Annual
Report on Systemwide Goals
2001/2002
The
Newton Public Schools strives to meet the learning needs of all students by ensuring that the K-12
curriculum offers a coherent course of study yet remains flexible enough to
allow for differentiation according to children’s needs; by recognizing the
diversity that exists within the school population; and by respecting teachers’
judgment in making sound instructional decisions for the students they meet
every day. The school system’s core
value of respect for human differences
should permeate all of our work (see attached mission statement). With the cooperation of all members of the
school community, the system seeks to hold true to its values while it sets out
to accomplish the goals specific to 2001/2002 as outlined below.
1.
To strengthen the quality of K-12 education by continuing
the process of
aligning
Newton’s curriculum with the state frameworks and creating an academically
challenging standards-based learning environment—Curriculum
revision is an ongoing process in our school system, with adjustments and
improvements being implemented in content areas every year. Still, with the advent of the Massachusetts
Curriculum Frameworks, it is important for the system to document its progress
and continued improvement on a coherent, logically sequenced curriculum. The standards-based curriculum we advocate
balances the ideal of individual, professional decision-making by classroom
teachers with agreements among teachers about the sequencing and coherence of
subject matter.
To achieve this goal we will:
Ø Continue the review/revision process in science and fine
arts.
The revision processes in science and
fine arts, K-12, have been completed.
Both K-12 content areas reflect alignment to the Massachusetts
Curriculum Frameworks and, most important, the alignment of curriculum between
our two high schools has been implemented.
In science, new instructional materials have been purchased for grades 9
& 10, while replacement and new materials are slated to be purchased in
FY03 for grades 11 & 12, especially at Newton North to bring equity to
resources in those grades. Textbooks
and materials were purchased for a revised sixth grade curriculum. The fine arts revision, though aligned, will
require additional work to bring equity to the program offerings across the
elementary and middle schools.
Ø Institute a citywide approach to improving student literacy.
The affirmative vote to override
Proposition 2 1/2 ensured our ability to expand our existing literacy
specialist positions so that each elementary school will have a full-time
teacher to address the learning needs of all our K-5 students, especially those
of our most at-risk readers. New
literacy assessments have been adopted and staff training in their use has been
provided for all K and
grade 1 teachers. Teachers in grades 2-5 will be in the second
year of sustained, building/classroom professional development to bring
systemic continuity to literacy instruction and assessment in every school.
Ø Commence planning to integrate health and physical education
curricula.
The coordinators of physical education
and comprehensive health have met regularly in FY02 to review the research and
forge the agenda for integrating these two subjects. For example, this year smoking prevention lessons and activities
were developed and implemented into the elementary physical education
curriculum. Next year, lessons and activities
on additional health topics - e.g. sun safety, nutrition, first aid, injury
prevention - will be developed and piloted in elementary physical education
classes, K-5. The coordinators will
continue to frame the integrated curriculum and will meet with representative
teachers to continue the planning over the summer. We anticipate a specific set of committee recommendations to be
identified and explored throughout FY03.
Ø Review the elementary world language program and prepare
recommendations for the FY03 or FY04 budget.
The FY03 budget process eliminated the
elementary world language program due to issues of fiscal sustainability of the
program. We will continue to seek
alternative strategies for returning elementary world language to the
curriculum. Our part-time world language coordinator will continue to work to
strengthen our middle school program—providing supervision and staff
development—while leading our efforts to restore the elementary program. The world language program will begin the
formal curriculum revision cycle in FY03.
Ø Collect broad-based teacher input on grade level/content
area expectations.
We continue to review and refine our
aligned curriculum with deliberate evaluations and feedback from all classroom
teachers. The evidence of the efficacy
of our curriculum is rooted in our ability to provide a targeted system of
professional development to our teachers in the research-based methods and
strategies to implement the curriculum across the subjects and grades. Teachers reviewed the K-5 Benchmarks
throughout FY01 and FY02. We will bring
consistency to our instruction through the process of curriculum mapping (aligning what teachers actually teach—the
practiced curriculum—with the written
curriculum—Grade-level Benchmark
documents)—in the summer with math and social studies curriculum.
Ø Produce clearly written materials for parents regarding
grade level/content area expectations in the middle schools.
