
Development
o
Finding: “While the
district is implementing its new educator evaluation system, the district’s
principals are struggling to find the time necessary to conduct the required
observations and to complete evaluations.” (22) Recommendation: “To improve the implementation of the new
educator evaluation system and enhance its overall effectiveness, the district
should review its current staffing levels and allocation of responsibilities
and prioritize the development or acquisition of software with the capacity to
properly support the new evaluation system.”
· Financial & Asset Management
o
Finding: “The
approved fiscal year 2015 operating budget does not address student achievement
priorities with budget impacts, as identified in School Achievement Plans.”
(25) “The fiscal year 2015 Operating Budget is long, incomplete, and unclear.
It does not include comprehensive staffing data or special revenue and
revolving account revenue and expenses.” (27) Recommendation:
“The district should create budget documents for public presentation that
contain comprehensive and historical data and that are written more clearly and
concisely to better communicate the district’s academic, programmatic, and
financial needs and plans.”
o
Finding: “The
district is not using accounting technology to effectively track, manage, and
forecast funds or to provide useful reports to district leaders and the school
committee.” (28) Recommendation: “The training of central office staff in the
use of accounting technology, and the immediate creation of staff-related
expense information in an electronic format that can be easily modified and
shared, should be a district priority.”
My Top Takeaways
- The report gives Amesbury Public Schools and the citizens of Amesbury the basis for building a forward-looking ‘road map’ to improve our schools. The report identifies some clear areas for improvement for Amesbury Public Schools. Responding to these issues will require leadership and collaboration from especially school administrators (Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent, along with their school principals), the School Committee, and the Mayor (as chair of the School Committee and Amesbury’s Chief Executive). It will also require the support of citizens and the City Council, especially in terms of making the investments that may be required moving forward.
- A big missing element is a District-wide Achievement Plan (DAP). Each school (AES, CES, AMS, AHS) has its own School Achievement Plan (SAP) that identifies student needs, sets objectives and describes strategies, but there is no current overall strategy that binds it all together. A DAP would guide systematic priorities, objectives, and strategies across the system, as well as guide and support the annual budgeting process and final request. The report noted success in developing school-level plans but, as quoted above, noted that they were not “informed by a district strategic plan.” Various plans exist across the district, but they lack overall cohesion.
The report also noted that the FY15 budget presented last year (at least) did not clearly connect with either school-level or district-level achievement plans. From the report: “When asked whether the budget is driving the SAPs instead of the SAPs driving the budget, all principals said, ‘Absolutely.’ (14) When asked whether the fiscal year 2015 budget addressed their School Achievement Plans, the principals said ‘No.’” (26) Fortunately, the budget requests presented this year by principals to the School Committee have been more clearly tied to schools SAPs.
- Some issues have been known and have been previously identified.
o
Superintendent
Robinson’s own ‘Entry Plan’ from 2011 when she started at Amesbury Public
Schools noted a number of the needs in the report, including (as quoted in the
DESE report):
§ “there is no human resource
department and no single position dedicated to HR management”;
§ “there is an increased need for data
collection and analysis and no person responsible”;
§ “technology infrastructure in all
buildings lacks the capability to create critical learning environments for all
students”; and
§ “necessary budget cuts have resulted
in limited specialized programs.”
o
Amesbury
School Coalition leaders pushed the School administration and School Committee last
year for improved budgeting processes, clearer connection of the budget request
to data-driven needs and long-range planning, and stronger budget presentation
documentation.
o
Mayor
Gray had this to say about last year’s budget process, as well: “This year’s
process uncovered numerous problems. One thing we have learned is that we need
better information sooner in the process and we must make better use of the
information we have available to us. As a result of systemic problems
encountered, the school committee and I will be working together starting
immediately, in order to benefit from what we have learned and to improve the
budgetary process in the future.” (6/2/14 School Committee meeting)
- The report identifies several areas that will require either the re-allocation of resources or new investment. The report notes the following staffing and infrastructure deficiencies that inhibit our ability to perform highly:
o
The
district lacks a position dedicated to curriculum development, nor are teacher
schedules adequate to allocate time to curriculum development.
o
The
district lacks a position dedicated to managing human resources. At every level
(administration and principals), the district struggles to allocate sufficient
time for the observation and evaluation of teachers.
o
The
district doesn’t allocate enough time and resources to teachers for
professional development.
o
Central
office must be trained to use accounting technology and software, so that
spending, revenue, and personnel cost data can adequately tracked and reported
out to stakeholders – School Committee, City Hall, Municipal Council, DESE
So, What Should We Do About It All?
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| From the March 2015 School Committee Forum |
This report
gives Amesbury Public Schools a big ‘to-do’ list. Some of the items are
definitely higher priorities than others. In my mind (and from my City Council
perspective), the highest priorities are: 1) Develop a District-Wide
Achievement Plan that guides all school-level plans and drives budget planning
and rationale; 2) Adequately staff core administrative functions crucial to
manage a $30million+ educational institution (HR director, curriculum director);
and 3) Improve core financial management functions (management of accounting
data).
To
accomplish any of the report’s recommendations, we’ll need to first develop a consensus on our priorities.
This falls to the School Administration and the School Committee (led by the
Mayor). Then, the Administration and the School Committee need to align the
school’s strategic planning with their priorities. Finally, working with the public
and the City Council, the administration and the School Committee must align
the annual budget request with these priorities.
Only if we
are all rowing in the same direction, will we get anywhere.
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