School and District Accountability Panel Report
Compass School Candidate Review

Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School

Introduction

The Program

The Exemplary Schools Program is one part of the Massachusetts School and District Accountability System. The purpose of the Exemplary Schools Program is to recognize and celebrate improvement in Massachusetts' schools, and to disseminate information and encourage networking and sharing of ideas, effective practices, and models for success. The program is intended to provide a means for the schools to share their expertise with other schools in the state.

Based on the School Performance and Improvement Ratings issued in January 2001, and continued and/or significant improvement on the 2001 MCAS test results, the Department identified 175 schools that exceeded their expectations for improvement and invited them to participate in the program by applying for consideration as candidates to serve as 2002 Commonwealth Compass Schools. Of the 84 schools who chose to apply by submitting information on the initiatives they have undertaken to improve student performance that they think have had the most positive impact on their results, seven high schools, eight elementary schools, and three middle schools were selected as finalists and scheduled for an on-site review to determine their willingness and capacity to serve. Data and information gathered from the applications and the review process of these schools will be published in a report this fall.

Schools selected to serve as 2002 Commonwealth Compass Schools will receive special recognition and a $10,000 grant to support the participation of their administrators and staff in information sharing and dissemination activities over the next year.

The Report

This report summarizes the findings and analyses of the visiting team based on their April 24, 2002 site visit review of the Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School. The report will assist the Commissioner in determining which schools from among those visited will be designated to serve as Compass Schools in the state's new Exemplary Schools Program.

The review panel evaluated data and written information on the school's performance and improvement efforts, including the school's application to serve as a Compass School. The panel then visited the school to meet with school leaders, staff, parents and students and visit classrooms in order to answer the following two key questions:

1.       Is this school using effective improvement initiatives that could be replicated in other similarly profiled schools?

2.      Are the conditions in place for this school to serve as a model of effective practices and successful improvement initiatives?

The panel's responses to these two questions frame the report. In the process of answering these questions, the report focuses primarily on the initiatives that the school identified in its application as having had the most positive impact on student performance.

The findings and conclusions presented here are the product of analysis, discussion, and observation, and are based on the evidence made available to the panel before and during their visit. A list of panel members who participated in the Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School review is provided in Appendix A. A detailed schedule of the panel's activities is provided in Appendix B.

School Profile

Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School is one of nine public schools in Melrose and the only school serving grades 6-8. Located on an open, green area on the Lynn Fells Parkway, the school currently enrolls 826 students of which 92% are white, 4% black, 2% Asian and 2% Hispanic. Six percent of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches, 3% speak a first language other than English, and 1% are classified as limited English proficient, all of which are well below state averages. The school's attendance rate of 95% is above both district and state averages.

There are 145 special education students at Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School who receive a combination of inclusion-based regular education and individual education plans. Fourteen teachers on the Staff Report list special education as their primary area of instruction, but all faculty teach special education students in regular classrooms. Support for the school's inclusion model consists of a Special Education Teacher Leader/Curriculum Facilitator and nine special education teachers, one for each of the school's grade-level teams. Other student support services include extended time / enrichment activities (for 394 students), small group instruction in speech and language development, ESL (for seven students) and a Total Communication Program for cognitively delayed students. The school does not offer TBE or gifted and talented classes.

Staffing

Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School has a full-time staff of 94 that includes one Assistant Principal, 69 teachers, three guidance counselors, one school psychologist, four teacher aides and two teacher leader/curriculum facilitators. The teacher - student ratio is 12 to one. The majority of the full-time teaching staff (76%) is either recently appointed (five or fewer years teaching experience) or veteran (over 20 years teaching). Of the full-time teaching staff of 69 teachers, 43 hold a master's degree. Melrose Veterans Memorial has been able to retain 26 of its teachers for 10 or more years of continuous service.

