Results, April 2000

Copyright, National Staff Development Council, 2000. All rights reserved.

Five years ago, this was hardly the picture at Baldwin. Student achievement was low enough to require district intervention and teachers were largely left to their own devices. One teacher described it as "relaxed,’’ another as a place where "everybody did whatever they did.’’ That led to an atmosphere parents and teachers described as chaotic and disorganized. "Literally, there was fighting in the halls. There was constant turmoil among both kids and adults,’’ said principal Suzanne Lee.

But several years of dynamic leadership, vision, prodding, external encouragement, and increased resources has enabled Baldwin to become a school with a healthier culture, common curricular focus, organized faculty teams, and student achievement that exceeds the overall improvement of other Boston schools.

Baldwin is one of the nine schools profiled in Hope for Urban Education, a U.S. Department of Education report which examined the reasons underlying the ability of these schools to succeed.

Between 1994 and 1996, several major changes occurred at the district which influenced Baldwin’s ability to improve:

* The Boston Foundation, a local foundation supporting public education, began to emphasize whole-school reform. For example, the foundation supported the city’s Schools for the 21st Century program which includes resources for professional development. Baldwin was one of the first schools in this program.

* Tom Payzant was hired as superintendent. He introduced more focus on student achievement, accountability, and using data for decisions. He also introduced a new restructuring plan for the district that provided principals with professional development and a professional group for support. Work also began on city-wide learning standards which were adopted over the next two years.

* Intervention teams of teachers, administrators, and central office staff were sent in to help under-performing schools. Baldwin was one of the schools targeted for such help.

Suzanne Lee, who became principal in 1996, moved quickly to re-shape the culture in the building by focusing on some very symbolic and substantive areas.

For example, she moved quickly to reduce the number of students in the building. When she arrived, the school had 350 students; today, it has about 280. "The building was too small for the number of kids they stuffed in here…The cafeteria is very small. So, if you have 120 kids down there, it’s ridiculous. Of course they get into fights. You don’t even have any elbow room,’’ she said.

To help build trust with teachers, she worked to ensure that teachers had supplies they needed. Five years ago, teachers were literally hoarding supplies because supplies were so limited and the supply door locked. "(Ms. Lee has) gone to the nth degree to get more than enough supplies….(She) has made it so that I can go to her and ask her to buy things we need. She has encouraged us to do that,’’ said one teacher.

Lee also began a tradition of writing a daily memo to the staff as a way to improve the communication in the building as well as to celebrate teacher successes. "I try to look at the positive things people were doing in a very difficult situation,’’ she said.

For some of the teachers, the changing environment and expectations at Baldwin were welcome; other teachers, however, were resistant. For example, one veteran teacher did not want to give up "pull-out’’ remedial reading instruction which did not fit a whole-school literacy orientation. That teacher is no longer at the school. But other teachers recognized that, because of the district orientation, change was inevitable and going to another school would not be a way to avoid it.

Because of the emphasis on whole-school, rather than piecemeal reform, the faculty was encouraged to identify a single focus to guide its work. Teachers identified literacy as the school’s focus and, with the help of an external coach assigned by the 21st Century Project, researched various literacy programs before choosing First Steps for the school.

"The terms and the strategies for literacy, reading, and writing are consistent from kindergarten through 5th grade. Students hear the same language, the same approaches. The school has really unified,’’ said one teacher.

Identifying struggling students is made easier because the district central office makes disaggregated student achievement data more readily available to schools. At Baldwin, Lee and the teachers formally and informally review the data to identify students who are struggling or in danger of falling through the cracks.

Other areas of change at the school:

Introducing regular teacher meetings. "Before this, there were few meetings where the entire staff meet. But, now, there are regularly scheduled meetings. So, just by being there and listening, you get to know somebody and know their ideas and how they approach things,’’ said one teacher.

Another teacher said, "Before, there was silence and then after the meetings, they would talk. Discussion is more positive, not putting each other down.’’

Reviewing student work. Another part of the 21st Century project involves reviewing student work and data in relation to city-wide learning standards. The external coach leads this activity and uses the protocol and rubrics developed by the Education Trust.

"At first, I thought it was huge waste of time. But, with this focus, I’ve learned to ask, ‘Did I get them ready for it? Did I give them enough direction?’ It makes you look at the way you prepare them for the assignment and the actual instrumentation. I see it now as an asset,’’ said one teacher.

Providing principal development. Establishing school clusters in Boston also influenced changes at Baldwin. The school is now part of a cluster and principals of these schools meet monthly and visit each other’s schools. In the first year, each principal did a local needs assessment and wrote a comprehensive school plan. The other principals in the cluster reviewed the plan, using a protocol similar to the one that teachers use to review student work. Since then, this cluster has grown into a strong network of professional support and advice.

In the words of one Baldwin teacher who tried to summarize the changes at the school: "Before we were disconnected. Now, we’re a unified body.’’

Each of the nine schools named in the Hope for Urban Education report is a Title I-funded school designated as a schoolwide project. They are:

• Harriet A. Baldwin School, Boston

• Baskin Elementary, San Antonio, Tex.

• Burgess Elementary, Atlanta, Ga.

• Centerville Elementary, East St. Louis, Ill.

• Goodale Elementary, Detroit, Mich.

• Hawley Environmental Elementary, Milwaukee, Wis.

• Lora B. Peck Elementary, Houston, Texas

• Gladys Noon Spellman Elementary, Cheverly, Md.