Parent documents were developed and
distributed at the middle schools in the fall of FY02. Grade level Benchmark documents were distributed to middle school teachers
as well.
Ø Review/revise elementary school student progress reports.
A committee of staff members initiated
this projected three-year process. We
defined goals, read research reports, and recently published books that
outlined best progress report practices needed for a system committed to
rigorous standards-based outcomes for all students. We plan to expand the committee to include more teachers and
parent representatives, as well as program leaders, to enable more broad-based
feedback from the entire Newton schools’ and parent communities to continue
this work throughout FY03.
Ø Provide professional development related to standards-based
instruction.
Our system of professional development
is differentiated for the instructional needs and goals for each level of
instruction across the system. We have
provided focused workshops for large and small groups of teachers assisted by
local university and national consultants, through our collaborative
affiliations, and led by an emerging group
of identified teacher leaders. Most
notable among these efforts has been our K-12 focus on improving literacy
instruction. Efforts to support
effective implementation of curriculum through professional development are
ongoing in other subject areas.
Ø Communicate MCAS results and use the data to inform
curriculum revision and instructional
practice.
Coordinators and building principals use MCAS results to analyze
individual student achievement and to inform teaching practice. The data received from the spring 2001 administration
of MCAS was used to identify high school students, in particular, who received
regular education support for MCAS remediation in preparation for the first
administration of the MCAS re-test in December of 2001. This was our initial year of regular
education extended time for students in the class of 2003 and beyond who were
at-risk of failure on the tests in English and mathematics. Our preliminary analysis of the results of
the re-test population suggests that our intervention for these students has
been successfully implemented so that we have lowered the percentage of
students in the class of 2003 at-risk of failure of the high-stakes tests.
Ø Continue technology planning, with an emphasis on
integrating technology as a tool for improved teaching and learning, noting
specifically the implications of the high school renovation project.
The district Technology Plan serves as
a useful tool for administrators and teachers.
We have secured grant funding to scale-up our acquisition of current
hardware and to provide professional development on technology integration for
teachers in the elementary and middle schools.
We have scheduled large-scale training this summer for the staff at
Newton South and we are supporting further training for staff at Newton North
through selected coursework for revised content knowledge and curricular
integration. We have completed the
wiring of North and provided telephones and Internet services to teachers in
their office areas. Newton North staff
will have the opportunity to participate in our on-line teacher training while
they await full renovation of their building.
We will continue to provide phased levels of training for the effective
integration of technology at both high schools as our renovation schedule
permits.
Ø Support the system’s commitment to full inclusion of special
education students through increased training for teachers and support staff.
In FY02, we focused our targeted professional development on
behavior, autism spectrum disorders and strategies for reading and writing
instruction. The behavioral offerings
included Crisis Prevention Intervention training for teachers, aides, and
administrators. In addition, we provided behavioral management and functional
behavioral assessment training for teachers, specialists, and psychologists as
well as elementary school-based teams.
In keeping with appropriate pedagogy for inclusion and our systemic
literacy initiative in the areas of reading and writing, we provided Project
Read, writing and comprehension training, as well as Wilson I and II
training. Our challenge in this area is
to provide appropriately seamless professional and curriculum development for
all staff who collaborate to instruct our most fragile students.
2. To develop a capital plan for meeting the
needs of Newton’s school buildings—
A
safe and comfortable school environment is a key factor in helping staff and
students do their best work. With many
of Newton’s school buildings approaching an age when major rehabilitation work
may be required, it is important to put into place a thoughtful, long-range
plan for renovating and maintaining the physical plant. Collaboration between school personnel and
City agencies will be essential as we build a culture of shared responsibility
and develop procedures to improve the upkeep of the schools.
To achieve this goal we will:
Ø
Work with City
officials to implement the first phase of construction at Newton South High
School.
We have been working with city officials
to implement the first phase of construction at NSHS. Phase 1 A, the early package to prepare the site, was completed
in late summer 2001. Construction of Phase 1B, the new 80,000 square foot
classroom wing, is well underway and is expected to be finished by late fall of
2002. The new wing will be composed of
two houses and house office suites; more than 30 typical classrooms; four
science labs; the Family and Consumer Science Department; English department
offices; History and Social Studies department offices; and SPED programs. The school will be using the space as swing
space when renovations begin to the classroom wings starting in September 2002.
