The Boston People’s
Voice
Volume 6, Issue 17, November 7-November 20, 2003 [lead
story, page 1]
Studies Find Good Work in Boston Pilot Schools
A study of Boston Pilot schools over the past five years, released today,
concludes that these innovative public schools within the Boston school
system are doing a “commendable” job of educating their students,
while working with a student population that roughly mirrors the district’s
student population.
The study finds that Pilots “are among the top performing schools
in Boston on the MCAS, have among the highest daily student attendance
of all BPS schools, graduate a high percentage of their students, and
send a high percent of their graduates to college,” all while serving
“a student population that is generally representative of the larger
BPS student population.”
An accompanying study released today looks at how the schools use authentic
assessment, one of the key tools of the Pilots. “How Pilot Schools
Authentically Assess Student Mastery” examines the use of exhibitions,
portfolios, and demonstrations for assessing students, looking at the
positive effects of these modes of assessment on students, faculty, and
the community.
The quantitative report, “How Are Boston Pilot School Students Faring?
Student Demographics, Engagement, and Performance, 1997-2002,” by
researchers at the Center for Collaborative Education, offers data from
as recently as this past spring, when 79% of graduating seniors from three
Pilot high schools had plans to attend college. It also looks at Pilot
high schools serving special populations, such as Boston Evening Academy
and Greater Egleston, in which many students had previously dropped out
of high school, and where a significant percentage of the students are
older, work, and/or have kids. These schools respectively had graduation
rates of 83% and 90%, remarkable given the likelihood that many of the
students would not have completed high school and received diplomas in
the absence of such schools.
Other findings, reflecting “student engagement,” are that Pilots
rank among the BPS schools with the highest attendance rates and the lowest
suspension rates, reflecting the safe, personalized cultures of these
schools. In the most recent year reported, Boston’s top three non-exam
high schools for attendance were all Pilots, as were the top two middle
schools. Over the 5-year study, all Pilot elementary schools have been
in the top half of attendance.
In terms of demographics, the study shows that Pilots serve students
representative of BPS by race, free/reduced lunch status, and special
education mainstream status. Both the BPS and the Pilots have student
populations that are roughly half African-American, a quarter Hispanic,
a sixth White, a tenth Asian, and less than 1 percent Native American.
Using “free/reduced lunch” as an economic indicator, the middle
and high schools showed the same percentage for Pilots as for the district,
while the three Pilot elementary schools had 56% in this category, compared
with the district average of 82%. Pilots also enroll an equal (to the
district) percentage of students classified as special education mainstream.
To look at MCAS results (which are de-emphasized in the personalized
approach to education in the Pilots), the study considered three statistics:
actual scores, percentage of students in “advanced” and “proficient,”
and percentage of students passing. In the key tenth grade year, which
counts for eligibility for graduation, three Pilot high schools (Boston
Arts Academy, Fenway, and Health Careers Academy) scored just behind the
examination schools in city rankings for the English Language Arts section
of the MCAS, in all three statistics. In the Mathematics section, BAA
and Fenway again scored just behind the exam schools.
The report concludes: “How do Pilot Schools achieve success with
their students? Their status as Pilot Schools, with autonomy from the
district over budget, staffing, scheduling, governance, and curriculum,
allows them to create unified learning communities. Their smallness allows
staff and students to know each other well, and structures such as smaller
learning communities and advisories allow relationships among school community
members to build over time.”
This data mirrors that found about small, autonomous schools across the
country. “The data continue to show that small, autonomous schools
produce results,” says Beatriz Zapater, co-director of the New England
Small Schools Network. “The data provide a strong basis for our work
to convert large high schools across the state to small, autonomous schools
where teachers collaborate to improve instruction and learning.”
The report examines student demographics, achievement, and engagement
at the eleven Pilot schools that have been in operation for more than
one year. Recently there has been an increase in Pilot schools, so that
today there are nineteen Boston Pilot Schools spanning grades K-12 and
serving approximately 5,700 students, or 9% of the total Boston Public
Schools enrollment.
Boston Pilot schools were first created in 1994 to promote innovation
and increased choice options within the Boston school district. Unlike
most urban schools, Boston Pilot Schools have control over budget, staffing,
curriculum, governance, and time, in exchange for a high level of accountability
in the form of a School Quality Review every four years.
The Center for Collaborative Education, located in Roxbury, is home to
several educational reform networks, including the Pilot School Network.
The two published reports are available from CCE at 1135 Tremont St.,
Boston 02120 (617-421-0134). They can also be downloaded from the CCE
web site at: http://www.ccebos.org/pubslinks.html.
Contacts: 617.421.0134, rfrank@ccebos.org
Robert Frank, Communications
Dan French, Executive Director
Dawn Lewis, Pilot School Network
Dania Vazquez, Pilot School Network
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