Strategic Operating Plan Adopted For New London Public Schools

The Board of Education unanimously approved a strategic operating plan Thursday, culminating a lengthy process to outline a method for New London Public Schools to improve over the next three years.

The Board has been working to develop individual components of the strategic operating plan since the Connecticut Board of Education appointed Dr. Steven Adamowski as a special master to the district. The plan’s features include the vision statement, theory of action, performance targets, strategies, and implementation steps.

Board members made some small changes to the plan, but the majority of the recommended steps and strategies remained in place. President Margaret Curtin said she supported the establishment of a plan, but thought the Board did not have enough latitude to make changes to the implementation steps.

“I don’t know why we’ve been sitting here going through these actions for the past several months when we can’t make any decisions here,” she said.

Superintendent Nicholas Fischer said the Board could recommend changes in the plan for consideration by the State Board of Education. However, he said the state would likely overrule some suggestions, such as Curtin’s proposal to allow low-performing schools to claim mitigating factors such as student mobility if they are struggling to meet performance goals. Katherine Ericson, the district’s chief academic officer, said the plan should set clearer benchmarks.

“I don’t want to create a foggy message to people,” said Ericson.

Fischer said suggestions to table the plan for further review would also not be feasible since Adamowski needs to present the proposal to the state board.

“You can make changes but I’m just telling you that we have to submit this plan to Dr. Adamowski,” said Fischer.

A suggestion to utilize Teach For America as one recruitment option brought some controversy, with opponents saying these teachers require minimal training and are more likely to leave the district. Fischer said the program is often used by urban districts due to a higher rate of attrition.

“I know the argument is they don’t stay,” said Fischer. “Frankly, the reality is many teachers in urban districts don’t stay. The attrition rate in urban districts is very high.”

Secretary Jason Catala said he thought the plan included Teach For America as an option but did not mandate its use.

“Teach for America may be five or six teachers,” he said. “It may never happen. It’s a suggestion.”

The Board unanimously voted to investigate using the program after a motion to eliminate the option failed.

Other changes included eliminating language saying low-performing schools could be closed or repurposed if they do not show sufficient improvement and removing a specific reference to the Harbor School as a site where special education services can be expanded. Board Vice President Delanna Muse also suggested including a glossary in the plan to clarify some terms in the plan.

The plan’s vision statement says New London Public Schools should become a “regional center for educational excellence,” capitalizing on the city’s culture and diversity. It also seeks to use “innovative and engaging instruction,” a diverse staff, and parental involvement to ensure that all students graduate ready for college or a career.

The plan uses a managed performance empowerment theory of action to define the district’s relationship with individual schools. Higher performing schools are granted a greater degree of autonomy for programs and operations, while lower performing schools are subject to district intervention or redesign.

A number of performance targets are included in the plan, including annual improvements of the school performance index, standardized test scores, and graduation rates.

The key strategy in the plan calls for New London to transition to a district of magnet schools, with K-12 magnet pathways in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; visual and performing arts; and dual language subjects. New London currently has STEM magnet schools at the elementary and high school level, with a visual and performing arts magnet elementary school scheduled to open for the 2013-2014 school year.

The other strategies call for:

• Improving teacher retention and diversity
• Improving instruction and programs
• Increasing parental and community involvement in the schools
• Removing barriers to success, a strategy that includes improving school environment and reducing suspension and expulsion rates
• Creating a support network to utilize local resources

The majority of the plan describes the steps that should be taken to develop these strategies and which year the step should be accomplished. The steps include developing programs for the magnet pathways, developing a minority teacher recruitment program, expanding the school governance council policy to all schools, implementing extended learning time, and a number of steps to improve the special education programs.

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