MCAS Results

The school was invited to apply for Compass School designation based on improvements in MCAS scores in English Language Arts and Mathematics that have exceeded Department of Elementary and Secondary Education improvement goals. The average scaled score in English Language Arts for 1998 (baseline) was 240, requiring an improvement of 1-3 points in the average scaled score for 1999/2000. The school exceeded this requirement, posting an average scaled score of 245 in ELA. This was accomplished as the percentage of students scoring in Proficient & Advanced steadily rose from 63% in 1998 to 79% in 2000. In Mathematics, the school also exceeded its improvement expectation by increasing the average scaled score from 228 in 1998 to 235 in the 1999/2000 average scaled score. This was accomplished largely because the school reduced the failure rate in math from 42% in 1998 to 22% in 2000. In both cases of ELA and Mathematics improvement, the school has continued to show increases in 2001 over the 2000 scores as the percentage of students scoring in ELA Proficient & Advanced rose to 86% and the Mathematics failure rate decreased to 14%.

Panel Responses To The Key Questions

KEY QUESTION 1: Is This School Using Effective Improvement Initiatives That Could Be Replicated In Other Similarly Profile Schools?

Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School reflects a culture that benefits from the vision and energy of a principal who promotes ambitious learning standards by challenging a highly collegial staff through a thoughtful program of professional development. Organizational change and the work of expanding professional proficiencies are consistently linked by a series of initiatives to improve teaching and learning.

There are several key underpinnings for the improvement effort. The school selected a proven, comprehensive model of instructional practice (The Skillful Teacher). Restructuring the school into nine grade-level teams was done to provide enhanced opportunities for collaboration and reflection. School leaders also developed a schedule more adaptable to student learning needs. The principal created the groundwork for change by initially teaching units from The Skillful Teacher himself and building staff leadership capacity by later having teachers lead the sessions. This was a totally internal effort and did not entail training from Research for Better Teaching, the organization that sponsors workshops on Skillful Teacher strategies. Communication across the building is clear, detailed and reaches every audience in an appropriate form. While resources are always a factor in replicability, the Panel noted that the chief initiatives were almost exclusively building-based and carried out during a time of budget limitations and personnel reductions.

A. Which improvement initiatives have had the greatest impact on student performance results?

Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School was cited for potential Compass consideration on the basis of progressive, substantial growth in MCAS from the baseline year of 1998 through 2001. In both Math and English Language Arts, the school exceeded improvement expectations. The principal's leadership report identifies The Skillful Teacher Book Club and the dedication of each monthly faculty meeting to some aspect of professional development as the most productive, positive factors contributing to improved student performance. The Book Club is a monthly teacher-facilitated session based on a specific segment of Saphier and Gower's, The Skillful Teacher. The second initiative, centered on delivering substantive professional development at faculty meetings, has produced an expanding, varied and rich series of offerings, generally led by a teacher and occasionally associated with some phase of best practice observed by the principal or emerging from department or team activity.

Based on interviews and the Compass application, the Panel affirmed both the reach and impact of the Book Club. It is in its third year of operation, with a new cluster of teachers voluntarily joining each year. Most of the staff has been engaged in Book Club sessions and used the attendant material from The Skillful Teacher. Those who have not participated are exposed to the strategies and language in team, grade or department meetings.

The scope of instructional improvement work is reflected in the school's MCAS Action Plan (part of the district's performance evaluation instrument) and monthly principal summaries of learning activities for teachers and students. With the guidance, encouragement and support of the principal, after school and professional day workshops and conferences evolve throughout the year and cover academic, social and community topics. Buy-in is achieved through a faculty needs survey driving the year's agenda; most of the workshop teaching is done by staff who are certified program trainers or have had successful experience in the field of study. The nature and complexity of the subject determines the instructional format. Forums include extended free team time, district professional development days, evenings and monthly staff meetings. A few important courses referenced by all stakeholders included: Project C.R.I.S.S. (instructional strategy), First Steps Writing, (district initiated, forming the basis for student portfolio development), Multiple Intelligences, Differentiated Instruction, The Middle School Child, Instructional Support Team Training, How The Brain Learns, Teaching Literature and Mathematics Problem Solving. Generally, 40-50 teachers receive training for the larger courses. The Compass leadership report and teacher interviews indicate that the power of what has been assembled comes from the faculty's belief that if diversity of learning style and opportunity is critical to teaching students, it is similarly critical to teaching adults.

