Frequently Asked Questions for PD Workshop

What is our goal?
It’s the goal of this committee to help New Bedford High School reinvent itself for the 21st century. It involves not just changing the structure of the school, but changing the school culture as well.

What work have we done so far?
FIRST PHASE: The Restructuring Committee was formed in the fall of 2007 by teachers, parents, students, community members and administration. We were charged with assessing needs and creating restructuring recommendations for the incoming Superintendent in July of 2008. Both of these tasks were accomplished by the end of the school year in June 2008. We administered a survey of 2000 + students and almost 200 faculty on issues from classroom instructional practices, school culture, technology, family involvement, student development, leadership and professional development and post-secondary and extra-curricular activities. Our recommendations to the Superintendent included research and suggestions on smaller learning communities, scheduling implications, instruction and assessment, professional development, business and community engagement, contract issues and funding needs.
SECOND PHASE: When we returned in the fall of 2008, the committee began working on a scheduling plan for incremental movement from block scheduling as well as larger issues implied in overall restructuring. In December 2008, the Superintendent recommended a more comprehensive approach to our work, from addressing the schedule change to exploring complete restructuring of our high school. We began simultaneously, 1) exploring research on different large urban high school transformation efforts around the country, 2) conducting site-visits to local models such as Boston Pilot Schools and Lawrence High School’s thematic academies, 3) examining the data from our surveys (described above) done in March 2008, 4) creating a vision statement for our long term objectives and 5) beginning work necessary to draft a strategic plan before the end of this current school year, in order that we may begin the design phase of our efforts during the 2009-2010 academic year.
THIRD PHASE: Towards the end of June 2009, members of the Restructuring Committee agreed that the most effective way to push forward institutional and attitudinal change necessary for our school to build capacity for change in September 2009 was to demonstrate various models of autonomous academies. Two groups emerged and took initiative. The focus of the first group was to design and implement an autonomous Leadership Academy for some of our most severe at-risk students while the second group created a Technology Academy within the school’s existing facility and schedule. Budget challenges made it impossible for the district to lend direct support to either of the two initiatives during the summer of 2009. Lack of support became a non-issue given the Massachusetts Governor’s Executive Office on Education release of planning grants throughout the state. These “Readiness School Grants” were specifically designed for districts desiring to establish autonomous small learning communities. The Readiness Schools planning grant awarded funds during the summer of 2009 for design of small learning communities intending to meet the state’s performance contract using new autonomies over schedule, curriculum, budget, staffing and other district policies. The Restructuring Committee applied for the Readiness Advantage School option at the end of June and, among 16 districts in the state, was approved to plan both the Leadership Academy and Technology Academy.

Will it actually happen?
The short answer is yes, pending the approval of all stakeholders. The longer answer is yes, but it will require lots of work and perseverance. It includes strategic planning, administrative support, resource development, faculty investment, sustained funding, community engagement, union negotiations, political capital, leadership training, and most of all, a culture shift in the way we approach instruction, leadership and management in all of our schools.

What purpose does a vision serve?
New Bedford High School’s vision is to provide a supportive and enriching environment in order for all students to prepare themselves with the skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century. A vision should be…
• Simple/clear, using an economy of words,
• Future-oriented, deriving from reasonable assumptions,
• Idealistic, envisioning a future that is beyond the present,
• Appropriate, fitting with the school’s history and culture,
• Inspirational, encouraging enthusiasm and commitment,
• Purposeful, articulating an image of the desired future,
• Ambitious, causing members of the unit to stretch to reach it
The reason why it is important is because we need to have a common language built around shared values so that we know what it is we are trying to achieve before we figure out what we’re going to do.

