Alliance for Excellent Education American High School Policy Conference Adolescent Literacy: On the Ground Ellen Guiney, Boston Plan for Excellence Thomas Payzant, Boston Public Schools

Boston’s Context High-stakes, challenging state exam: MCAS “Two states, New York and Massachusetts, seem to have adopted assessments that measure the reading and writing skills that colleges say they need, and come close to closing the mathematics gap as well.” – Education Trust review of eight high school exams High school students have at least five opportunities to take and pass ELA and Math MCAS

Percentage of Boston’s High School Students Passing the MCAS 1999 to 2003

Boston Public Schools Sophomores Passing MCAS on First Try Passing MCAS in ELA and Math became a state graduation requirement in June 2003, and by then 82% of Boston’s seniors had passed. Sophomore 1999Sophomore 2001Sophomore 2003

Percentage of Students Proficient and Advanced Grade 10 18% 19% 22% 31% 34% 36% 13%15% 22% 24% 28% 37%

Theory of Action “If the interwoven problems of alienation and poor literacy skills are addressed intensively, growth in student learning will accelerate and there will be fundamentally changed relationships among students, teachers, and the world beyond school.” Actions:  Personalized classrooms and schools through SLCs and small high schools  Workshop approach to instruction

Literacy Approach: Workshop Embedded in a whole-school improvement framework with six “essential” activities Full-time, on-site coach in every school PD model that supports teachers as they analyze practice together: Collaborative Coaching & Learning (CCL) PD for headmasters so they understand and can lead the instructional approach: learning walks Clear written expectations and tools for teachers and school leaders Clear written expectations for central office support for schools

Workshop Approach Time Ownership Response Community

How Do We Know It Is Working? Rising test scores Outside evaluator reports Teacher testimony Student interviews On-site observations

On Workshop “We have indicators of changes in students that suggest an early impact of the workshop instruction strategies.” Education Matters, Inc., 2003

On CCL “Teachers witness firsthand that CCL really does produce better learning. I think that’s the strongest intrinsic motivator a teacher can have.” BPS Principal Education Matters, Inc., 2003

What are the Lessons Learned to Date? What is Needed? Integration of workshop and curricula More work on understanding the principles underlying workshop Emphasis on workshop as a different approach to teaching, not as a set of different activities Breaking down of norms of isolation among teachers A focus on student learning results tied to workshop and CCL