Creating Sustainable Reform (continued)

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

Educators in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., Schools realize that for a school change model to succeed, a solid infrastructure must be in place first. In 1996, the district launched a specific effort to shift district funds from higher-performing to lower-performing schools. The district also reduced class sizes in the lower-performing schools and offered to pay graduate-school tuition for teachers who agreed to teach in those schools for at least two years.

In addition, the district adopted a phonics-based reading program for all of its elementary schools and a math program that blends conceptualization, basic skills and universal access. For the past eight years, students at each grade level have been tested in math and reading.

Under Superintendent Frances Haithcock, Charlotte-Mecklenburg has employed a model to carry out its broad reform goals that is based on four simple components: Plan, Do, Check and Act. Every school has a school improvement plan tied to the district plan. These plans are built around areas such as academics, technology, nutrition, business and community engagement, and include specific analyses of what the schools need to do to move forward.

In the Do phase, schools carry out the processes detailed in those plans. The Check phase provides accountability while the Act phase affords an opportunity to make adjustments, including curriculum revisions, goals realignment and a re-focus of professional development.

To help articulate and achieve its specific goals, the district uses the Balanced Scorecard model, which translates the district’s vision into everyday action. It also helps funnel resources to where they are needed most, in the classroom. Thus the scorecard, replete with specific indicators that include baseline data and 5-year benchmarks for each goal, provides information that helps the district make important decisions and respond to needs that affect all students and employees. Rapid support teams and resources are available for underperforming schools.

To ensure that the district is attaining its benchmarks for classroom improvement, the district developed a process called The Drill-Down. At the end of each quarter, teachers give students a district-developed 30-question benchmark test. Within a week, teachers receive a computer-generated report of how well their students performed on key concepts and how much they have improved. As part of a pilot program called Pay for Performance, CMS provides monetary rewards to teachers whose students meet their benchmarks for classroom improvement.

Professional development is mandatory for administrators and teachers at all schools. Principals receive a full day of professional development each month, including training in specific content areas. A primary goal of principal training is to build the capacity of school leaders to identify quality instruction aligned with standards. To make professional development more relevant and valuable for teachers, it is embedded in the work of school-based teams. The district uses the lesson study approach, embracing the idea that teachers learn by working together to plan, implement, observe and analyze classroom lessons.

Evidence of improvement includes these signs: The percentage of students in grades 3-8 who are proficient in reading, as measured by the end-of-grade tests, increased from slightly more than 70 percent in 1999 to about 85 percent in 2005. For math, the percent proficient increased from just under 75 percent in 1999 to more than 85 percent in 2005.

Among the 11 big-city districts that participated in the National Assessment of Education Progress’ 2005 Trial Urban District Assessment, Charlotte-Mecklenburg had a higher average scale score than the other urban districts in reading (grades 4 and 8) and in math (grade 4). On NAEP, black students in the district outperformed black students in the nation and all other urban districts in grades 4 and 8 math.

Lawrence Public Schools

The Lawrence, Mass., Public Schools, under Superintendent Wilfredo T. Laboy, is now in its fifth year of systemic reform efforts. When Laboy arrived in Lawrence in July 2000, each school was in the process of researching and selecting one of the Comprehensive School Reform models approved by the Department of Education. He decided to focus his leadership on bringing the K-8 schools together around one program, Success for All, with which they could align all of their resources, both financial and human.

The adoption of Success for All is only one piece of the district change model. All work is anchored in district goals that are set and shared among the entire school community. These goals follow the district’s Essential Elements of School Reform and drive the development of the district’s Comprehensive Educational Plan and its measurable outcomes. Educators use data to assess whether the measurable outcomes have been met and to further refine the plan. Each school develops its own School Comprehensive Educational Plan, which aligns with the district plan.

The district has developed a culture in which data-based decision making is the norm and the expectation. Much of the district’s professional development is devoted to teaching everyone how to access, analyze and use data to set improvement targets and develop strategies to meet them. At the forefront is the district’s use of formative assessment that provides teachers with critical achievement information about each student three times during the school year. Teachers use this information to guide their differentiation of instruction to specific student growth targets.

Twice each year, Laboy conducts the Principal Performance Peer Review, an evaluative instrument for principals that is designed to guide an evaluative discussion of accountability among the superintendent, the district’s leadership team and the principal. The tool uses the district’s multiple sources of data for each individual school to assess student achievement and climate indicators in each school.

For the past five years, the district also has worked to create a culture in which collaborative planning is essential. Professional development is anchored in the principles of adult learning, where staff members come together as colleagues to examine and construct new knowledge. Laboy views professional development as “the engine that drives the school improvement train and transforms school culture.”

The Lawrence schools are experiencing some improvements in academic outcomes. The percent of students entering 1st-grade reading at or above grade level, as determined by the Success for All Roots assessment, tripled to 71 percent of students in 2004 over 2002. In addition, 87 percent of students in the Class of 2005 passed the 10th-grade high-stakes Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, earning High School Competency Determination by passing both the English Language Arts and Mathematics tests, compared to 71 percent of students in the Class of 2003.

In 2004, the percent of students with limited English proficiency earning passing scores on state tests increased by an average of 18 percent at every grade level in both reading and math. The most significant gains occurred among students in grades 7 and 8, where the percent passing increased from 13 percent in 2000 to 40 percent in 2004. On the grade 8 math test, the percent of LEP students earning passing scores increased from 2 percent in 2000 to 12 percent in 2004.

Christopher Brown is senior vice president with Pearson Education, 1 Lake St., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458. E-mail: Christopher.Brown@phschool.com. David Spangler is a former research analyst at Pearson Education.