Nathaniel Bowditch School Report
Prepared by the
Joint Salem Teachers Union - Salem Public Schools Review Team
April 13 -15, 2015
I.
Joint Visiting Team Members
Appointed by the Salem Teachers Union:
Sue Rowe
Deputy Superintendent, Lynn Public Schools
Deb Ruggiero
Principal, Harrington Elementary, Lynn Public Schools
Alicia Sheridan
Teacher, Witchcraft Heights Elementary, Salem Public Schools
Gale Thomas
Educator Emeritus, Lynn Public Schools
Appointed by the Salem Public Schools Administration:
Kate Carbone
Assistant Superintendent, Salem Public Schools
Margaret Marotta
Assistant Superintendent, Salem Public Schools
Glenda L. Colon
Director of Network Academics, Boston Public Schools
Michelle Herman
Director of Teacher & Leader Development, Salem Public Schools
Appointed Facilitator:
John Brackett
Director, The Brackett Group, Marlborough, MA.
Note: The members of the joint STU/SPS visiting team to Nathaniel Bowditch School wish to
thank William Shevory, Principal, and all members of the NBS community for opening up their
school and their practice to us during the three-day visit. We appreciated the welcoming attitude
and the willingness to provide forthright and meaningful insights and information into the NPS
program.
The team members also thank Joyce Harrington, STU President, Stephen Russell,
Superintendent, and Mayor Kim Driscoll for making this opportunity possible. We laud your
commitment to finding an internal, collaborative way to address school improvement. The team
believes this joint collaborative effort offers a true opportunity for creative and effective problem
solving. We urge the parties to consider such an arrangement when facing other similar issues in
the future.
II.
Background on the Joint Agreement
Recently, leaders of the Salem Teachers Union, Salem Public Schools and the City of Salem
agreed to jointly review the program and progress of the Nathaniel Bowditch School and to
determine next steps to “turnaround.” To that end, the parties agreed to each appoint four
members and a mutually agreed-upon facilitator to a NBS review team. This team was charged
with conducting fact-finding over a three-day period, April 13-15, and to provide a report, which
included bold recommendations for levers and autonomies to remove obstacles to, and stimulate,
rapid turnaround. The parties understood that implementing such recommendations may require
negotiation of existing contracts and additional resources. No assurances were given other than
their willingness to collaboratively find next steps for action.
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III.
Methodology
Recognizing the urgency that such an endeavor requires and the limited time available, the team
developed a methodology that included:
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School turnaround is a complex process with many causal factors. To determine all root
causes is beyond the focused, limited review conducted here. To that end, we limited our
recommendations to those that we believe will have the greatest impact in the short term.
Our focus was on actions that could be put in place between the completion of the report and
September 1, 2015, understanding that impacts of these steps will extend into the future.
The team conducted a review of the research available on turnaround practices and other
schools/districts that have successfully used a joint union/district team. Specifically, the team
reviewed:
! “Turnaround Practices in Action”, a July 2014 document prepared for the DESE by
the Institute for Strategic Leadership and Learning
! The NBS “Working Group Plan”, an August, 2014 plan submitted to the Salem
School Committee
! An agreement between the Lynn Teachers Union and the Lynn Public Schools which
followed a similar joint process at two Lynn elementary schools in 2010
! The 2013 report from the Boston Public Schools on the results of a similar process
used in one of its elementary schools
The team also conducted a review of NBS demographic, attendance, and achievement data
trends.
A process for a three day, on-site fact-finding visit was developed, including:
! 35 classroom visits through the lens of the essential question: “What do we
observe that presents a barrier to student success?”
! Observation of common planning time
! Observation of the day-to-day operations and climate in the school
! Staff focus groups in which we heard from approximately 43 staff members
! A focus group with the current administrators
! Individual email or conversations with approximately 10-12 staff
! Student focus groups of approximately eight 5th grade students and ten middle
school students
! A discussion with the leaders of the school’s expanded learning time grant
team
Following fact-finding, the team met to determine its key findings and identify
recommendations. From the research conducted, we categorized the findings and
recommendations into six categories of effective practices:
1. Leadership and shared responsibility
2. Instruction
3. Staff collaboration and professional culture
4. Safe and respectful climate
5. Schedule, calendar, time, and district supports
6. Targeted and specific student supports
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IV.