Ø
Complete Tier
One improvements to Memorial-Spaulding.
We
accomplished this goal on schedule by working with City officials, architects,
contractors and school staff. This project will be completed in summer 2002 and
ready for September opening.
Ø
Develop a
meaningful five-year capital plan that recognizes spending limitations deriving
from the funding plan for the high school project.
We developed
the 5-year plan in collaboration with city officials. The plan utilized our FY02 capital allocation to respond
primarily to HVAC needs. The plan will be refocused in FY03 towards continuing
to improve HVAC needs system-wide as a priority. In the remaining years, the plan will focus our capital
investments in other categories under study, such as plumbing and windows.
Ø
Create a
comprehensive, long-range plan for renovating elementary and middle schools,
driven by programmatic needs.
We place the
renovation plan on hold for FY02 in order to reassess the effects of
redistricting on middle school programmatic needs. We will begin the plan in
FY03.
Ø
Build upon
recent successes to continue to improve the management and delivery of charter
maintenance services.
We
significantly improved the delivery of charter maintenance services, by strong
fiscal management and timely service delivery.
This success was also based on development and implementation of new
computerized management tools. All approved maintenance and repair work orders
are now handled electronically, including financial management that is
coordinated electronically with the City’s accounting department.
Ø
Work with City
officials to determine future utilization of the Carr Elementary School
building.
We
have been working with city officials to determine future utilization of the
Carr School. We supported the City's decision to leave the building for FY03
and will continue discussions with the Mayor's office regarding the potential
use of Carr as swing space for the high school renovation project. Planning for this will be ongoing with the
City, school department, and project team.
3. To determine how the core value of Respect
for Human Differences is incorporated into classroom practice—For the past several years there has been some
misunderstanding and resulting controversy about the ways in which Newton
implements this core value in our daily practice. While to a great extent the core value represents a set of
attitudes and behaviors, it is also true that, at certain grade levels, direct
instruction occurs. This goal sets out
to document what actually happens in our schools and also to point a direction
for meeting future challenges.
To achieve
this goal we will:
Ø Convene the citywide faculty Human Differences Committee to
lead a year-long conversation on issues related to the goal.
The citywide committee, with faculty/staff representation from all
schools, met regularly to take up a variety of issues, some long-range, some
more timely. The group will continue to
act as a clearinghouse for information as well as an action planning group next
year.
Ø Direct school-based staff/parent committees to discuss and
document the learning activities that take place in each of the twenty-one schools
in the areas of anti-racism, gender equity, sexual orientation, disabilities,
ethnicity, etc.
Each school has been requested to
provide the Superintendent with a summary of school-based activities and
opportunities to document what has been accomplished during the school year
2001-2002. This summary is due by the
end of the academic year in June 2002.
This year, an effort was geared toward K-5 instruction, so each elementary
school will provide the grade level learning activities that took place during
the year. All elementary schools will
use a template designed by the Burr School for consistency. This template is organized by sub-categories
under the main mission statement of Respect for Human Differences. Each sub-category will highlight the major
learning activities that took place.
Ø Analyze the ways in which instruction in these areas
conforms to the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks as well as Newton’s
grade-level benchmarks.
The K-8 coordinators identified and delineated the instances in
the Newton Benchmark documents where the respect
for human differences core value was included across our aligned
curriculum. This document was shared
with all coordinators and became the primary source document for several
workshops for teachers and parents.
Evening workshops, sponsored by PTOs, provided another avenue and
opportunity to share how we were realizing our commitment to respect for human differences across our
curriculum.
Ø Clarify the process by which texts and other instructional materials
are selected for use in the schools.
A committee comprised of teachers and
administrators is drafting procedures by which texts and other instructional
materials are selected for use in the classroom. These procedures are being developed to assure that textbooks and
other materials support the approved curriculum and will include a process for
parents and others to follow should they have concerns about specific
materials. The committee anticipates
having a final proposal to the superintendent by the end of the current year.
Ø Hold one or two public hearings on the subject so that
citizens may offer opinions and insights on the ways in which the core value is
implemented in the schools.
Instead
of holding formal public hearings, the superintendent formed a citizen advisory
group to discuss ways to help the community find common ground on the sensitive
issues related to the school system's core value. The group decided to sponsor a series of "Superintendent's
Coffees," which bring together 15-20 people at a time for open, honest
communication. These meetings which
began in May will continue in the next school year.
