Board of Ed Discusses 'Level-Up' Implementation

Deleveling has been the source of much hand-wringing in the South Orange-Maplewood School District over the last few months.

Parents of high-achieving students have worried that their children will not be challenged. Parents of struggling students have worried that their students might not get sufficient support. Other parents have felt the change to remove or combine levels was overdue. Amidst all these feelings, the Board of Education voted to combine Levels 3 and 4 in 7th grade—or "level up"—at its June meeting. In addition, anxiety related to deleveling has been ratcheted up by a threatened lawsuit by the local chapter of the NAACP claiming racial segregation by the district.

In an effort to allay fears—and, of course, prepare teachers and anticipate students' needs—Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Rosetta Wilson presented the district's "Grade 7 Level-Up Implementation and Student Outcome Evaluation" at last night's Board of Education meeting.

The 23-slide presentation (available to the public) apparently also came with extensive appendices, but that did not stop the Board members from requesting more specific information—and more specific assurances from Ms. Wilson—after her presentation.

Wilson had described a series of planning steps, training sessions, materials acquisitions, teachers' supports and evaluation, and students' supports and assessments to be implemented to assure that Level 4 students did not suffer a deterioration in the quality of their education and that Level 3 students would be challenged—and succeed.

For students experiencing difficulties in Level 4 classes, Wilson said guidance counselors and administrators would meet with them to "clearly explain leveling up and expectations including what the students must do to be successful." In addition, students would "be encouraged to remain after-school, during the conference period, to start their homework with a staff member available to provide support."

High-performing students in Level 4 classes would have "opportunities to extend their knowledge of the subject areas" through "individual projects."

Seventh grade teachers had been provided with one day of training this summer on differentiated instruction. In addition, the district will have an on-site consultant, Lynda Fote, working with the 7th grade teachers on seven different occasions throughout the school year to focus on differentiation and collaborative teaching (the dates are September 17, October 5, November 17 and 18, February 11, March 16 and May 11).

Wilson said that central office staff—administrators, principals, and supervisors will also be more present in classrooms and in monitoring the Level-Up process-ensuring that differentiated teaching is actually taking place and that teachers are participating in professional development and using proscribed materials.

Students would be carefully evaluated against baseline data from 2009-2010. The factors for evaluation would be: standardized test scores, level placement recommendations, final exam grades, student work samples and final grades.

After Wilson's presentation, BOE member Lynne Crawford had the most pointed questions and comments. She wanted to know, regarding the differentiated instruction, who exactly was going to monitor it and how would that be done. "It's supposed to be happening," said Crawford. "I don't know that it does."

Crawford pointed to irregularities with use of materials in the past and wanted to be assured that supervisors would ensure use of the the proper materials. As the process moved forward, Crawford also wanted more specifics on how struggling students would be supported and how high-achieving students would be challenged.

BOE member Beth Daugherty noted that, since Wilson was scheduled to report back on the success of the Level-Up implementation in September 2011, it "seems the expectation is no further changes for the next school year." Superintendent of Schools Brian Osborne confirmed that that was the case.

Osborne also noted that the Level-Up implementation was not happening "in a vacuum." "We start in the 5th grade and before the end of high shcool students need to be able to write a research paper." Said Osborne, "This is something we have been putting in place regardless of the level."

BOE member Richard Laine wanted to know what training there would be for 8th grade teachers who would be teaching these Level-Up 7th graders in 2011-2012. Would they be prepared and told to increase rigor for Level 3 students who had been through Level-Up?

Osborne noted that the differentiated instruction consultant Lynda Fote would be working with 8th grade teachers that year. "We have been focusing on professional development," he said, including monitoring, evaluation and support. "We are not relying on voluteerism," he said, and sending teachers for training out of district, Rather, Osborne said, the district was bringing training into the schools, especially with the English Language Arts curriculum.

Also during last night's meeting, the Board of Education discussed the High School Performance Assessment (HSPA) results, began preliminary discussions about the 2011-2012 budget, and haggled over changes in language to the District Goals.

Stories to come.