What’s the process?
OVERALL RESTRUCTURING: Since February, we’ve begun outlining strategic goals that are consistent with the vision so 2009-2010 will be a building year (allocating resources, securing funds, building leadership capacity through real, site-based, teacher-led professional development, etc.). But that’s only the first step. Once that work is done and a recommendation can be made on a school design model (thematic academies, pilot schools, career academies, house plans, etc.), then a communication plan can unfold, engaging all stakeholders in different capacities. Then the design work can begin with teachers leading the decisions and creating direct and effective classroom support for change. The more that the support for leadership capacity grows, the more the focus will shift from top-down to distributive and collaborative decision making. Then, after the design work is done – and it is a lot of comprehensive work (curriculum, staffing, scheduling, budget, resources, support systems, governance, etc.), we can begin implementing the changes here at NBHS. This will not happen overnight, but it will happen as we carefully and strategically plan our short term tactics to support our long term objectives.
READINESS PROPOSALS: Both proposals will be completed in the next few weeks. The proposal designed during the summer will be sent to the Superintendent for approval. It will then be submitted to the DESE by the September 15th deadline. The DESE will approve, deny or recommend changes to the document. If approved, it will go before a Screening Committee comprised of a Central Office designee, a representative of the School Committee, and the New Bedford Educator’s Association. A two-thirds vote of approval is required for the proposal to advance to the next phase. Advancement to the next phase involves formation of new committee representing all major stakeholders (students, teachers, parents, the local union, Central Office, the School Committee, etc.). The committee of stakeholders will create an ‘innovation plan’ outlining design steps and a performance contract with the DESE. A majority vote is required for authorization. Use of a timeline will guide processes of design work, and capacity-building. Additionally, strategic preparation timelines will be adhered to at NBHS and the 8th grade sending schools. Incremental implementation will begin in September 2010.

How will this be supported?
Once the recommendations have been agreed on by the Superintendent, the NBEA, the School Committee, the NBHS faculty and the other stakeholders, then the support will come from each party recognizing their best interests and the best interests of the students in the process itself. In order to incrementally roll-out changes for the Sept. 2010 school year, we need to assess budget priorities in the fall of 2009. We also need to plan for the work necessary to ‘lay the foundation’, which includes meaningful professional development as well as creating sustainable funding for our strategic plan. Small learning communities or schools-within-schools are widely supported by grant funds as well as Title I and SPED initiatives. Federal resources in the form of ‘Race to the Top’ funds may also be available.

When will changes take place?
Right now, the plan is to create proposals for two smaller learning academies: a Technology Academy and a Leadership Academy that are slated to be proposed by September 15 2009 and potentially implemented by September 2010. Both are models of our long term objectives which potentially could see each House become its own school-within-a-school. Our proposal for the overall restructuring of the high school will also be submitted by October 1, 2009 and include 1) the structure of academies (governance, organization, infrastructure, logistics, etc.), 2) recommendations for themes, 3) requested staffing and budget items, 4) a master schedule, and 5) other items as needed. It’s believed that an incremental approach is more beneficial than an all-at-once school-wide change.

How does this plan support teachers?
Overall, this process of reinventing NBHS will not work if teachers are not fully supported. This means more lesson collaboration, consistent administrative support, improved technological and academic resources, as well as building instructional leadership, professional learning communities, supportive coaching and mentoring, distributive leadership and more. Supporting teachers, though, is more than simply changing the structure of the school. It is also a shift in how we act as leaders, make decisions, communicate policy, adapt to changing circumstances and plan strategically for the future. If our vision is, in part, to create a supportive environment, we have to match our intentions and values with our decisions and actions, on a day-to-day basis.

How will it impact students?
Our goal is to ensure that all students are able to prepare themselves with the skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century, but as we know, much of this is based on choice and motivation. Creating schools-within-schools give students options to choose academies that best match their academic interests and career plans. Proposing a Leadership Academy for the many of the most severe ‘at-risk’ students helps both those specific students and the mainstream school in the process of transition. Restructuring NBHS does not imply a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to school transformation, but offers many different options that help all students meet with the success necessary to reach their full potential. The bottom line is that supporting teachers supports students.