Superintendent Lays Out 100 Day Plan for Melrose Schools

Facing a school system still in flux, new Melrose Schools Superintendent Cyndy Taymore is laying out a plan to implement change within the district in four specific areas by the end of October.

In a meeting with the press on Tuesday morning, Taymore said that an entry plan is one component of an induction program run in a cooperative effort by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents. However, that entry plan has a longer, drawn out time frame.

"Given the amount of change Melrose is experiencing, we decided that I would do a '100 day plan' to immediately address some of the concerns," she said. Taymore's immediate plan will also be rolled into her long term entry plan.

The four major tasks included in Taymore's plan include:

• Strengthen the use of data to drive teaching and learning. "It's still the art of teaching," she said, "but there's a scientific basis to it to develop those strategies."

• Develop an effective system to evaluate teacher performance and improve student outcomes. Because , the district is required to implement the new teacher performance evaulation system by September.

• Accelerate the implementation of the new state frameworks and . "One of my concerns through my research is a lot of the lead up work is not where I would’ve liked it," Taymore said. "I would've liked more frameworks aligning with Common Core. They’re (teachers) going to be evaluated on this, they should have resources and tools they need."

• Increase communications and discourse. "There should be a vigorous discussion about education," she said.

Using Data in Teaching and Learning

is in knee-deep on using data to drive teaching and learning, Taymore said, having held three professional development sessions already for Melrose teachers. She and Taymore will do training for staff regarding the smart goals included in the new evaluation process, then examine the benchmarks for assessing student learning.

"I think you’re going to see a lot of immediate effect," Taymore said.

Using data to drive teaching and learning has been a common refrain in Melrose over the past several years. So what specifically makes this focus different?

Taymore said upcoming initiatives require a narrow focus when it comes to developing a strategy to increase data-driven teaching and learning—specifically, the Common Core curriculum and the gradual replacement of MCAS exams with PARCC exams, all which requires training to get teachers on the same page.

"You have to have agreed upon outcomes, assessements, staff that know how to analyze the data and then know what to do with the data when they have it," she said. "That takes professional development. It takes time during the day andit  takes practice. And you don’t build that system overnight."

Both the Common Core and PARCC exams focus more on skill sets, Taymore said: in other words, applying skills learned in the classroom rather than simply regurgitating memorized content.

The schools' technology infrastructure plays into this as well, Taymore said, in terms of storing data, using techology to analyze the data and develop plans, and making the data available to parents.

Grading Teachers

With the state having released regulations for the new educator evaluator system, Taymore said the district is in the process of negotiating with the Melrose Education Association teacher's union for adoption of the system. She stressed that adopting the new evaluation system is a partnership, with teachers having a say in determining the goals and what evidence is used to measure those goals.

"This is not going to be an easy process, it’s going to be bumpy, and we’re going to do this together," she said.

Part of the bumpiness comes from the expanded expectations of teachers, which focus not only the classroom, Taymore said, but on relationships with staff and students, and operation matters. Mandates from the state add to the mix—from anti-bullying to a new nutritional policy—and expanded technology has shifted the focus from the three R's of reading, writing and arthmetic to the four C's of creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration.

Taymore shared a draft page from the state showing the various standards teacher should be evaulated on, such as 'Respects Differences' and 'Professional Collaboration.'

"How do I evaluate that you respect differences, or that you collaborate effectively?" she said. "Even the state recognizes this is something that’s going to evolve over time. It's a three-year rollout."

Common Core: Focus on Literacy

State education commissioner Mitchell D. Chester spoke recently at the annual Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents conference, according to Taymore, and said that "without a doubt" the changes to the state's literacy and math frameworks stemming from Common Core present a significant challenge.

One of the prime focuses of the Common Core is literacy across the curriculum and in all subject areas, a focus mentioned during the for aligning class schedules and maximizing their support staff.

Because of that, Adams has begun professional development opportunities for staff around literacy matters, reviewing the schools' math series to see how its aligned with the Common Core, while not ignoring the rest of the curriculum.

"We need to prioritize it, need to support staff, and quite honestly, when developing curriculum, you need to allow people to pilot, play with it and fail with it," Taymore said. "That’s an uncomfortable position for many people, staff and parents. But I can’t tell you whether this instructional practice works until I try and see what I get results for the kids."

Community Discussion: What Should Education Look Like?

Taymore seeks to collaborate with the Melrose Education Coalition (MEC) a volunteer group, to launch an information series about "pressing educational issues" that provide Melrosians with "impartial information," as stated in her plan. The new superintendent said that MEC co-founder Lisa Lewis contacted Taymore prior to her officially starting in Melrose.

"They have some great ideas about the education forums, about partnering with schools," she said. "I think the more we can educate people about what education looks like and should be, the more parents are able to help children, the more the community is able to support us."

Melrose Schools already have a "fabulous" support system, Taymore said, with The Bridge: A School/Community Partnership, which manages volunteers in the schools.

More of that will be needed going forward with the Common Core and science, math and technology initiatives, Taymore said.

"We're going to have to look to our experts in the community to implement this and understand it," We need to improve communications throughout the district. The mayor and I are having a long conversation about the role of web and social media in schools ... that has to be a community conversation about what it should look like, how do we make it safe, and how do we make it useful for all members of the community."