Bowditch Data
These are a sample of the data points the team reviewed to inform its work.
Enrollment:
2011$12
2012$13
2013$14
2014$15
K"8$
Enrollment
502
470
569
548
K"5
344
322
375
385
Gd$6"8
158
148
194
163
Percent$of$Enrollment
Student
Attendance:
Achievement
Data:
ELL
17.5
17.9
32.5
32.8
SWD
15.1
14
14.6
13.1
FLNE
36.3
40.2
51.3
54.9
Attendance(
2011-12( 2012-13( 2013-14( 2014-15(
Rate(
NBS(
95.4(
95.3(
95.3(
95.4(
District(
93.6(
93.4(
93.8(
93.8(
2011
2012
2013
2014
72.7
71.4
69.7
63.1
baseline
75
77.3
79.5
ELA)SGP
46
41
41
45
Math)CPI
63.4
65
68.2
56.6
CPI)Target
baseline
66.5
69.5
72.6
Math)SGP
46
56
53
40
15
21
14
ELA)CPI
CPI)Target
School's)
Percentile)
Ranking)in)
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V.
Key Findings
Following the fact-finding conducted over the three-day on-site visit, the team considered each
piece of evidence collected, and then synthesized them within the categories of effective
turnaround practices. The following represents key findings that were observed or heard from
multiple sources. While there were many data points garnered that might be considered in the
future, the following list of findings represent what the team deemed to be significant barriers to
turnaround and, if addressed in the near term, provide the greatest opportunity for rapid change.
1. Leadership and Shared Responsibility
• The current school administration works very hard, is committed to the NPS students,
and has brought about improvements in many aspects of the school compared to prior
years. The most notable is in the area of student culture.
• The frequent change in administrators over the last four years has resulted in a number of
barriers to turnaround, including:
! Uncertainty and lack of sustained vision and direction for the school.
! Inconsistent, fragmented, and, at times, non-existent communication; changes
are made (e.g. in schedules) with those impacted (including support staff)
often uninformed.
! No clear, shared vision was apparent across the school or across the
professional staff. The team found no discernible path to school improvement
present or articulated.
• Supports to teachers are not leveraged well in many cases. For example:
! There is no on-boarding process for new staff.
! There is no clear, consistent message presented about what defines quality
instruction.
! Coaches do not appear to be differentiating based on the needs of teachers nor
within common planning time; a focus on building knowledge of, and fluency
with, content standards was not observed.
! A number of issues related to the use of support staff were observed; there is
no clear, coherent plan for the utilization of these resources.
• While the building is relatively new and presents a nice space for learning, some rooms
and common areas are not clean. In addition, a number of rooms are cluttered which may
distract from learning.
• There are limited leadership opportunities for staff, and where they exist (e.g.
Instructional Leadership Team), there is little turnover in incumbents, and the process for
selection is unclear.
2. Instruction
• There are many staff members who care deeply for the students and go to great lengths to
make students feel safe and cared for.
• A number of teachers provide well-planned, effective lessons where students are
engaged, learning time maximized, and rigor and expectations are high. In addition, a
number of teachers demonstrate a potential that, with targeted and specific supports,
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could attain this level of instruction.
While effective instruction exists in a number of classrooms, there is a wide variation of
instructional capacity, both vertically and within grade levels. There are several
classrooms where instruction is not well planned or effective.
Class size, in virtually all classrooms, is relatively low, providing an opportunity for
differentiation that was not routinely observed.
A number of potential opportunities exist within NBS:
! Facility size
! A relatively well-behaved student body that attends school regularly
! The size of the support staff available
! Coaching support assigned to the school
! The Spanish language program that provides a source of uniqueness for the
school
! Many support staff including a parent outreach position, two school
adjustment counselors (one bilingual), and a bilingual behavior specialist
Often there is no clear purpose for the lesson and/or activities.
