WESTFIELD – Last night, the Westfield School Committee took the opportunity to both review the progress the district has made this year to date, and to look to the future.
After welcoming new member Jeffrey Gosselin to the table, the committee also recognized the recently crowned western Mass. champion Westfield High School Gymnastics team, fresh off their seventh straight regional title.
This was followed by Westfield Superintendent Dr. Suzanne Scallion highlighting strategic objectives and student achievement gains made during this fall, progress for a district which is looking to continue it’s rise up out of Level Three status.
Strategic objectives for the district included using the Massachusetts Frameworks as “a foundation to align and implement curriculum and instructional programs to improve student achievement”, to develop “a focused, coordinated professional development programs to cultivate professional skills of staff”, and to allocate resources with “equity and transparency” in the district, which will go to pay for “cirriculm materials, technology, staffing and facility upgrades.”
Other objectives are to maximize the district’s capacity to “collaborate as a ‘coordinated school system and instructional leaders” and to develop district programs which meet the needs of all learners.
“This is something I hope is at the forefront of your minds at all times. I know it’s at the principal’s at all times,” Scallion said.
District gains were highlighted regarding Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills in the Superintendent’s report, with significant gains being made at Highland and Franklin Elementary Schools, where the Imagine Learning program has been implemented at both schools. The program will be accessible to kindergarteners citywide this year.
“We fully expect to see the number of students who qualify for special education decline. We are now 140 students fewer than we were three years ago,” Scallion said.
The district also made gains toward it’s goals for the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam established when Massachusetts was granted a flexibility waiver under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2012, which enabled the state to replace the previous goal of 100 percent proficiency by 2013-2014, which Scallion referred to as “ridiculous”, with a more realistic goal of reducing proficiency gaps in half by 2016-2017.
“Our bar was set by our scores a year ago,” she explained. “Our annual targets are going to go up 20 percent every year towards our goal, so even as we continue to make progress, we’re climbing 20 percent every year. That’s going to be challenging.”
Scallion also added that the district’s proficiency gaps are fixed and were determined in 2012 and do not reflect changes in the city’s student demographics.
“We continue to experience growth in our high needs subgroups, particularly are English learners,” she said. “We have a bunch of kids coming in who have never lived anywhere but a refugee camp. So we have got to be prepared for the needs of those students in our schools and our community.”
Westfield was named a Model Practice District, with Scallion and Highland Elementary Principal James Kane selected to attend and present at a National Summit of Superintendents in Utah last fall. Highland Elementary was awarded Super School recognition for outstanding implementation of the Imagine Learning.
The city was also one of three districts statewide to receive “Model District” recognition due to their use of Title I funds, used under the flexibility waiver of the NCLB for such programs as Extended Day, Summer School, Read 180 and Imagine Learning.
Dr. Jen Alexander, the district’s administrator of student interventions, will be presenting the district’s model at the Rennie Center in Cambridge later this month.
“These have been district-wide efforts, and our principals deserve as much credit as anyone else, so hats off to you.” Scallion said to thunderous applause in the council chambers.
“We have rolled our initiatives out with great care. We have not done things in a way that has intentionally overwhelmed anybody,” Scallion said, adding that other districts have been forced to implement programs quickly due to their poor performance. “This pacing of ourselves is very important to successfully implement changes and align ourselves with the state mandated Common Core. We were behind, and we have made some important gains.”
“We must continue with our efforts and purchase materials and curriculum programs in line with the new standards. We’re not there yet,” she said. “We have fourth and fifth grade literacy to think about next year. We’re piloting programs this year… the next frontier is going to be science for kindergarten through twelfth grade. We have a way to go, but in terms of the last three years, I would say we’re at least halfway there in terms of implementation of licenses and textbooks.”
Scallion also alluded to potential budgetary concerns, but said that overall, she is pleased wih the district’s progress.
“We’ve pared staffing down, and we can’t hit much more,” she said. “Our class sizes are at the max 20 to 24 benchmark. We have to look at newcomers and materials but, where we are at the halfway mark, we’re proud of the work in our schools.”
