February 9, 2010

 

Dear Ms. Sessums,

 

As you know, Central Falls High School has been identified as one of the state’s five “persistently lowest-achieving schools” pursuant to the Rhode Island Department of Education’s Protocol for Intervention: Persistently Lowest-Achieving Schools.  The Central Falls School District has been in corrective action for several years and the high school has continuously failed to meet the performance standards established by the Department of Education and the Board of Regents under both State and federal law.  

                                           

According to the Protocol, “When a strong improvement plan has failed to such a degree that a school is considered to be one of the persistently lowest-achieving schools in the state, it is incumbent on the LEA to take even stronger action.” (Protocol, p.1). The Protocol goes on to state, “Under no circumstances will persistently lowest-achieving schools be allowed to continue to operate under status quo conditions.” (Ibid). Finally, the Protocol describes four allowable school reform models – Transformation, Restart, Turnaround, or Closure. The LEA must select one of these four models for Central Falls High School in order to begin formulating a specific plan in accordance with the Protocol.

 

Many committed individuals in Central Falls have met on numerous occasions in an attempt to turn around our failing high school. We have held five evening meetings a month, including the two Trustees meetings where the Race to the Top agendas were discussed in depth. Each week on Tuesday and Thursday mornings further discussions were held informally to keep interested teachers abreast of the evolving situations. As part of this aggressive public outreach, I have also convened all major local stakeholders, including your union, in a series of i3 Think Tank sessions. Throughout all of these meetings, there has been an underlying consensus to pursue the Transformational Model to reform our high school. I need to re-emphasize that the Transformation Model is the only model in which it is possible for the majority of teachers and administrators at the school to retain their jobs.

 

Unfortunately, to date we have been unable to reach agreement with you regarding the implementation of key elements of the Transformation Model, specifically including the following:

 

§       Increase the length of the high school day so that the student day is 8AM – 3 PM

§       Formalize the high school teacher commitment of weekly tutoring for one hour outside of school time

§       Each teacher will partake of a communal lunch with students one day each week

§       Agree to continue paid professional development for two weeks outside of the typical school calendar

§       Agree to meet for 90 minutes each week in order to look at student work, assess data, plan units of study and seek continuous improvement in professional practice

§       Acknowledge that third party evaluators will begin evaluation of all high school teachers on March 1, 2010.

 

Please note that these six elements listed above are what I view as the core elements of my being able to inform the Commissioner that Transformation is a viable option for our high school. For your convenience, I have attached (Attachment 1) all elements of both the Transformation and Turnaround models directly from the Protocol.

 

With your agreement to move forward, I will notify the Commissioner that Central Falls has selected the Transformation School Reform Model. Without your agreement, since the Closure and Restart models are not viable options at this time, it will be incumbent upon me to either choose the Turnaround School Reform Model for Central Falls or inform Commissioner Gist that we have collectively failed to select an intervention model for the high school and cannot begin planning for implementation. Pursuant to the Protocol, that latter option “shall be cause to trigger the reconstitution authorities granted” to the Board of Regents to Reconstitute Central Falls High School. In the case of either Turnaround or Reconstitution, I cannot provide any assurances to any faculty member or administrator at the high school that they will remain employed at the start of the next school year.

 

It is my sincere desire that we find a way to work together to implement Transformation, which I firmly believe is in the best interests of the students of the high school, as well as the members of the Central Falls Teachers Union. Because of the urgency of this matter and in order to implement the Transformation Model I must have your signed agreement to the above by February 12 at noon.

 

 

Sincerely yours,

 

 

 

Frances Gallo

 

 

 

If you agree to assist the Central Falls School District to implement Transformation at Central Falls High School in accordance with the conditions set forth in the RIDE Protocol for Intervention: Persistently Lowest-Achieving Schools, please sign below and forward a signed copy to my office.

 

 

________________________________________________________________

Assented to as to form and substance on behalf of the Central Falls Teachers’ Union in regard to implementation of the Transformation School Reform Model at the Central Falls High School for the 2010-2011 school year and beyond.

 

 

 

 

Attachment 1

 

Specific Requirements: Transformation and Turnaround School Reform Models (Excerpted from the RIDE Protocol for Intervention:

Persistently Lowest-Achieving Schools)

 

Allowable School Reform Models. Each School Reform Plan must be built around one of the following four models for intervention.[1] Regardless of which model is chosen (with the exception of closure), the School Reform Plan must meet the required conditions set forth in section (VI) of this Protocol in addition to individual requirements for the specific school intervention model.

 

(i) Turnaround model.

1. A turnaround model is one in which an LEA must--

(i) Replace the principal and grant the new principal sufficient operational flexibility (including in staffing, calendars/time, and budgeting) to implement fully a comprehensive approach in order to substantially improve student achievement outcomes and increase high school graduation rates;

(ii) Use locally adopted competencies to measure the effectiveness of staff who can work within the turnaround environment to meet the needs of students:

            (A) Screen all existing staff and rehire no more than 50 percent; and,

            (B) Recruit and select new staff;

(iii) Implement strategies such as financial incentives, increased opportunities for promotion and career growth, and more flexible work conditions that are designed to recruit, place, and retain highly qualified staff with the skills necessary to meet the needs of the students;

(iv) Provide staff with ongoing, high-quality, job-embedded professional development that is aligned with the school’s comprehensive instructional program and designed with school staff to ensure that are able to facilitate effective teaching and learning and successfully implement school reform strategies;

(v) Adopt a new governance structure, which may include, but is not limited to:

(A) Requiring the school to report to a new “turnaround office” in the LEA or SEA;

(B) Hire a “turnaround leader,” who may also fill the role of the school transformation officer as detailed in section VI.2. of this Protocol, who reports directly to the Superintendent or Chief Academic Officer; or,

(C) Enter into a multi-year contract with the LEA or SEA to obtain added             flexibility in exchange for greater accountability;

(vi) Use data to identify and implement an instructional program that is research-based, “vertically aligned” from one grade to the next and aligned with State academic standards;

(vii) Promote the continuous use of student data (such as from formative, interim, and summative assessments) to inform and differentiate instruction in order to meet the academic needs of individual students;

(viii) Establish schedules and implement strategies that provide expanded learning time (as defined in this Protocol); and

(ix) Provide appropriate social-emotional and community-oriented services and supports for students.