In many cases, the learning is not being released to students.
Support staff (licensed) is not coordinated or being used to capacity:
! Their duties are unclear and at times undefined.
! They are not meaningfully included in common planning.
! Given limited planning, support teachers were not observed providing targeted
instructional support for individual students or working with small groups.
! There is unclear and seemingly inefficient use of reading support.
Evidence of individual and collaborative lesson planning is not evident in many
classrooms.
! The purpose of activities, strategies, objectives are unclear or not evident.
! A number of lessons did not relate to, or appear to be planned from, content
standards.
! Content and language objectives are not always visible, and when objectives
are posted, they are seldom referred to or shared with students.
Many lessons contain missed opportunities for student engagement and low levels of
rigor.
Current student work is displayed in some classrooms.
Most teachers seem to value the workshop model and accountable talk, but execution is
uneven across classrooms.
There is a noticeable lack of productive use of time in a number of classrooms as a result
of lack of planning or lack of established routines.
Teachers need better access to high quality instructional materials.
Professional development is not highly valued as currently offered.
3. Staff Collaboration and Professional Culture
• The staff works hard. Many teachers are at school very early or remain well after
dismissal. Some staff pay for materials and supplies with their own money to supplement
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existing classroom supplies and materials. There are teachers who voluntarily reach out
and welcome, in their native language, new families enrolling for the first time.
The current professional culture presents as a barrier to school improvement. Factions
exist within the staff, and the culture is characterized by a lack of trust, mutual respect,
and collaboration.
There is a lack of shared commitment, little interaction between the K-5 and Gr. 6-8 staff,
paraprofessionals who feel little connection to the larger staff, a separation between
NPTS and PTS teachers, and little exhibited sense of urgency for, or ownership of,
improving student learning and school improvement.
Teachers feel a sense of being overwhelmed by all that is being asked of them and often
feel blamed for the current state of the school. This may contribute to a level of
defensiveness that prevents openness to ask for assistance or be forthright with leaders
and colleagues.
Adult messages to students, tone, and actions are, at times, insensitive to cultural
differences of students and the staff who teach them. Terms such as “those kids”, or
statements such as “SEI kids are the reason for lower test results”, are troubling, result in
lower expectations, and create a barrier to school turnaround.
The amount of Common Planning Time (CPT) is very limited for staff. It is very
structured, and it is unclear if teachers are guided in using the time to collaboratively plan
lessons that will be used in their classroom. There are concerns that CPT is not providing
for differentiation of support based on the needs or grade level of teachers.
4. Safe and Respectful Climate
• Student behavior is typical for the age and grade level of the students. While not perfect,
and examples of inappropriate behavior occur, student behavior is not a significant issue
within the school. There is a noted improvement in behavior and climate from prior
years.
• In most classrooms, students appear ready to learn.
• There are inconsistencies around expectations for student behavior and an inconsistent
implementation of PBIS.
• Students voiced being frustrated by inconsistent application of behavioral expectations
between classrooms.
• Frequently, when staff members are pulled from their assignment for another
responsibility, no coverage of the class is arranged, and the students know that after a
given time, they are to report to the library.
5. Schedule, Calendar, Time, District Supports
• Class size is relatively small, and a sufficient number of teachers and support staff are
assigned to the school. More coaches and reading teachers are present in NBS than in
other district schools.
• Time on learning is not sufficient. The ELT grant proposal highlights many of the issues
caused by limited time. Access to Spanish language instruction for all students, no
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intervention/extension time offered, and insufficient common planning time for staff are
some of the issues addressed in the grant.
Scheduling is inefficient, inconsistent, and confusing. The published schedule is not the
working schedule; it is not clear who is authorized to make changes to the published
schedule, and who is made aware of what the working schedule has become.
Communication of changes is inconsistent.
Intervention/extension blocks are not available to all students.
Teaching loads appear to be inconsistent. Teachers report being pulled from class for a
variety of reasons, and these interruptions impact consistency in instruction.