Ø Support the district’s participation in the EMI
Collaborative as part of a larger effort to embrace active anti-racist
education.
This
year, 19 Newton faculty and staff participated in EMI training, bringing the
total number of people trained in Newton to over 150. In addition, some Newton staff became certified instructors.
Ø Decide how the concepts of disability education can be included
under the umbrella of Respect for Human Differences.
At the
superintendent's request, the Board of Understanding our Differences held a
parent forum to discuss various ways of incorporating disability awareness
education into the curriculum. These ideas
will inform future discussions at the administrative, and subsequently, at the
community level. For the time being, we
will keep the UOD program intact, with no major changes being contemplated.
Ø Report to the School Committee in the spring about the progress
of this effort.
The report is part of the Annual Report
on Systemwide Goals.
4. To improve the system of student
transportation in the Newton Public Schools—Following both
the Oak Hill bus tragedy and the citywide redistricting process last year, a
number of important transportation-related issues surfaced for public
deliberation. This year, we propose to
take an integrated approach to resolving a number of standing questions in the
area of student transportation so that the School Committee may provide a safe,
effective and efficient system of transporting students to and from school as
well as to destinations outside city limits.
To achieve this goal we will:
Ø Review and revise, as necessary, the citywide out-of-state
field trip policy, including the use of chaperones.
The citywide
Field Trip Policy has been rewritten to provide a clear and consistent
statement of the purpose of school trips, the procedures for planning trips,
and explicit rules governing transportation for all trips including day trips,
extended or overnight trips, and international trips. The policy and all consent forms have been reviewed and rewritten
where necessary by the City Law Department.
The policy is currently in final form and will be presented to the
School Committee for a vote of approval on June 10, 2002.
Ø Study the research on the use of seat belts on school buses
and determine the extent to which safety belts will be used in Newton.
The use of
seat belts on school buses was researched and reviewed in detail during the
fall of 2001. The School Committee held
several public discussions on the pros and cons of using lap belts on school
buses. The research included a variety
of sources including government reports, transportation studies, medical
reports, newspaper articles, and individual statements. The School Committee voted to accept the
recommendation to require factory installed seat (lap) belts on all buses
beginning with school year 2002-2003.
Ø Develop consistent procedures, practices and contracts for utilizing
outside bus companies.
The new Field
Trip Policy calls for the use of the school system’s Office of Transportation
as the source of information and arrangements for school trips. A new bid for motor coach services has been
drafted which will provide the system with a list of between two and four
recommended contractors for travel by motor coach when yellow school buses are
not appropriate. The Office of
Transportation will provide written instructions to all staff as to the
procurement of bus services.
Ø Analyze current busing policy and decide upon acceptable
walking distances for students.
The School
Committee received a report showing the numbers of students being bused under
the current policy and mileage limits for walking and riding. The School Committee has retained the
current walking distances and riding eligibility.
Ø Analyze effects of a possible fee structure for school
transportation services.
The School
Committee received a report on user fees for busing which includes the financial
impact of instituting fees of $180 per student per year. No fees have been implemented at this time.
Ø Ensure the transportation system supports equitable
educational opportunities for all secondary school students.
After the
redistricting decisions were made in the spring of 2001, we undertook a review
of services provided at all secondary schools. Based on the review of before
and after school activities and transportation options for students, we have
proposed a plan to add a bus to accommodate the students at South who travel
from the Williams district so that they will have equal access to all school
programs. This bus service will begin
in September 2002.
Ø Use the above policy decisions to inform the bid process for
securing new transportation contracts with busing companies.
The seat belt
policy decision and all other safety reviews were fully incorporated into the
bid for school bus transportation services beginning in July 2002. The bid process was carried out in full
collaboration between the school business, purchasing and transportation
offices, the METCO program, and the City purchasing office. Proper procedures were followed to allow the
Board of Aldermen to vote to permit a five year contract option. The bid process drew two qualified bidders,
and the process concluded with the School Committee’s vote to award the bid to
Eastern Bus Company, the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. The bid incorporated the seat belt
requirement and a new fleet of buses equipped with belts will be ready for the
opening of school in September 2002
5. To improve the management systems of the
School Department—In order to deliver educational programs in the most
effective way, it is critical for the School Department to make certain that
various management systems provide a solid foundation for decision-making. Improved practice is required in financial
management, operations, and data management, in particular.