2. A turnaround model may also implement: (a) any of the required and permissible activities under the transformation model; or (b) a new school model (e.g., themed, dual language academy).

 

* * * * *

 

(iv) Transformation model.

1. A transformation model is one which the LEA must implement each of the following strategies:

            (i) Teacher and school leader effectiveness.

            The LEA must:

(A) Replace the principal who led the school prior to commencement of the           transformation model;

(B) Use rigorous, transparent, and equitable evaluation systems for teachers and principals that --

(a) Take into account multiple and diverse data sources, such as student growth (as defined in this notice), observation-based assessments of performance and ongoing collections of professional practice reflective of student achievement, drop-out, attendance and discipline data and increased high-school graduations rates;

(b) Are designed and developed with teacher and principal involvement;

(c) Identify and reward school leaders, teachers, and other staff who, in implementing this model, have increased student achievement and high-school graduation rates and identify and remove those who, after ample opportunities have been provided for them to improve their professional practice, have not done so;

(d) Provide staff with ongoing, high-quality, job-embedded professional development (e.g., subject-specific pedagogy, instruction that reflects a deeper understanding of the community served by the school, or differentiated instruction) that is aligned with the school’s comprehensive instructional program and designed with school staff to ensure effective teaching and successful implementation of school reform strategies;

(e) Implement strategies such as financial incentives, increased opportunities for promotion and career growth, and flexible work conditions that are designed to recruit, place, and retain staff with the skills necessary to meet the needs of the students; and,

(f) Require that teacher and principal mutually consent to staff assignment, regardless of teacher seniority.

 

            (ii) Comprehensive instructional reform strategies.

The LEA must:

(A) Use data to identify and implement an instructional program that is research-based, “vertically aligned” from one grade to the next and aligned with State academic standards;

(B) Promote the continuous use of student data (such as from formative, interim, and summative assessments) to inform and differentiate instruction in order to meet the academic needs of individual students; and,

(C) For secondary schools, establish early-warning systems to identify students who may be at risk of failing to achieve to high standards or graduate.

 

(iii) Increased learning time and community-oriented schools.

            The LEA must:

(A) Establish schedules and implement strategies that provide expanded learning time (as defined in this Protocol); and,

(B) Provide ongoing mechanisms for family and community engagement.

 

(iv) Operational flexibility and sustained support.

The LEA must:

(A) Give the school sufficient operational flexibility (such as staffing, calendars/time, and budgeting) to implement fully a comprehensive approach to substantially improve student achievement outcomes and increase high school graduation rates; and

(B) Ensure that the school receives ongoing, intensive technical assistance and related support from the LEA, the SEA, or a designated external lead partner organization (such as a school turnaround organization or an EMO).

 

 

IV. Internal Accountability for Reform

1. The sole purpose in pursuing any of the four allowable reform models is to provide the students currently attending the school with a better alternative – one that guarantees heightened opportunities for learning and achievement. It is the responsibility of the LEA to focus its efforts on schools as units of intervention and individuals as units of change. Regardless of the reform model selected for an identified school, the LEA must have an effective internal accountability framework that:

(i) Generates and focuses attention on data-based information relevant to teaching and learning;

(ii) Provides opportunities for educators (and others) to attend not only to current information and programs, but to augment or change strategies in response to this information;

(iii) Develops the knowledge and skills to promote valid interpretation of the information; and,

(iv) Allocates resources where they are most needed.

 

2. In addition, for each of the four reform models, the LEA’s school reform strategies must include:

(i) Flexible funding at the school level to the extent authorized by applicable law; including: collective bargaining agreements that permit hiring without regard to seniority, or, alternatively, to comply with existing legal requirements regarding assignment of education professionals.

(ii) Comprehensive instructional reform, including:

(A) Improved instructional programs and differentiated instruction;

(B) Modifications to scheduling to increase learning time for students and maximize collaboration time for teachers - consider extended learning time, modified or block scheduling; and,

(C) Periodic reviews to ensure that the curriculum is being implemented with fidelity, is having the intended impact on student achievement, and is modified if ineffective;

(iii) Improved teacher and school leader effectiveness, including:

(A) Development of valid and reliable pathways for bringing talented leadership into the schools affected by LEA reform efforts, as well as ongoing supports to administrators and teacher leaders in such schools once reform under this Protocol is instituted;

(B) Supports and professional development to teachers and principals in order to implement effective strategies to support students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment and to ensure that limited English proficient students acquire language skills to master academic content;

(C) Assurances that school-based leaders have access to relevant data regarding school, educator and student performance, as well as the ability to perform and/or access meaningful diagnostic analysis to ensure that available data is used to inform decisions regarding ongoing reform efforts; and,

(D) Evaluation of all professional staff in accordance with State standards.