As many as 16 supervisory unions and districts across Vermont have volunteered to pilot a quality review system this school year for the Agency of Education.
The feedback will create the protocols and procedures that will become part of an overall school quality review system. In 2013, the State Board of Education adopted new standards designed to make sure all high school graduates are ready for work or college and along with it a requirement to assess the progress and quality of the schools through an Education Quality Review.
The Integrated Field Review (IFR) along with an Annual Snapshot Review will together make up the combined Education Quality Review – the mechanism the state will use to evaluate how well schools are imparting the new standards. The Montpelier School District is among those that stepped up for the field study.
Michael Martin, Montpelier’s director of curriculum and technology, said that he and other educators in Vermont are “energized” by the agency’s approach.
“It is great to be brought into the process. After a decade-and-a-half of No Child Left Behind, we are finally realizing that top-down punitive labeling is no way to improve schools,” he said. “We are thrilled to be working with an agency that is looking for a broader and deeper definition of what excellence means in our schools.”
The observations and data collected during the field study will not be used to hold any of the schools accountable, but it will determine what indicators are important, the best way to collect the information and how to report it out.
“We can say what works and what doesn’t work,” Fowler said, “then when we do use it for statistical accountability purposes it will have been vetted by the very folks who work in the school. It will have been built in partnership with them instead of something that has been done to them.”
Unlike the federal law that has forced schools to meet annual yearly progress goals set by Washington and determined by test scores, the Integrated Field Review will use multiple measures to determine student and school success.
The AOE describes the criteria as including:
• Academic Achievement: Evaluators will look for evidence of a coordinated curriculum, proficiency-based learning, a local testing system, an array of academic offerings, sound instructional practices.
• Personalized Learning: Evidence of the development and use of personal learning plans, flexible pathways, as well as student and parent choice and involvement in the chosen learning path.
• Safety and School Climate: Making sure there are plans to prevent discipline problems and that there are safe learning spaces.
• High Quality Staffing: Evidence of strong evaluation systems, practices in place for recruitment and retention, and professional development opportunities.
• Financial Efficiencies: Listed as policies and practices prescribed by statute and regulation, efforts to minimize costs in ways that are educationally sound and evaluation of programs for cost effectiveness.
Instead of looking at a “dipstick” style measure once a year via New England Common Assessment Program or Smarter Balance the way that NCLB has used tests to see if schools are meeting yearly goals, Martin says, the new reviews will provide context and richer evidence of student learning, indicators more in line with 21st century learning.
“We believe it is a better way to look at how well schools are doing,” Martin said. “The idea is that no matter who you are or what district you are or what school you are we can always do better.”
The agency isn’t sure how the Education Quality Reviews will jibe with No Child Left Behind reporting, nor have they determined how it will be used for corrective actions.
What they are sure of is that they plan to use it as part of a feedback system meant to provoke continuous improvement in the schools.
The field study will be carried out by teams made up of educators from other supervisory unions and supervisory districts, as well as AOE staff and some local students. They will observe classes, review student work, and participate in panel discussions and interviews with stakeholders from the local community to build an appraisal of the school system’s performance.
The published reports will include a summary of the data collected, recommendations and assessments of performance, according to the AOE.
“The groups that have volunteered to do this have volunteered to set the course for the future of Vermont’s state policy,” Fowler said. “I’m grateful there were 16 supervisory unions willing to jump in and give their time to shape this policy moving forward.”