6. Targeted and Specific Student Supports
• The SEI program is well supported and most students appear eager to learn.
• The SEI program is not integrated into the school. Some students are not mainstreamed
because of a perceived, but nonexistent, “cap” of mainstreaming allowed; in some cases
SEI teachers, classrooms, and students are separated from others both physically and
socially.
• SEI/ESL staff is often not able to access mainstream school PD, nor included in CPT.
• Within the SEI classrooms, instruction is inconsistent, expectations are often low for
students, and there is a lack of differentiation occurring.
• ELL and reading support are also inconsistent and not efficiently utilized.
• Some staff appear to lack requisite cultural proficiencies needed to understand and
support diverse students needs in their classrooms and within the school.
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VI.
Recommendations
(Team vote on the recommendation is indicated in parentheses)
1. Leadership and Shared Responsibility
a. Recruit and hire a new principal with proven communication and turn-around skills and
the ability to build a strong professional, positive and collaborative culture with a
preferable start date of June 1. Empower the new superintendent to use the most
effective process, which leads to final decision to hire. (8-0)
b. Empower the superintendent to set the salary for the Bowditch principal outside the
current range, which may include a performance stipend. (8-0) (Tabled for further
discussion)
c. Non-renew the Assistant Principals; they may go through a reapplication process to be
hired for 2015-16 by the new principal. (8-0)
2. Instruction
a. Conduct confidential unannounced independent reviews (with verbal and written
feedback) of all certified (NPTS and PTS) staff by June 1. (8-0)
b. Non-renew all NPTS. They may go through a reapplication process to be considered for
hire for 2015-16 by the new principal. (7-1)
c. Placements from Bentley (K-2) Elementary School to NBS shall be approved by the
superintendent. (8-0)
d. Support the new principal in identifying, acquiring and rolling-out instructional materials
for the implementation of the standards-based district curriculum maps in ELA and math
across all grade levels. (8-0)
3. Staff Collaboration and Professional Culture (8-0)
a. Hold an annual summer retreat in which all school staff shall participate; the purpose in
the initial year is to establish the vision for the school and engage in necessary teambuilding and instructional planning. (7-1)
b. Empower the Bowditch principal to recommend up to 2 involuntary transfers of teachers,
if needed, prior to or during the 2015-16 school year; upon approval, the superintendent
shall facilitate the transfers. (7-1)
4. Safe and Respectful Climate
a. Reevaluate and execute a school wide positive behavior support plan that addresses both
student and staff culture. (8-0)
5. Schedule, Calendar, Time, District Supports
a. Consider reconfiguring NBS as a K-5 school by moving grades 6-8 to Collins, thus
providing more opportunities for students (e.g. extended learning time, extracurricular
activities, and additional access to core content.) (8-0)
b. The principal shall create and submit to the superintendent by Aug 1, a master schedule
that includes at least 90 minutes per week of CPT for all staff. (8-0)
c. Implement a workday for Bowditch teachers comparable to the length of the high school
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day (6hr 53 min) and provide the principal with the autonomy to schedule the extra time
to best meet school needs. (8-0)
6. Targeted and Specific Student Supports
a. Include in the master schedule, an intervention/extension block for all students that is in
addition to the recommended time in the district scheduling guidelines. (8-0)
b. Appoint a team to research, during the 2015-16 school year, effective Spanish language
programs and make recommendations that will result in providing equitable access to all
-students. (8-0)
7. Convene a joint STU/SPS monitoring team prior to Jan 1, 2016 to review the progress of these
recommendations and consider next steps.
Notes:
Our recommendations above are limited to those that we believe have the greatest impact in the short
term. Our focus was on what would offer the biggest levers to bring about change to the school prior to
the beginning of the next school year, understanding that the impact of these actions will extend into the
future.
The review team was not able to determine budget implications of each recommendation. However, the
team recognizes that several will/may require negotiation of the existing contract and the allocation of
additional resources.
Requiring resources:
Recommendation 1(b); 2(a), (d); 3(a); 5(b); 6(a)
Possible savings/efficiencies:
Recommendation 5(a)
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