B. How did the school plan their initiatives and put them into practice?

In his first year (1997), the principal launched discussions with grade level teams, the School Council and departments to identify a high-caliber, sustainable approach to professional development. A small core of teachers had participated in the district-sponsored Skillful Teacher in the early 90's. The principal valued this model and a collective decision was made to embrace The Skillful Teacher and introduce it to a broader faculty base. Incrementally, the principal and an increasing nucleus of teachers delivered its content and demonstrated its use. In 1999, the Book Club was formed to provide a structure for The Skillful Teacher. Mutual praise is exchanged between principal and staff to explain the success of the Book Club and for the larger slate of professional development opportunities. They describe a blueprint of how effective, collaborative leadership, consistently and deliberately focused on the conditions of learning, can improve student performance. Staff learning needs are identified by a systematic analysis at the beginning of the year, forming the basis for the professional development agenda.

As indicated in the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education staff narrative report, most teachers surveyed at Melrose expressed the need to address diverse learning styles and abilities. This resulted in the transformation of the team structure as a teacher "grass roots" effort was approved to assign a special needs teacher to each of the school's nine teams. Inclusion training and IEP development workshops for most staff was reinforced with the establishment of an Instructional Support Team, a pre-referral committee. The IST published a manual of interventions and accommodations for struggling learners and distributed it to all faculty members. In an effort to address the challenge of satisfying an array of student abilities, teachers formed a study group on differentiated instruction. The written teacher narrative prepared for the site visit and interviews with faculty and administrators reveal a staff now comfortable formulating multiple objectives, using a variety of materials and assessments to address a range of student abilities, thus ensuring equitable access to the school's curriculum. The Book Club is partially credited with facilitating this shift.

The teacher handbook and MCAS Action Plan outline changes central to strengthening key initiatives. Five daily team periods are scheduled into the day, allowing grade level teams to double block for extended learning time and flexible instructional groups. In addition to the district's formal evaluation instrument, the principal began using The Skillful Teacher to provide specific lesson feedback as an informal teacher evaluation mechanism. Although this is not part of the contractual process, teachers appreciate the principal's diligence and see this as a valuable instructional improvement tool. The staff handbook includes a set of essential, key questions in lesson planning and the taxonomy of critical thinking skills. This is included to stress the principal's goal of bringing higher order thinking skills to a place of prominence and to remind teachers how to structure effective lessons.

A more informed view of student assessment evolved from some of the directed professional development sessions and supported the school's three-year analysis of MCAS. The analysis revealed the learning skills requiring additional attention at the school. Teachers have been given the latitude to choose from a range of reporting practices when sending out mid quarter progress reports to parents. This process has been enhanced as staff members learn more about assessment.

The Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School monitors the effectiveness of its initiatives by noting teachers' participation levels in all forms of professional development, as both learners and instructors. The principal and faculty utilize formal and informal classroom visits, observation conferences, grade, department and team meetings to gauge the influence of the efficacy of Skillful Teacher training. Teacher-prepared tests, quarterly writing benchmarks and evidence of student work further verify the effectiveness of professional development. Common Planning Time (CPT) occurs every other day for all teams and is uniformly described as an outstanding vehicle for staff improvement and self- evaluation. Here, student work is analyzed, cooperative planning conducted and curriculum or instructional issues reviewed.

