FYI from BSF, 06.03.22
Early Resolutions
With a round of interviews completed, we may learn the finalists for Boston’s superintendent as early as next week.
The district’s newest leader will be responsible for a continuing response to one of the largest shifts in the city over the past 20 years: the increase in English learners.
The share has nearly doubled.
“English learner” is a classification determined by a school or school district. Using screening and assessments, students are classified as English learners and assigned a level that determines their services or interventions (e.g., instruction in home language, pull-out for tutoring, etc). The goal, borrowing language from special education, is for students to move to less and less restrictive environments, and participate fully in general education classrooms. Federal guidelines and the Massachusetts 2019 LOOK Act provide the framework and accountability for this work.
In 2010, the United States Department of Justice determined that Boston Public Schools was violating civil rights due to failures in classification and services for English learners; a settlement agreement with Boston Public Schools began, in 2011, dictating practices and monitoring. Despite this, adequate support for English learners was a finding in both the 2020 and 2022 state audits of Boston Public Schools. Just this past week, a former director of the Office of English Language Learners accused the district of improper practices. English learner services is one of the small number of topics being negotiated between the city (their version) and the state (their version) in an effort to avoid receivership.
But for all this, there are bright spots. English learners who progress in their proficiency do well in school, very well.
There is a lot made of the connection or correlation between demographics and standardized tests. That is not the case for English learners in Boston schools (BPS and charter).
There is a slightly negative relationship between concentration of English learners and a school’s standardized test performance, but it is not significant. As you scroll through individual schools, there are numerous examples of schools with high concentrations of English learners (examples: the Winship, several East Boston elementary schools, the Harvard-Kent) that also have strong student outcomes.
With continued federal oversight, potential state oversight, and 6 directors of English learners in three years, it is clear there are issues at the central office.
However, there are lot of good things happening at schools and in classrooms for English learners in Boston. Scaling what is working in many schools will not only improve outcomes for more English learners, but drive systemic improvement for the entire district.
A great opportunity for our next superintendent.
Reopening Boston, MA, and Beyond
School reported COVID cases fell again this week (down +35% across Massachusetts and in Boston). The future of this sort of reporting is in question, however, as the state will stop funding testing in districts next fall. Some restrictions for unvaccinated students and quarantining have also been relaxed.
The Annual Report on the Condition of Education (2022) confirms the local trends are national trends around the effects of the pandemic on enrollment, assessment, etc.
Other Matters
Concerns are being raised about two Boston schools known for effective inclusion models, the Manning and the Henderson.
What happened at the Georgetown-Roxbury Prep game?
A great annual tradition: the BPS valedictorian lunch.
