69ý

Teaching Profession

Boston’s Small ‘Pilot’ 69ý Found to Outperform Others

By Kathleen Kennedy Manzo — January 24, 2006 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

Boston’s experiment with small, autonomous public schools appears to be paying off in higher test scores, attendance, and college-going rates, a report sponsored by supporters of the schools concludes.

69ý in the city’s network of 19 “pilot” schools—set up through a partnership between the Boston school district and its teachers’ union—outperformed their counterparts in the city’s regular public schools on various indicators of student engagement and performance, the study says.

is available from the .

The report comes amid an ongoing dispute over the schools between the teachers’ union and district officials that has stalled the program’s expansion.

“Taken together, the pilot school results strongly suggest that personalized, autonomous schools are able to create nurturing learning environments in which students achieve academically,” says the study, released last week.

The analysis compares state test scores in English/language arts and mathematics for students in 14 of the pilot schools, covering grades K-12, with those of their peers in other public schools in the city. It also gauges student mobility and grade-retention rates, as well as other indicators of school effectiveness.

The report was commissioned by the Center for Collaborative Education, a Boston-based advocacy organization that promotes small schools and supports the pilot school project. Several independent researchers reviewed it.

Boston Superintendent Thomas W. Payzant, third from left, speaks during a panel discussion on the city's experimental "pilot" schools with, from left, Boston Foundation President Paul S. Grogan; Peggy S. Kemp, the director of Fenway High School; Richard F. Stutman, the president of the Boston Teachers Union; Adam Urbanski, the president of the Rochester, N.Y., teacher's union; and Arthur Williams, a teacher and parent of pilot school students.

Established by the 59,000-student district in 1994, the pilot schools are part of the 145-school system, and their teachers are covered by the union contract. But they have decisionmaking power over staffing, budget, curriculum, the calendar, and governance.

“Low class sizes, … low student-teacher loads, longer instructional periods, … collaborative planning time for faculty,” Dan French, the center’s executive director, said at a panel discussion of the report last week. “These are all ingredients that result in promising engagement and performance results.”

National Notice

At the high school level, for example, more than 80 percent of the pilot school students passed the state tests in English/language arts and math, compared with fewer than 60 percent in other schools. And 75 percent of 2003 graduates of pilot schools went on to college, compared with 49 percent of graduates of regular public schools.

While the pilot schools aim to enroll students who are representative of district demographics, they have lower percentages of Latino students, English- language learners, and students who qualify for federally subsidized lunches, a standard measure of poverty.

Conceived as the district’s answer to charter schools, pilot schools have won praise from educators, business leaders, and community groups for providing school choice and innovation within the public school system.

Speaking on last week’s panel, Adam Urbanski, a Rochester, N.Y.-based union leader who directs the Teacher Union Reform Network, called the city’s pilot school initiative “one of the most important and one of the most promising examples in this nation, not only for labor-management collaboration, but for change strategies for schools.”

Growth Stalled

Yet the expansion of the program was blocked in 2003 by the Boston Teachers Union, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, and has been stalled ever since. A central issue in the dispute is whether the pilot schools should uniformly pay teachers for overtime hours. The union also wants some of the same autonomy for other public schools. (“After a 10-Year Run, Boston ‘Pilot’ 69ý Sore Point for Union,” July 13, 2005.)

Aside from those concerns, BTU President Richard F. Stutman, who participated in the panel discussion, said he agrees with the report’s findings.

“The solution to the current standstill [over expansion of the program] will surely be collectively bargained and celebrated,” he said. “We are committed to what works well. We see the need for pilot schools to grow and expand.”

The district’s search for a new superintendent to replace Thomas W. Payzant, who will retire at the end of the school year, and the negotiation of a new teachers’ contract this year loom large over the effort to resolve the standoff.

At last week’s event, Mr. Payzant called the pilot schools “an incredible model in an environment where, whether we acknowledge it or not, it’s all about competition and choice.”

A version of this article appeared in the January 25, 2006 edition of Education Week as Boston’s Small ‘Pilot’ 69ý Found to Outperform Others

Events

School & District Management Webinar Crafting Outcomes-Based Contracts That Work for Everyone
Discover the power of outcomes-based contracts and how they can drive student achievement.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
Harnessing AI to Address Chronic Absenteeism in 69ý
Learn how AI can help your district improve student attendance and boost academic outcomes.
Content provided by 
School & District Management Webinar EdMarketer Quick Hit: What’s Trending among K-12 Leaders?
What issues are keeping K-12 leaders up at night? Join us for EdMarketer Quick Hit: What’s Trending among K-12 Leaders?

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Teaching Profession Data What Teacher Pay and Benefits Look Like, in Charts
A third of teachers report inadequate pay, and Black teachers are the likeliest to do extra unpaid work.
4 min read
Vector illustration of a woman turning a piggy bank upside down with nothing but a few coins and flies falling out of it.
iStock/Getty
Teaching Profession The State of Teaching Why Teachers Likely Take So Few Days Off
The perception coincides with teachers' low levels of job satisfaction.
3 min read
survey teachers static
via Canva
Teaching Profession What the Research Says The More 69ý Miss Class, the Worse Teachers Feel About Their Jobs
Missing kids take a toll on teachers' morale, new research says. Here's how educators can cope with absenteeism.
4 min read
An empty elementary school classroom is seen on Aug. 17, 2021 in the Bronx borough of New York. Nationwide, students have been absent at record rates since schools reopened after COVID-forced closures. More than a quarter of students missed at least 10% of the 2021-22 school year.
An empty elementary school classroom is seen on Aug. 17, 2021 in the Bronx borough of New York. Nationwide, students have been absent at record rates since schools reopened after COVID-forced closures. Now research suggests the phenomenon may be depressing teachers' job satisfaction.
Brittainy Newman/AP
Teaching Profession Will Your Classroom Get Enough 'Likes'? Teachers Feel the Social Media Pressure
Teachers active on social media feel the competition to showcase innovative lessons and beautiful decorations.
5 min read
Image of a cellphone on a desk.
iStock/Getty