The principal mentioned two "next steps": "invite" the entire staff to become immersed in the Twenty-Four Principles of Learning and thoroughly explore proven instructional and learning strategies. Both of these goals are affiliated with the Saphier and Gowen's publication, The Skillful Teacher. The school created a highly praised homework hot-line web site. Course descriptions for every class and nightly homework assignments are posted from over 90% of the staff. Some individual web pages contain the evaluation standards for various assignments. Contributions and the degree of detailed class information from teachers differ but school leaders hope the level of input will be equalized over the next year. At staff meetings, teachers acknowledge the importance of analytical, critical, creative and organizational skills for students as well as teachers. These skills are becoming an integral part of lesson development, with plans to make it a more systematic focus next year. Several months ago the principal posted lists of critical and analytical skills and challenged teachers to initial a flag next to one of the skills and plan a lesson germane to the skill. This exemplifies his approach to change. According to teachers interviewed during the visit, the principal has gained their respect because the initiatives are collegially determined, always target student learning and are aimed at helping teachers do their jobs more effectively.

C. Does the school think these initiatives can be successfully used in similar schools? Why?

The faculty is confident that the initiatives themselves and the results produced are feasible in similar schools. While time and a historical perspective might reveal further benefits of professional development, stakeholders attribute some of the student performance progress to the following:

1.       All curricula are aligned to frameworks- with a clear scope and sequence and lists of learning strands included in the curriculum documents.

2.      The First Steps Writing Program employs portfolios for grades six and seven that are regularly assessed with common rubrics. Grade eight will adopt this next year.

3.      All subject area teachers submit quarterly writing samples to the principal for his review and feedback.

4.      Each grade has a critical writing theme for the year. This allows for more of a commitment to mastery as grade six does intensive work on procedure and process, seventh grade focuses on narrative activities and eighth grade handles persuasive writing.

5.      Purposeful, common planning time is scheduled every other day.

6.      There is student equity across teams as balance is achieved through heterogeneous grouping that considers special needs, gifted and talented students and pupils with diverse skills and abilities.

7.      Extensive analysis of MCAS data is done at the faculty, department and team levels and provides guidance for instructional strategy and curriculum.

8.      There exists a common understanding that MCAS is everyone's responsibility.

9.      School-wide use of MCAS practice material is in place.

10.   It was decided that all core academic staff would teach one class of literature in their schedules. This strengthens everyone's teaching repertoire, brings a common task to all teams and adds another dimension to literacy. Training has been supplied to math, science and social studies teachers who may not be experienced in literacy strategies.

11.   Leadership is distributed throughout the school. The staff has become responsible for their colleagues' learning as well as their own. Teams or departments decide how to use learning blocks, organize the daily schedule, deploy staff and utilize time.

12.   The pervasive atmosphere of collegiality was mentioned by new staff (19) as having made the acculturation process an easy one. Professional development is the point of convergence for seasoned and newer personnel. Teachers new to the career commented on the importance of this climate to the improvement of their craft.

13.   There is widespread use of skills and knowledge acquired during training with multiple intelligences, activators and summarizers to design lessons that integrate awareness of auditory, visual and kinesthetic learners.

KEY QUESTION 2: Are The Conditions In Place For This School To Serve As A Model Of Effective Practices And Successful Improvement Initiatives?

Clear and regular communication, commitment to a core set of effective strategies, and collegial respect and cooperation contribute to the capacity of the staff at Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School to serve as a model of effective practices and successful improvement initiatives.

A. Do leadership and staff have a shared understanding and use a common language to describe the changes/initiatives that have led to improvements in teaching and learning?

Effective channels of communication present a complete portrait of the school's professional development work. The daily bulletin contains a one or two line challenge from the principal to use a particular Skillful Teacher practice. The comprehensive principal's summary notes the month's professional development activities and student achievement highlights (school-wide) and is disseminated to staff, school council, PTO and school committee. This summary is also on the school web-site and informs parents of the work undertaken by faculty. The list of course presentations from the previous year appear in the school's MCAS Action Plan. Teachers are notified of local, regional and statewide conferences and the principal distributes articles of interest and references to journal articles.