To achieve this goal we will:
Ø
Develop and
implement a comprehensive financial management improvement plan, designed to
give timely notice of potential budget deficits and to provide ongoing,
systematic oversight of all school
spending.
The comprehensive management
improvement plan with its ten guidelines has been fully implemented. During the past year, there has been more
timely reporting from all administrative departments, more accurate and timely
financial data, and a number of efficiencies.
These range from lower labor hours used in the school lunch program,
greater use of the Pentamation system which eliminates duplicate tracking of
costs and personnel, the computerized M&R system, and improvements to the
payroll operation and in collection and management of the Use of School
Buildings funds.
Monthly budget updates have provided
clear and consistent financial information.
Each monthly projection has shown a small surplus indicating that the
school budget is being closely managed and expenses are within the planned
budget. New Human Resource reports and
procedures provided close tracking of staff, staff reconciliation reports, and
adherence to budget. A final staff
reconciliation report shows that all staffing is within budget this year. New reports were used for the development of
the FY03 budget with all staff accounted for by individual salaries and account
codes. Special Education budget updates are provided monthly to Central Staff
and School Committee with data for student enrollment, aides staff, tuition and
transportation costs. Monthly Operations reports include utility, charter
maintenance, and overtime updates as well as the status of major projects in
the school buildings. This information
has been incorporated into the monthly budget updates.
Use of the Pentamation Accounting
System has increased and improved, resulting in a better alignment of costs and
expenditures within the detailed school budget. New budget categories have been developed to provide clear
distinction between programs and job categories. The FY03 budget has been prepared using Pentamation accounts as well
as the school responsibility format.
This proved to be challenging when matching to previous years but will
provide improved cost data in future years.
Improved tracking of health insurance and benefits costs through
collaboration with City officials and new monthly tracking procedures have
provided improved budget management and control of this costly area.
Payrolls continue to be accurate and on
time; this is evidenced by the lack of manual check requests that had
previously been a problem. This improvement
is attributed to the management of the school payroll process by the Payroll
Supervisor, collaboration with City departments, and more accurate Human
Resource data as indicated above. The
annual outside audits of the End of Year Report to DOE for FY00 and
FY01produced no findings-or a “perfect” score.
Ø Make better use of existing and new technology for state
reporting and systems management purposes.
There have
been improvements in the use of technology for reporting including successful
transmission to the Department of Education of the required 400,000 student
data elements, the well planned transition to Open District, the new student
data system (to begin in September 2002) and the addition of new Special
Education management software (EasyIEP) to track student education plans. The Ed Center and school office staff has
improved in the use of spreadsheets, the use of Pentamation and a number of
other electronic reporting tools. Complex MCAS data analysis has been provided
to all schools using new software and there is an updated spreadsheet model for
enrollment forecasting with full documentation for future use.
Ø Review the existing food services program and recommend
changes if necessary.
We hired a new Food Services Director who
has worked with the Newton Public Schools and Chartwells to increase sales by
1.2 %. Reimbursement dollars from the
government are up 7.1%; food costs are reduced by 3.8%, and overtime labor
costs have also been reduced.
Ø Develop an effective and efficient system for providing
custodial services to the schools, including the use of overtime.
We reduced the use of overtime and have
increased custodial rates for activities that use school buildings after
regular school hours. We have met our
FY02 goals for collection of these user-funded rates, and these funds have been
credited to the custodial account.
Ø Collaborate with the City Building Department to institute a
well-planned delivery system for charter maintenance services.
We collaborated extensively with the City
building department and other departments and improved delivery of charter
maintenance services. The City building
and school operations staff are utilizing the new computer tools to review,
prioritized, approved and provide cost estimates for all maintenance and repair
requests. We provided joint training to
staff of both departments and written training materials.
Ø Explore best practices from other school districts and
private organizations and apply these where possible in Newton.
This year we
have researched, and in some cases, utilized outside contractors (specialists)
for specific repairs when we found them to be more cost effective. We have also implemented waste management
efficiencies from a school system on the south shore and have explored other
communities within the area to model our Integrated Pest Management program.