Exploring the Creation of An Innovation Zone

What Is An Innovation Zone?

An opportunity to develop special conditions and opportunities for a small group of schools.

In New Bedford, that small group could be the 3 middle schools.

Why Middle School?

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• Middle school is the 2nd most critical time in a child’s development.
• During the ages of 10-14 young people decide what kind of student they want to be.

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• New Bedford middle schools are making progress, but that progress is not deep enough nor fast enough.
• Recent statewide assessments show some gains & some setbacks.
• Each of the middle schools fell by 2 percentage points in relation to other middle schools in Massachusetts.

Potential Advantages to an Innovation Zone

• Better alignment between school decisions & student needs (school customization)
• Deeper educator commitment to the agreed upon improvement strategies (ownership of the work)
• Improved student results
• Strengthened parent confidence in the schools
• Additional support (outside & internal)
• The opportunity to apply lessons learned to other schools

Three Key Conditions

• Independent, joint governance
• School based flexibilities
• Zone district MOA

What We Learned From Our Exploration

From our Parent Meeting(9/27) & Surveys (249)

• The importance of safety
• The desire for acceleration, after school enrichment, athletics
• More support for struggling learners
• More hands on, investigations, STEM
• Better communication between educators & parents
• More teachers who are excited & committed

From parent meeting on 9/27 & surveys (249)

• The importance of safety
• The desire for acceleration, after school enrichment, athletics
• More support for struggling learners
• More hands-on investigations,STEM
• Better communication between educators & parents
• More teachers who are excited & committed

From our Meetings with Educators

• Interest in how Innovation Zones & autonomous schools are working in Springfield & Lawrence
• Questions about funding for planning, job security, & governance
• Cautious interest in learning more
• Enthusiasm from all three principals

From our Meetings with Educators (cont'd)

• Excitement about the progress achieved & the influence teachers had on those outcomes
• Interest in how the increase of autonomy "levels the playing field" with charter schools
• Support for the increased options for students

Collaboration with the Association

From Our Meetings With Students

• (+)Experiments, hands-on activities, experiments, learning with others, connections to real life
• (∆)More time to learn more options to actively engage,after school help,sports,& clubs, STEM, variety & choice, more personal interaction with teachers
• (∆)More options to: actively engage,after school help,sports,& clubs, STEM, variety & choice, more personal interaction with teachers

From Our Meetings With Students

• (+)Experiments, hands-on activities, experiments, learning with others, connections to real life
• (∆)More time to learn more options to actively engage,after school help,sports,& clubs, STEM, variety & choice, more personal interaction with teachers
• (∆)More options to: actively engage,after school help,sports,& clubs, STEM, variety & choice, more personal interaction with teachers

Next Steps

• Does the School Committee authorize District Leadership to take the next step: developing comprehensive, operational & fiscal plans including an MOA?
• Plans would be developed in collaboration with the NBEA using input from other stakeholders as well as other educators and administrators.
• All plans would be subject to final approval by the School Committee.

Next Steps

• Does the School Committee authorize District Leadership to take the next step: developing comprehensive, operational & fiscal plans including an MOA?
• Plans would be developed in collaboration with the NBEA using input from other stakeholders as well as other educators and administrators.
• All plans would be subject to final approval by the School Committee.

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