Barnstable School Chief Lays Out 'Race to the Top'

Barnstable Public Schools will receive $534,211 in federal grant money during a 4-year period.  This grant period began during the 2010-2011 school year.  Approximately $40,000 was expended last year to complete the following two initiatives: 

• The district began work on the alignment of curriculum in grades K – 8 to the 2011 Massachusetts Curriculum Framework.  This work will continue and be expanded to include grades 9 through 12 in Years 2, 3, and 4.
• Two Mathematics Coaches participated in content training sponsored by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

On August 29, 2011 Barnstable Public Schools welcomed Dr. Mary Czajkowski as the new Superintendent of Schools. Under the direction of the superintendent, Barnstable Public Schools is in the process of developing a 4-year plan entitled  “Building a Bridge” to 2015. These goals are being established in collaboration with the Barnstable School Committee, administrators, principals, department heads, curriculum coordinators, and teacher’s union as well as parents and members of the community.  As a result of this change in leadership, the district has narrowed its focus relative to the goals and projects for Years 2-4 in the RttT grant.     

The school district will utilize the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s six District Standards in conjunction with the “Essential Conditions for School Effectiveness” to increase student achievement and close proficiency gaps in Mathematics and English Language Arts.   

During Years 2 -4 of the RttT grant, the district has identified the following projects as initiatives that will help the district to achieve their goal of preparing all students who graduate from Barnstable High School to be college or career ready with 21st century skills: 

Project 1A: Implement the statewide educator evaluation framework.  Establish an educator evaluation framework that uses multiple measures of student learning, growth, and achievement.  The Superintendent will develop a Joint Labor Management Committee in the fall of 2011 comprised of teachers and administrators as well as union representation.  This committee will act as the primary parties responsible for developing and bringing forth an evaluation instrument that meets the regulations set forth by the Massachusetts Board of Education.  This instrument must be negotiated and agreed upon by the Barnstable Teacher Association and the Barnstable School Committee.  Once agreed upon, training will be conducted for all staff.  In addition to this committee, in Year 2 of the RttT grant, a team of teachers (in the content areas of ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies) will develop a number of assessments used to measure student learning, growth and achievement.  In Years 3 and 4 all remaining subject areas will develop similar committees.

Project 2A: Align curriculum to the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. The district will nominate a team of six classroom teachers, curriculum coordinators and principals to attend six half-day sessions that will orientate them to the new standards and provide them with resources to help align our curriculum to the new Common Core Standards.  This team will take a leadership role in continuing to align existing curricular material with the 2011 Massachusetts Frameworks.  In addition, teams of teachers in the district have begun work on K through 8 curriculum alignment. In conjunction with this leadership team, these documents will be finalized and distributed to classroom teachers.  Grade 9 through 12 teams will be formed to align the local curriculum with the 2011 Massachusetts Framework for English Language Arts and Literacy (incorporating the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects), and the 2011 Massachusetts Curriculum Framework for Mathematics by the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year.

2B.1: Strengthen climate, conditions, and school culture: Use data and results from surveys for decision making and change. All staff will participate in the Massachusetts Teaching, Learning, and Leading Survey. (Mass TeLLS) twice over the next 3 years.  Teachers will be required to complete this survey during regularly scheduled staff meetings.  At each school building, a team of teachers and administrators will analyze the survey results.  The team will identify at least one issue to address and agree on the process to develop a plan for addressing the issue.   

Project 2D.2: Strengthen skills of existing educators: Participate in National Institute for School Leadership (NISL) training for principals. Barnstable Public Schools has established a cohort group comprised of educators from both the Barnstable Public Schools and the Mashpee Public Schools to participate in the 18-month NISL leadership program.  Barnstable Public Schools has established a team of 23 members to attend the NISL training beginning in October of 2011.  The team is comprised of central office administration, principals, curriculum coordinators and department heads, and teachers who are aspiring leaders.  The district will support the participants as they implement instructional and leadership improvement practices, monitor the practices,and provide resources to sustain the practice.  The district will also evaluate if NISL will be utilized as the core of our learning community in order to create a common language for talking about student achievement and develop tools to reach district goals.     Lastly, the district will also evaluate the use of NISL to develop capacity within the district to identify potential leader.

Project 4A: Develop and implement a plan to increase the percentage of high school graduates completing Mass Core. The high school principal will establish a team of teachers to review and restructure their graduation requirements with the goal of moving closer to the Mass Core.  A needs assessment will be conducted to identify opportunities for more students to meet the Mass Core requirements and to determine course enhancements, modifications and/or additions needed in each of the content areas to ensure an increase in the number of graduating seniors meeting Mass Core requirements.  A detailed analysis will be performed by curriculum coordinators and department heads of Mass Core courses to ensure that students in targeted sub-groups (low income, special education, and ELL) have access and opportunities to meet theMass Core requirements.