Teacher focus groups and the principal disclosed that Writing Across the Curriculum is implemented by all teachers. This is substantiated by the principal's quarterly review of writing samples from all teachers, and the emphasis on writing for varied purposes demonstrated in student work displays. Math teachers indicated to the visiting panel a correlation between MCAS improvement and their use of "mathematical writing" over the course of the previous year. The adoption and implementation of anti-bullying and character education programs were mentioned by parent and teacher focus groups as having produced a markedly improved behavioral tone in the school. A segment of The Skillful Teacher was also applied to this endeavor. The common language of these programs was additional evidence cited by stakeholders of activities that unify staff.

B. How effectively do leadership and staff articulate the connections between specific changes and improvement initiatives they have implemented, and the improvements made in teaching and learning?

In written documents and interviews, staff members highlight the impact of after school homework classes, morning math and other academically constituted clubs as promoting student learning. In classroom observations, the visiting team noted numerous examples of Skillful Teacher methodology - - word walls to recap previous learning, inductive thinking activities, question and answer strategies, higher order writing prompts and the use of key questions. Each focus group interviewed during the visit was specific and unequivocal in their belief that the combination of rigorous staff development, restructuring, shared governance and sound parent involvement initiatives have produced a learning- centered school with high morale marked by trust and respect

C. Is there a school wide focus on, and sufficient investment in, continued improvement of student performance?

Teachers report conducting joint projects in both vertical and horizontal configurations. At the start of school, departments incorporate additions to core curriculum documents to include new information, skills and needs that surfaced during the previous year's professional development work. One after-school workshop on multiple intelligences involved eight groups of students in a simulation designed to provide greater significance to the presentation. Through regular meetings with the principal, participation in team meetings and written material from the school, parents become informed about curriculum and professional development. This information helps the PTO to work with teachers and administrators as they plan major school performances and events. In March, during national literacy month, the PTO organized and sponsored Writers Week, attracting authors, filmmakers and Boston Globe reporters/editors as presenters to all students.

Student agenda books are widely used to communicate homework assignments between teachers and parents. Common planning time for each team enables parents to meet with all teachers on a team on a regular basis to discuss student progress, personal matters or curriculum. Teachers confirmed that they value teaming and block scheduling so highly that they are choosing to absorb proposed budget cuts with larger class size to keep the current teaming concept intact. Many student and teacher recognition ceremonies honor excellence and reinforce a sense of community within school.

D. Does the school appear to have the capacity to host site visits and to participate in various activities to share effective strategies and practices with other schools in the state?

The Panel believes that The Melrose Veterans Middle School is well qualified to host future site visits. The facility is a vintage building, wonderfully maintained and simple to navigate. Both written material and conversation profile a faculty that has great pride in its accomplishments, confidence in the changes implemented and articulates reasons for their success. Everyone was gracious, the schedule is well coordinated and student work exhibits reflect reasoning, experimental inquiry and a variety of critical thinking skills. If selected as a Compass School, teachers felt that observing a full staff meeting, Book Club or team process would be most productive and worthwhile for other educators.

E. Are there any reasons why the school should not be used as a Commonwealth Compass School?

There is no reason that Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School could not serve as a Commonwealth Compass School. The Panel's findings confirm the claims made by leadership and staff concerning the impact of prominent initiatives. Performance and accountability standards are ambitious. They are carried out in an upbeat, calm and professional climate. The children are hard working, appreciative of the adults in the school and extremely pleasant.

Appendix A
Team Members

Scott Kelley, Chair, MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Accountability and Targeted Assistance
Nick Feldman, Team Member, Consultant, Schoolworks, Beverly, MA
Joanne Grenier, Team Member, Director of Instructional Services, Marlborough Schools, Marlborough, MA
Deidre Haley, Team Member, Instructional Specialist, Lowell, MA
Cindy Palazzi, Team Member, Teacher, Agawam, MA

              Posted by Principal Brow - 01/02/09